The Case of Walter Jeno Antonio

Walter Jeno Antonio, a 62-year-old trucker, security guard and reserve police officer, disappeared in Florida in November 1990. His body was discovered several days later near a remote logging road in Dixie County after he had been shot multiple times. Aileen Wuornos later confessed to Antonio's murder, the last of the seven known killings attributed to her.

Walter Jeno Antonio was a 62-year-old Florida man who had worked in several occupations, including as a truck driver and security guard. He had also served as a reserve police officer. On 19 November 1990, Antonio encountered Aileen Wuornos while travelling in Florida. By this stage, Wuornos had been killing men she encountered along Florida's highways for almost a year. The precise circumstances of Antonio's final encounter with Wuornos remain unclear. Wuornos later admitted shooting him but, as with the other killings, gave varying accounts regarding her reasons for doing so. Throughout the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, Wuornos maintained at different times that the men she killed had assaulted, threatened or attempted to sexually assault her. Prosecutors rejected her broader claims of self-defence and argued that robbery was a central motive for the murders. After killing Antonio, Wuornos took his vehicle and personal property and left his body in an isolated area.

Antonio's body was discovered on 23 November 1990 near a remote logging road in Dixie County, Florida. He had been shot multiple times with a .22-calibre firearm. As with several of Wuornos's previous victims, Antonio's body had been abandoned away from populated areas while his vehicle and possessions were taken. His car was subsequently discovered elsewhere in Florida. The circumstances surrounding Antonio's death closely resembled the pattern investigators were already attempting to connect across several counties: male motorists shot with a .22-calibre weapon, bodies abandoned in isolated locations and vehicles or personal property stolen.

By late 1990, law enforcement agencies across Florida were increasingly aware that several murders and disappearances might be connected. Investigators compared ballistic evidence, stolen property, vehicle recoveries and witness accounts from the different cases. A crucial development had occurred following the disappearance of Peter Siems. His vehicle was involved in an accident near Orange Springs, and witnesses saw two women leaving the car. Investigators later identified those women as Aileen Wuornos and Tyria Moore, while a palm print recovered from the vehicle was matched to Wuornos. Police also traced property belonging to several victims through pawn shops. Wuornos had provided identification and left fingerprints while disposing of some of the stolen items. By January 1991, authorities had identified Wuornos as their principal suspect. She was arrested on 9 January 1991 at The Last Resort, a bar in Volusia County. Tyria Moore subsequently agreed to cooperate with investigators and participated in recorded telephone conversations with Wuornos. Believing Moore could face prosecution for the crimes, Wuornos began confessing to the murders and attempted to take responsibility herself. She admitted killing Walter Antonio and six other men.

After being convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Richard Mallory, Wuornos began resolving the remaining murder charges through guilty or no-contest pleas. Wuornos subsequently pleaded guilty to Walter Antonio's murder and received another death sentence. In total, she received six death sentences for six of the seven known killings attributed to her. She was not prosecuted for the presumed murder of Peter Siems because his remains were never recovered. Wuornos spent more than a decade on Florida's death row. During her final years, she abandoned further attempts to prevent her execution and repeatedly stated that she wanted the sentence carried out. Aileen Wuornos was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on 9 October 2002