cover of episode The Beauty Queen Killer: 9 Days of Terror | Episode 4 : Before the Spree

The Beauty Queen Killer: 9 Days of Terror | Episode 4 : Before the Spree

2024/6/11
logo of podcast 20/20

20/20

Chapters

Before his infamous 1984 killing spree, Christopher Wilder had a long history of preying on young women. Wilder's criminal record began in Australia when he was a teenager, where he used his car to lure young girls and was accused of rape multiple times. Despite accusations and a psychologist's recommendation for long-term institutionalization, Wilder repeatedly escaped serious consequences, demonstrating a pattern of evading justice.

Shownotes Transcript

In this bonus episode, we look at Christopher Wilder’s prolific history of targeting women before the crime spree where he abducted Tina Risico. Three women Wilder pursued in 1982 and 1983 describe how he played on their dreams of becoming models, but pushed their boundaries and tried to control them. A journalist who pieced together Wilder’s long criminal history describes how he slipped through criminal justice systems in two countries over three decades.

The Beauty Queen Killer: 9 Days of Terror was produced by Ample Entertainment and 101, the producers of Yellowstone, for ABC News Studios.

The series is now streaming on Hulu.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices)