Tyria Moore was Aileen Wuornos’s longtime girlfriend and the prosecution’s key cooperating witness in the serial killer case against her. Moore lived with Wuornos throughout the 1989–1990 killings in Florida, received immunity from prosecution, helped investigators obtain Wuornos’s confession through recorded jailhouse phone calls, and testified against her at the 1992 murder trial. She has lived privately ever since.
How Moore Met Wuornos
Moore grew up in a middle-class family in Cadiz, Ohio, and later moved to Florida, where she worked as a motel maid.1People. Where Is Aileen Wuornos’ Girlfriend Now In 1986, in her mid-twenties, she met Wuornos at a gay bar called the Zodiac in South Daytona.2Britannica. What Happened to Aileen Wuornos’s Girlfriend The two became a couple and moved through a succession of motels and trailers across Central Florida.3Entertainment Weekly. Where Is Tyria Moore Now
Moore eventually stopped working, and Wuornos supported them through sex work on Central Florida highways.2Britannica. What Happened to Aileen Wuornos’s Girlfriend Money was tight. Wuornos later said she struggled to support Moore “as richly as she wanted,” pointing to Moore’s requests for rented cars, clothes, and nicer apartments. Moore later described the relationship as one that began as a romance and became “sister-like,” while Wuornos called her the “love of my life” and her “wife.”3Entertainment Weekly. Where Is Tyria Moore Now
What Moore Knew About the Killings
Between late 1989 and late 1990, Wuornos killed seven middle-aged men she met while hitchhiking or working along Florida highways, robbing them and abandoning their vehicles.4Capital Punishment in Context. Aileen Wuornos Moore and Wuornos were living together in a Volusia County motel the whole time.
According to Wuornos’s statements to police, she returned home on December 1, 1989, after killing her first victim, Richard Mallory, and told Moore she had shot a man that morning. She described sorting through Mallory’s belongings and abandoning his car near Ormond Beach.5Florida Courts. Wuornos v. State, Answer Brief Wuornos also acknowledged she had given Moore “inconsistent stories” — in one version claiming she had simply found a dead body in the woods, in another admitting the killing.
How much Moore actually knew has been argued ever since. Moore testified that when Wuornos first mentioned the Mallory killing, she “didn’t believe it,” and said she generally avoided hearing about Wuornos’s sex work and “didn’t want to hear something like that.”1People. Where Is Aileen Wuornos’ Girlfriend Now One account described her as having “become suspicious — if not fully aware — of Wuornos’s activities” by 1990.4Capital Punishment in Context. Aileen Wuornos Witnesses identified both Moore and Wuornos as the two women seen leaving victim Peter Siems’s car in Orange Springs, Florida, on July 4, 1990; a palm print inside the car matched Wuornos, and Siems’s body was never recovered.5Florida Courts. Wuornos v. State, Answer Brief One account also states Moore and Wuornos together “sold stolen items at Florida pawnshops.” Moore was never charged with any crime.
The Immunity Deal and the Recorded Phone Calls
By late 1990, investigators had publicized the theory that two women were responsible for the string of highway killings. Moore saw the reports, became frightened, broke off the relationship, and left for Ohio.1People. Where Is Aileen Wuornos’ Girlfriend Now Florida officers tracked her down in Pennsylvania, and she agreed to return to Florida to “clear herself of any wrongdoing.”5Florida Courts. Wuornos v. State, Answer Brief She received immunity from prosecution in exchange for cooperating.2Britannica. What Happened to Aileen Wuornos’s Girlfriend
Wuornos had been arrested on January 9, 1991, on an outstanding warrant, and investigators could not get her to confess. Moore returned to Florida on January 11 and stayed at a Daytona Beach motel at police expense. At investigators’ direction, she wrote a letter to Wuornos at the Volusia County Jail asking her to call collect. Between January 14 and January 16, police recorded eleven phone conversations between the two.6Orlando Sentinel. Wuornos Calls to Lover: Confession at Stake
On the calls, Moore said she feared going to jail for crimes she had not committed and spoke of suicide. “I’m not gonna go to jail for something that you did,” she told Wuornos. “My family’s a nervous wreck, my mom has been calling me all the time.” Wuornos answered: “I love you. If I have to confess everything just to keep you from getting in trouble, I will.” Moore replied, “Well, do it now. Get it over with.”7People. The Phone Call That Broke Aileen Wuornos Wuornos asked more than once whether police were listening; Moore denied it each time.6Orlando Sentinel. Wuornos Calls to Lover: Confession at Stake
Within hours of the final call on January 16, Wuornos gave a formal taped confession to a Volusia County sheriff’s investigator. Moore also showed police where to find the murder weapon, a .22-caliber revolver Wuornos had thrown into Rose Bay.5Florida Courts. Wuornos v. State, Answer Brief Wuornos’s lawyers later moved to suppress the confession, arguing Moore had acted as a police agent. The confession was admitted.
