AILEEN WUORNOS’ FINAL MOMENTS: THE LAST WORDS OF THE WOMAN WHO BECAME ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST NOTORIOUS DEATH ROW INMATES

On the morning of October 9, 2002, Aileen Wuornos walked into Florida’s execution chamber for the final time.

After more than a decade on death row, the 46-year-old convicted killer was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke.

Wuornos had been sentenced to death six times for the killings of men along Florida’s highways in 1989 and 1990.

Her case had become one of the most widely discussed criminal cases in America, attracting intense media attention, books, documentaries and later films.

But on the morning of her execution, the attention narrowed to one final moment: what would she say before she died?

THE FINAL HOURS

Wuornos had already made clear that she wanted the execution to go ahead.

She had fired her attorneys and stopped pursuing her remaining appeals, although questions surrounding her mental health had continued to draw attention.

Her execution had previously been delayed while experts evaluated her mental competency.

On the night before her death, Wuornos reportedly made no unusual requests. She ate a meal that included barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, apple crisp and iced tea.

The following morning, preparations began for the lethal injection.

According to contemporary CNN reporting, 24 witnesses were expected to observe the execution, including representatives from the victims’ families, members of the media and state officials.

HER FINAL STATEMENT

Shortly before the execution, Wuornos was given an opportunity to make a final statement.

Instead of offering a conventional apology or plea for mercy, she delivered a strange and memorable message.

She spoke about Jesus, a “Rock” and the 1996 science-fiction film Independence Day.

“I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the Rock and I’ll be back like Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mother-ship and all. I’ll be back,” she said.

The statement immediately became one of the defining details of her final moments.

CNN reported that her comments were consistent with the unusual statements she had made during the final period of her life.

THE EXECUTION

At approximately 9:30 a.m., the lethal injection was administered.

Wuornos was executed at Florida State Prison in Starke.

There was no last-minute reprieve.

At 9:47 a.m., she was officially pronounced dead.

Her death made Wuornos the 10th woman executed in the United States since capital punishment had been reinstated nationally in the 1970s, according to contemporary reporting.

Among those watching was Terry Griffith, whose father, Richard “Dick” Humphreys, was one of the men Wuornos was convicted of killing.

After witnessing the execution, Griffith said she felt the death had been relatively easy compared with what her father had suffered.

Another victim’s relative told CNN that her father felt present with her as she witnessed Wuornos’ execution.

A CASE THAT NEVER STOPPED ATTRACTING QUESTIONS

Wuornos’ case had already become controversial long before her death.

She was convicted of killing six men during 1989 and 1990.

Wuornos maintained at various points that some of the killings were committed in self-defense, although prosecutors argued that she had deliberately murdered the men and stolen from them.

Her mental health also became a major issue during the legal proceedings.

Several assessments had raised concerns about serious mental illness, while other evaluations addressed personality disorders and her competency to face execution.

Ultimately, Florida officials determined that the execution could proceed.

Wuornos herself had stopped fighting the sentence.

THE END OF A LIFE THAT BECAME A MEDIA PHENOMENON

Following her death, Wuornos’ body was transported for a mandatory post-execution examination.

Her remains were eventually cremated, and her ashes were returned to Michigan, where they were buried in her hometown of Rochester.

Her story, however, did not end with her execution.

Wuornos became the subject of documentaries, books and films, including the 2003 movie Monster, which brought renewed international attention to her life and crimes.

More than two decades later, her final statement remains one of the most recognizable parts of the story.

There was no conventional farewell.

Instead, moments before her death, Wuornos spoke of Jesus, a spaceship and a return “like Independence Day.”

At 9:47 that morning, Florida officially recorded the end of Aileen Wuornos’ life.

The execution chamber fell silent, and one of America’s most notorious death-row cases entered its final chapter.