Jacqueline was a beautiful 18-year-old rising model and beauty queen — the reigning Miss North Miami — when she was sent to a stranger’s house for a “photo shoot.”
That stranger was serial killer Christopher Wilder.
Only weeks before he went on one of America’s worst murder rampages, she was alone with him in his Florida home when he pushed her to start posing for more racy photographs.
She refused and the shoot ended quickly, but not before Wilder delivered a final warning that still haunts her — “Be careful, there’s a lot of crazy people out there.”
In the explosive new podcast “Catching Evil,” Jacqueline reveals how to this day she is grateful to be alive – having come face-to-face with the man dubbed the Beauty Queen Killer.
“It’s mind-blowing to think how close I came, you know? Just insane. Evil, pure evil,” she tells investigators Mark Lewellyn and Andy Byrne.
“That’s the scariest part. It’s like looking at humanity so raw and so close and knowing how close you came to the burn and yet somehow you survived.”
Byrne told news.com.au Jacqueline’s life was likely saved because of her car – a bright pink Porsche convertible.
“It was so distinctive that Wilder couldn’t take the chance neighbours would remember it parked on his driveway and the stunning young woman who was driving it,” he said.
Homicide Detective Tom Neighbors also tells “Catching Evil” how he found a secret torture chamber in Wilder’s house — with chains, gags and restraints, and blood discovered inside. “Women were lured in through modelling promises and photography; some paid for their time, the not-so-lucky ones controlled and humiliated,” Byrne said.
“It showcases Wilder’s obsession with the novel “The Collector” — not just his inspiration, but the blueprint for his modus operandi — down to stalking, captivity fantasies, and using photos to blackmail and silence victims.”
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Wilder is confirmed to have murdered nine women across the United States but officials believe there were many more victims, including three who he raped and tortured but who miraculously got away.
After a nationwide manhunt, he was killed in a shootout with New Hampshire state troopers in 1984, where he likely turned a police gun on himself.
Byrne said the podcast, which has quickly become Australia’s number one True Crime Podcast, is a tribute to the bravery of Wilder’s victims and their families.
“Despite the trauma they endured, they have continued to speak out, seeking justice and ensuring that their stories are heard,” he said.
“Their resilience serves as an inspiration and a powerful reminder of the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity.”
The third episode of the podcast also reveals Wilder’s wife told police he attempted to murder her on three separate occasions and that they should “look at him” for the Wanda Beach murders.
Christine Wilder was also present when her then-husband admitted to raping a nurse, and told police she discovered stacks of photographs of women dressed in her own bikinis in the boot of his car.
In a statement to police, seen by news.com.au, Christine detailed how she was present when police arrived at their home and confronted Wilder about the alleged rape of an 18-year-old trainee nurse.
She listened as her husband confessed to arresting detectives that he had raped the teenager in their apartment. Later, at Manly police station, Wilder also admitted he used the threat of photographs to blackmail the victim into sex.
“Detectives tell Wilder there’s been a complaint from an 18-year-old student nurse who Wilder had approached on the pretence that he was a fashion photographer,” Byrne explained.
“In a nearby dressing shed he photographs her and persuades her to go topless and then briefly naked before she starts crying.”
Wilder then blackmailed her, saying he would send the photos to her father and to the hospital where she worked unless she met with him for sex.
A police officer told Wilder the girl alleged that when she was in his flat he had sexual intercourse with her against her wishes.
Byrne said Wilder even admitted there was something wrong with him and that he couldn’t explain his actions.
“They arrest him, and they arrange for Christine to go to her parents. And I don’t believe that she set eyes on her husband ever again,” Byrne explained.
The nurse, accompanied by her mother, spoke to police. But, after giving her statement, her mother would not allow her to appear in court, worried the case would ruin her life. The matter was dismissed.
Llewellyn said that four days after Wilder’s arrest for raping the young nurse, his wife, her mother and sister went to the police with “bombshell allegations.”
The young wife told police they should “look very closely at her husband as the Wanda Beach killer.” She detailed his violent temper outbursts, the attempts on her life, his violent sexual acts that he was performing on her.
“Christine’s mother, Marie Louise, also details her own terrifying experience with a sexually aggressive Christopher Wilder,” Byrne said, revealing he once crept into her house startling her and inappropriately talked about sex before propositioning her.
Terrified, she ordered him to leave.
Christine told police on February 19, 1969, that she met Wilder herself after she and her sister were stalked by him on a beach for six hours.
“The police officer who interviewed her, her mum and her sister had no doubts,” Byrne said.
“He immediately wrote a report to the detectives handling the Wanda Beach Case, including a mugshot of Wilder, his criminal background; he handed it to them on a plate.”
An entry in the Wanda Beach murder book running sheet on May 5, 1969, said “considerable inquiries have been made in an endeavour to locate this suspect, so he may be interviewed as to his movements on 11/1/65, however with negative results.”
It noted Wilder’s wife, Christine, had begun divorce proceedings and gave details for her solicitor. The report ended: “At this stage the matter cannot be carried further.”
On September 6, four months later, the detective again contacted Christine’s solicitor and was informed the suspect could be residing with his parents at Rene Street in Ryde.
The entry ends: “It is requested that should he be located, that the source of the information not be disclosed to him under any circumstances.”
On November 11, 1969, a detective finally reported that he had knocked on the parents’ door and Wilder’s mother told him Chris had moved to America back in May, six months earlier.
