Requiem for a Female Serial Killer

Praise for Requiem for a Female Serial Killer

In a powerful new page-turner of a book, Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, the veteran feminist writer and activist Phyllis Chesler has given us a remarkable document about Wuornos that is far more illuminating – and even more engrossing – than (the film) Monster. The book is several things at once. The first section is a vivid, riveting, and well-nigh novelistic account of (Wuornos’) life during her crime spree. Writing in a gritty, clipped prose style that’s more reminiscent of Raymond Chandler than of Betty Friedan... Chesler doesn’t shy away from sordid specifics. Then, Chesler herself enters the picture.

One of Chesler’s accomplishments in this stunning memoir is that even a reader who doesn’t share an ounce of her sympathy for Wuornos will be forced by the book’s end to acknowledge that, at the very least, Wuornos’s trial was a betrayal of the cause of equal justice. One of the triumphs of this haunting work is that Chesler, all these years later, has finally accomplished (her) aim of educating the public about the brutal reality of prostitution. I cannot imagine any civilized reader of Requiem ever again viewing a life in prostitution as anything other than a cruel and miserable fate.

—Bruce Bawer, FrontPage Magazine

“Chesler has invented a new kind of book… her approach is multi-faceted. The story is operatic in its drama (and) Chesler is uniquely suited to tell the story. It is daunting to try and review Requiem, because it is hard to describe its combination of mystery-crime novel plus perceptive and compassionate feminist analysis of harsh (nay, horrific) realities of Wuornos’ life as a childhood rape victim and victim of johns’ humiliation and physical violence when she became a prostitute… Beyond describing the facts of Wuornos’ life, Chesler gives us the information that puts that life in context: Wuornos has much in common with many other prostitutes. She contrasts with most other serial killers, because nearly all are men, and nearly all male serial killers’ victims are prostitutes. I wish that everyone would read Requiem, both because part of being human is to know as much as we can about the world, especially the lives of others who have been through hells to which we were not subjected, and because despite its tragic subject, Chesler’s writing makes us reluctant to put the book down.”

-Paula J. Caplan, “A Page Turner with a Social Conscience” published in Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence, January 9, 2021

Phyllis Chesler, among the most famous of the “second-wave” feminists of the 1960s and 1970s (is) the author of a new book about Wuornos. She is now under a social justice cloud because she protests honor killings and other female abuses in the Islamic world and remains a forthright supporter of Israel, a pariah country these days on much of the progressive and activist Left. (Chesler) wanted the court to understand “how dangerous the ‘working life’ really is; how prostitutes are routinely infected with diseases, gang-raped, tortured, and murdered; and that Wuornos had been raped and beaten so many times that by now, if she was at all human, she’d have to be permanently drunk and out of her mind.” The defense Chesler proposed for Wuornos was a variant of the “battered women syndrome…” Chesler’s account of all this in Requiem is often riveting. She has a punchy, intimate, highly readable prose style, sliding credibly into Wuornos’s own slang contractions (“hadda,” “outta,” “kinda,”) as she devotes the first hundred pages of the book to a reconstruction of the killings and their preludes and aftermaths… Chesler’s account of her efforts to insert a version of what might be called prostituted-woman syndrome into Wuornos’s legal defense are scattershot but also entertaining… Yet it is hard to take the second-wave feminism out of the second-wave feminist, even a second-wave feminist as honest with herself as Phyllis Chesler eventually manages to be… (Wuornos’s) life story, as Chesler eloquently observes, was “a horrifying and pitiful tale with an inevitably sordid ending.”

—Charlotte Allen, Quillette

"We finally have begun to recognize women as victims — but why the silence when women fight back? Phyllis Chesler breaks this silence in Requiem for a Female Serial Killer. Reading it will help both women and men restore a human balance." 

—Gloria Steinem

Aileen Wuornos—female serial killer? Feminist folk-hero? A broken woman betrayed her entire life by a system that should have protected her? Perhaps all of the above, in one volatile package. In this amazing book, Phyllis Chesler takes you on a mind-bending journey through a story you thought you knew. Chesler sets out to write a book to make you question everything and succeeds. 

