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Hey, out there in KP LAD. This is Julie. Candice is a little bit under the weather this week, so we weren't able to record.

But we're going to give you a special encore presentation of Eileen Wernos.

Don't worry, Candice is on the mend, and we will be back to our regular programming next week.

A listener note, this episode contains adult content and is not suitable for everyone. Please be advised.

When I was in training at the FBI, one day we were having a lecture about serial killers, and I recall the instructor looked around the room and said there's no such thing as a female serial killer.

And I remember thinking, what? Half the population of the world and not a single one of them does some of the same things notorious male killers do.

So I bit my lip. I mean, you don't contradict an FBI instructor in class. But I would come to learn they were wrong.

There's a reason the instructor said that my training for profiling was in the 80s. The internet did not exist. Archive material wasn't easy to get to.

And female killers weren't making a big splash. Sure, there was the occasional black widow story in the news. A woman who would marry a guy, kill him, steal his money, do it again and again.

But that wasn't seen as the type of serial killer as defined by the FBI.

Years after my FBI instructor made that claim, I'd been hearing about a movie called Monster. A lot was made about the movie, especially about Charlize Theron, who won an Oscar for her performance.

I really like Charlize, and I like to watch movies on a Saturday night to relax. So I decided it was the perfect excuse to watch the movie.

I know it seems kind of odd that at a time to relax, I would choose a movie about a serial killer, but frankly, that's my interest.

I'm fascinated by why people behave the way they do. I think I also really wanted to see what was so mesmerizing about this woman that she inspired movies, documentaries and books.

She would later become known by the title of the film I was watching that night. The name of the movie, Monster, was clearly someone's opinion about who the killer was.

But I have to tell you, having seen the movie and done my own research on her background and her crimes, she didn't get there on her own.

She had a lot of things happen in her life that contributed without question to her becoming the so-called Monster.

Her real name was Eileen Warnos. I was of course familiar with her case, but the excessive media that surrounded her life and eventually her death was astounding.

The world could not get enough of her. What was so special about Eileen Warnos? What drove Eileen to Kill Seven Men?

Was it her horribly abusive and traumatic childhood? Or was she truly like the film said, a Monster?

The real word is back for another season exclusively on Amazon Music. We asked people to bring in three words of meaning and significance to their lives and we used that to springboard for conversation. And then at the end of the show, we asked them for a word that they'd be happy never to hear again.

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