A TEEN'S TERRIFYING DAYS WITH A KILLER IN 1984, AN L.A.-AREA GIRL BECAME ONE OF THE TARGETS OF A HUNTED MAN WHO TOOK HER ON A CROSS-COUNTRY NIGHTMARE.Byline: Larry Altman Staff Writer A handsome and wealthy race car driver, Christopher Bernard Wilder had already killed eight women by the time he arrived in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, in 1984. For six weeks, he'd driven across the country, approaching women at malls with offers to hire them as models. He strangled stran·gle v. stran·gled, stran·gling, stran·gles v.tr. 1. a. To kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. b. , bludgeoned or stabbed them instead. On April 4, 1984, when 16-year-old Tina Marie Risico vanished while shopping at the Del Amo Fashion Center Del Amo Fashion Center is a two-level regional shopping mall in Torrance, California, USA. It is currently managed and co-owned by Simon Property Group. With a current gross leasable area (GLA) of 2.5 million ft², it is one of the largest shopping malls in the United States. in Torrance, authorities wondered if he'd claimed another victim. He had. Over the next week, while driving back across the country, the 39-year- old Wilder abused and terrorized Risico. He also kidnapped and fatally stabbed another woman, but spared the Torrance teen. "He liked her," Torrance police Lt. Lee Turner said at the time. "Because he was ordering her around and she was complying ... I guess he thought that was friendship or something." A week after Risico disappeared, Torrance police disclosed that she'd been seen talking to a man who resembled Wilder at the mall. Witnesses also placed Wilder in the area, saying they'd seen him checking out of the Proud Parrot Motor Hotel in Torrance on the day Risico disappeared. "I hope she wasn't that vulnerable to lose her senses for some stranger," Risico's mother, Carol Sokolowski, said at a news conference at the time. "If this guy does have her, so help me God, he better not cross my path." Wilder came to the United States in 1970 from Australia. U.S. authorities didn't know it at the time, but he was fleeing from charges of sexual battery, accused of blindfolding blindfolding covering a horse's eyes with a blindfold as a means of restraint. Most horses when blindfolded can be persuaded to load onto trailers which they refuse to do without the blindfold. Of some but more limited use in other species. and photographing two 15-year-old girls. Once in Miami, Wilder built up a successful and lucrative electrical contracting company with 70 employees. He owned a luxury home and a condominium, and raced Porsches in his spare time. Officials later said that a 20-year-old woman disappeared the day after Wilder raced in the Miami Grand Prix. Authorities believe she was his first victim, but don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what touched off his killing spree. Next, a 23-year-old contestant in the Miss Florida pageant vanished. The body of a 21-year-old was found a couple of days after she disappeared from a mall near the Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics . Police got a break in the case of a 19-year-old Florida State University Florida State University, at Tallahassee; coeducational; chartered 1851, opened 1857. Present name was adopted in 1947. Special research facilities include those in nuclear science and oceanography. student who'd agreed to pose for photographs for a man she met. She was abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point , raped and tortured, but screamed so loudly that Wilder fled, leaving her behind to tell her story. By the time he abducted Risico, Wilder had killed eight women he'd met at shopping malls in Florida, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nevada. The bodies of three victims were found in canals in Florida, Texas and Kansas, their feet and hands bound. They had been strangled, stabbed or beaten. After a girl disappeared in Las Vegas, the FBI speculated that Wilder was on his way to Los Angeles. Authorities warned that he was armed and dangerous. After abducting ab·duct tr.v. ab·duct·ed, ab·duct·ing, ab·ducts 1. To carry off by force; kidnap. 2. Physiology To draw away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part or limb. Risico, Wilder headed east. An Indiana girl disappeared, and the body of another woman was found in upstate New York Upstate New York is the region of New York State north of the core of the New York metropolitan area. It has a population of 7,121,911 out of New York State's total 18,976,457. Were it an independent state, it would be ranked 13th by population. . The subject of a nationwide manhunt man·hunt n. An organized, extensive search for a person, usually a fugitive criminal. manhunt Noun an organized search, usually by police, for a wanted man or fugitive Noun 1. , Wilder's car was stopped by a state trooper in New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). on April 14, 1984. Wilder shot himself twice, the first bullet passing through his body and striking the officer in the ribs. Wilder died. Risico wasn't with him at the time. Wilder had dropped her off at the airport as they passed through Boston, paying for her ticket and giving her a "wad" of cash. "He said something about having her leave before he thought he was going to die," Torrance police Capt. Jim Popp said at a news conference after her return. Risico arrived at Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX , then took a taxi to Hermosa Beach, where she bought $300 worth of clothing. "I don't want to call home yet," she told a clerk. "I want to think about it. I'm really confused. I needed to do some shopping and have some time alone because I figure I won't be alone much for a while." She then took a cab to her boyfriend's home. Friends drove her to the Torrance police station. Authorities said Wilder killed at least 10 women and was suspected in the disappearances of others. While some investigators speculated that Wilder persuaded Risico to help him lure other victims on their drive east, others insisted she acted in fear for her life. "There is no indication that Tina Risico was anything but a fearful, terrified ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. victim," a psychiatrist who examined her told reporters. "Ten days ago, she was a free citizen. A moment later, she was in the influence of a man who represented himself as a friend and helper, and she moved willingly into a world that offered some promise." Soon after, "that (promising) world changed to terror when a weapon was produced and, from that point on, she was impressed repeatedly with the fact that her life stood in the balance." A recent attempt to locate Risico was unsuccessful. larry.altman(at)dailybreeze.com 310-543-6655 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) By the time 16-year-old Tina Marie Risico vanished from the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, Christopher Bernard Wilder had killed eight women he'd met at malls in Florida, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nevada. (2) Christopher Bernard Wilder |
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