301. The Casting Call Killer - The Murder of Kristi Johnson

- You're listening to an ONO media podcast. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. - And I'm Garrett Moreland. - And he's the husband. - I'm the husband. Welcome back, happy holidays, Christmas. So we are in our pajamas, and yeah, it's about it. Hope everyone had a good holiday. We just kind of hung out at home. Yeah, it's about all we did, huh? We saw some family, chilled, Daisy got some toys. - Did you use your toys? - Can't get it too excited. Hope everyone's doing good. I guess New Year's just around the corner as well. 2026, here we come. Can't even keep track anymore, man. - What's your resolution? - Biggest bagel shop in the world. - Look at one. - Thanks. - What's yours? - I don't believe in resolutions too much pressure. - Okay, yeah, who needs goals in life, right? - Yeah. - That is flow. - Yeah, uh-huh, yep. For my 10 seconds, we have a mouse, but it might be the smartest mouse ever. We have at least 67 traps in our house, and the mouse somehow has avoided every single one. - I feel like we talk about it so much, everyone's gonna think our house is like infested. - No, it's the same mouse that loves us. Honestly, he hasn't gotten into any foods. I don't know how he's surviving. Like, he hasn't really been in peace. - No, but we have so many traps out. - Well, you guys understand, we, it doesn't make sense at this point. What's that movie, Mouse Trap? - Yeah. - It's like that movie, but I don't care enough because, to get him because he's done no harm yet. - I'm just like, go to the garage. - I don't understand. I don't understand how he's alive. - Here, it's on him last night. He's low-key cute. - I saw him last night, he's kind of cute. So I just said, "Hey, what's up, man?" Then he ran off, he's a little scared. - Yeah. - Okay, so we got a little mouse. I don't know how long it's gonna be here for. He's been here for probably like a year now. That even possible. Do mice even live that long? - I know everyone is listening to this right now being like, "I can't believe they were just letting a mouse roam around their house." - No, we're not. - We have had pest control out. We have set, they're the ones who set up all the traps. They went in the attic, they looked in the walls. They were trying to figure out where this little guy's living. - You don't understand, like, when I say he's avoided the traps he knows. I hid you not, he knows that these are all traps. So he's not, he knows. - There's at least eight and there was four in the place you saw him. - He's not talking about mice, she's talking about traps. - Oh yeah, yeah, there's like eight outside the door and four inside the door of the place you saw him. - Yeah, I think I've given up. I think the less I try, the better it'll get. He doesn't bother me though. He stays out of our room. He just chills in his little spot. - We'll calm Freddy for now. We'll keep you updated on Freddy. And on that note, let's hop into today's case. - Our sources for this episode are nbcnews.com, sportskida.com, thecinomaholic.com, soapcentral.com, happyscrab.com, findagrave.com, woodtv.com, oxygen, the sun.com, and date line. Now at one point or another, most of us have had a dream that we have wanted to chase. Something that excited us so much that we would have done anything to make it happen. It's that ambition, that desire that motivates us. It encourages us to step out of our comfort zone, try new things, move to new places, meet new people. But following a dream can feel a lot like being in love. It can be blinding, addictive, and it can make us vulnerable, especially in a town where everyone is sort of going after the same thing, like loss angeles. For decades, Hollywood has been a sea of opportunity for aspiring actors, filmmakers, models. But like any big sea, loss angeles has its sharks. There's always someone circling, watching, waiting to see who will take the bait. And when the opportunity seems right, some of those predators will strike. Not just killing a victim's dreams, but maybe even taking their entire future away too. So obviously February of 2003 in the city of Los Angeles. This is where 21-year-old Christy Johnson is living and following her dreams, just like I said in the intro. Christy graduated from high school in Michigan in 1999, but she wasn't born there. She was actually originally from California, but moved to Sagittuck, Michigan as a kid. She was a big high school basketball star. She loved sailing on the lakes near her home. She had a very close-knit group of friends from high school and after graduating, Christy gave college a shot. But after a year, she felt it was best for her to just dive right into what she had always wanted to do. And that was to pursue her goal of getting into the film industry. So in a way, moving to Los Angeles in the early 2000s was like a homecoming for Christy. She was back in California and she felt like she belonged in LA. While she wasn't totally sure what she wanted to do in the industry, she was considering something behind the scenes, like maybe producing or directing, but Christy particularly had an interest in being a makeup artist. Though Christy did have a face