Where Is Aileen Wuornos' Girlfriend Now? What to Know About Tyria Moore (and How She Convinced the Serial Killer to Confess) By Caroline Blair

Although Aileen Wuornos had an allegedly difficult upbringing, she found a trusted companion and girlfriend, Tyria Moore, in adulthood.

Wuornos was a serial killer who confessed to killing seven men in Florida from 1989 to 1990 and was later sentenced to death for her crimes, per the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. At the time of her murder spree, she was a sex worker in Florida.

She was not arrested for the murders until her girlfriend and closest confidante, Moore, urged her to confess. During her phone call confession to Moore, Wuornos claimed that she was admitting to the murders to protect her.

Wuornos later stood trial and alleged that she was acting in self-defense, per the Associated Press. However, Moore testified on behalf of the prosecution and was a key witness in their effort to convict Wuornos. The killer was subsequently found guilty of six murders and received six death sentences.

Wuornos spent a decade on death row before being executed by lethal injection on Oct. 9, 2002. Her crime spree and her relationship with Moore have since been shared in the October 2025 Netflix documentary Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers.

Although Moore has kept a low-profile life since the 1992 trial, she played a major role in convicting her ex-girlfriend.

Here’s everything to know about where Aileen Wuornos’ ex-girlfriend, Tyria Moore, is now and how she was involved in the serial killer’s life and trial.

Who is Tyria Moore?

Tyria Moore was in her mid-20s and working as a motel maid in Florida when she met Wuornos. It was 1986, and the killer was 30 years old at the time, according to Joseph Reynolds’ book Dead Ends.

Moore was raised in Cadiz, Ohio, by a middle-class family, per a 1991 report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Prior to meeting Wuornos, Moore lived with friends.

How did Moore meet Wuornos?

Moore and Wuornos met at a gay bar called Zodiac in South Daytona, Fla., in 1986, per the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Wuornos, who allegedly had an abusive childhood, had moved from Michigan to Florida for a marriage with a man who was 50 years older than her, according to the Los Angeles Times.

When she met Moore, Wuornos’ marriage had been annulled after one month, and she had taken to working as a prostitute. During their meeting at Zodiac, the two quickly hit it off and moved in together. Wuornos later described Moore as “the love of my life,” per the publication.

Moore also discussed their relationship and told police, per the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “We became lovers, and it later turned into a sister-like relationship.”

What was Moore’s relationship with Wuornos?

Although they fell in love, the couple reportedly began struggling with finances in their new relationship dynamic. Moore quit her job as a motel maid, while Wuornos supported them with her earnings from sex work. They moved from town to town and stayed in various trailers and motels, but Wuornos was unable to provide for both of them.

“The only reason I hustled so hard all those years was to support her,” Wuornos said of Moore to police, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I did what I had to do to pay the bills, because I didn’t have another choice: I’d got warrants out for my arrest.”

Wuornos added, “The problem was I wasn’t supporting her as richly as she wanted. She always wanted a brand-new car or a rented one. She wanted clothes, she wanted an apartment with plush furniture. ‘I’ve got to have my things,’ she would say. I brought home about $300 every two weeks, but it wears you out, constantly talking to all those men, staying up.”

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Was Moore involved in any of Wuornos’ crimes?

Wuornos committed her first known murder while she was still in a relationship with Moore in November 1989. She was eventually convicted of fatally shooting 51-year-old electronics shop owner Richard Mallory after he picked her up in Clearwater, Fla., according to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney.

Shortly after Wuornos killed Mallory, she allegedly confided in Moore about her first murder. Moore claimed that she didn’t engage in the conversation and refused to discuss the topic, per the Los Angeles Times.

However, Wuornos went on to kill six more of her alleged clients, and Moore began to get suspicious. She ended her relationship with Wuornos and moved back home with her parents. By late 1990, police suspected Wuornos of the murders and tracked down Moore to help convince Wuornos to confess.

In an unseen jailhouse tape shown in Netflix’s Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, Wuornos said of Moore, “I loved her so bad. [She’s the] only reason I carried that darn gun. I wanted to make sure that I got home alive—so I’d be another day breathing with her.”

Moore has since denied any involvement in the crimes and was never charged in relation to Wuornos’ murders.

How did Moore get Wuornos to confess to her crimes?

Police began to hone in on Wuornos after her palm print was found in her fourth victim, Peter Siems’, car in June 1990. Eyewitnesses also told authorities that they recalled seeing two women, one whom matched Wuornos’ description, driving his car.

However, Siems’ body was never found, so authorities needed to find another way to arrest Wuornos for his and several others’ deaths. In January 1991, Wuornos was arrested for an outstanding warrant in Harbor Oaks, Fla., while they worked on persuading Moore to get her girlfriend to confess in exchange for her immunity.

Shortly after Wuornos was put behind bars, she called Moore from the prison, who told her the police were “coming after me.” On Jan. 16, 1991, Wuornos told Moore the truth to protect her and admitted to killing seven men.

“I’m not gonna let you go to jail. Ty, I love you. If I have to confess everything just to keep you from getting in trouble, I will,” Wuornos said in the recorded phone call.

Why did Moore testify against Wuornos?

Moore ultimately became the key witness in Wuornos’ 1992 trial for the murder of Mallory. During her testimony, she recounted the night that Wuornos came home from her first murder and confessed to her grisly crime.

“I didn’t believe it,” Moore said at the time, according to United Press International. “I know I didn’t like to hear about her work (prostitution). So I’m sure I didn’t want to hear something like that.”

Although Wuornos claimed in her separate testimony that she killed Mallory out of self-defense after he raped her, Moore claimed that Wuornos never told her about the alleged assault.

“She didn’t appear to be hurt or upset in any way,” Moore alleged.

Moore further said that she was “scared” of Wuornos after she saw a wanted poster of her girlfriend and moved back to Ohio. She explained that she betrayed Wuornos’ trust by getting a confession out of her because she wanted people to know she had “nothing to do” with the murders.

Where is Tyria Moore now?

After Moore testified against Wuornos in 1992, she has mostly stayed out of the public eye. In August of that year, Dateline released a special two-part episode titled “Damsel of Death,” in which they interviewed both Moore and Wuornos.

“She was a great person and I did fall in love,” Moore said at the time.

However, since then, she hasn’t discussed the case in any interviews and has not made a public appearance. Although some outlets reported that she had signed a media deal to tell her story, she has not participated in any projects, including the 2003 film Monster, in which Christina Ricci played a fictional version of her.

While Moore has led a private life, her story was retold in the 2025 Netflix documentary, Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers.