Issue: The Third Murder

Lee tells the third “John” that a friend of her father’s (Victor Bourne) starting raping her when she was eight years old and it went on for years. She reported this to her father and instead of confronting the man he beat her. Lee then murders the “John” and finds a picture of his wife in a wheelchair and a badge.

The tip-off that the rape Lee speaks of is fictitious is when she uses the man’s name since the filmmaker would not do this for legal reasons. In any case, I have seen no evidence of this and Lauri Wuornos is known to have had few if any friends. Aileen Wuornos is known for claiming that many men raped her with little supporting evidence. Jenkins and Theron read letters from Wuornos to her friend Dawn Botkins and these could be the source for this and many of Monster’s more dubious claims.

The filmmakers are beginning to change their tone here and allowing the audience to feel less sympathy/empathy for Lee by the device of the picture of the wife in a wheelchair, which implies the “John” had good reason to seek companionship outside of his marriage. This scene also seems to be preparing the audience for the final brutal murder in which Lee kills a man unjustifiably. The “John” in the third murder scene is the closest to real-life victim Dick Humphreys, who was a retired Police Chief working in social services. Humphreys body was found fully clothed and he was one of the victims who may have done nothing more than encounter Wuornos and possibly try to help her.

Issue: The Fourth Murder

In the fourth and final murder, Lee is picked up by a man who turns out to be a minister. She has no interest in his offer of a place to stay and asks to be let out. When her gun falls out, she has “no choice” but to kill the man to avoid being reported to the police. This final murder scene is probably the closest to reality. It most closely resembles the Peter Siems murder since he was a missionary, but it is doubtful that Siems tried to do anything to Wuornos as she claimed. Siems body was never found so very little is known about his death.

Issue: The Goodbye Scene

In the scene at the bus station, Lee nearly has a nervous breakdown and both gals shed many a tear. In reality, the individual who drove them to the bus station stated that Wuornos looked upset when she returned from seeing Moore off and may have shed a tear or two. But soon their conversation turned to other matters and she seemed to be her usual self. That night she slept with this man as well.

Issue: The Capture Scene

Tom tries to warn Lee about her impending capture.

Tom didn’t exist but no one was aware of the impending arrest, including the local Port Orange cops who had to be advised by the task force trailing Wuornos to leave the area after they unwittingly questioned her. A larger issue comes from the DVD commentary where Jenkins declares, “They didn’t want to take her in that night because they didn’t have actually any hard evidence. They only had people suspecting her and they didn’t have any fingerprints or anything like that, so they were angling in trying to make friends with her and get a confession.”

Authorities were nearly certain that Wuornos and Moore were involved in the murders. There were many issues to consider when deciding to arrest Wuornos. The original plan was to place her under surveillance and keep her there as long as she was not endangering anyone. In the meantime, authorities in Ohio were keeping an eye on Moore, who had fled there after seeing television reports about the killing that included sketches of the suspects.

The final decision to arrest Wuornos was made after it became known that a “pig roast” was going to be held at the Last Resort bar where she was currently hanging out. Investigators feared that Wuornos would be able to blend into the large crowd too easily and disappear. She had an outstanding warrant so they were fully within their rights to detain her and already had a strong circumstantial case. They also knew that it was likely that one (or both) of the women would confess since they would be questioned separately.

Conclusion

Monster is a powerful film when taken as a work of art. Unfortunately, for many people this film will be their single exposure to the story of Aileen Wuornos and because of this they will come away with a skewed view of reality. The filmmakers may argue that they are not responsible for the education of the public concerning the life story of any person who ends up in a major motion picture. I would counter that when a film is marketed and promoted as an accurate portrayal of events (Monster’s tagline is, “based on a true story”), it is incumbent upon those associated with it to be as accurate as possible and to be candid about any fictitious scenes used in the film.

Sources

Dead Ends by Michael Reynolds.
Lethal Intent by Sue Russell.

Documentaries

Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer by Nick Broomfield.
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer by Nick Broomfield.

Internet

Aileen Wuornos Case Files: www.NewCriminologist.co.uk (fee).

Go To Page 1 2 3 4

Website and Articles © W. Tracy Parnell All Rights Reserved. Copyright Strictly Enforced.