that was perfect for being in front of the camera, too. Now on Saturday, February 15th, 2003, Christy, who was in LA, called her mom Terry and told her that she was headed to the sentry city mall to do some shopping. Her mother told her to pick out whatever she wanted as she was gonna treat her to a Valentine's Day present. And surely, Terry was expecting to get a call on Sunday to hear exactly what Christy had bought herself. But that afternoon, the phone didn't ring at Terry's home. Same was to be said on Monday, February 17th. Two days with no word from Christy, her daughter was a lot. She and her mom caught up almost daily. And now, Christy wasn't answering her cell phone at all. So when Terry calls around and learns that Christy back in LA also missed work on Monday, the 17th, she is very worried. This isn't like Christy at all, which is why Terry ends up calling the Santa Monica police that same day. - Leave in the comments how long it would take you to call the police. - For who? - If you were a parent and your kid wasn't answering, but graduated living on their own as an adult. - Correct, yes. Not like a six-year-old like an adult living on their own, like at what point would you call the police? For me, I'd probably wait like a week, which is really bad, 'cause I would just assume everything is probably fine. Paying how long would you wait? - I don't know, I don't have kids. - Okay, anyways, leave in the comments. Curious to see you. - Let me think if it is Daisy. - What do you guys got going on? - I would call the same day. - Okay, yeah. - Two missed calls, cops. - Okay, okay. - So, police take Terry's report seriously, writing down Christie's description, tall, blonde hair, a Habiscus tattoo on her lower back. And they also recommend Terry call around to hospitals in LA to see if Christie's been admitted somewhere. And when the officers hang up with Terry, they get a bad feeling about her case. They have seen women like Christie go missing before, and it doesn't always have a happy Hollywood ending. Now, meanwhile, Terry calls Christie's father back in Michigan who she is now separated from. And she tells him, "Hey, Christie's missing, I've called the police." And at first, Christie's dad Kirk thinks maybe she just went down to Mexico for a few days and didn't mention it to them. Maybe she lost her phone, just decided to skip out on work for the day to go and get it replaced. But when the police go and talk to Christie's roommate at this same time, roommate's name is Carrie, chances of Christie just losing her phone or being in Mexico look less and less likely. Because Carrie, the roommate, says that Christie did go to the mall on Saturday afternoon, February 15th. And when she came back from a shopping trip, she had some exciting news to share. Christie said while at the mall, she had met someone there, a producer who was scouting women for a new James Bond movie. And before you're like, this is so made up, this happens. Like, producers literally go into public places and look for people. - I don't believe it. - They do. - They literally do. - I think it's just in the movies. - No. - I think 2025 or 2023 away. And maybe. - Euphoria, multiple actors found on the streets. - Oh, they weren't actors before? - No. - Okay. I'll look it up after this. (laughs) - I don't know if you should quote me on that. - Okay. - It might be rumor. - That's funny. - So she tells her roommate, yeah, like the new James Bond movie, they were looking for a fresh face, someone completely unknown and Christie apparently had the perfect look for the part. The producer gave Christie a time and a location for later that afternoon. Told her it would help her chances if she showed up in character. That she needed to wear a man's white dress shirt, a short mini skirt and a pair of stilettos. Very James Bond. bond. The producer said they would also give her a neck tie to wear when she arrived at the official audition. Now, Christie had never really imagined herself being on screen before, like I said, a lot of her dreams were more on offscreen roles. But she also didn't know what she really wanted to do for sure in the entertainment industry yet. So it seemed like a good opportunity a way to get her foot in the door. And even better, if Christie landed the part, it would mean a six-figure payday, not to mention fame. I mean, you're an actress in the new James Bond movie. So according to Christie's roommate, Carrie, Christie gets into her car a white Miata sometime before 5.30 pm that same day. She's heading for an audition in Beverly Hills. But Carrie said that after this, Christie didn't return home. Now again, Carrie thinks that it's kind of normal for a producer to scout for talent, especially at the Century City Mall, which was close to where a lot of Hollywood offices and agencies were headquartered. People did seem to be looking for new faces. Maybe it's normal then. Plus, it is 2003, a time before social media really took hold. So doing it out in the wild seems even less weird back then. What? Social media is pretty big in 2023, but 2003. Okay. This changes so much. You thought we were in 2023 this whole time? I remember in 2023. That's how I was like, this is, this is, nah. There's no way this is happening. 