Catching Evil

If you thought Ted Bundy was evil, prepare to encounter a serial killer even more cunning and hypnotic. Tall and handsome, Christopher Wilder was a wealthy race car driver and the son of an American war hero. Women adored him, but behind the facade, he was a deadly danger to every pretty young girl he met. He stalked them, lured them away with his charm, then tortured, raped and murdered them to the lyrics of his favourite pop songs.

Terry Ferguson was 21, beautiful, and shopping for a new outfit. Her boyfriend was coming back from Spring Break, and she wanted to look perfect for him. But Terry had a secret dream her mother, Frances, didn't know about—she wanted to be a model.One ordinary Sunday afternoon in a crowded Florida shopping mall, a handsome, charming man with a camera approached her. He told her she had 'the look'. That he could help her. That this was her chance. She believed him. Within hours, the police captain's daughter was dead—the first confirmed victim of serial killer Christopher Wilder, and the beginning of one of America's most terrifying murder sprees.In this emotionally raw opening episode, Frances shares what no mother should ever have to tell: how quickly a dream can become a nightmare, how a single moment of trust can end everything, and what it means to lose your daughter to a predator who knew exactly what to say.Christopher Wilder wasn't what anyone expected. The Australian-born son of an American war hero, he was a wealthy Florida businessman. A race car driver. Charming, well-dressed, convincing. As he later crisscrossed America, leaving a trail of abductions and murders, hundreds of FBI agents and local police launched the biggest manhunt the country had ever seen. The nation watched in horror.But this isn't just a story about him. It's about them—the young women whose names deserve to be remembered, whose dreams mattered, whose lives were stolen.Catching Evil is the result of an eight-year investigation across two continents that has uncovered new victims, new murders, and new links to Wilder's decades-long killing pattern. He was every bit as cunning and manipulative as Ted Bundy. But more than that, it's a promise: to give voice to every young woman who never made it home. To honour Terry, and all the others. To make sure they are never forgotten.This is their story. And we start with Terry.Join the hunt and follow us:Instagram: catchingevil - https://www.instagram.com/catchingevil/Facebook: Catching Evil: True Crime Podcast - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582973930611TikTok: catchingevil - https://www.tiktok.com/@catchingevilCatching Evil Podcast Blog: www.catchingevil.comYoutube: Catching Evil Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@catchingevilpodcast#catchingevil  #prettygirlkiller #truecrimetok #truecrime #givingavoice #christopherwilder #serialkiller #ProtectOurGirls #SafetyEducation #EmpowerYoungWomen #BreakTheSilence #TrueCrimeCommunity #UnsolvedMysteries #TrueCrimeObsessed #MindysStory #TerryWalden #BeautyQueenKiller #TerryFerguson #Survivor #WandaBeach #TrueCrimePodcast #SurvivorStories #RememberHer #PodcastRecommendation #VictimsMatter #NeverForgottenHostsAndy Byrne Mark LlewellynAudio ProductionSam Blacker at The Podcast Butler - https://thepodcastbutler.com/ArtworkSusan Armstrong MediaLisa at Llewellyn Communications https://llewcom.com.au/Special thanks to Pro Podcast Studios, Sydney - propodcast.com.au ResourcesThe Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne - courtesy of Penguin Random HouseWake Me Up at 10:00 Love, Terry by Frances S Ferguson - https://www.balboapress.com/en-au/Catching Evil is hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information

