Christopher Wilder | |
|---|---|
 Wilder in 1982 | |
| Born | March 13, 1945 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | April 13, 1984 (aged 39) Colebrook, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
| Other names | The Beauty Queen Killer The Snapshot Killer |
| Children | 1 |
| Details | |
| Victims | 8+ |
Span of crimes | February 26 – April 13, 1984 |
| Country | Australia United States |
Date apprehended | April 13, 1984 (killed) |
Christopher Bernard Wilder (March 13, 1945 – April 13, 1984), also known as the Beauty Queen Killer and the Snapshot Killer, was an Australian-American serial killer[1] who abducted at least twelve young women and girls, killing eight of them during a six-week, cross-country crime spree in the United States in early 1984. Wilder's series of murders began in Florida on February 26, 1984, and continued across the country through Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada and California, with attempted abductions in Washington and New York. Wilder victimized attractive young women, most of whom he would entice by promising to take their pictures. After subduing them, he would torture and rape them before shooting, stabbing with a knife, or strangling them to death. Two or more of his victims were electrocuted using a makeshift electrical cord.[1]
After being named a suspect in the disappearances of his first two victims, both of whom were women he knew and whose bodies were never found, Wilder began to target random women, many of whom were abducted from shopping malls. Wilder accidentally killed himself during a struggle with police in New Hampshire on April 13, 1984.[2] Since his death, Wilder has been suspected in the additional rapes, murders, and disappearances of many other women, including the unsolved 1965 Wanda Beach Murders in his native Sydney as well as the suspected murder of missing 18-year-old beauty queen Tammy Lynn Leppert. The 1986 made-for-television movie Easy Prey dramatizes Wilder's crimes.[3]
- ^ a b "Chris Wilder - The Snapshot Killer: Inside the Wanda Beach murders | 7NEWS Spotlight - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ Morcombe, John (September 11, 2015). "When a killer prowled the northern beaches". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
- ^ Kelley, Bill (October 26, 1986). "VICTIM'S ESCAPE EASY PREY FOR TV MOVIE". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2020.