2003. Okay. Thank you for clarifying for anyone else. We're in 2003. If you're not paying attention. Okay. Fast forward to the investigation. They're talking to Carrie and there's one big problem. When police call around town, Hollywood, asking if anyone knows of a new James Bond movie that's in the works. There's an audition. They can't get a confirmation. So they figure the next step is to go to the mall and see if they can identify this producer that Christie spoke to. So investigators speak with security at the mall and they end up watching hours of footage hoping to spot. Christie, hopefully her with this mysterious producer. And while they do find a tape of her shopping alone, she's never seen with or speaking to anyone else on those tapes. So the security footage lead doesn't really lead them anywhere, which is when detectives decide to look into Christie's cell phone records. All they know right now is that Christie supposedly met a male producer at the mall and that she was scheduled to have an audition later that day around 530 pm somewhere in the Beverly Hills area. But what's interesting is Christie's last phone call went out from her cell phone at 532 pm and she wasn't in Beverly Hills when she made that call. She was in the Laurel Canyon area about seven miles northeast of Beverly Hills. And then after this, her cell activity stopped. And ever since then, there had been no withdrawals on her bank account either. So cell phone activity dropped, bank account dropped, all signs obviously now point to a dangerous situation. So after this, the Johnson family decides to go to the media for help. And I've said this before in cases, but I can't imagine having your child go missing in a different state or a different country and then trying to like head the search for them. Do you go to LA? That would be so hard. Like you're just not that is even more complicated. So her family wants to get the word out about Christie's case. See if anyone else had, you know, encountered this mystery producer. So five days after Christie's last scene, she's now been missing for five days. Her family finally gets a hit. A woman named Susan Murphy, season article in the Los Angeles Times. And she thinks this sounds an awful lot like an experience she had just experienced. So just like Christie, Susan had been shopping at the Century City Mall a week or two before this when a man approached her claiming to be the director of photography for a new James Bond film. According to Susan, he told her quote, we've been casting all day and you are the look we want. You're perfect. He asked her if she would be interested in auditioning to become the next James Bond girl and that she would be paid over $100,000 if she got the part. Honestly, in 2003. Yeah, before social media, this probably would have intrigued a lot of people. Like if someone came up to you and said that, you don't think that would be intriguing now. No, no, I think because of social media being so president, how much we know now, I think it would be you'd be too weary to be like, there's no way. And then you go online, you say, what's your name? You look their name up on Google. You'd be like, they don't have a LinkedIn present, you know, it would just be so much easier to instantly within minutes, like fact check it. So according to Susan, this mystery producer then arranged for her to come to his office in the Beverly Hills area. And the same man asked her to bring a white button down shirt, a short black mini skirt and stilettos. This is obviously the exact same costume Christy told her roommate that she had to bring to the audition. So at this point, when police hear about Susan's account, they have no question that Susan was approached probably by the same man or someone working with the man that Christy met. But Susan's story also doesn't end there. Susan did follow through on the audition requests like Christy had, which was set for the following day. Only she brought her boyfriend along to the supposed cast call. And when the two arrived at the address, this man gave them, Susan was worried because it looked like an abandoned building. Still, she got out, she looked around while her boyfriend sat in the car and watched. Now eventually, she spotted the man, but she's now feeling uneasy. Like she's just not sure. And so before she goes with him, she's like, hey, can you give me some ID? And his response was, oh, well, I left it back on set. And that is when Susan is like, no, I don't like, I don't believe you. I don't think this is real. And she motions for her boyfriend to get out of the car. And as soon as he steps out and the producer sees him, he begins to tell Susan you weren't the right fit for the part anyways. And literally turns around and ran away like a grand away. So thankfully, Susan and her boyfriend get a good description of the guy. He's a white male with short curly hair who told them his name was Victor Thomas, which this is like an amazing lead for police to have also very fake name. So after hearing about Susan's account, they decide to go back to the security tapes from Central City Mall, this time around looking at the time frame