- Gregg Olsen, author, If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood

“This book is a tour de force. It is both an imagined interpretation of the crimes of Aileen Wuornos, the female 'serial killer,' and a description of the way that feminists in the US responded to her trial and execution. Chesler provides a fascinating and complex analysis. This book is a powerful account of the terrible harms of prostitution and violence against women.” 

- Sheila Jeffreys, Author of The Idea of Prostitution

"Phyllis Chesler’s nineteenth book is not only compelling, it is gripping in detail, a graphic read that explores issues of prostitution and rape. In these days, when it is hard to be shocked, Chesler alarms and disturbs. It’s a must read." 

- Ayaan Hirsi Ali

“If you love true crime thrillers, as I do, you must read Requiem with its feminist psychological twist. You won’t be able to put it down. Chesler, an eminent psychologist, gets inside the mind of a unique female serial killer. FBI profilers should be ordering their copies right now. This is a behind-the-scenes account which is very smart. Anyone who cares about life and death, madness, justice (or the lack of it) and riveting trials in an American courtroom, about the death penalty, and about rape trauma and the right to self-defense will be amazed and captivated by this never-before ventured analysis.” 

- Alan Dershowitz, author Guilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo

“Chesler's astute analysis, elegantly fused with graphic scenes and the harsh vernacular of true crime, make this an artful and essential book.”

-Vicki Hendricks, author, Miami Purity

“This is a unique book by a brilliant and internationally respected author. On the surface, it is an absorbing tale of rape, child-abuse, multiple murders, abuse, depravity, and a rare female victim who defiantly fought back. But at a deeper and more important level, it is the best published account in years of the tragic, ugly, and actual lives of women who must sell sex in order to survive.” 

-Dr. Robert Brannon, author of Co-Founder, National Organization for Men Against Sexism

“A impressively seminal contribution to community, college, and university library Criminology collections, "Requiem for a Female Serial Killer" is an extraordinary story and one that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of criminology students, academia, and non-specialist general readers.” —The Midwest Book Review

Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, written by Dr. Phyllis Chesler, was published in 2020 by New English Review Press years after her phone conversations, letters, and visits on Death Row with serial killer, Aileen “Lee” Wuornos. Though her interactions occurred over thirty years ago, Chesler remained haunted by her time spent with the high-profile serial killer. She says her motivation to write this book was to memorialize Wuornos’ life, deeds, and death, but, in fact, it also seemed cathartic for her; remembering her work on this case was important to help Chesler better understand the complexities of the interactions between Wuornos, herself and the unwavering criminal justice system. Chesler sees clearly how female serial killers and sex workers are viewed and treated differently within the courtroom. Wuornos never had a chance to be understood outside that stereotyped prism. In addition to laying her time with Wuornos to rest, Chesler sheds light on the horrifying circumstances of Wuornos’ life, and how such events can shape the trajectory of a young girl’s life, such that the catastrophes she endured likely contributed to the murders she perpetrated.

Wuornos killed seven men, all strangers to her. The first one was clearly a sadistic rape that Wuornos killed to survive his brutal attack. Unbeknownst to her, he already had a record. But, once she let loose her rage, it may not have been possible to contain it again. At least three, perhaps four of them were Johns, who sought to buy sex from her; they were found naked or with their pants in disarray. When Wuornos was finally arrested and headed for trial in Ocala, Florida, Chesler was drawn there. She admits the allure of attending the trial was enhanced by the possibility of exposing the life of a prostitute, as Chesler attended as a feminist organizer and potential courtroom witness, and not as a psychological evaluator or journalist. Without any training in forensics, Chesler found her own way into the case by initially making contact with Wuornos herself before her legal team eventually accepted Chesler’s involvement. After spending time with Wuornos, Chesler organized a pro bono team of experts to testify about violence against prostitutes and a prostitute’s right to defend herself in hopes of addressing the level of complex, post- traumatic stress from which Wuornos and all prostitutes suffer. Yet, for a variety of reasons Chesler discussed in the book, these expert witnesses were never called to testify in Wuornos’ case. In fact, with the exception of Wuornos’ testimony, jurors never heard evidence about violence toward prostitutes either generally or perpetrated by Wuornos’ victims.

