Tina Marie Risico Breaks Her Silence After 40 Years
ABC News Studios presents a gripping true-crime docuseries, The Beauty Queen Killer: 9 Days of Terror, which premieres on Hulu on 16 May 2024. The three-part series tells the harrowing story of Tina Marie Risico, who, at 16 years old, was abducted by the notorious serial killer Christopher Wilder. Now, four decades later, Risico breaks her silence, sharing her traumatic experience of surviving nine hellish days with her captor.
In 1984, Christopher Wilder, known as the “Beauty Queen Killer,” unleashed a shocking wave of violence across the nation, targeting young women who aspired to be models. His rampage resulted in the deaths and disappearances of at least nine women, sparking the largest FBI search in history at the time.
Tina Marie Risico, a 16-year-old girl from California, found herself at the centre of this terrifying ordeal. Abducted by Wilder from a shopping mall, she endured unimaginable torture and terror as his captive. Risico recounts how Wilder forced her to participate in the abduction of another teenage girl, a tactic he had used with other victims.
As the FBI closed in on Wilder, he fled with Risico, culminating in a final murder before her release. Under shocking circumstances, Risico survived, but her homecoming was not without scrutiny. Some questioned her innocence and the difficult choices she made to endure her captivity.
The docuseries explores the profound courage of Risico and other women who survived Wilder’s rampage, highlighting the lasting impact of his reign of terror. Through exclusive archival footage and intimate interviews, viewers are given a front-row seat to the chilling events of those 47 days in 1984.
The series is produced by 101 Studios and Ample Entertainment for ABC News Studios, with executive producers including Eliot Goldberg, David Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Ari Mark, Phil Lott, Alex Meistrell, Kathryn Vaughan, Claire Weinraub, and David Sloan.