that Susan was there. So not Christie, who's currently missing, but Susan, who is saying she had this run in with a guy. They're hoping they can catch this on camera to validate her story and they find something. A man fitting the description Susan gave was spotted trailing her around the mall until he finally approached her and introduced himself. Now unfortunately, the name Victor Thomas doesn't turn up any specific results on its own. But Susan also gives a detailed description of the guy to a sketch artist, which is then released to the public. However, Susan's story doesn't exactly offer Christie's family hope. This man was clearly a predator, someone who would have likely gone after Susan had her boyfriend not intervene that day. But was he a murderer? This part's obviously unclear and things are not looking up on February 24th, nine days later, when there is a new break in the case. At this point, investigators had already listed a below, a be on the lookout for Christie's white Miata, which she took to get to the audition. So that afternoon, the 24th, police get a hit when someone claimed Christie's car had been valed at the St. Regis Hotel right next to the century city mall. All the valed attendant could offer was that the car had been dropped off by a man. And unfortunately, it didn't seem like there was any security footage of that either. Now, by the time the police had discovered Christie's vehicle, it had been wiped clean of any DNA and fingerprints. All police claimed they could find was one from Christie on the outside of the car, which is interesting since it seems the valet parked it. But the valet company was able to offer a bit of a timeline around Christie's car. He said the car had been dropped off a little before dawn on the 16th. This is the morning after Christie disappeared. And meanwhile, police are still trying to track down this Victor Thomas and that sketch Susan helped make seems to help because a real estate agent goes to police at this point with information, saying a man who looked just like the sketch came to him looking for a house recently. In fact, This man had looked at about 10 houses in early February. Many of them just minutes away from where Christie's cell phone last called from, around Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, not Beverly Hills. Now the real estate agent mentioned something even more concerning. Apparently, while checking out one of the properties, the prospective buyer went into another room, closed the door, and screamed, then he came out and asked the real estate agent if he had heard it. There's no way. There is no way. That's like as a real estate agent, what runs through your mind in that way? I truly think that because we're 23 plus years ago or whatever, I don't think your mind goes there yet. And I know that sounds maybe but would your mind even go there now? I would think 100%. I would not think it would be because they're going to murder someone. Oh, I would think something abuse something. I think there's just too many true crime podcasts, too many documentaries on Netflix, Hulu, I think there's just too much out there where you're like, this is a little, this little weird, you know? Yeah, I don't know. I think I would think that it's just a weird, a kink, oh, like some sexual thing. Yeah, I think he's saying like how, how, okay, I mean, yeah, it's true. Yeah, it's a good point. I guess at least that's where my mind would go. Okay, so at this point, obviously, this case has a bunch of leads that have kind of jumped everywhere. They found her car. They have Susan who's come forward and now they have this real estate agent. So police get a list of every property the agent showed and around this time, they also get another bite off the sketch they released to the public. A parole officer calls the police to say, hey, that sketch you just put out actually looks a lot like one of the parolees that I'm working with. But catches, I actually haven't heard from him since January 20th. He's broken his parole. Okay. And that's when the police finally get maybe an actual name. Yep. 40-year-old Victor Paleologus. A little bit different autonomous. Still, he kept it with the first name. Yeah, you didn't keep the first name. Now, let me tell you a little bit about this victor. He was a Philadelphia native who moved to Los Angeles in his 20s after getting divorced. And he had dreams of moving there and becoming a restaurant owner. So Victor opened not one, but three different spots over the years in the Hollywood area and each one of them ended up failing. Actually, one of those failed restaurants was in the building where Victor told Susan Murphy to come meet him for her supposed audition. Things are starting to click. But maybe because of those money upsets in the restaurant industry, Victor turned to a life of crime when he reached his late 20s. Berglory, forging documents, stalking sexual assault. As a matter of fact, he had been praying on ambitious women and their careers since 1989. Geez, man. This all started with an aspiring actress named Christine Lajian. This Christine is obviously different than the current Christine. But back then, 1989, that year, 21-year-old Christine