Historical Motorsports Stories writes:

"A Killer in the Race: 1984 24 Hours of Daytona"

Posted by nascarman on January 23, 2019

Viewed 4342 times Tweet On February 4, 1984, over 240 racers were gathered on pit road waiting to begin the 24 Hours of Daytona. The start of the event was televised live by TBS with Ken Squier calling out the names of drivers to watch. The race was filled with past and future Indy 500 champions like Foyt, Andretti, and Rahal. There were NASCAR drivers like Labonte and Richmond. And near the front of the field were road racing legends like Haywood, Hobbs, and Bell.



But a monster was amid these icons.



Within two months, a driver in the race would be on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, having gone on a nationwide spree of murder and sexual crimes. The manhunt for Daytona's 52nd place finisher would be the largest in FBI history. When Foyt and Andretti raced past Christopher Wilder, no one could've imagined the horror he would cause.









The Beginnings



Christopher Wilder was born in Australia in 1945 to US military parents. Nearly his entire life was filled with problems he caused. In 1962, he plead guilty to involvement in a gang rape. He was given probation and electric shock therapy. He was married for one week in 1968 before his wife fled from him. In 1969, Wilder moved to Boynton Beach, Florida where he formed the Sawtel Construction Company and became very successful as an electrical contractor. But through the 1970s, Wilder was charged several times with various sexual crimes. The predator would pose as a magazine photographer looking for models as a way to lure young, attractive women to him. In 1982, he was arrested in Australia for a similar crime. After posting bail, his trial there was delayed until April 1984.



The FBI and psychologists later claimed Wilder was somewhat psychotic and unable to control his urges. Court-ordered therapy sessions seemed to help. But some people who knew Wilder remembered him talking about having blackouts, periods where he couldn't remember what he did or where he was.



When Wilder began his crime spree in 1984, it came as a shock to his friends. Wilder was charming, went on a lot of dates with women, and many people described him as a "perfect gentleman." He had a dark side, but he hid it well.





Heading to the Track





The Daytona Entry List



While living in Florida with a large disposable income, Wilder developed an interest in road racing. He would take women on dates to race tracks and offered to pay for some of his girlfriends to attend racing schools. Later reports stated he drove in five amateur races in 1982.



Wilder made his professional racing debut in the IMSA GTU class in 1983. In that year's 12 Hours of Sebring, he drove a Porsche 911 with Jack Rynerson and Van McDonald. The car was owned by Rynerson and the trio drove it to a 27th place finish (10th in GTU). Throughout '83, Wilder and Rynerson co-drove in two more races. They finished 26th at Road Atlanta (7th in GTU) and 40th at Daytona in the season-ending race in November (14th in GTU). Rynerson quit racing at the end of '83. The following year, Wilder had to go off on his own.



To begin the 1984 season, he entered a Porsche he owned in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Wilder's co-drivers were fellow Florida drivers Dennis DeFranchesci and Buz McCall. McCall later created American Equipment Racing, a team that won numerous Trans-Am championships in the 1990s with Scott Sharp and Jack Baldwin.



Driving a sinister-looking black Porsche 911 with red trim, the trio qualified 66th in the field of 82. When the long race began, the car completed only 212 laps and they were scored 14th in the GTU class. They finished 52nd overall, ahead of drivers such as Bobby Rahal, Mario and Michael Andretti, and Wally Dallenbach Jr.





The Wilder Porsche in the 24 Hours of Daytona (Michael O. Crews/RacingSportsCars.com)





Once the Race Ends, Wilder Takes Off



The second event on the IMSA schedule was the Budweiser Grand Prix of Miami on Saturday, February 25th. The GTU race was a brief 26 lap event and all cars had only one driver. Driving solo, Wilder qualified 21st and finished 17th, one lap behind race winner Chris Cord.



It was immediately after this race that Wilder began his nationwide killing spree. The following day were the IMSA GTO and GTP races. When Wilder returned to the track on Sunday, he found his first victim.



23 year-old Rosario Gonzalez was working as a model at the track on Sunday, distributing aspirin samples to spectators. The track was full of advertising women that day; in fact Marla Maples, future wife of Donald Trump, was also at the Miami GP working as a model for Hawaiian Tropic. Wilder previously met Gonzalez in October 1982 when he photographed her after winning the "Miss Mannequin" pageant.



At the IMSA race in February 1984, Wilder recognized her again and witnesses saw him talking to Gonzalez at the track. Later that day, she disappeared without picking up her paycheck. Her body has never been found.



On March 5th, Wilder abducted his former girlfriend, Elizabeth Kenyon. They had remained friends, although at the time of her abduction, Kenyon was dating the son of ABC Sports announcer, Jim McKay. Days before her disappearance, she told her parents that Wilder claimed he could get her a job as "Miss Budweiser" at the Miami GP but didn't take the offer. She too has never been found. Kenyon's parents hired a private investigator who was able to connect both disappearances to Wilder. The investigator brought the story to the police and the media.







On March 16th, the Miami Herald reported that police were investigating a race car driver for the disappearances of both women. They didn't mention his name in the article, but Wilder knew he would be caught soon, especially after police questioned him at his office. The dangerous man went on the run and decided to do as much damage as he could before it would be all over.



