Show Notes
A serial killer who confessed to 11 murders. A body that lay nameless in a swamp for 30 years. And a chilling new discovery.
A New York cold-case detective contacts the Catching Evil team about three more young women he believes Christopher Wilder could have murdered — bodies dumped in fields, left as Jane Does, far from his Florida hunting ground. And we reveal another bombshell: a death-row prisoner who claims Wilder confessed to killing eleven women before his rampage across America.
At the heart of it all is Shari Lynne Ball — 20 years old, lured to New York with the promise of a modelling career, and unidentified for over three decades. We trace the trail that points to her killer, including a discovery hidden in plain sight: a blitz of newspaper classified ads that fall silent every single time Wilder kills.
And we meet two women who survived him — who laughed off his modelling pitch at a yard sale, never knowing how close they'd come, until his face appeared on the FBI's Most Wanted list. This is the episode where the net starts to widen.
We need your help with this investigation. Email us if you knew Shari Lynne or had an encounter with Christopher Wilder yourself. Or you have information about him or any of his crimes: [email protected]
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Join us, make a difference and support these not-for-profits: US Survivors of Homicide Inc - https://www.survivorsofhomicide.com/ Yesterday Today Tomorrow Women Inc - https://www.yttwomen.org/ Aus Mary’s House 1800 002 111 https://www.maryshouse.org.au/about/
Credits:
Hosts Andy Byrne Mark Llewellyn
Audio Production Sam Blacker - The Podcast Butler
Resources The Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne - courtesy of Penguin Random House
Thanks to Pro Podcast Studios, Sydney
Catching Evil is hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information Get in Touch If you knew Wilder or one of his victims, contact us in confidence: [email protected]
Record a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/catchingevil
Join us and support these not-for-profits: US Survivors of Homicide Inc - https://www.survivorsofhomicide.com/ Yesterday Today Tomorrow Women Inc - https://www.yttwomen.org/ Aus Mary’s House 1800 002 111 https://www.maryshouse.org.au/about/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Catching Evil
No one should be in a grave without a name. This is the finale — and it is full of breaking news. A listener tip connects Wilder to the Tyre Murders: dozens of young women lured from car parks across five states, years before anyone was counting. We name five new victims. We reveal the pattern hidden in 3,500 classified ads — every gap, a girl. And Ellery Jane Doe, murdered and nameless for decades, may be about to get her name back. The official count said nine. The evidence now says Bundy territory — and beyond. We end the only way we could: with every victim, name by name. Every one of them was a person. Every one of them was loved. Follow the show — because this isn't over. It's unfinished business.
Mindy was four when her mother was taken. She still can't remember her voice. This is the episode we promised at the beginning: every one of Christopher Wilder's victims, finally heard. A reckoning. New evidence. New witnesses. Cold cases live again, police forces are now working leads we uncovered.
Two girls named Mary. The same mall. Four weeks apart. One found stabbed in a ditch — the other still missing, forty years on.
A killer who confessed to eleven murders. A sixteen-year-old runaway with a modelling dream. And a sister who never stopped fighting to bring her home.
Before she died, she scribbled a note. Her killer stripped away everything that could identify her — but missed that scrap of paper in her pocket.