met Victor who said his name was John Moreno. He was dressed in an expensive suit and Christine believed Victor. He told her she should come along with him to a big industry party. He took her out to dinner, mentioned all the famous people she would meet later that night, including Madonna. He then brought her to a hotel downtown for the supposed party. Except instead of leading her into some ballroom, he guided her into the elevator and up to the 20th floor and then forced her into a hotel room. He began trying to kiss Christine, the first Christine, and then grabbed her and threw her on the bed before trying to rip her clothes off. Then he pulled out ropes from behind the headboard. This is a clear indicator that all of this was planned. This was premeditated before she even arrived. Christine said she fought him off for over an hour. Until finally, she got in a shot. She bit him on the crotch as hard as she could and began screaming for help in the hotel. That is when Victor grabbed his coat and just darted out of the room. Now, eventually hotel security responded to the screaming, came in and rescued her untying her bruised wrists from those ropes. Gosh, could you imagine? No. So Victor was later arrested. They caught him for this crime. He was charged with attempted sexual assault assault and false imprisonment. I mean, I get it and I don't get it because like to me, it's just like premeditated tied her up like this should come with a huge penalty because it's like one step away from murder. Just so it's not hard. Like I think, yeah, put him in. Yeah, honestly, put him in prison for life. Don't care. He's not doing anything useful to the country anyways. And he's trying to kill and rape people. So like, why are they? Like, why should he even be out? I'm not saying it's their fault because he's out and did this, but it's just it's just these patterns always happen. Yeah. And to me, it's like, this is the most in your face pattern of gunna eventually murder. I'm going to eventually rape and murder like the premeditation, the ropes, the lies, the getting her seducing her, getting her to the hotel, then forcing her into the room. Like, this is so many steps of soon to be murdered. It's like flashing in my eyes. Yeah. So he goes to trial and Victor pleaded guilty to false imprisonment. He's like, okay, yes, I did kidnap her and put her in that room. But the jury found him not guilty of the sexual assault and assault charges. I want names. I want names right now. Well, when asked, the jury foreman claimed Victor, quote, just didn't look like a rapist, 1989. So what did Victor do? He doesn't clean up his act, just like Garrett and I are saying, he keeps going. Like, this is, this is repeat offenders here. Okay. He tries it again. In 1991, Victor prayed upon an aspiring actress named Elizabeth Bozini. Keep in mind, he's literally picking victims, women who are just working as hard as they can to become something in LA. This is his chosen target. So the two, Elizabeth and Victor met at a bar in Hollywood where he told Elizabeth he was this time, a producer for Disney. And when she caught him trying to mix a white powder in her drink, she called 911. My God. But Victor fled before the police got there. And we also know of a case in 1996, when Victor broke into the home of a woman, he was dating and tried to strangle her to death. I don't understand how this guy's not in prison for life. I truly don't. Luckily, this break in, she was equipped with pepper spray and blasted him in the face, causing him to run out. But just three weeks after that, when police went to arrest him for this assault, Victor barricaded himself inside a trailer. It led to a long standoff before he was finally taken out and put into a cop car. Only he refused to walk to the cruiser. So this would be like those body cam footage. We all love to watch where they carry them. He's literally being carried out and stuffed inside just like we watch on body cam. Now Victor, this time was charged with stalking, false imprisonment and burglary. He pleaded guilty and was given probation. So he strikes again, obviously. In 1998, he targets a woman named Heather mayor at the popular Sky bar in Hollywood. He tells her he's a producer who works for Disney and is helping out with the next James Bond film. This is ridiculous. Sound familiar. This is so ridiculous. So it's in 1998 with Heather that he uses the ruse that we then learn about in the present time of our case with Christie, who is currently missing. Okay. So he tells Heather back in 1998, James Bond film, where a black mini skirt and high heels to a closed set audition that he's holding. And he gives her the address for Ritz Carlton, except when she arrives, he says, I'm actually taking you to another location for the audition. And it is that same abandoned building where his restaurant used to be. So the stories are just kind of floating around in the same river. If you catch what I'm saying, like details are a little different, but they're all tied together. Three girls now at this same abandoned building that he has ties to. So after they get there, him and Heather or Victor begins sexually assaulting Heather, but she manages to escape