AILEEN WUORNOS’ FINAL SIX MINUTES — THE LAST MOMENTS OF FLORIDA’S INFAMOUS DEATH-ROW INMATE

On the morning of October 9, 2002, Aileen Wuornos entered Florida’s death chamber at Florida State Prison in Starke for the final time.

The 46-year-old had spent more than a decade on death row after being convicted in connection with the killings of men she encountered along Florida highways in 1989 and 1990.

By the morning of her execution, Wuornos was no longer fighting to remain alive.

She had dismissed her attorneys and abandoned her remaining appeals, while courts had rejected final efforts to stop the execution, including arguments concerning her mental competency.

HER FINAL HOURS

According to reports from the prison, Wuornos woke at about 5:30 that morning.

She had spent part of the previous night talking with a close family friend and was described by a corrections spokesman as calm.

She also spent time reading the Bible but declined a visit from clergy.

She did not eat a traditional last meal. UPI reported that she declined the meal and was instead given coffee.

Outside the prison, demonstrators gathered as the state prepared to carry out the lethal injection.

Inside, witnesses waited behind the viewing area.

Reports differed slightly over the exact number of witnesses. CNN reported that 24 people were expected to attend, including media representatives, victims’ relatives and people involved in the case. UPI later reported that 32 witnesses watched as Wuornos was taken into the chamber.

THE CURTAIN OPENED

Wuornos was strapped to a gurney and connected to intravenous lines.

When the curtain opened, she briefly looked toward the witness area before looking upward.

She was then given an opportunity to make a final statement.

What followed became one of the most remembered moments of the execution.

Rather than offering an apology or asking for mercy, Wuornos spoke about Jesus, the movie Independence Day and returning on a “big mother ship.”

Her statement was unusual and difficult for some witnesses to hear clearly.

CNN reported that witnesses interpreted her words as:

“I’m sailing with the Rock and I’ll be back like Independence Day with Jesus…”

She ended by saying she would be back.

CBS also recorded the same extraordinary final statement in its report on the execution.

SIX MINUTES LATER

The lethal-injection process began at approximately 9:41 a.m.

Six minutes later, at 9:47 a.m., Aileen Wuornos was pronounced dead.

The execution itself lasted far less time than the years of legal battles that had preceded it.

One of the witnesses was Terry Griffith, whose father Dick Humphreys was among the men Wuornos was convicted of killing.

After witnessing the execution, Griffith said she felt the death had been too easy, although she also said she was glad it was over.

Her reaction reflected the emotions surrounding a case that had divided public opinion for years.

A CASE THAT NEVER REALLY ENDED

Wuornos had initially claimed that the men were killed in self-defense. She later changed her account and admitted responsibility for the killings.

She was convicted of six murders and received six death sentences. She also became a suspect in a seventh killing, although no charge was brought in that case because the victim’s body was never found.

Her case continued to attract enormous attention after her death, inspiring books, documentaries, films and other works examining her crimes, childhood and troubled life.

But on October 9, 2002, there was only one final moment left.

At 9:47 a.m., the prison officially recorded her death.

The woman who had become one of America’s most notorious female killers was gone — leaving behind a case that remains the subject of fascination and debate more than two decades later.