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The serial offender Victor Paleologus was convicted of suffocating 21-year-old Kristine Johnson to death on February 15, 2003, through strangulation. Paleologus approached Johnson at the Century City Mall, Los Angeles offering her an opportunity to audition for a role in the next James Bond movie.
While Kristi was last spotted on February 15, a manhunt launched to locate the perpetrator revealed multiple similar stories from women who came forward with their accounts. The Real Murders of Los Angeles Season 1 Episode 9 titled Killer Casting offers a brief overview before it re-airs on December 11, 2023, at 8 p.m. EST on Oxygen. It reads,
"A young woman with film industry dreams disappears after leaving her home for a movie audition, leaving detectives to navigate Hollywood's murky underbelly in search of a treacherous serial predator."
Victor Paleologus was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty on July 26, 2006.
What did Victor Paleologus do? Details Explored
Kristine Louise “Kristi” Johnson, the 21-year-old aspiring to work in Hollywood, moved from Holland, Michigan to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams. She was living in Santa Maria with her grandmother when she landed a role as an assistant on the Sandra Bullock movie Murder by Numbers. Later, she took up a job at a cellphone company while finishing school to make ends meet when she met Victor Paleologus at the Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles.
Victor Lawrence Paleologus approached Kristi Johnson on February 15, 2003, with an audition offer for a role in a James Bond sequel and convinced her to meet at another location for the requirements. The retired prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Ronald E. Bowers, spoke to Oxygen saying,
"She was told if she had a white blouse, black miniskirt, nylons and stiletto heels, that would really impress."
Kristi was last spotted in the mall shopping for the costume and her phone records located her close to Studio City, off Hollywood Hills on February 15 before she went missing.
The first lead in the investigation came in when a woman named Susan Murphy recounted a similar experience where she was approached by a man named Victor Thomas at the Century City Mall 21 days before and was offered a role in a Bond film for $100,000.
A composite sketch was created with Susan's help and a parole officer of the Santa Monica Police Department identified the man to be one of her parolees, Victor Paleologus - out on parole after serving eight years and eight months for writing fictitious checks, burglary and s**ual assault, per Oxygen.
Kristi's body was discovered on March 3, 2003, in the Hollywood Hills and identified to belong to her through the hibiscus tattoo on her lower back. All this while, Paleologus was tracked down to Los Angeles County jail under arrest after trying to steal a BMW in Beverly Hills two days after Kristi disappeared.
Alice Walker came forward as another witness and survivor two days after Johnson's body was found. The women who came forward after reading Kristi Johnson's murder in the news reported a similar pattern, per Los Angeles Times. He approached all his victims for a role as a Bond Girl and asked them to wear a white shirt, a black miniskirt, pantyhose and stiletto heels to the casting call.
The investigations unearthed all the aliases Paloelogus used to entrap young women in Hollywood. They include,
- Brian
- Joe Messe
- John Maroni
- Victor Thomas
- Victor Paleo
- Lawrence Paleo
Robert Almada, an ex-sergeant with the Santa Monica Police Department, spoke to Oxygen saying,
“At least 13 women came forward whom he had either completed or attempted assaults upon.”
Despite all the tips and witness statements, Victor Paleologus could not be tied to Kristi Johnson's murder with physical evidence as there was no trace of fingerprints, DNA, or fibers on her heavily decomposed body. The Santa Monica Police Department built the case on circumstantial evidence with over 40 witnesses testifying against Paleologus and established a set pattern in his modus operandi.
Where is Victor Paleologus now?
Victor Paleologus's trial began on July 13, 2006, and he pled guilty to the 2003 murder of Kristi Johnson and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole. However, after entering a plea deal to take the death penalty off the table, Paleologus sent an 11-page handwritten letter to withdraw his plea on the day of his sentencing.
He became eligible for parole in May 2023 which he voluntarily waived off for two years on August 25, 2023, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He presently remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino, California.