his clutches and flee the scene. This time, again, he is caught and convicted of assault with intent. To commit rape, but as he's awaiting for his sentencing date in 1999 He goes after another woman. Now keep in mind these are all just cases that we know about Like these are cases that have made it out in public into the court of women who actually reported which I am Genuinely very very confused. We know the report rate is so low So these are women who actually came forward. How many other women are victims? I'm just I don't understand how I truly understand how he's not in prison Okay, so while he's awaiting his court date for Attempting to rape Heather. He goes after 28-year-old Kathy DiBono He gave her the same song and dance about the James Bond casting He's now kind of really diving in with this specific story line but the thing is Kathy is a working actress who'd been to many auditions. She had booked roles on Chicago Hope and Star Trek deep space nine She knows how the industry worked. So she told Victor Don't even talk to me you got to go through my agent to set up an audition with me not me directly like Thanks. I'm flattered, but this is how I operate and he refused He's like no like I'm not wasting my time auditions are happening currently right now as we're speaking They're up in the Hollywood Hills Exactly where Christy's cell phone last pinged before she disappeared if you remember Now at the time Kathy said Victor wasn't sounding too many alarms to her He dressed and spoke like a professional maybe even a scouter or a producer And she was curious being the next bond girl could be a big step in her career Plus the amount of money he was offering for this role was hard to refuse So she's like whatever I'll take down the address Victor or rather Brian as he portrayed himself to her. So he's no longer Using the same first name with a different last name. He just completely changes his name with Kathy He's like, well, don't worry. I can just drive you straight to the audition right now. Kathy's like no I will just meet you there So she grabs a friend a stunt man named Chester to go with her to the James Bond audition But when they arrive together at the location Kathy says Victor never comes out to greet her So she thinks Victor likely saw Chester sitting in the car with her and just abandoned his plan So this is very similar to what happened to Susan Murphy Back at the abandoned restaurant building. He saw a guy with her her boyfriend and ran away So shortly after this Victor was sentenced to eight years and eight months for burglary sexual assault and writing fake checks for previous offenses. So it's not just like his assault charges He's doing other things as well that's giving him a record So he went to prison around 1999 and gets out on parole in 2003 and then just weeks later Susan Murphy Has her encounter with Victor the one where she shows up with her boyfriend and then just two weeks after that Christy Johnson goes missing after talking to Victor and getting the same room. Okay. Got it. Yep So we now have Susan who has heard about Christy's story and has come forward And then as soon as Kathy sees Christy Johnson's story on the news. She also Decides to come forward. She sees the sketch. She knows it's the same guy. It's the same experience she had So she calls the police right away. She's like, hey, here's my details of my experience with Victor As do some of the other women who had encounters with Victor including a woman named Alice Walker who met Victor at the sentry city mall where she worked This was just five days after he had been released Alice was also getting started in the industry. It's all just copy and paste He too went to the same abandoned building Being promised a James Bond role and when she showed up. It was just Victor She actually goes inside So Alice of the girls who've come forward has a little bit longer experience. Alice goes in practices a few moves But according to Alice, he doesn't touch her while she's there Because when he told her to come back for a second audition a few days later she did This time when more people don't show up and it should just Victor alone again she gets uncomfortable and leaves And before he can schedule a third audition follow up with Alice. Christy Johnson disappears Then Alice Walker. Here's the news So now police have a name and many witnesses verifying Victor's identity and his choice of prime So they began searching for him and he's actually pretty easy to find He has already landed himself back in jail for trying to steal a BMW off a dealership law in Beverly Hills Two days after Christy went missing So it's around February 25th when police go down and speak to Victor who is sitting in jail Christy has now been missing for about 10 days show up. They're like, hey, what'd you do with Christy? And he's like, I never met Christy I don't know anything about her case. So by February 27th, Christy's 22nd birthday She is still missing and Victor's not talking so police have no hope of finding her anytime soon Now this day her father Kirk goes on the today show to try to bring more awareness to her case put pressure on people And the family is also hanging on to hope here