DA attempts to link Victor Paleologus to Johnson murder
A call was made on the cell phone of the man accused of allegedly killing a Santa Monica woman from the same area her body was found on the day she disappeared.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office laid out its case against Victor Paleologus during a preliminary trial on Wednesday. Prosecutors say the evidence links the convicted felon to the events leading up to the February killing of 21-year-old Kristi Johnson.
Paleologus, 40, is charged with capital murder in the killing of Johnson, a Santa Monica College student. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Santa Monica Police detectives were able to track Paleologus’ cell phone activity, which places him on Laurel Canyon Drive, a street that runs through the Hollywood Hills, at 10:06 p.m. on Feb. 15, the day Johnson disappeared. Police testified that Johnson’s cell phone had been used that day in the same area.
Paleologus has been convicted of six felonies since 1998 ranging from grand theft to burglary to assault. He was released from state prison on Jan. 20, just three weeks before Johnson disappeared.
Johnson vanished after telling her roommates she was going to meet a photographer for a publicity shoot for an upcoming James Bond movie.
Johnson was found by passersby on March 3, her body partially clothed, ankles bound and covered in a sleeping bag on a steep hillside off of Skyline Drive, a remote neighborhood in Laurel Canyon.
Five women have come forward who said they were approached by Paleologus, who claimed to be a publicity photographer for an upcoming James Bond movie, four Santa Monica Police officers testified. Some women were told they could make between $100,000 and $200,000 in the film starring Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. All of the women were either able to escape or were suspicious enough not to meet Paleologus a second time.
In each of the cases, Paleologus asked the women to wear a men’s white dress shirt, high heel black stiletto pumps, nylons and a short, black mini skirt, according to police officers’ testimony.
Those items of clothing were what Johnson bought at department stores at the Century City Mall the day she disappeared, according to the last credit card transactions she made, SMPD detectives testified.
Johnson had apparently met Paleologus earlier that morning at the mall and agreed to meet him later in the day.
Shopping bags from department stores that Johnson visited were found by police in Paleologus’ West Hollywood residence more than a week later, police testified.
Paleologus’ attorney, Andrew Flier, argued that his client is being targeted by police based on his criminal past. He said the case against Paleologus is nearly all circumstantial.
Evidence also places Paleologus in the area where Johnson’s body was found a week before she disappeared.
A real estate agent showed Paleologus on Feb. 8 a vacant two-story Spanish style home on Skyline Drive, several hundred feet from where Johnson’s body was found, SMPD detective Larry Nichols testified.
When touring the properties, Paleologus asked the real estate agent to stand in specific areas of the residences and speak loudly so he could check the insulation of the homes, Nichols testified.
The real estate agent told police he showed 10 different vacant homes to Paleologus for seven consecutive days, each time picking him up at the Century Plaza Hotel, where the St. Regis Hotel is located and within minutes of the Century City Mall. Paleologus told the real estate agent he didn’t have a car but was in the process of buying one.
Johnson’s car had been valet parked at the St. Regis Hotel on Feb. 16 — the day after she disappeared, although it wasn’t discovered for more than a week.
Paleologus was arrested the next day for allegedly stealing a car in Beverly Hills. He has been in jail ever since.
Paleologus allegedly tried to buy a car at Beverly Hills BMW using the name, social security number and credit history of Robert Wasvary, who owns a home on Wonderland Park Avenue in the Hollywood Hills — just blocks away from where Johnson’s body was found.
Flier said the DA’s case is weak because the prosecution has no scientific evidence linking Paleologus to the murder — no fingerprints were found in her car, no blood or DNA was found in any of the places searched by police, or near her body.
During cross examination, Flier attempted to find holes in the police officers’ testimony, showing that much of it was based on information told to them by other people with little or no concrete evidence.
Paleologus claims he’s innocent. “They had information that Victor Paleologus was a dirt bag in the past and when they heard his name, they figured he did it,” Flier said, adding that lying to women is not a crime. “There are some similarities of him meeting someone under a false pretense but how many men have picked up pretty women saying they are someone else?”
Whether or not he can convince a jury of that remains to be seen.
“Do I have enough to get around the pattern? I don’t know,” Flier said.
Paleologus got three years probation after a jury deadlocked on charges against him in 1991 for attempted rape, assault and false imprisonment. He allegedly lured a woman into a hotel room after telling her she would meet famous people including Madonna at a party for record executives. Paleologus then allegedly tied the woman to a hotel bed and attempted to rape her but she was able to escape.
The DA’s case will be heard today in downtown Los Angeles Superior Court with testimony from one more SMPD detective. After the prosecution rests its case, Superior Court Judge Dennis Aichroth will make a decision on whether the case should go to a trial.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 26, 2003. Read the original PDF.