Moore’s Trial Testimony
Moore testified on January 16, 1992, at Wuornos’s trial for the first-degree murder of Richard Mallory, held in DeLand, Florida, before Circuit Judge Uriel Blount Jr. Her roughly 75 minutes on the stand directly undercut the defense claim that Wuornos had killed Mallory in self-defense after being raped. Moore told the jury that when Wuornos came home on December 1, 1989, and said she had killed a man, she never said the victim had hurt or assaulted her, and she did not appear injured, upset, or distressed.8Orlando Sentinel. Ex-Lover Paints Picture of Cold-Hearted Killer
Moore acknowledged she had cooperated to “clear her name” and admitted lying to Wuornos during the eleven recorded calls. Under cross-examination, she confirmed it was possible she had discussed receiving a $50,000 cut from movie and book deals tied to the case.8Orlando Sentinel. Ex-Lover Paints Picture of Cold-Hearted Killer
On January 27, 1992, the jury found Wuornos guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery with a firearm, and three days later unanimously recommended death.9UPI. Jury Recommends Death for Aileen Wuornos Judge Blount imposed the death sentence.10Los Angeles Times. Wuornos Sentenced to Death Wuornos later pleaded no contest or guilty to five more murders and received six death sentences in total. She was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002, and made no mention of Moore in her final statement.11Capital Punishment in Context. Wuornos v. State – Antonio Case
Media Deals and the Film Monster
After the trial, it emerged that Moore had entered into several book and movie deals. Three detectives on the case made similar arrangements, saying the money would go to a “victims fund,” which drew criticism from other officers.11Capital Punishment in Context. Wuornos v. State – Antonio Case The specific terms Moore received have not been publicly disclosed.
In the 2003 film Monster, Moore appears as a fictional character named “Selby Wall,” played by Christina Ricci opposite Charlize Theron’s Wuornos. The movie portrayed Selby as a tentative young woman in a brief romance, which departed sharply from the facts: Moore and Wuornos were together for roughly four and a half years, and Moore was openly gay rather than the sheltered figure the film depicted.12People. What Monster Got Right and Wrong About Aileen Wuornos Moore did not participate in or have input on the film.1People. Where Is Aileen Wuornos’ Girlfriend Now
Where Tyria Moore Is Now
Moore’s only known public interview after the trial was an August 1992 episode of Dateline titled “Damsel of Death,” in which she said of Wuornos, “She was a great person and I did fall in love.”13AOL. Where Is Aileen Wuornos’ Girlfriend Now She has not spoken publicly about the case since.1People. Where Is Aileen Wuornos’ Girlfriend Now
Moore reportedly lives a quiet, private life, with some accounts placing her in Pennsylvania.14Radio Times. Where Is Tyria Moore Now Unconfirmed reports have suggested she may have entered a witness protection program. She did not take part in the 2025 Netflix documentary Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, directed by Emily Turner, though the film uses archival footage of her trial testimony and the recorded phone calls. Turner said Moore “doesn’t want to be a part of telling this story.”15Netflix Tudum. Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers Ending Explained