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Thor Christiansen
In the late 1970s a vicious killer was stalking the young women of the Santa Barbara suburb, Isla Vista and the surrounding communities. His MO was to pick up young female hitchikers then take them somewhere remote to abuse and execute them with a gunshot to
the head. 4 young women would fall prey to the killer, their bodies found dumped on quiet roads. Eventually the killer met his end in prison at the hands of the other inmates.

Thor Christiansen, the Isla Vista Executioner

Thor Christiansen was born on December 28 1957 in Denmark. He moved to the US with his family when he was 5 years old. They settled into a Danish community in Solvang, California where Thors father ran a restaurant. The nearby city of Isla Vista is a college town closely associated with UC Santa Barbara and full of students.

Growing up, Thor exhibited signs of what was to come. Childhood friends said that he would kill animals starting in 6th grade. In some cases he would step on the animals, but he also caught birds and frogs with a butterfly net and would blow them up with firecrackers. At home, Thor was treated harshly by his alcoholic father when the two were together. Around the same time he started killing animals, he began drinking.

In middle school, Thor began to let his studies slide and his previously good plummeted before he eventually dropped out. Friends reported that he had trouble with girls which spurred resentment in Thor. His parents did not spend a lot of time with their son, and gave him money instead. By age 16 he was drinking regularly and driving an Audi, paid for by his parents.

He moved out of his parents house and started working at a local gas station. As time passed, Thor became more withdrawn and said things that spooked his acquaintances. One childhood friend said he seemed to be mad at the world. His growing fixation on killing along with his frustration at his own situation led to his weight gain and depression.

When he was still a teenager, the murders began. In 1976, Christiansen was 19 and on November 20th, he picked up 21 year old Jacqueline Ann Rook from a bus stop. She had been hitchhiking when she disappeared.

2 weeks after Rook disappeared a 19 year old waitress named Mary Ann Sarris was taken. She had been known to hitchhike and was last seen outside a hospital after an appointment at 4:30 pm. With 2 disappearances, the community began to fear that a maniac was on the loose.

On January 18th a 3rd young woman disappeared. Patricia Mae Laney was a 21 year old student. She had been active in the searches for the first 2 victims. She vanished from the same intersection where Sarris was last seen.

Her nude body was found 1 day later on dumped on the side of secluded road that led to one of Ronald Reagan’s properties. She had been shot in the head and near her body police also found bloody paper towels that had fingerprints on them that had likely been used to clean up the killers car.

Unfortunately there was not a match for the fingerprints as the killer did not have a criminal record. But, police pushed the investigation forward and 2 days later on January 19th Jacqueline Rooks body was found up the same road where Patricia Laneys body was found. She had been shot twice and her clothing had been removed after her death.

Police suspected that the killer was someone who was familiar with the area as the road that the women were found was not well traveled. It was a back road used by residents to drive to Solvang. But this did not lead to the killers discovery.

A month after the grisly discoveries, Thor and a friend were drinking and smoking marijuana in his car looking out over the ocean. A policeman saw them and stopped. He confiscated their alcohol and wrote the boys a ticket.

When the officer went to check the trunk of the car, Thor tried to refuse, but the cop insisted and inside the trunk he found a 22 caliber pistol which he also confiscated. Despite the alcohol, drugs, and pistol the 2 young men were not arrested.

After this close call, Thor left the area and moved to Oregon. While he was away his 2nd victims body was found. Mary Ann Sarris had been dumped on a quiet road outside of Los alamos.

He did not stay in oregon for long, and when he returned he had lost a considerable amount of weight. The creature also began making regular trips to Los Angeles. One can only imagine what he did on these trip, but it was a much larger city with the anonymity of scale where disappearances would be less noticeable. Friends remarked that Thor had also become obsessed with keeping his car clean, with paying particular attention to the trunk.

Thor Christiansen killed his 4th known victim on May 26th 1979. 23 year old Laura Sue Benjamin was working as a prostitute in Los Angeles. The killer picked her up and the 2 drove off into the San Gabriel mountains. Once he was out of sight, Thor pulled a gun on Benjamin and shot her to death. Her body was found a month later, dumped in a culvert.

On April 18 1979 Thor picked up 21 year old Lydia Preston. They had made a deal to exchange adult services for $45 dollars. Lydia began to worry as her John drove past several hotels then into the Hollywood hills. Once they were out of the city, Thor shot her in the head.

However, Preston survived and grabbed the steering wheel. The car spun out of control and crashed. Preston jumped out and ran to a nearby house. She survived with scars, a deaf ear, and shattered skull. Luckily the bullet did not cause brain damage. The young woman’s escape would mark the beginning of the end for the hitchhiker slayer.

3 months later on June 11 1979, Lydia Preston was sitting at the Bottom Line Bar in Hollywood, when she crossed paths once again with the killer. When she saw him walk in, she ran to the back and used the phone to call police. They showed up and arrested Thor Christiansen.

As they investigated the 22 year old, authorities saw distinct similarities between the attack on Preston and the murders they had been working to solve. They also saw the record of the 22 pistol that had been confiscated from Thor and were able to match his prints to those found on the paper towel by the body of Patricia Laney.

When Christiansen was confronted with the evidence that police had compiled, he confessed to the 4 murders on July 27. It is possible he withheld other murders that he believed police were unaware of as he had followed his cases in the press. He tried to convince investigators that the killings were justified because the victims had made fun of his weight.

Initially, Thor plead not guilty due to insanity, but a court appointed psychiatrist disagreed. In early 1980 he went to trial for the killing of Laura Sue Benjamin. And in June he plead guilty to the first 3 murders. For his crimes, Thor Christiansen was sentenced to life in prison.

But the killing did not end there. His defense team had told the court that he would be in danger when he arrived in prison. They knew that the young blond haired man would be targeted by the other inmates due to his crimes against women. And they were right. 6 months after he arrived at Folsom prison, on March 30 1981, Thor was stabbed to death. His killer has never been identified.

#serialkiller #crime #california

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