Naman Shrestha
NBC’s ‘Dateline: Murder in the Hollywood Hills’ podcast takes us back a couple of decades in the early 2000s when Kristi Johnson was lured into believing that she had been shortlisted for a Bond movie. After reaching the shoot location, she was not seen alive ever again. All the intricate details surrounding the case, including the extensive investigation and the conviction of Victor Paleologus, are talked about in the podcast episode.
Victor Paleologus Lured Young Women by Promising Them Acting Jobs
Born on July 16, 1962, Victor Lawrence Paleologus is a former Italian restaurant owner on La Cienega Boulevard who began walking the path of crime reportedly in his 30s. In 1989, he committed his first known offense involving a young woman named Christine Kludjian, claiming that he was a music executive at Columbia Records and he was planning to turn her into the next big thing. In the hotel room, he attempted to rape her but she managed to fight him off. After making a plea bargain, he got probation of three years for false imprisonment by violence. After his failed first attempt, he tried to lure an aspiring actress named Elizabeth Buzzini into one of his schemes. In 1991, he met her at a bar, while posing as a Disney producer.
This attempt was also a failure as Elizabeth caught him trying to mix a white powder into her drink. She immediately called 911, but Victor managed to flee the scene. In another case, he held one of her exes against her will in 1995, for which he received five years’ probation for pleading guilty to burglary. By the late 1990s, he had perfected a Bond movie producer scheme and began using it to lure female victims. In August 1998, Victor approached a young woman and started talking about being a Disney movie producer and looking for young women to photograph for the promotion of an upcoming James Bond movie. Upon his instructions, she met him at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, from where they moved to another location.
Victor told the woman to meet him in his office, where he attempted to sexually assault her. Fortunately, she was able to escape and drive to the nearest police station. Another case in the late 1990s involved Cathy DeBuono, who was also lured by Victor, with claims that he had been working on ‘James Bond’ movies and was looking for some fresh talent. After some delay, she met him in 1998 along with a male companion. She drove to the address Victor, posing as Brian from Disney, had instructed her to and waited with his male friend in the car but nobody showed up. In the same year, he tried the same scheme on Heather Maher and attempted to rape her. When this was brought to the attention of the authorities, he got convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, attempted forcible rape, and false imprisonment by violence. Thus, he was sentenced to five years in prison.
Soon after his release on January 20, 2003, a young woman named Susan Murphy was approached by Victor at the Century City Mall and asked to meet him someplace else to discuss the casting of an upcoming James Bond production. But when Susan went to meet Victor with her boyfriend and asked him to show any ID proof, Victor got angry and straight up told her that she wouldn’t fit the part he was looking for. Apart from Victor Paleologus, he also used several aliases, such as John Marino, Brian from Disney, and Victor Thomas. A few weeks later, on February 15, 2003, Victor came across a 21-year-old woman named Kristi Johnson at the Century City Mall and used the same James Bond casting scheme on her.
Victor then instructed her to visit him in his Hollywood Hills home for further details. There, he attacked, raped, and murdered her, before disposing of her body. A few weeks later, on March 3, some hikers found Kristi’s body in a ravine in the Hollywood Hills. The deceased woman’s hands and ankles were tied and she reportedly died of strangulation. During the investigation, the detectives talked to Krist’s roommate, who informed them about the entire James Bond movie scheme she was excited about before her demise. Soon, Murphy reached out to the authorities and helped them create a sketch. One of the parole officers recognized the man in the sketch and led the police to Victor Paleologus. After collecting all the pieces of evidence, he was arrested.
Victor Paleologus Remains Behind Bars at a Californian Prison
When Victor Paleologus’ trial for Kristi Johnson’s murder began in July 2006, several women actors took the stand as witnesses and testified against the man. Many of them claimed to have gone through a similar experience wherein he seemingly offered to meet them at isolated locations under the guise of offering them jobs in the film industry. While the then-44-year-old insisted upon his innocence at the beginning, Victor surprised everyone by confessing his wrongdoing in the case and pleading guilty. As per court records, his defense attorneys entered a plea bargain that stated that he would escape a death sentence if he admitted to committing the heinous crime.
As a shock to everyone, on the day he was to be sentenced in September 2006, he penned an 11-page letter to the judge in which he mentioned his desire to retract the guilty plea, alleging he was coerced to do so by his lawyers. The request was quashed by the judge. As a result, Victor was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole for killing the 21-year-old young woman in 2003. While Victor did admit to killing Kristi, his plea bargain prevented him from giving out the details. Consequently, her parents, Terry Hall and Kirk Johnson, expressed their grief about never learning about the final moments of their beloved daughter. Addressing Victor in court, Kirk stated, “I wish him a short life.”
A few years later, he moved to the California Supreme Court to withdraw his appeal, but his petition was denied in 2008. As per his sentence, Victor became eligible for parole in May 2023. However, on August 25, he voluntarily waived his right to a parole hearing; his next hearing is scheduled for 2025. As of writing, Victor Paleologus is serving his sentence at California Institution for Men at 14901 Central Avenue in Chino. Meanwhile, a campaign titled Justice for Kristi has been launched by her loved ones to ensure he doesn’t get out on parole in 2025.
