CHRISTOPHER WILDER - THE BEAUTY QUEEN KILLER

Wilder was born in Australia. His father was an American naval officer and his mother an Australian. He almost died at birth, but recovered, only to almost drown in a swimming pool at age two. His childhood was fairly stable, but he did some window-peeking in early adolescence and got into trouble when he was seventeen. In 1962 or 1963, he pleaded guilty in the case of a gang-rape at a beach in Sydney and was put on probation, during which time he also received electroshock therapy. There is some evidence to suggest that this course of treatment only exacerbated his violent sexual tendencies. It is known that he had virtually memorized the text of the 1963 novel The Collector by John Fowles, Published in 1963, this story features a lonely entomologist who collects butterflies and who also captures and imprisons a pretty art student named Miranda. He keeps her in his basement. Seeing nothing wrong with what he has done, he treats her well, expecting that this will eventually win her love, and willingly gives her anything she wants, except her freedom. While she grows to need his attention, since he’s the only person she ever sees, she also views him as evil for his imprisonment of her. Nevertheless, she belongs to him, and this fantasy is not uncommon among sadists. Among those who hoped to create sexual slaves were Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered seventeen men; Leonard Lake and Charles Ng, who tortured and killed an unknown number of people, and others who actually imprisoned women for sex for long stretches of time but did not kill them. One woman was kept in a box for seven years. A copy of the novel was found among his possessions after his death, Therapists who had treated Wilder over a period of time knew that he loved this book and had practically memorized it. For him it had been the ultimate fantasy. In 1968, he married, but his wife left after only a week. Wilder immigrated to the United States in 1969. He lived in Boynton Beach, Florida in an upscale home on Mission Hill Road and made a small fortune in real estate while developing an interest in photography. Over the next few years, however, between about 1971 and 1975, he was in and out of court facing various charges related to sexual misconduct. He eventually raped a young woman he had lured into his truck on the pretense of photographing her for a modeling contract. This would become part of his modus operandi during his later rape and murder spree. Despite several convictions, Wilder was never jailed for any of these crimes. While back in Australia on a visit to his parents in 1982, Wilder was charged with sexual offenses against two 15-year-old girls whom he had forced to pose nude. His parents posted bail and he was allowed to return to Florida to await trial, but court delays prevented his case from being heard. The initial hearing date was finally set for April 1984, by which time he was dead. The first murder attributed to Wilder was that of Rosario Gonzalez, last seen on February 26, 1984 at the Miami Grand Prix, where she was employed as a model and where Wilder was racing in the IMSA GTU class in a Porsche 911. Soon after, on March 5, Wilder's former girlfriend, Miss Florida finalist Elizabeth Kenyon, went missing. Neither woman was ever found. Wilder was known to both of them, and police were able to link him to them after consulting a private investigator who had been hired by Kenyon's parents to discover information related to her disappearance. On 15 March, Wilder went on the run.

On March 18, he lured 21-year old Terry Ferguson away from a shopping center in Satellite Beach and murdered her, dumping her body at Canaveral Groves where it was discovered on March 23. His next victim was a 19-year old coed from Florida State University whom he abducted from a Tallahassee, Florida shopping mall and transported to Bainbridge, Georgia on 20th March. When she declined his offer to photograph her for a modeling agency, he assaulted her in the mall parking lot, wrapped her in a blanket and put her into the trunk of his car after binding her hands. In a motel room that night, he raped her then used a blow dyer and super glue to blind her and tortured her by applying copper wires to her feet and passing an electric current through them. When she tried to escape he threatened to kill her, and a fight ensued where she was beaten and bleeding. He fled after she locked herself in the bathroom and started pounding on the walls. Wilder fled in his car, taking all of her belongings with him. Finally she had to search for help by opening the door of the bathroom. Hotel guests and owners thought the incident was a case of domestic violence, and her screams for help were ignored. “It has been speculated,” says Michael Cartel, “that Wilder stopped short of killing [her] because he believed she was robotic enough to help him capture other victims.” The next day (March 21) he approached 24-year old Terry Walden in Beaumont, Texas about posing as a model. She turned him down but, on March 23, disappeared. Wilder transferred his stolen license plates to her Mercury Cougar and dumped her body in a canal, where she was found stabbed on March 26. That day, the body of 21-year old Suzanne Logan was found in Oklahoma City. She had disappeared the day before. While she had also been stabbed like Terry Walden, she had also been raped. Wilder then took 18-year old Sheryl Bonaventura captive in Colorado on March 29. They were seen together at a diner in Silverton where they told staff they were heading for Las Vegas. Bonaventura was shot and stabbed to death around March 31 in Utah but not found until May 5. Wilder also killed 17-year old Michelle Korfman, an aspiring model who disappeared from Las Vegas on April 1. She remained undiscovered until May 13.

