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Catching Evil

The Serial Killers' Playground

4/13/202647 min

Serial killer Christopher Wilder was murdering his way across America — and nobody was stopping him. This episode plunges into the terrifying heart of Wilder's 1984 killing rampage, tracking him through Colorado, Utah and Arizona as the FBI scrambled desperately to catch up. At the centre of it all is Sheryl Bonaventura — eighteen years old, blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful, and about to head to Aspen for spring break with her best friend. She never made it out of the shopping mall car park.

And there's a detail that will stop you cold. Grand Junction, Colorado — the town where Wilder snatch...

Clips

Detective’s Chilling Realization
Confession About Drugging Victim
Cheryl’s Silent Cry For Help
Rules Of The Game
Hard Lessons On Safety
Reporter Reveals Her Own Assault
Bundy And Wilder, Same Town
Sex Therapist Named Ginger Bush

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 10:01

    [music] Cheryl Bonaventura was an aspiring model like most of the girls that Wilder was believed to have kidnapped.

  2. Dawn Allen· Guest0:07

    Just a real sweetheart who stuck up for people who were being taken advantage of.

  3. Speaker 10:13

    She disappeared from this shopping center in Mesa, Colorado, near her home in Grand Junction, on March 29th.

  4. Dawn Allen· Guest0:18

    10 years earlier, Ted Bundy had gone through Grand Junction because another local girl had also been kidnapped.

  5. Speaker 10:27

    Wilder had been spotted at the mall earlier in the day.

  6. Dawn Allen· Guest0:30

    The fact that we had two serial killers kidnapping and murdering women similarly, I always thought that was really strange.

  7. Speaker 30:37

    Catching Evil, episode 14, The Serial Killer's Playground.

  8. Mark Llewellyn· Host0:42

    What are the odds? What are the odds? Ted Bundy and Christopher Wilder.

  9. Andy Byrne· Host0:45

    That's right.

  10. Speaker 60:46

    And a warning. This podcast contains adult content and listener discretion is advised.

  11. Dawn Allen· Guest0:52

    She should not be forgotten because she was a, a beautiful young lady with her whole life ahead of her.

  12. Mark Llewellyn· Host1:00

    Hi, I'm Mark.

  13. Andy Byrne· Host1:02

    And I'm Andy. Welcome to Catching Evil.

  14. Mark Llewellyn· Host1:04

    And we're back in Sydney after a very successful trip to the States.

  15. Andy Byrne· Host1:08

    It sure was. And it's not too much of a stretch, Mark, to say that Catching Evil is now working with multiple police forces there to solve decades old cold cases which we believe Wilder is responsible for.

  16. Mark Llewellyn· Host1:21

    Well, we believe Wilder killed many more women than anyone has realized. He operated for 20 years unsuspected and undetected.

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