On March 18th, Wilder killed Terry Ferguson in Merritt Island, Florida. On March 20th, he kidnapped Linda Grover after offering her $25 to pose as a model for him. He brought her to a motel Georgia where she escaped after he tortured her. By the next day, he was in Beaumont, Texas. On March 23rd, he killed Terry Walden.



The day he killed Walden, charges were filed against him in Georgia for Grover's kidnapping and the FBI began a manhunt for him over the disappearances of Gonzales and Kenyon.



One day later, the 12 Hours of Sebring was held. Despite Wilder's name still on the entry list, he clearly wouldn't race. But his presence and his Porsche were still there.





Killer Owner on the Run; The Race Goes On







In a very odd scenario, Wilder's team still competed in the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 24th despite a nationwide manhunt for its killer car-owner. With Wilder's name still on the entry list and still officially listed as owner, his Porsche 911 was raced by Van McDonald and Dennis DeFranchesci. It's unclear how his crew found out about the arrest warrants. Initially it seemed that Wilder just didn't show up to the track.



Speaking later, the killer's co-drivers couldn't believe the kind man they knew could be capable of such horrors.



"If it's all true, he's the biggest Jekyll and Hyde I've ever seen," Van McDonald said.. "I can't believe the same guy I knew could ever do anything like that. He's a super gentleman, generous to a fault."



Fellow racer and close friend Vicki Smith was also stunned. "He would always open the door and offer you his hand to help you out, like a classic gentleman of a hundred years ago," Smith told UPI. "The type of guy you bring home to your parents. You always had elegant times when you went out with Chris Wilder."



Sebring is a tough race physically and '84 was tougher mentally because of the news. Even tougher because of the police presence. A handful of Federal Agents went through the paddock and questioned drivers and crews about Wilder. Have you seen him? Do you know where he might go? When was the last time you spoke to him? For most in the IMSA paddock, race morning was the first time they heard of the manhunt. At the time, Wilder was only wanted for two disappearances and a kidnapping; he wasn't national news story yet.



Amazingly, Wilder's team was quite competitive despite the dark cloud hanging over them. McDonald and DeFranchesci put aside the surroundings and finished 4th in the GTU class, 14th overall.



After the race, the team loaded up the tools and drove the Porsche onto the trailer with thoughts on their mind of where their owner was and what he was doing. It was about to get much worse.





In Pursuit



Thousands of miles away, Wilder continued his terror. On March 26th, he killed Suzanne Logan in Kansas. He then abducted 18 year-old Sheryl Bonaventura in Colorado on March 29. He was believed to have killed her on March 31st in Utah.



As Wilder headed towards the west coast, the FBI thought he'd return to a race track, particularly one in southern California. On the weekend of April 1st, Federal Agents swarmed the IndyCar Long Beach GP looking for the killer. FBI Los Angeles bureau chief Richard Bretzing believed he may even remain in the area for the IMSA Riverside GP at the end of April.



"The Long Beach Grand Prix and the upcoming Riverside Grand Prix are the kinds of events that attract Wilder," Bretzing said in a press conference on April 5th. "His zigzag pattern links him (to Southern California). He's been in Georgia, Texas, Colorado and was last seen in Las Vegas. There's a good possibility he is here."



While the FBI was searching in California, Wilder remained in the mountian area. On the day of the Long Beach GP, Wilder kidnapped 17 year-old Michelle Korfman from a Seventeen Magazine modeling competition in Las Vegas. Her body was discovered in Southern California a month later.



With the death count rapidly climbing, Wilder was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List on April 5th. In a press conference, they said he was their most wanted man due to the danger he posed. Reports said that the manhunt for Wilder was the largest in the FBI's existence.







To help attract more victims, Wilder kidnapped a 16 year-old girl in Southern California and used her to appear less threatening. Together, they drove back across the country and abducted a woman in Indiana. Wilder stabbed the woman and left her in the woods in Penn Yan, New York. She survived and told police he was heading for Canada. On April 12th, Wilder killed 33 year-old Beth Dodge in Victor, New York. Later that day, he brought his 16 year-old kidnap victim to Logan Airport in Boston and bought her a plane ticket back to Los Angeles. All by himself, Wilder raced to Canada.





It Ends In New Hampshire



Wilder's face was everywhere. News programs showed a video tape he made for a dating service. His mug shot was in every police station in America. With a nationwide search for Wilder in full effect, people began to recognize his bearded face and large forehead. On April 13th, truck drivers recognized him in New Hampshire. Police officers were put on alert.



Later that day, Wilder stopped for gas at a Getty station in Colebrook, New Hampshire. There he was spotted by two state troopers. When they came towards him, Wilder rushed back to his car and got his gun. As an officer grabbed him from behind, Wilder turned the gun on himself. Two shots were fired, both hitting Wilder and one also injuring the officer. The nationwide terror came to an end as Wilder died instantly.



Christopher Wilder is known today as "The Beauty Queen Killer." While he had eight victims in 1984, his total number is still unknown. Wilder has emerged as the number one suspect in the 1965 Wanda Beach Murders, one of Australia's biggest mysteries. In 1968, Wilder's ex-wife told police she believed he was the killer but authorities were unable to question him before he moved to the United States. Improvements in DNA testing may soon give definitive answers.



Everywhere he went, Wilder ruined lives and stained communities. Just by competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona, Wilder may be the darkest moment in IMSA's rich 50 year history.





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