When people think of serial killers, names like Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer often come to mind, reinforcing the idea that most are men. However, women have also been responsible for multiple murders, sometimes going unnoticed for years. While serial murder is less common among women, they still make up about 15% of known cases. The U.S. Department of Justice defines a serial killer as someone who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with time between each crime. Florida has seen its share of female serial killers, including Aileen Wuornos, Christine Falling and Judy Buenoano—each leaving a lasting mark on the state’s criminal history.

Aileen Wuornos: “Damsel of Death”

In the mid-1970s, Aileen Wuornos moved to northeast Florida where she committed a series of minor crimes throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s while making a living as a prostitute. By the 1980s, she was working along Florida’s highways and had entered a relationship with Tyria Moore, with whom she lived in Daytona. Her killing spree began in late November 1989 and lasted for a year, during which she murdered seven middle-aged white men in central Florida. Her victims included:

• Shop-owner Richard Mallory
• Construction worker David Andrew Spears
• Rodeo worker Charles Edmund Carskaddon
• Salesman Troy Eugene Burress
• Retired police chief and U.S. Air Force Major Charles Richard Humphreys
• Trucker Walter Jeno Antonio
• Peter Siems

Wuornos followed a similar pattern in each crime, robbing, shooting and stealing the vehicles of her victims.

Between November 1989 and November 1990, Aileen Wuornos carried out a series of murders across central Florida. Her first known victim, Richard Mallory, was shot multiple times in the chest and his body was found in a wooded area two weeks later. David Spears was discovered in Citrus County in June of 1990 with six gunshot wounds to his torso, followed by Charles Carskaddon, who was found days later in Pasco County, having been shot nine times in the chest and stomach. Peter Siems went missing in June 1990, and while his car was discovered in July, his body was never found. The body of Troy Burress was located on August with two gunshot wounds to his torso, while Charles Humphreys was found in Marion County in September with gunshot wounds to his head and torso. Walter Antonio was found in Dixie County in November of 1990, shot four times in the back and head.

Wuornos claimed she killed these men in self-defense after they solicited her services and then threatened her. In January 1991, she was arrested at The Last Resort bar in Port Orange, Florida on an unrelated charge. Authorities enlisted her girlfriend, Tyria Moore, to help secure a confession, and on January 16, 1991, Wuornos admitted in a taped phone call to killing Richard Mallory.

In January 1992, she was convicted of Mallory’s murder and sentenced to death. She later pleaded no contest to the murders of Spears, Burress and Humphreys and pleaded guilty to killing Carskaddon and Antonio, receiving five additional death sentences. She was not charged with Siems’ presumed murder due to the lack of a body.

On October 9, 2002, at age 46, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in Starke, Florida. Her reported last words were, “I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the Rock, and I’ll be back. Like Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mothership and all. I’ll be back.”

Her story has been dramatized in films such as Monster (2003), starring Charlize Theron, and Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman (2021).

Christine Falling: “Killer Babysitter”

Christine Slaughter, later known as Christine Falling and dubbed the “Killer Babysitter,” was born on March 12, 1963, in Perry, Florida. Her early life was marked by instability—her teenage mother disappeared when Christine was a toddler, leading to her and her sister Carol to be adopted by Dolly and Jesse Falling in 1967. Christine struggled in school, dropping out in the seventh grade and suffered from epilepsy. Family members later recalled troubling childhood behaviors, such as strangling or dropping cats from high places to test their “nine lives.” By 1975, she had left home and entered a short-lived, tumultuous marriage.

In 1980, Falling was hired to babysit 2-year-old Cassidy Johnson, known as “Muffin,” in Blountstown, Florida. Within hours, Cassidy became unresponsive and died three days later, with doctors initially attributing her death to brain inflammation. Years later, Falling admitted, “Well, it was about, I’d say about 8:30. She got kind of rowdy or something. Anyway, I choked her until she quit breathing, and she had turned purple.” Just four months later, 8-month-old Jennifer Daniels died under Falling’s care while her mother had briefly left her in the car to buy groceries. Once again, the death was ruled natural—this time as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

The deaths continued in February 1981, when two young boys died within days of each other. Four-year-old Jeffrey Davis passed away while Falling was supervising him, and just days after his funeral, his 2-year-old cousin Joseph Spring also died under her care. Both deaths were attributed to heart inflammation. Until the death of another infant, the previous cases had been considered natural losses.