Fifteen-year-old best friends Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock were brutally murdered on a windswept beach by a teenage surfer who lured them to their deaths. Marianne’s four youngest siblings played together in the dunes, unaware that their big sister and her ‘bestie’ were being raped and stabbed just yards away. Trixie describes what unfolded, while her brother, Hans, his voice breaking, recalls waiting on the porch for his favourite sibling, who never came home. Wanda Beach is arguably the greatest unsolved murder mystery in Australia - until now. Catching Evil presents the case against serial killer Christopher Wilder, the charismatic businessman who would take his obsession with murdering beautiful young women to America and trigger the biggest manhunt in the nation's history. We uncover how police let him slip through their fingers and discover a startling confession that exposes a shocking secret about the case hidden for sixty years.Join the hunt and follow us:Catching Evil Podcast Blog: www.catchingevil.comInstagram: catchingevil - https://www.instagram.com/catchingevil/Facebook: Catching Evil: True Crime Podcast - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582973930611TikTok: catchingevil - https://www.tiktok.com/@catchingevilYoutube: Catching Evil Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@catchingevilpodcast#catchingevil  #prettygirlkiller #truecrimetok #truecrime #givingavoice #christopherwilder #SerialKiller #ProtectOurGirls #SafetyEducation #EmpowerYoungWomen #BreakTheSilence #TrueCrimeCommunity #UnsolvedMysteries #TrueCrimeObsessed #MindysStory #TerryWalden #BeautyQueenKiller #TerryFerguson #Survivor #WandaBeach #TrueCrimePodcast #SurvivorStories #RememberHer #PodcastRecommendation #VictimsMatter #NeverForgotten #MarianneSchmidt #ChristineSharrockHostsAndy Byrne Mark LlewellynAudio ProductionSam Blacker at The Podcast Butler - https://thepodcastbutler.com/ArtworkSusan Armstrong MediaLisa at Llewellyn Communications https://llewcom.com.au/Special thanks to Pro Podcast Studios, Sydney - propodcast.com.au ResourcesThe Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne - courtesy of Penguin Random HouseWake Me Up at 10:00 Love, Terry by Frances S Ferguson - https://www.balboapress.com/en-au/Catching Evil is hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information

Jacqueline was only 18—a rising model and reigning Miss North Miami—when her agent sent her to a stranger's house for a routine photo shoot. That stranger was serial killer Christopher Wilder.Weeks before he embarked on one of America's most horrific murder sprees, Jacqueline found herself alone with him in his Florida home. Posing as a fashion photographer, Wilder asked her to get more raunchy. She refused. The shoot ended abruptly, but not before he delivered a chilling parting comment—words that would only reveal their true meaning once she learned who he really was.This episode reveals the secret torture chamber in his house, filled with chains, gags, restraints, and blood. Young women lured there by modelling promises. Controlled and humiliated.Wilder's obsession with John Fowles' novel *The Collector* is explained—it wasn't just his inspiration, but his training manual. He memorised it. Studied stalking techniques, captivity fantasies, and how to use photography as a weapon for blackmail and sex.The pattern widens to the notorious Wanda Beach murders in Australia and how a stunning trail of police errors and missed opportunities let a killer walk free. Three months into his marriage to a young schoolteacher Wilder began tampering with her car, toying with her life. She barely escaped. He fled to America, and our investigation charts how he practised, refined his methods, and preyed on America's most beautiful women for two decades. Women like Jacqueline. She was one of the lucky ones.Join the hunt and follow us:Instagram: catchingevil - https://www.instagram.com/catchingevil/Facebook: Catching Evil: True Crime Podcast - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582973930611TikTok: catchingevil - https://www.tiktok.com/@catchingevilCatching Evil Podcast Blog: www.catchingevil.comYouTube: Catching Evil Podcast - https://www.youtube.com/@catchingevilpodcast#catchingevil  #prettygirlkiller #truecrimetok #truecrime #givingavoice #christopherwilder #SerialKiller  #ProtectOurGirls #SafetyEducation #EmpowerYoungWomen #BreakTheSilence #TrueCrimeCommunity #UnsolvedMysteries #TrueCrimeObsessed #MindysStory #TerryWalden #BeautyQueenKiller #TerryFerguson #Survivor #WandaBeach #TrueCrimePodcast #SurvivorStories #RememberHer #PodcastRecommendation #VictimsMatter #NeverForgotten #MarianneSchmidt #ChristineSharrockHosts: Andy Byrne & Mark LlewellynAudio Production: Sam Blacker at The Podcast Butler - https://thepodcastbutler.com/Artwork: Susan Armstrong Media: Llewellyn Communications https://llewcom.com.au/Special thanks to Pro Podcast Studios, Sydney - propodcast.com.au ResourceThe Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne - courtesy of Penguin Random HouseCatching Evil is hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information

