Blessings on Your Journey Aileen (Lee) Wournos

b. Feb. 29, 1956- d. six hours ago, executed as a serial killer

Dear Lee,

Your struggle is our struggle. Rest in peace. May my girlfriend Kris receive you and help you find your way to the other side.



Hardly a week has gone by that I didn't think about you since I joined the effort to publicize your case in 1996. Kris admired your use of force against your rapists. She froze when she was attacked. You acted.



Activists made stickers in San Francisco-- "Wournos Self-Defense Tip #1, carry mace"; "Wournos Self-Defense Tip #2, own a dog"; Wournos Self-Defense Tip #3, scream."

The Radical Cheerleaders wrote a cheer for you: aileen wournos is her name and she don't take no shit 
when some men tried to rape her well she shot them in the dick 
now she's on death row they wanna give her the chair 
what do we say? we say GET HER OUTTA THERE!! 
FREE (clapclap-clapclap) 
AILEEN (clapclap-clapclap) 
FREE (clapclap-clapclap) 
AILEEN (clapclap-clapclap) 
what did she do? 
SHE DEFENDED HERSELF AND WE WOULD TOO! 
what do we need? 
WE NEED TO LIBERATE OUR SISTA FROM LEGAL MISOGYNY! 


Some San Francisco artists even made an opera about your case. It didn't make much difference. The prison set cost a lot of money, and the singing was too good, too professional, to convey the gritty truths of your case. The good intentions of the artists melted into the ineffectual pool of well-wishing that trickled your way all these ten years you waited to die.



Your history of sexual abuse, mental disability, poverty, and betrayal by trusted loved ones was disregarded. Jeb Bush, one of the killing governors, today agreed to grant your suicidal wish to be executed by the State of Florida. I can't judge your wish to die. I can judge the government for being the next weapon you used to kill again.



I wish we activists and artists had been able to make you want to fight and live. Maybe I still can make a difference by talking about what happened to you. May you find the God of your heart and be loved now as you never were.


The Story of Aileen Wournos breaks it down with a perspective on how Lee was denied fair consideration and mislabeled a serial killer.



The CNN article on the execution, which I stumbled on while trying to figure out if the US had gone to war yet.



The Reuters article on the execution, that tells a little longer version of Lee's story.



A pretty straightforward version of Lee's tragic life story that includes the fact that journalists (not the police, who didn't bother) easily found out that one of her victims had served 10 years in prison for a violent rape in another state.