Close to 100 witnesses are expected to testify
DOWNTOWN LA — It will be more than three years since the murder of a Santa Monica woman that her accused killer will stand trial, lawyers said.
Victor Paleologus, 43, who faces capital murder charges for allegedly killing 21-year-old Kristi Johnson in February 2003, is scheduled to be tried in front of a jury in late April or early May. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks. The trial will likely be highly publicized and will include close to 100 witnesses.
The high-profile murder investigation and Paleologus’ subsequent arrest garnered media attention across the country as police and volunteers searched for Johnson for more than two weeks before two hikers found her body at the bottom of a ravine in Laurel Canyon, a remote neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills. Her ankles were bound, and she was covered with a sleeping bag.
Close to a dozen women are expected to testify against Paleologus. They claim that he tried to lure them by posing as either a publicity photographer for a James Bond movie or an industry executive. In most cases, the women say Paleologus asked them to show up to the photo shoots wearing provocative clothing, including black high-heel stiletto pumps, short black mini skirts and nylons, according to testimony during a 2003 preliminary hearing.
That clothing was consistent with what Johnson was wearing when she was found dead two weeks after she disappeared. She also tried on the clothing at her 29th Street apartment for her roommate shortly before she went to meet Paleologus on Feb. 15, 2003, according to court testimony. Johnson disappeared that day after telling her roommates she was going to a photo shoot in Beverly Hills to meet a man she had met earlier at the Century City Mall. She was found dead on March 3, 2003. Johnson’s autopsy reveals that she was sexually assaulted and died of strangulation, as well as blunt force trauma and other contusions.
Two days after Johnson’s disappearance, Paleologus was arrested by Beverly Hills police after he allegedly stole a BMW off the car dealership lot. He ran from police after driving to the Beverly Center parking garage. There, he got out of the car and ran down Third Street and into the kitchen of sushi restaurant, where he was apprehended, police testified.
He was taken to Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail at the Twin Towers facility, where he was held with no bail because of a parole violation. He was later charged with Johnson’s murder.
He still remains in the central jail, held in a special area, and is often bound with shackles, said his attorney, Andrew Flier. Initially, Flier had been retained by Paleologus as his private attorney. But last year Flier was appointed by the court and is now being paid similar to a public defender.
“They petitioned the court at some point,” said Los Angeles Superior Court spokeswoman Pat Kelly, who added Flier is a member of the Indigent Criminal Defense Appointment panel, which is made up of attorneys who will represent defendants who can’t afford private lawyers.
“It’s not unusual,” said Los Angeles District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. “In high-profile cases or complex cases, a judge will appoint the attorney who has worked on it and is familiar with it.”
Meanwhile, the prosecution is now on its third deputy district attorney — the previous two have become judges within the superior court system.
“They are in our major crimes division, and they are supposedly the best so that is where they draw the talent from,”
Gibbons said.
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren was assigned as the lead prosecutor in January and said he is prepared for trial. Walgren is expecting LA Superior Court Judge David Perry on March 30 to rule on a motion to allow three more women to testify.
“I don’t want to get too much into it, but basically it’s in line with the other women and the James Bond thing,” Walgren said, adding the women will help establish that Paleologus had a pattern of luring young females by lying to them.
“It bothers me about the pattern,” Flier said, adding the prosecution is relying only upon circumstantial evidence. “The judge has shaped this case from evidentiary rulings. You add 10 women, I am in big trouble. They say, ‘Because he did this in the past, he must have done it today.’
“You let me try this case with just the evidence, it’s a ‘not guilty’ in one hour.”
“You let me try this case with just the evidence, it’s a ‘not guilty’ in one hour.” — ANDREW FLIER Paleologus’ attorney
Flier said Paleologus says he is innocent and believes he is being targeted because of his criminal past. 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’s disappearance.
Paleologus received three years probation after a jury deadlocked on charges against him in 1991 for attempted rape, assault and false imprisonment. In that case, 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.
Flier said those convictions were results of plea bargains Paleologus made and shouldn’t have anything to do with the capital murder charge.
“That’s going to come back to haunt him,” Flier said. “This case is so prejudiced already.”
As a three-time convicted felon, Paleologus has three strikes against him and is facing life in prison. He also faces the death penalty with the special allegations of lying in wait before he allegedly killed Johnson.
“There is absolutely no evidence for that,” Flier said. “The odds are that (Paleologus) probably will testify. He has to say something about his past, otherwise he has no chance.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 27, 2006. Read the original PDF.