In July 1982, 2-month-old Travis Coleman was in Falling’s care for the evening. That night, Travis was found dead in Falling’s trailer. Travis had recently been hospitalized for pneumonia, so doctors attributed his death to the recent illness. Falling later admitted, “I just choked him, no apparent reason. I just picked him off his pallet and choked him to death and laid him back down.” His death raised suspicions, prompting a police investigation.

Soon after, Falling was admitted to a psychiatric unit in Tallahassee, where she was arrested on multiple murder charges. As authorities dug deeper, they linked her to the death of 77-year-old Wilbur Swindle, who had died of an apparent heart attack on her first day working as his housekeeper. Ultimately, Falling pleaded guilty to the murders of Cassidy Johnson, Jennifer Daniels and Travis Coleman, receiving three concurrent life sentences. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors did not pursue charges for the deaths of
Jeffrey Davis, Joseph Spring or Wilbur Swindle. Christine Falling remains incarcerated at Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, Florida, with a projected release date in the year 2254.

Born on April 4, 1943, in Texas, Judias Welty—later known as Judy Buenoano and dubbed “The Black Widow”—had a troubled childhood. She lost her mother at age four and was raised by her grandparents. By 14, she had already spent two months in prison for attacking her stepmother, father and two stepbrothers. After graduating from reform school in 1960, she became a nursing assistant and, in 1961, gave birth to her son, Michael. The following year, she married Air Force Officer James Goodyear, with whom she had two more children, James and Kimberly. Goodyear also adopted Michael. However, just months after returning from a tour in Vietnam in 1971, Goodyear fell mysteriously ill, was hospitalized in Orlando, and later died. Buenoano collected his life insurance payouts and moved on.

In 1972, she began dating Bobby Joe Morris and moved to Colorado with him in 1977. The following year, Morris developed the same unexplained symptoms as Goodyear and died, allowing Buenoano to collect on multiple life insurance policies once again. Returning to Florida in 1980, she faced yet another suspicious incident—her son Michael, now serving in the Army, suffered severe arsenic poisoning. The poisoning left him needing metal leg braces, and in May 1980, while canoeing with his mother on Florida’s East River, the canoe capsized. Weighed down by his braces, Michael drowned. Buenoano collected $20,000 from his military life insurance, adding to her pattern of financial gain following the deaths of those close to her.

In 1982, she became engaged to John Gentry, and the couple took out life insurance policies on each other, with Gentry’s policy valued at $500,000. Later that year, Gentry fell ill after taking vitamins provided by Buenoano, which only worsened his condition. Though he fully recovered, the following year he was seriously injured when his car exploded. While Gentry was hospitalized, police launched an investigation into Buenoano and the string of suspicious deaths linked to her. A search of her home uncovered wire and tape matching the remains of the bomb in Gentry’s car, and investigators determined that she had also been poisoning him with arsenic. As the case unfolded, authorities exhumed the bodies of James Goodyear, Bobby Joe Morris and her son Michael, confirming that all three had been poisoned with arsenic.

In 1984, Buenoano was convicted of her son’s murder and the attempted murder of Gentry. The following year, she was convicted of James Goodyear’s murder, receiving a death sentence for his killing, a life sentence for Michael’s murder, and a 12-year sentence for attempting to kill Gentry. Although she was never convicted in Bobby Joe Morris’s death, the evidence against her was strong, and prosecutors chose not to pursue additional charges since she was already on death row. On March 30, 1998, Judy Buenoano was executed in the electric chair, becoming the first woman executed in Florida since 1848. No other women have been executed by electric chair in Florida since her case.

The Vital Role of Law Enforcement

Among the most infamous female serial killers in Florida are Aileen Wuornos, Christine Falling and Judy Buenoano, whose crimes shocked communities across the state. Thanks to the efforts of law enforcement, these women were ultimately stopped and held accountable for their actions. Their cases underscore the importance of thorough criminal investigations and the dedication of those who work to bring justice. They also serve as a reminder that danger isn’t defined by gender—and that it can sometimes come from the least expected places.

Founded in 1893, the Florida Sheriffs Association was established to unite Florida’s sheriffs in advancing public safety, shaping legislation and fostering collaboration among law enforcement agencies. Over the decades, FSA has grown into a powerful advocate for law enforcement, providing training, resources and support to ensure the protection and security of Florida’s communities.

FSA supports law enforcement with statewide initiatives such as the Cold Case Advisory Commission (CCAC) and the Cold Case Florida Podcast, which spotlight unsolved crimes and encourage public involvement in seeking justice for victims and their families. These efforts provide a platform for citizens to collaborate with local law enforcement in solving cases. Learn more at flsheriffs.org and stay connected with Florida’s law enforcement community.