Chesler sought to profile the ‘monster’ that Wuornos was called by the media (Jenkins, 2003), a task that took her years to complete. Chesler, a prolific author herself, sought guides for this task. Of all the male and female serial killers she considered, only a handful stuck out as meaningful to her as reminiscent of Wuornos; in particular Ann Jones’ Women Who Kill (2009) and Melton McLaurin’s Celia (McLaurin, 1991). Despite the astounding similarities between Wuornos and FBI-complied lists of male serial killer profiles, as a woman and sex-worker Wuornos did not totally fit their profile. Wuornos was abused in childhood, set fires, had a possible low IQ, had PTSD, was ‘mentally ill,’ had trouble maintaining employment, was a loner, and engaged in petty crimes. Yet, as Chesler came to discover, despite these similarities, Wuornos’ gender and source of income overshadowed all of these other risk factors and prevented her psychological status from being considered in her case. Wuornos refused to see herself as a victim and together with her attorneys rejected the psychological defense that might have saved her life.

Chesler admits she was on a prescient feminist mission. This mission, her background in psychology and feminist theory, her learning about the criminal justice system and its associated sex-based double standards, as well as the jarring reality that women are treated more harshly in the justice system despite the general perception that the system is lenient for women, awarded her a unique perspective when it came to profiling Wuornos. Almost thirty years after initially becoming involved in the case, Chesler returned to her study of Wuornos to write Requiem for a Female Serial Killer. She reviewed her own files consisting of interviews with lawyers and potential expert witnesses, legal transcripts, videos of her trial, and the articles, books, and films about her case. Moreover, she consumed every study and memoir she could find about prostitution, women killers, and about serial killers in an attempt to expand the use of battered woman’s syndrome to prostituted women in court cases and to argue that prostituted women were routinely in extreme danger and had the right to defend themselves. Her retelling the story interspersed with her own emotions as she went through the exercise then and again now is a compelling glimpse into what psychologists will face when working on these cases.

The goal of reprising her expertise on Wuornos was to demonstrate to potential jurors that life of a ‘working girl’ such as Wuornos consisted of enduring a toxic level of contempt and the most extreme kinds of violence. Chesler wanted to open the public’s eyes to the notion that Wuornos may have killed in self-defense, at least the first time. In her attempt to do so, Chesler draws attention to the hundreds of violent rapes and gang- rapes that Wuornos experienced and described in detail to her. It is not a pretty picture. Drawing on her experience as a psychologist Chesler was able understand that these repeated traumatic events could easily have led to the kind of paranoia, terror, and rage that could account for (but not justify) Wuornos’ murder spree. In addition to her goal of educating juries, Chesler sought to expand the use of the battered woman’s defense to include prostitutes through her portrayal of Wuornos.

Reflecting on her time spent with Wuornos, Chesler acknowledges that she may not have involved herself if these crimes took place at present. She recounts her frustration with her interactions with the mercurial temper tantrums Wuornos displayed as she fought for some control over her fate. Chesler had no idea the toll her involvement with Wuornos would take on her emotionally, such that she packed away her files which remained unopened for thirty years. However, in retrospect, the goals she sought to accomplish seem to have been at least partially met. Wuornos is acknowledged in history, prostitutes are being recognized as engaging in survival sex, the gaps in male and female courtroom treatment are slowly being closed, and abuse histories of battered women are more frequently being incorporated into legal matters.

Chesler feels what she has taken from her time with Wuornos, the time since then, and her present book Requiem for a Female Serial Killer is best described by the end of the book,

"If you had been on that jury, would you have voted to put her to death? Or to keep her in isolation for nearly eleven years, where she would inevitably become even crazier than she already was? Or would you have chosen to stash her in a state mental institution on heavy medication for life?

"Lee is long gone—but she still lives on in my imagination and memory. I titled this book Requiem for a Female Serial Killer because this is my way of finally laying her to rest—by memorializing her life, her deeds, and her death. A dirge of sorts, to mourn what can happen to a girl in this world, a horrifying and pitiful tale with an inevitably sordid ending.

