> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Evidence laid out against ex con in capital murder case - URL: https://www.smdp.com/evidence-laid-out-against-ex-con-in-capital-murder-case/ - Published: 2003-05-14T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T02:08:23.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Slain Santa Monica woman’s alleged killer faces judge today* Two days after she was murdered, Kristine Johnson’s accused killer allegedly stole the identity of a man who owns a house within two blocks of where the Santa Monica woman’s body was found. Victor Paleologus, 40, allegedly tried to buy a BMW in Beverly Hills on Feb. 17 using the name, social security number and credit history of Robert Wasvary, who owns a home on Wonderland Park Avenue in the Hollywood Hills. “He was scavenging the area to find something useful to him,” Wasvary said. “He had blood on his hands already and he was probably looking for a way to disappear and was looking for someone’s identity to do it. “He used my identity to try to get away.” Paleologus will appear in Los Angeles Superior Court today to face capital murder charges. The DA’s office will determine if it will seek the death penalty against Paleologus after his preliminary trial. Paleologus allegedly stole Wasvary’s mail containing his credit information from a property he rents out in Laurel Canyon, an area in the Hollywood Hills, Wasvary said. As Paleologus attempted to complete the transaction at Beverly Hills BMW, dealership sales personnel became suspicious and asked for identification, according to Wasvary, who was informed by police of the incident. Paleologus then fled the sales office and allegedly stole the car off the lot, Wasvary said. Paleologus was arrested shortly after by Beverly Hills Police for grand theft auto, resisting arrest and violating his parole. Paleologus has been in custody since Feb. 17 — two days after he allegedly lured Johnson by claiming to be a publicity photographer, killed her and dumped her body in Laurel Canyon. Along with the capital murder charge, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office on Monday charged Paleologus with six counts relating to the Beverly Hills case including identity theft, filing a false financial statement, burglary, grand theft auto, forgery and receiving stolen property. Wasvary said he received a call from a Beverly Hills Police detective on Feb. 17 informing him a man named Victor Paleologus tried to purchase a car under his name, claiming to be a record producer. Wasvary rents his property to a movie producer who only resides there about 10 days a month and the mail had piled up in front of the door. Wasvary said he doesn’t normally get mail at that residence, but some information regarding his credit was sent to the property by mistake. “The damage to me was minimal compared to the horrendous things this woman went through,” Wasvary said. “I personally hope he gets the maximum penalty.” Paleologus, who has been convicted of six felonies dating back to 1998, was reportedly released from state prison on Jan. 20, just three weeks before Johnson disappeared. Johnson, 21, was found by hikers on March 3, her body partially clothed, wrists bound and covered in a sleeping bag on a steep hillside off of Skyline Drive, a remote neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills. Johnson, a student at Santa Monica College, disappeared on Feb. 15 after telling her roommates she was going to Beverly Hills to audition for a man claiming to be a photographer. She apparently had met Paleologus while shopping at the Century City Mall earlier. Paleologus, described by Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. as a predator, has a long criminal history of luring and victimizing young, attractive women by claiming to be a photographer in the entertainment industry, police said. Police learned more than a week after Johnson disappeared that her white 1996 Mazda Miata had been valet parked Feb. 16 at the St. Regis Hotel in Century City. Paleologus was identified as the person who allegedly dropped off the vehicle, based on a composite sketch released by police. Just days after he was released from state prison, Paleologus allegedly tried to lure a woman in West Hollywood by posing as a publicity photographer for a specific film title that he’s used as his ruse multiple times, police said. The woman in the West Hollywood incident, suspicious of his behavior and aggressiveness, was able to escape. Santa Monica Police were able to identify Paleologus as a possible suspect in Johnson’s disappearance more than a week after she vanished based on anonymous tips and evidence gathered from her car. Police also were able to confirm that Paleologus had been at the Century City Mall. Johnson’s mother, Terry Wark, who lives in Los Gatos, Calif., made public appeals nationwide for her daughter to be returned safely. Extensive searches were conducted throughout Los Angeles by co-workers and volunteers. Police served 10 search warrants at various locations throughout Los Angeles in late February. Authorities have only confirmed searches of Paleologus’ West Hollywood residence and a home on Skyline Drive — two properties away from where Johnson’s body was dumped. Police reportedly searched several vacant homes in the Hollywood Hills that Paleologus may have allegedly toured with a realtor shortly before Johnson disappeared, said a source familiar with the properties. Santa Monica police, who led the investigation, had been awaiting results from the Los Angeles County Crime Lab on evidence recovered from those properties, as well as evidence recovered from Johnson’s car, before presenting the case to the DA. How Johnson died has yet to be determined by the Los Angeles County Coroner, which has deferred the autopsy for toxicology testing. Results are expected in the next month. Wark said she is hopeful Paleologus will be brought to justice. “I am confident justice will prevail, however long the process takes,” she said Tuesday. “I respect the process of the justice system which is in motion. As to details of the case, I do not have privilege to those. It’s the DA’s job to build the case and I will do what I can to support that effort and not interfere with the work that is ahead of them.” > “I am confident justice will prevail, however long the process takes. I respect the process of the justice system which is in motion.” — — TERRY WARK Kristine Johnson’s mother *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)