Who was Tyria Moore? All about Aileen Wuornos’ ex-girlfriend amid documentary release 

A brand-new Netflix documentary based on the late American serial killer Aileen Wuornos was released in October 2025, titled Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers.

It touches upon the seven murders committed by Wuornos across Florida between 1989 and 1990 and how she was later arrested and executed by the authorities with the help of her ex-girlfriend and confidant, Tyria Moore.

Tyria Moore, 63, met the 30-year-old serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 1986 when she was working as a motel maid in Florida. The pair was together until 1990, according to Joseph Reynolds’ book, Dead Ends, and People Magazine.

Since then, Moore has spent a life away from the spotlight and reportedly entered the witness protection program, following her extensive testimony at Aileen Wuornos’ trial. According to her Facebook profile, she is now married to Joyce Karchner and owns a dog.

---

Everything you need to know about Tyria Moore amid the new Netflix documentary on Aileen Wuornos

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Tyria Moore was born in August 1962 in Florida and grew up in Cadiz, Ohio, in a working-class family. She was 24 when she first met Michigan native Aileen Wuornos, who was 6 years older. They crossed paths at a local gay bar called Zodiac in Daytona Beach, Florida and soon began dating.

At the time, Aileen had just come out of a marriage with a man who was five decades older than her, according to the LA Times. Eventually, the pair moved in together but faced financial troubles as Moore quit her job as a motel maid, while Wuornos was trying to make ends meet by working as a prostitute.

Reportedly, they often moved from one town to another in search of work, food, and shelter, and spent time in trailers and motels. In July 1987, the pair had a run-in with the law after an assault and battery incident at a bar. At the time, they allegedly robbed people and stores and later sold off the stolen items at pawnshops across the state.

According to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney, Aileen Wuornos allegedly confided in Tyria Moore after committing her first known murder of her client and electronics shop owner Richard Mallory, 51, in Clearwater, Florida, in November 1989.

In the next two years, the now-deceased serial killer fatally shot six other clients. Moore suspected foul play and ended her romance with Wuornos and moved back with her parents in Pennsylvania, according to the LA Times. In late 1990, the authorities tracked down Tyria, and she entered a deal to help convince Aileen Wuornos to confess to the crimes.

In January 1991, the serial killer was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant at The Last Resort Bar in Harbor Oaks, Florida, while Tyria Moore agreed to help law enforcement in exchange for immunity.

Later that month, during a recorded prison call with Moore, Aileen Wuornos confessed to killing seven men, seemingly to protect her ex-girlfriend from “getting into trouble.”

Tyria later became the prosecution’s key witness and testified at Aileen’s 1992 trial. She mentioned on the stands being “scared” of Wuornos and convincing her to confess to prove that she had “nothing to do” with the killings. Meanwhile, the defendant claimed she acted in self-defence, as per Associated Press reports.

According to People Magazine, Moore was never arrested or charged with any of Wuornos’ crimes and maintained her innocence throughout. At the end of her trial, Aileen Wuornos was convicted of fatally shooting six men and was put on death row. She was executed a decade later by lethal injection in October 2002.

During an August 1992 interview with Dateline, Tyria Moore mentioned that her convicted ex-girlfriend was a “great person” with whom she “fell in love.” Her comment was later included in the two-part episode of the show titled Damsel of Death.

Speaking to the police and later quoted by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Tyria Moore described her relationship with Aileen Wuornos as lovers turned sisters.

Meanwhile, the serial killer called Moore “the love of my life” and claimed that she “hustled” to “support” her girlfriend, pay the bills, and keep up with Moore’s luxurious lifestyle.

In a never-before-seen clip shown on Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, Wuornos was heard saying that she loved Moore “so bad” and carried a firearm with her to make sure that she “got home alive” to have another day “breathing with her.”

However, Tyria Moore has maintained a low profile over the years. She hadn’t been involved in the 2003 movie Monsters revolving around Aileen Wuornos’ crimes, nor did she appear in the latest Netflix documentary.

Moore has been married to Joyce Karchner since 2016. Karchner is a Columbia-Montour Area Vocational-Technical School graduate and has been retired since August 2019, according to her social media. The couple has a dog named Lazer and are based in Pennsylvania.