". . . Yes, I know she was a raging drunk, a foul-mouthed, obnoxious, unstable, contrarian—and a serial killer as well—and yet, now that I more fully understand what rape and prostitution can do to an adolescent and to a woman, and what a pitifully damaged child-woman she really was, I have more, not less, compassion for her.

"When I leave this book, I leave off, perhaps forever, continuing to grapple with the issues raised by her case. Now, it is in your hands. (p. 243–244)

Chesler found she was finally able to profile Wuornos as a unique female serial killer,

such that she was significantly different from male serial killers, different from female

serial killers (e.g., black widows, infant, or parent killers), and different from most girls

who are similarly abused in childhood but who rarely fight back.

-Amanda E. Temares & Lenore E. Walker, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma

Amazon Reviews for Requiem for a Female Serial Killer

When best-selling author Dr Phyllis Chesler turns her attention to an issue it is always worth paying attention. And indeed, her factual/fictional treatment of Aileen Wuornos, the ‘serial killer‘ who killed seven men when she had enough of being violently mistreated during sex makes for riveting reading. Chesler, who is a strong abolitionist advocating to get rid of prostitution, got very much involved in trying to help save Wuornos from death row. The book details how she put her heart and soul into assembling a cast of 10 trial experts only to find no one was given leave to speak and Wuornos was sent to her death (after spending 10 more years on death row). Aileen Wuornos had suffered such deprivation, violence and cruelty including being gang-raped dozens of times that no one should be surprised that in the end only alcohol and killing obnoxious men who treated her like dirt was the answer. Chesler‘s compassionate yet down to earth treatment of Aileen Wuornos deserves a wide readership. The book is fast paced and unputdownable. In the end I hope every reader will join the fight against men‘s violence against women and for the abolition of prostitution. A magnificant oeuvre!

– RENATE KLEIN, co-founder of Spinifex Press, author/editor of “Radically Speaking: Feminism Reclaimed.

Phyllis Chesler has written a masterpiece of true crime.

Annie Raks

I have always been fascinated by the extremes of human behavior...Saints and Sinners. With Saints, if one believes in "God's Grace",explanations are rather simple.

With Sinners, more specific reasons are needed. And if the sin is murder and the murders are "serial", and the punishment is death, causality is required.

Is it nature, nurture, genetics, poverty, racism, oppression , abuse, frontal lobe pathology or mental illness?

Can one truly hate the sin and love the sinner--if that sinner is a woman, a prostitute, and if all her victims were men?

Can a Feminist? Should she?

In Phyllis Chesler's extraordinary 20th book she explores these themes and much more. Using her wealth of experience and wisdom as a feminist psychologist, colored with her wit insight and imagination, she offers us various ways to understand Wuornos as the "First Female Serial Killer".

Is that French expression "To understand all is to forgive all", operative in this case? You decide. But this book will not let go of you.

M.H. Hoffman

Chesler actually knew the woman - even includes some of their correspondence - and her own personal complicated reactions gave me a way into this horrible world. Wuornos - and in fact prostitutes as a group, a little society in itself - seemed more and more real as I read. I thank Chesler for showing me a kind of life I'd never glimpsed before.

Nahma Sandrow

If you think you understand women’s issues and haven’t read Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, think again. This book is on fire. It is a must read. Author Phyllis Chesler recounts the life of Aileen Wuornos—abandoned by her parents, beaten viciously by her adoptive grandfather, raped repeatedly in childhood, coming to adulthood with no marketable skills except one: selling pussy. But unlike the myriads of nameless, forgotten women with similar biographies, Wuornos will always be remembered for killing somewhere between 7-10 johns along the highways of Florida.

Chesler contacted her after her capture, corresponded extensively with her, and attempted to assist in her defense. In this book, she shows us a severely damaged human being, drinking heavily to drown her pain, in love with a woman who betrays her, spinning lies and delusions and genuine insights—yet finding the courage to fight much larger men. In her confession, Wuornos said that each the johns she shot had raped or were attempting to rape her, and she was afraid they would murder her.

Was it self defense? Women like her are raped and murdered all the time. As Chesler writes, “The same police who had no trouble arresting prostitutes for selling had a much harder time finding or arresting the johns who murdered prostitutes.” The author gives numerous examples, and then says, “Street prostitutes are not even considered human, but were treated as disposable filth, garbage.” So if a john rapes and beats a prostitute and cheats her out of her earnings, whom should she call?

A neighbor of mine, a graduate student and single mother, once called the police to report a prowler. When the cop arrived, he raped my neighbor and then calmly took a shower in her apartment. Whom should she have called then?

The trial lasted 13 days. The jury took less than two hours to convict Wuornos and less than two hours to sentence her to death. Unlike Ted Bundy, who was given the option of a life sentence after murdering at least 30 women, or O.J. Simpson, who got off entirely, Wuornos was neither male nor rich. Even worse for her, one of the johns she shot was a former police chief and another was in the police reserves. Cops get away with killing civilians (especially Black ones) all the time. Nobody gets away with killing a cop.

Some women have lauded Wuornos as a feminist hero, while others dismissed her as simply crazy. Chesler’s portrayal is considerably more complex. Read it and decide for yourself.

—MARTHA SHELLEY, poet, novelist, Second Wave lesbian feminist pioneer

I didn’t think I would read a book with this title, much less review it on Amazon! I was wrong. From the first chapter where we meet complicated fascinating Aileen, Phyllis Chesler weaves us a story that is real, heartbreaking, shocking, and gripping. Her writing is amazing, deep, funny and very hard to put down!!! Don’t miss this book, it’s truly a fantastic read!

DJR

Imagine detective noir writer Raymond Chandler collaborating with true crime author Ann Rule and you’ll have some idea of the roller-coaster ride that is ¬“requiem for a female serial killer,” Phyllis Chesler’s raw, rollicking but always sympathetic portrait of Aileen Wuornos. Chesler’s work has always been hard-hitting, whether writing about feminist issues, anti-semitism, honor killings, child custody and other subjects, but she has reached new heights with her latest effort. This is not your usual true crime tome, written by an impersonal reporter from a distant vantage point. Chesler worked on the case of the “first female serial killer;” she, met, befriended and carried on a lengthy correspondence with Wuornos (some of which is included in the final chapter). Chesler has managed to get inside – as much as humanly possible – the head of Wuornos, and entire sections of the book are told from the subject’s viewpoint. This book grabbed me by the throat from the first page, and never let go until the Afterword, when Chesler slows down a bit to reflect on the legacy and lessons of Wuornos and her story.

Louis Santacroce

Only Phyllis Chester could make Aileen Wuornos into a 3-dimensional, sympathetic, tragic heroine. Ms. Chesler once again returns to her feminist roots and illuminates the lives of these women and what they endure, free of judgement. Her description of her own, very personal reactions to Ms. Wuornos only adds to the book's brilliance. A tour de force from one of our national treasures.

Jacqueline Schwartz

In sure-prose, a keen eye and fresh insights of a best-selling author of previous eighteen non-fiction books, Phyllis Chesler places Requiem next to Truman Capon’s in “Cold Blood” in the annals of both literature and social commentary.

Talia Carner

A world beyond our imagination. Phyllis Chesler has gone into the world of prostitution, serials killers, and psychology using her feminist eye to explore the infamous story of Aileen Wournos. Using both Aileen's voice and her own, Phyllis tells a startling tale of what happens when a young girl is used and abused by everyone around her.

- areviewer13

This is a challenging book on a very challenging subject. It is a must read for anyone who wants to understand how unspeakable acts inflicted on women can lead to unspeakable acts inflicted by them. The author treats with nuance and perspective the topic of how much sympathy, if any, is owed a serial killer.

Anon

A new and insightful look at the mind of a female serial killer and how our society looks at them , told from the viewpoint of a woman. Incredibly thought - provoking.

Anon

An original and engaging account of Aileen Wuornos’ life and her murders of likely sex buyers. Chesler knew and tried to assist Wuornos while she was in prison. It is hard to really know Wuornos and her motivations for the killings, although many men seek out prostitutes to rape and abuse. Some see the murders as self-defense; others, such as Chesler think that after the first killing in self-defense, something spiraled out of control. Chesler used and includes her correspondence with Wuornos, making this an authentic account of this tragic woman’s life.

-Daniel E Hughes