Between 1989 and 1990, Eileen Wuornos posed as a hitchhiking prostitute and killed seven middle-aged male motorists. She left their bullet-ridden bodies along the highways of North Florida, all within a 12-month period.

Coming from a broken family, her dad was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a 7-year-old girl.  After spending time at a home for unwed mothers, she dropped out of school and turned to prostitution.

She was arrested in 1991 at a local biker bar she frequented, The Last Resort in Port Orange.

The homeless lesbian prostitute and serial killer would admit to the killings, but claimed she acted in self-defense.  She was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death, while she later pleaded guilty to three more of the murders and admitted she had killed for profit and not self-defense.

During her trial, Wuornos took the stand and said she “robbed” the men and killed them “‘as cold as ice’.  And I’d do it again too, I know I’d kill another person cause I’ve hated humans for a long time”

She was executed by lethal injection in 2002. After her execution, a film about her life was shot in Florida, featuring Charlize Theron as the notorious serial killer. The film depicted the grim and intense nature of her story.

When Theron was 16, her alcoholic father shot at her and her mother. In response, her mother used her own handgun to shoot and kill him. This happened in South Africa and was legally ruled as self-defense.

Being one of the most beautiful women in the world, Theron gained 30 pounds for the role by doing things like eating Krispy Kreme donuts.  With a combination of rage and despair with helpful make-up artists, she captured the mood swings and killer looks of a caged animal.

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing Wuornos on February 29th, 2004, Wuornos’ birthday.

The Last Resort bar sells t-shirts saying “world-famous home of ice cold beer and Killer Women”.

Shot in just 28 days with an $8 million budget, Monster would gross $58 million worldwide

All this happened down along Route 1 in Florida.

Read my other posts about Flordia, films, and diners.