Rosario Gonzalez was 21 and in love. Newly engaged. Teaching Sunday school while building a modelling career. February 26, 1984, should have been just another day working the Miami Grand Prix to earn some extra money for her wedding. Handing out samples, sunshine, the roar of engines, thousands of people everywhere.She should have been safe.Instead, Rosario vanished in plain sight. The last photo ever taken shows her moments before she was seen walking away with a man matching serial killer Christopher Wilder's description.No screams. No witnesses. Just gone. Why did she go with him?In this episode, you'll hear from Bill — her college sweetheart, her fiancé, the man who was supposed to marry her. Decades later, his voice breaks describing "the most beautiful woman" he ever met. The sweetest soul he ever knew.There's no body. No grave. No closure. Just her wedding band — and the life they were supposed to build together, frozen forever in 1984.Rosario was engaged. She was loved. She had a future. Christopher Wilder made sure she never lived to see it.For every woman who's ever been approached by a stranger with a "great opportunity." For every woman who's wondered if she was overreacting. For everyone still waiting for answers that may never come.This is Rosario's story. And it matters.Join the hunt and follow us:Catching Evil Podcast Blog: www.catchingevil.comInstagram: catchingevil - https://www.instagram.com/catchingevil/Facebook: Catching Evil: True Crime Podcast - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582973930611TikTok: catchingevil - https://www.tiktok.com/@catchingevil#catchingevil  #prettygirlkiller #truecrimetok #truecrime #givingavoice #christopherwilder  #serialkiller #MiamiGrandPrix #ProtectOurGirls #SafetyEducation #EmpowerYoungWomen #BreakTheSilence #TrueCrimeCommunity #UnsolvedMysteries #TrueCrimeObsessed #MindysStory #TerryWalden #BeautyQueenKiller #TerryFerguson #Survivor  #WandaBeach #TrueCrimePodcast #SurvivorStories #RememberHer #PodcastRecommendation #VictimsMatter #NeverForgotten #MarianneSchmidt #ChristineSharrock #RosarioGonzalez HostsAndy Byrne Mark LlewellynAudio ProductionSam Blacker at The Podcast Butler - https://thepodcastbutler.com/ArtworkSusan Armstrong MediaLisa at Llewellyn Communications https://llewcom.com.au/Special thanks to Pro Podcast Studios, Sydney - propodcast.com.au ResourcesThe Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne - courtesy of Penguin Random HouseCatching Evil is hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information

She was fifteen. Tiny — barely 160 centimetres tall. Wearing a pink bikini on an ordinary Thursday morning, walking alone near her home.Christopher Wilder was six foot, well into a killing rampage across America, and should have been in police custody that morning. He wasn't. A private detective had handed police in Miami enough evidence. They called it "no evidence of foul play."Two days later, Colleen Orsborne was gone.For 27 years she lay in a morgue labelled Jane Doe — a number, a file, a girl nobody could name. Her mother never stopped searching. Never stopped hoping. She died before DNA finally confirmed what the family always knew.She never got to bury her daughter.Colleen's big sister Margaret has carried the guilt for 40 years. She was the big sister. She was supposed to protect her. That's what big sisters do."I'm sorry," she whispered at the memorial, 27 years too late. "I think we all felt we failed her."She didn't fail Colleen. The system did.Join the hunt and follow us:Catching Evil Podcast Blog: www.catchingevil.comInstagram: catchingevil - https://www.instagram.com/catchingevil/Facebook: Catching Evil: True Crime Podcast - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582973930611TikTok: catchingevil - https://www.tiktok.com/@catchingevil#catchingevil  #prettygirlkiller #truecrimetok #truecrime #givingavoice #christopherwilder  #serialkiller #MiamiGrandPrix #ProtectOurGirls #SafetyEducation #EmpowerYoungWomen #BreakTheSilence #TrueCrimeCommunity #UnsolvedMysteries #TrueCrimeObsessed #MindysStory #TerryWalden #BeautyQueenKiller #TerryFerguson #Survivor #WandaBeach #TrueCrimePodcast #SurvivorStories #RememberHer #PodcastRecommendation #VictimsMatter #NeverForgotten #MarianneSchmidt #ChristineSharrock #RosarioGonzalez #BethKenyon #ColleenOrsborneHostsAndy Byrne Mark LlewellynAudio ProductionSam Blacker at The Podcast Butler - https://thepodcastbutler.com/ArtworkSusan Armstrong MediaLisa at Llewellyn Communications https://llewcom.com.au/Special thanks to Pro Podcast Studios, Sydney - propodcast.com.au ResourcesThe Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne - courtesy of Penguin Random HouseCatching Evil is hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information