because Victor has never been convicted of murder before I was gonna say it surprises me that it he Not waited, but I guess kind of waited like it took so long to escalate. Yeah, to escalate that fast I don't think he was given much opportunity. I think women maybe not yeah either got away or kind of picked up on the red flags before So They are hoping at this point. They're like maybe Christy's alive because look at all these other women who Who lived through this? They're like, maybe she's just being held somewhere and he got arrested and she's just alive like tied up somewhere However, things take a turn on March 3rd that day a few hikers are on a path in the Hollywood Hills This is where her phone last pinged And they're walking around this area surrounding a ravine when they spot something It's a sleeping bag with what appears to be a body inside So police are called to the area and they find the body belongs to a woman Her hands and ankles are bound. She has been strangled She also has an identifying tattoo on her lower back a hibiscus flower Which confirms this is most likely the body of 21 year old Christy Johnson Now due to the level of decomposition the medical examiner believes she was out there in this sleeping bag for about 16 days Meaning she was most likely killed the day she disappeared But because of that decomposition they aren't able to tell for certain whether or not she was sexually assaulted There is one devastating fact though The medical examiner doesn't think she died of that strangulation. She was strangled They think she was likely still alive when she was tied up and pushed down into the ravine in the sleeping bag And died after the fact still tied up in there Unfortunately, it was also a rainy period in Los Angeles And with Christy out in the elements for so long it had washed her body. There was no DNA left Still with all of these witness accounts police have enough to arrest Victor or the crime Yeah and like at this point considering his history Open and shot. I don't even care. The question is now do they have enough to convict him of murder So Victor pleaded not guilty to charges of first degree murder in Christy's case And the prosecution's a bit worried about whether they're not they're going to be able to maintain this Remember they have no surveillance footage of him following her around there's there's too many Other accounts from other witnesses and victims that right I do not there's no murder weapon no DNA no fingerprints All the prosecution really had are a plethora like Garrett said of other accounts from other women Who had been targeted by Victor in the past with the exact same ruse that Christy told her roommate Would this be enough to get him charged and even more so would it be enough to get him the death penalty Which the prosecution is hoping for So the trial doesn't actually start until July of 2006. This is three years after the murder But when it did Five women including Susan Murphy and Christine Clujian Testified against Victor about the experiences they had with him and how similar it was to Christy's case And then two weeks into that testimony Victor and his counsel Make a shocking announcement they have decided to change his plea to guilty to avoid the death penalty Howard coward coward now if only he knew that the death penalty but would eventually be taken off the table So shortly after this he actually tries to back out of his please like never never mind never mind I want to plead not guilty He writes the judge an 11 page letter about how he was sleep deprived and coerced into it by his lawyer But the judges like yeah, no, I don't care still Victor continued to say he was innocent despite pleading guilty He's like I had nothing to do with Christy's death. He also said he never forced himself on a mean one He's like all these women who have come for it are also lying every single one of them Yeah. He's like, I've never committed sexual assault or even posed as an entertainment industry professionally. He's like, not only did I not like do this, I never lied and said that I was working on the Bond movie. Delusional man. So after refusing to allow him to change his plea back, the judge sentenced Victor to 25 years to life in prison for Christie's murder. He was also given the possibility for parole. There's no way. Again, there is no way. Yeah. He didn't get life in prison without parole. Yeah. What is wrong? Like, what? Okay. And is he out? Like, what's happening? Yeah. There's people sitting in life in prison for first offenses, mind you, that aren't even sexual assault. It's almost been 25 years, right? Yeah. I'll get there. Yeah. There. Before I get there, though, can I just say it's like, I don't know why in my brain, but it's one thing when a serial or repeat offender like Victor comes forward and just pleads guilty and goes to prison. And it's another thing for a repeat offender like Victor to come forward and not only plead, not guilty, but then look every single one of his victims in the eyes at trial and be like, everything you said is an absolute lie. Like, not just the assault, but like, all the way down to the fact that I didn't tell you that I was a producer. Like, it's just it. I don't know. It's crazy. So just as devastating as part of his deal, the possibility of parole, Victor did not have to provide details of Christie's final moments. He didn't have in his plea deal. He didn't have to say, this is what happened to Christie. This is what I did to Christie. So we might never know what actually happened to her before she was murdered. So for a lot of women who were survivors of Victor's abuse, this sentencing was devastating. If Victor hadn't been released on parole for the crimes he committed against them, Christie Johnson might still be alive today. So Kathy, the established actress who Victor tried to lure in back in 1999 actually sets out to do something about this when all of this is happening. In 2013, seven years after Victor's sentencing, a friend of hers suggests they should make a documentary about it. Maybe it will change the court's mind. So Kathy begins interviewing other women who were survivors of Victor, which is why we have so much information today. She also starts looking into other possible victims that had yet to come forward. And an interesting unsolved murder case back in Philadelphia from 1988 that she believes Victor might be tied to. Her hope was basically just to provide as much evidence against him if a parole hearing ever came up. She's like, I'm going to just start doing all the work now. And as the years passed, him going up for parole was actually looking more and more likely. California state officials were planning to lower the standard for parole eligibility to inmates who had served more than 20 years of their sentence and were over the age of 50 because of overcrowding in prisons. This was something that was actually put into action in 2022. But before that happened, Kathy had actually earned Victor's trust. She was writing letters back and forth to him. And he told her about a violent sexual fantasy that seemed eerily similar to his real life crimes. Kathy felt like she could use all of this in a parole hearing. But something else also came of those letters. Victor allowed Kathy to come and visit him in person in 2016. And during that meeting, he told her more about what happened to Christie. He said that when Christie did arrive at his house in Hollywood Hills. So at this point, he's like, no, I didn't have anything to do with her. But now I'm telling this woman who is a previous victim who I've now created this relationship with that he doesn't understand is one-sided. He says they smoked weed and had consensual sex. And during it, he choked her, which she also consented to, and then she didn't wake up. And that was when he panicked to put her in the sleeping bag and rolled her into such a lie. Obviously, Kathy doesn't believe a word of this. She knows that Victor's obviously a pathological liar. But it was important because this was the first time Victor had admitted to even having killed Christie Johnson. I'm not really sure what came of Kathy's documentary. But I do know she went on to have a successful career in the industry as did many of the survivors. And she brought up a lot of research on this case. So I do know this. Victor actually had a potential parole hearing scheduled in October of 2025. So just two months ago, but he waived his right to the parole hearing. And of the sources I looked at, I don't have like a solid concrete on why? But I do know that Christie's mother has come out and said it was like just a huge weight off her back and a huge sigh of release of relief because now she and other victims don't have to attend this parole hearing and fight for justice because he waived his right. And that is what we have up to date. He obviously will have more. There's got to be a reason like he met with an attorney and they said, wait, like there's something going on. Right. Now there is still a group called justice for Christie that has been working to block Victor from receiving parole. Now in his 60s, many of the survivors think he still got plenty of years in him at 60 to still kill again. 100% and in this time, they are not going to let that happen without a fight. And that is the case of Christie Johnson. It's crazy. We've done a few cases like this where people are in and out of prison for years and years and years and you just know what's coming and then it happens and it's like, oh shoot, guess we should have kept them in prison. What? Like what? Like the jury that found him not guilty? Like literally give me every single name. And to me, it's like, listen, there's a difference. There's a difference in the type of crimes he was committing versus other criminals. Like when he is premeditating using the same rules, tying women up like those are indicators of reoffending. Yeah. 100%. Like that's just psychology. There are studies that has been done on this. So to me, it's crazy that he's offered parole over and over again. Yeah. Take some time today to think of Christie's family who are still hurting from this, all of the other victims of victors who had all of this come to light. Imagine how just terrifying that was for them and how hard they're working now to keep him in prison. And we will see you guys next time with another episode. I love it. I hate it. Goodbye.