Disclaimer: This article contains contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
The Beauty Queen Killer: 9 Days of Terror is a Hulu documentary that premiered on May 16, 2024. It follows the crimes of serial killer Christopher Wilder through the perspective of the women who survived his crimes. The three-part docu-series was produced by ABC News Studios, among others, and is currently streaming on Hulu.
Christopher Wilder was an Australian-born serial killer who kidnapped, raped, and murdered several young women within 47 days in 1984. He was reportedly a wealthy race-car driver and lived on an estate in Boynton Beach, Florida. Wilder was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list briefly after he allegedly attacked at least 11 women, the History Channel reported. Only three of the known victims reportedly survived his attacks.
According to ABC News, Christopher Wilder approached women in shopping malls and then kidnapped them. He sexually assaulted them and killed most of them. His first known victim, Rosario Gonzales, disappeared on February 26 and was a part-time model. Coral Gables and Elizabeth Kenyon went missing on March 5, 1984. A private detective reportedly began looking for Kenyon, came across Wilder, and interviewed him. Although he found him suspicious, Wilder reportedly disappeared before any action could be taken.
He then fled and attacked more victims. Several of the young women he approached and abducted were models. Wilder offered modeling work and lured them. Most of the details of how he kidnapped and assaulted his victims are from the accounts of his survivors, including Tina Marie Risico, who was 16 when she was held captive by Christopher Wilder for nine days.
What happened to Tina Marie Risico?
Tina Marie Risico went to the Hickory Farms store in the Del Amo Fashion Store in Torrance, California, on April 4, 1984. She went there to apply for a job while she was a student at Shery High School. Christopher Wilder reportedly approached her there with cameras around his neck. He then complimented her and claimed he had connections with a modeling agency. Wilder went on to lure her into his car by telling her he could help her become a model and that he wanted to click some pictures of her, ABC News reported.
Christopher Wilder then stopped in the Anaheim woods before they walked to a wooded area. The Beauty Queen Killer then pulled out a gun and forced her to strip naked before he put a hat and sunglasses on her. He also taped her face before he drove her to a hotel. At the hotel, he sexually abused her using electric shocks and tortured her with a knife. He also coerced her into engaging in sexual acts.
Eventually, Wilder also made Tina Marie Risico help him with committing the crimes. She reportedly approached a girl in Gary, Indiana, and told her about a modeling show before Christopher Wilder told her the same. He then lured the girl into his car, and they drove to a nearby motel when Risico reportedly watched as Wilder sexually assaulted the girl. He then electrocuted the girl and took her into the woods. Wilder suffocated her and stabbed her in the lungs before he left her there to die. However, the girl managed to draw attention from a passing car and was taken to a hospital, where she survived.
How did Christopher Wilder die?
After Christopher Wilder’s last victim managed to survive and told her story to authorities, one of the largest FBI manhunts had begun. Wilder reportedly suspected that authorities were on the right track and that he would eventually get caught. He drove to Canada with Risico. On the way, he attacked 33-year-old Beth Dodge while she was leaving a New York shopping center. He threatened her with a gun as she tried to get into her car and told her to get into his vehicle. Wilder then killed her.
According to People Magazine, Christopher Wilder dropped Tina Marie Risico at the Boston airport and bought her a plane ticket to California. He reportedly made her kiss his cheek and bid goodbye. After that, authorities caught Wilder driving towards the Canadian border in Beth Dodge’s car. The police confronted him. In a struggle with two officers, Wilder shot himself. The bullet passed through his body and went on to injure an officer. After that, he shot himself again and died at the scene in Colebrook, New Hampshire.
Upon Risico’s return home, the police interrogated her, suspecting her involvement in enabling Christopher Wilder’s crimes. However, authorities found that despite her witnessing several of his crimes, she was a victim during her nine days of being held captive. Risico said that it was her experience with sexual abuse before this that probably kept her alive through the attacks. She also explained in her accounts that he kept her in extremely unclean conditions. He only allowed her to bathe once in all nine days.
The Beauty Queen Killer: 9 Days of Terror tells the story of how Christopher Wilder assaulted so many women and became the Beauty Queen Killer through the experience of Tine Marie Risico. The docu-series is currently streaming on Hulu.
