Women revisit past
DOWNTOWN LA — The past has come back to haunt Victor Paleologus, currently on trial for his life for the murder of a 21-year-old Santa Monica woman found strangled to death in the Hollywood Hills three years ago.
The 43-year-old former restaurateur, who prosecutors claim lured Kristi Johnson with false promises of an audition in a James Bond film before killing her, watched Friday as one witness after another pointed at him and told the jury that, from 1991 to 2003, he was responsible for an array of crimes.
They included the theft of an X-5 BMW from a Beverly Hills auto dealership, spiking a young woman’s drink with Benadryl and Dramamine while dining at Ocean Avenue Seafood, and the assault of an ex-girlfriend, who broke down in tears as she relived the night in February 1996 when Paleologus snuck into her apartment and attacked her.
With no physical evidence linking Paleologus to Johnson’s murder, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren has tried to draw a connection to the killing by delving into the defendant’s past, in particular, his contact with numerous women, all of whom claim that Paleologus approached them claming to be a Hollywood player working for Disney on a James Bond film.
Elizabeth Davis-Buzzini, a former model and actress, was the first to take the stand. She told jurors that while waiting for a taxi at LAX in 1991, she was approached by Paleologus, who claimed to be a movie executive named Joe Messe. The two talked about an audition for about two months before Davis-Buzzini finally agreed to meet.
She said Paleologus picked her up in a white convertible BMW and the two drove to Ocean Avenue Seafood for dinner and drinks with whom Davis-Buzzini thought would be executives from Disney. No one was there to meet them.
Paleologus went around the restaurant’s bar, partially out of sight of Davis-Buzzini, and ordered a “fruity” cocktail “with three different types of alcohol in it,” she said.
After drinking nearly half of her cocktail, Davis-Buzzini said she felt “queasy … kind of tired.”
She looked down at her drink and noticed a white, powdery substance floating in her drink. She said she was scared and immediately went to the bathroom, where she called the restaurant manager from a pay phone and told him to call the police.
Paleologus, according to Davis-Buzzini’s testimony, became nervous when she confronted him and bolted out one of the exits before officers arrived.
Former Santa Monica Police Officer Oscar Scolari responded to the call and collected the spiked drink and a credit card receipt left by Paleologus.
The card belonged to a Victor Paleo,Scolari said. A former credit card investigator for Citibank testified that the card was registered to a Victor Paleo, who happened to share the same addresses as Paleologus, according to DMV records presented by the prosecution.
In cross examination, defense attorney Andrew Reed Flier called into question Davis-Buzzini’s recollection of the incident at the restaurant 15 years ago.
When approached by SMPD detectives investigating the death of Johnson in March of 2003, Davis-Buzzini picked two men out of a photo line-up provided by police, one of them included Paleologus, who was in custody at the time for allegedly stealing the BMW.
Flier also tried to discredit the prosecution’s theory that Paleologus approached women, mainly in Century City, about auditioning in a James Bond movie and asked them to wear specific clothing — a white dress shirt, black mini skirt, nylons and high-healed stilettos.
Johnson, who told her roommate that she met a movie executive at a Century City mall who offered her an audition, was found a few weeks after that encounter at the bottom of a ravine clothed in a white men’s dress shirt, black mini skirt and black stilettos.
As for the credit card registered to Victor Paleo, Flier suggested it may have been stolen. He also suggested the sample taken of Davis-Buzzini’s cocktail may have been tainted or too old to be accurate.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy who performed a chemical analysis of the drink, David Vidal, a 15-year-veteran, said drugs could maintain their integrity for several years, including those found in his tests.
On Friday afternoon, the prosecution focused solely on Enedina Serrano, the ex-girlfriend of the defendant.
Paleologus and Serrano were neighbors living in separate apartment complexes in Marina del Rey. They met in 1994 and quickly became friends. Serrano was living with a boyfriend at the time, but their relationship fizzled and she began to have an affair with Paleologus.
A year went by, during which time the two grew closer. Serrano introduced Paleologus to her mother and sister. He eventually lived with them for a time, she said. Paleologus went so far as to include Serrano in his will, making her the recipient of a life insurance policy valued at $150,000.
But Serrano said Paleologus became too possessive and she wanted out.
“He just wouldn’t go away,” she said, visibly shaken by seeing the man she said attacked her twice following their break-up.
Serrano said Paleologus went so far as to fake a terminal illness to gain sympathy. It worked. Serrano said she remained friends with him and the two continued to have sex off and on.
“He told me he was going to go to Hawaii to live out his last days,” Serrano said.
However, once she found out he was not ill, she immediately broke off all contact. That is until Paleologus called her in January of 1996 begging to meet with her so he could get a key she had to his safe deposit box.
Serrano said she reluctantly agreed to meet him at one of his restaurants. When she arrived, she was alone with Paleologus, who grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her, carrying Serrano to a back bathroom where he allegedly slammed her up against a wall.
“He grabbed my neck and tried to kiss me,” Serrano said, still visibly shaken by the incident. “I tried to pull away and he started screaming at me, like I didn’t care about him, that I was indifferent to him dying … I was very frightened.”
Serrano said a busboy walked into the bathroom and distracted Paleologus long enough for her to escape.
When asked by the prosecutor why she didn’t call police after the alleged attack, Serrano said, “I was hoping that would be the end of it.”
She was wrong. About a month later, Serrano said she was getting ready for bed when she went into the guest bedroom of her apartment to check on a noise. She just happened to have a can of mace in her hand.
“I had just purchased the pepper spray at a convention and opened it when I was sitting on the couch,” she said.
When Serrano peeked into the bedroom, she said she saw Paleologus jump up from a hiding place behind a bed and charged at her, his arms out in front of him while he held what looked like a white rope or piece of cloth.
“By instinct, I guess, I just raised my arm and sprayed him,” Serrano said. “He went to cover himself and I ran out and knocked on a neighbor’s door and told them to call 9-1-1.”
Police responded, but could find no evidence of forced entry.
During questioning by Flier, Serrano said she was never raped by Paleologus, nor did he ever ask her to wear any specific clothing or tell her he was affiliated with the movie industry.
“Breaking up is hard to do,” Flier said. “Victor really cared for you. Did he give you that impression?”
“Yes,” Serrano said. Serrano said she trusted Paleologus, so much so that she not only let him live with her mother and sister, but also tie her up once during sex.
When Flier asked her if she enjoyed it, family members of Johnson, including her father, scoffed, leading presiding Judge Robert Perry to issue a warning against any outbursts by audience members.
Flier was not through with his line of questioning by the end of the day’s testimony. Serrano will have to take the stand again this week as the trial continues.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 17, 2006. Read the original PDF.