Near Torrance, California, Wilder photographed 16-year old Tina Marie Risico before abducting her and driving her to El Centro where she was assaulted. Wilder apparently believed that Risico would be "robotic enough" to help him lure other victims, so he kept her alive and took her with him to Taos, New Mexico. Wilder had been on the FBI ten most wanted fugitives list now for some time and while he was now close to Mexico for some reason which has never been explained he and Risico now went to Gary, Indiana where she helped him abduct 16-year old Dawnette Wilt. Wilt was raped several times as Risico drove to New York. Near Rochester, he took Wilt into the woods and attempted to suffocate her before stabbing her twice and leaving her. Wilt survived, and told police Wilder was heading for Canada. In Victor, Risico persuaded 33-year old Beth Dodge to approach them. Wilder forced Dodge into his car and had Risico follow him in Dodge's Trans-Am. After a short drive, Wilder shot Dodge and dumped her in a gravel pit. He and Risico then drove the Trans Am to Logan Airport in Boston, where he bought a ticket to Los Angeles. On April 13, he attempted to abduct another young woman in Beverly, Massachusetts, but she managed to escape. While they judged him to be a classic serial killer, in retrospect there are many criminologists who classify him as a spree killer. Yet if he had killed the two women he had abducted in Florida and had continued in that pattern, without getting nervous and running, then he would be a serial killer. There was some evidence later that he might have killed several years before. He was compulsive about killing. It was a sexual addiction. He was a charming white male in his 30s, spurred by sexual fantasies and excited by a certain type of victim—in this case, beautiful young women who could be models. Hence, he was dubbed “The Beauty Queen Killer.” He was highly mobile, willing to drive long distances to keep doing what he was doing. James says “It is not unusual for a serial killer to drive between 100,000 and 200,000 miles in a year.” Wider's vehicle description was broadcast out to law enforcement officials. When Wilder stopped at a gas station in Colebrook, New Hampshire it was noticed by two New Hampshire state troopers, Leo Jellison and Wayne Fortier. When the troopers approached Wilder, he retreated to his car to arm himself with a .357 Magnum. Trooper Jellison grabbed Wilder from behind and subdued his arms. In the scuffle, Wilder fired into his own chest, but the bullet passed through his body into Jellison's. Wilder died and Jellison was seriously wounded, but recovered and returned to full duty. Wilder was cremated in Florida, leaving a personal estate worth almost $2 million. Along with the eight known victims he killed during February to April 1984, he has been linked to the murders and disappearances of many other women, including some whose remains were found around Florida in areas he was known to frequent. Australia's unsolved Wanda Beach Murders have also been linked to him. The bodies of Elizabeth Kenyon and Rosario Gonzalez have never been found.

To try to get a better sense of Wilder’s personality, people who knew him were interviewed. His business partner said that he spent a lot of time watching television, because he didn’t have much else to do, while others claimed that beautiful women went to his home in droves. He even had a girlfriend who could not believe the charges, although she recalled several strange incidents. Once Wilder had commanded her to leave his home, fearing he might hurt her, and another time, she had woken up to find him at the foot of her bed. He claimed he did not know how he had gotten there or why. Someone brought forward photographs that Wilder had left for developing, which included women he did not know and prepubescent children. He had told his girlfriend that his photography hobby was a sickness, but he had to do it. In Florida, the manager of a dating service offered a tape that Wilder had made in 1981. He talked a lot about himself on the tape and said that he wanted a long relationship but not marriage. He was seeking “depth and sincerity.” He also indicated that he preferred women in their early 20s. The FBI broadcast the tape to help women who were approached by him to see him for what he was. He could be anywhere, and any pretty woman was a potential victim. There were a lot of shopping malls around the country, and one thing they knew for sure was that he would not stop abducting and killing pretty girls until he was caught. Yet Wilder’s wretched tale did not end there. Six days after the autopsy, New Hampshire pathologist Robert Christie took a phone call from a man claiming to be from Harvard. According to Newton, this man said that Harvard wanted Wilder’s brain for study. He agreed, in the interest of science, but he wanted a formal written request. It never materialized, and when he phoned Harvard, no one there admitted to making any such call.