PORT ORANGE, Fla. (AP) - A framed photo of serial killer Aileen Wuornos sits on the bar at The Last Resort, the place where she had her last beer. Her photo is also on bottles of hot sauce and T-shirts sold there, while an airbrushed portrait lists the seven men she killed, along with her last words. At a nearby motel, guests often ask for the room where Wuornos stayed.
Almost 22 years after her arrest and more than 10 years since her execution, the hitchhiking prostitute depicted by Charlize Theron in the 2003 movie "Monster" continues to fascinate the public. Some sympathize with her, saying the abuse she suffered as a child and later as an adult made her snap. Others are captivated by the idea of a female serial killer. Some who stop in at The Last Resort simply want to see the bar from the movie.
Al Bulling, who's owned the tiny brick biker bar for 33 years and who appeared in "Monster," says he's simply honoring her last wishes. "She wanted to be remembered and keep the memory going," he said. "Well, we'll keep it going for her."
Michelle Forbes of New Orleans decided to visit The Last Resort after seeing the movie. "She was always a character that really fascinated me," said Forbes.
Forbes said the bar — covered inside and out with graffiti — "is not the kind of place I would go under most circumstances." She waited in her car until a friend joined her, but once inside, she listened to Bulling and a bartender tell stories about Wuornos for an hour.
"They were really happy to talk about it. They were really nice. They made me feel bad for cowering in the car!" Forbes said with a laugh, adding, "I do think they were trying to keep things in her spirit. I think they were honoring her, and not just making a spectacle."
Wuornos' life story is as lurid as her crimes. She was raped and abused growing up in Michigan. Her father committed suicide in prison and her mother abandoned her. She began selling sex at an early age and classmates shunned her. Her grandparents kicked her out at age 15 and she hitchhiked out of Michigan, eventually ending up in Florida, where she survived selling sex on the highways. She claimed she killed her first victim in self-defense after he raped her.
A burly bartender at The Last Resort who goes only by the name of Cannonball was working there the evening of Jan. 19, 1991 when Wuornos was arrested at the bar. Cannonball, who played himself in "Monster," has told the story countless times.
"I've been asked some of the stupidest questions," he said. "'Did she act like a serial killer?' Well hell, I don't know. I've never seen one. I don't know what they act like. And one guy asked me, 'Well, were you scared of her?' I ain't never been scared of nobody."
Wuornos wasn't a regular customer, just someone who came in now and then, probably while hitchhiking back to what was then called the Fairview Motel, where she shared a room with her girlfriend, Tyria Moore. Cannonball said he only knew her name because she introduced herself.
