Kriti Mehrotra
Netflix’s ‘Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers’ as well as ‘Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman’ both detail the life and crimes of the titular serial killer, with a particular focus on her manipulations. After all, although Aileen allegedly killed 7 men within a mere 12 months while she was in her early 30s (1989-1990), she’d begun her journey with petty thefts, alleged taboo sexual encounters, and lies. The most intriguing element in her entire tale, though, is the complex relationship she shared with her older brother, Keith Edward Wuornos Pittman, which has been briefly touched upon in both movies.
Aileen Wuornos and Keith Wuornos Reportedly Shared a Uniquely Close Relationship
On the surface, Aileen Carol and Keith Wuornos were like typical siblings, but the truth is that they’d bonded over tumultuous experiences and had found solace in each other in more ways than one. Their parents had allegedly eloped to tie the knot when their mother, Diane, was just 14, only to welcome Keith less than a year later — on March 14, 1955. Aileen came along on February 29, 1956, yet Diane had already filed for divorce from then-20-year-old Leo Pittman two months prior, igniting further struggles that led her to abandon her kids in January 1960. According to records, she actually willingly left her toddlers with her parents, so they were both legally adopted by their maternal grandparents by March 1960.
Keith and Aileen’s grandparents raised the duo along with their own two other biological kids in suburban Michigan, so they didn’t even know about their actual parents until they were adolescents. This, combined with the adults, Britta and Lauri Wuornos, allegedly being alcoholics who reportedly neglected and abused the kids, led the young siblings to only confide in one another. However, one thing led to another, and they soon even ended up experimenting with sexual acts together. In short, Keith and Aileen engaged in an incestuous connection for quite a while, possibly regularly, till the time her grandfather kicked her out at 15.
By this point, Aileen had given birth to a son (born March 23, 1971), had been forced to give him up for adoption, lost her grandmother, and turned to the streets to make ends meet. Some rumors claim that Keith could have been the father of her child, but she herself indicated the father was likely a family friend who had raped her around that time. As the years passed, both siblings grew up while doing their best to remain in touch, yet sadly, the former soon got diagnosed with esophageal cancer, as depicted in the aforementioned thriller. However, unlike in ‘Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman,’ the then-soon-to-be serial killer did not murder her brother in a Pink Flamingo Motel room in Florida because of blackmail from his side in 1976.
Keith Wuornos Passed Away in 1976
It was on July 17, 1976, when 21-year-old Keith Wuornos passed away in Columbus, Michigan, with the cause of his death being complications from his esophageal cancer. According to records, there were no signs of foul play, let alone evidence of a shooting on his remains, meaning Aileen could not have killed her brother in any way, shape, or form. Her modus operandi, which she developed when she eventually began her homicidal career and let those dark instincts take over in 1989, was fatally shooting her all-male victims. However, we should mention Aileen did receive a $10,000 payout from Keith’s life insurance policy – indicating they remained close until the very end – but she allegedly blew it in a short time. All of this transpired just around the time she was facing a restraining order and an annulment from her 69-year-old husband, Lewis Gratz Fell. So, Keith did not live to see his sister become a serial killer, turn into an infamous international figure, get convicted of 6 homicides, and then executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002.
Read More: Aileen Wuornos’ Parents: How Did They Die?
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