Crimehub: A True Crime Podcast · Crimehub Studios

The Damsel of Death

·55 min·1 clip

Eileen Wuornos, America's first female serial killer, hunted highways with hatred and a .22 pistol.

This episode details the murders committed by Aileen Wuornos and the investigation that led to her capture. Hosts of Crimehub narrate the complex case of the woman dubbed America's first female serial killer. The story begins with the 1989 discovery of a body in a Florida forest, identified as electronics store owner Richard Mallory. Mallory had a history including a prior attempted rape conviction and a habit of picking up female hitchhikers. The medical examiner determined he died from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Investigators learned his ex-girlfriend said he would vanish for days with only liquor, condoms, and pornographic magazines. The narrative then shifts to Wuornos's traumatic childhood in Michigan, marked by abandonment, alleged sexual abuse by her grandfather, and giving up a child for adoption at 15. She arrived in Florida in 1976, where she married and quickly divorced a much older man before a life of arrests, scams, and sex work. In 1986, Wuornos began a relationship with Tyria "Ty" Moore, and the two lived a transient life. Wuornos claimed her first killing was in self-defense after Mallory raped and threatened to murder her. She stated she shot him during a struggle after he attacked her with an electrical cord. Over the next year, six more men were found shot with a .22 caliber pistol and dumped in wooded areas: David Spears, Charles Carskaddon, Peter Symes, Troy Burress, Dick Humphry, and Walter Antonio. Wuornos later claimed each man had solicited her for sex and then became violent. A critical break came when Wuornos and Moore crashed victim Peter Symes's car, leading to composite sketches of two female suspects. The murder of retired police chief Dick Humphry, a man described as a dedicated child abuse investigator, intensified the search. An interstate task force connected the cases, realizing a female serial killer was targeting men along Florida highways. Police tracked Moore to Pennsylvania and secured her cooperation by offering immunity. Investigators staged a series of phone calls where a distraught Moore, following a script, eventually got Wuornos to confess to the murders on a recorded line. At her trial for Mallory's murder, Wuornos took the stand against her lawyers' advice, maintaining all killings were in self-defense. The prosecution presented evidence from the other murders, including pawned items and testimony from a truck driver, Bobby Copas, who escaped her attempted robbery. The jury found Wuornos guilty of first-degree murder after just 90 minutes of deliberation. The tone is narrative and suspenseful, building a detailed chronological account with vivid, sometimes grim, descriptions of crime scenes and personal histories. Listeners who enjoy deep-dive forensic investigations and psychological profiles of infamous criminals will be captivated by this episode. Those sensitive to graphic descriptions of violence, sexual assault, and childhood trauma may find the content too intense.

As heard by us

A cold, methodical walk through a grim Florida case.

The piece traces Eileen Wuornos through a grim Florida killing spree with a steady, reportorial pace. It is strongest when it trusts the sequence of events to do the work, from the roadside discoveries to the abandoned cars, pawned belongings, and bodies found off the road.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play if you want the Eileen Wuornos case told from a dark Florida forest.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Crimehub: A True Crime Podcast