Felon Charged with Murder of Santa Monica Woman

By Erica Williams
Staff Writer

May 13 -- A convicted felon with a history of luring women with bogus promises of work in the entertainment industry has been charged with the rape and capital murder of Kristine “Louise” Johnson, whose disappearance made national headlines earlier this year, county prosecutors announced Monday.

Victor Lawrence Paleologus, 40, could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering the 21-year-old Santa Monica woman, whose body was found in the Hollywood Hills ten weeks ago. The district attorney’s office said it would not decide whether to seek the death penalty until after the preliminary hearing.

Paleologus -- who also charged with two “special circumstances” of lying in wait and murder during the commission of an attempted rape -- is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Superior Court.

Paleologus has been held at Men's Central Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail since he was picked up in Beverly Hills and for allegedly stealing a car and violating parole two days after Johnson disappeared February 15. He’d been released from prison less than a month earlier after serving a sentence for burglary.

Johnson’s mother, Terry Wark, reacted cautiously to developments in the case.

“At this time I have confidence that justice will prevail,” Wark told The Lookout. “I respect the process which is in motion.”

Wark said she would not comment on the details of the case, adding, “I'll do everything I can to help the district attorney. I do not want to interfere with the DA's (work).”

Asked if she was concerned that it took a long time to press charges, Wark said, “Quite frankly, it’s only been a little more than two months since Kristi’s body was found.

“I myself have just started to heal with my grief and accept her death and the circumstances surrounding her death,” Wark said.

Johnson disappeared after telling a roommate she was going to meet with a photographer in Beverly Hills about auditioning for publicity photos for a movie. She’d met the purported photographer earlier at the Century City Mall.

She never returned from the meeting. Her 1996 Mazda Miata was found parked at the St. Regis Hotel in Century City ten days after her disappearance.

Police, friends and family began a desperate search for her soon after her disappearance. Scores of volunteers scoured local hillsides in an effort to find her.

The search came to an end March 3, when Johnson’s partially clothed body, one hand bound, was discovered by hikers in a ravine about 100 feet off Skyline Drive in the Hollywood Hills.

The Los Angeles County sheriff's coroner still has not determined what caused Johnson's death.

Paleologus is also charged with one count each of identity theft, filing a false financial statement, burglary, grand theft auto, forgery and receiving stolen property. The complaint alleges six prior convictions on various felony counts.