Aileen Wuornos was an American serial killer who murdered seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Her troubled background included a childhood marked by abandonment, abuse, and poverty, leading her to become a sex worker at a young age. She claimed she killed her victims in self-defense, alleging they had raped or attempted to rape her. Wuornos was arrested in 1991, convicted of six murders, and executed by lethal injection in 2002. Her case garnered significant media attention due to the rare nature of female serial killers, and her story has been widely depicted in popular culture, including the Academy Award-winning film Monster (2003) starring Charlize Theron.

The keywords "Aileen Wuornos" are currently trending primarily due to the release of a new Netflix documentary titled "Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers," which premiered on October 30, 2025. This documentary offers a fresh look at her life and crimes, incorporating previously unseen archives, audio interviews, and footage from death row. It aims to explore the complex factors that shaped her actions, including the impact of trauma and systemic failures. The renewed media focus has reignited public interest in Wuornos's story, particularly her claims of self-defense and the broader societal issues her case raised, as her crimes defied typical perceptions of female serial killers.