She stared into the eyes of a serial killer, fought a life-or-death battle in a motel room, and won — then triggered the biggest manhunt in American history. Linda Grober was just 19 years old when Christopher Wilder abducted her from a shopping mall in broad daylight. He had already murdered four women across America in three weeks. Police had his name. Nobody had warned the public. Linda had never heard of him.What happened next in a roadside motel room is almost impossible to comprehend. He superglued her eyes shut. He electrocuted her through wires attached to her fingers and toes. He tortured and assaulted her for hours while ordering her to act like his girlfriend. And if she didn't perform to his liking, he shocked her again — then laughed. But Linda Grober did something Wilder never expected. She kept thinking. "Keep it together, sister," she told herself. "Keep your cool. Do what he says. And think."She played dead. He loosened his grip. She jabbed her fingers into his eyes and ran — five steps to a bathroom door with a lock no thicker than a fingernail. A serial killer was right behind her. She made it. She flicked the lock. His body slammed into the door a heartbeat later. That lock saved her life.Linda Grober's escape didn't just save one woman. It brought in the FBI and triggered the biggest manhunt in American history. Her detailed account of Wilder — his methods, his obsessions, his rituals — gave investigators everything they needed to hunt him down. Other women are alive today because a 20-year-old university student in a motel bathroom refused to die. This is not a story about a serial killer. This is a story about the extraordinary young woman who beat one.Contact us at info@catchingevil.com if you knew Christopher Wilder, had an encounter with him, or one of his victimsJoin the hunt for the truth and follow us:Catching Evil Podcast Blog: www.catchingevil.comInstagram: catchingevil - https://www.instagram.com/catchingevil/Facebook: Catching Evil: True Crime Podcast - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582973930611TikTok: catchingevil - https://www.tiktok.com/@catchingevil#catchingevil  #prettygirlkiller #truecrimetok #truecrime #givingavoice #christopherwilder  #serialkiller #MiamiGrandPrix #ProtectOurGirls #SafetyEducation #EmpowerYoungWomen #BreakTheSilence #TrueCrimeCommunity #UnsolvedMysteries #TrueCrimeObsessed #MindysStory #TerryWalden #BeautyQueenKiller #TerryFerguson #Survivor #WandaBeach #TrueCrimePodcast #SurvivorStories #RememberHer #PodcastRecommendation #VictimsMatter #NeverForgotten #MarianneSchmidt #ChristineSharrock #RosarioGonzalez #BethKenyon #ColleenOrsborne #LindaGrober HostsAndy Byrne Mark LlewellynAudio ProductionSam Blacker at The Podcast Butler - https://thepodcastbutler.com/ArtworkSusan Armstrong MediaLisa at Llewellyn Communications https://llewcom.com.au/Special thanks to Darcy Milne at Pro Podcast Studios, Sydney - propodcast.com.au ResourcesThe Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne - courtesy of Penguin Random HouseCatching Evil is hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information