Have you ever wondered what drives a person to commit gruesome crimes? This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on the chilling case of the Hitchhiker Slayers, a series of unsolved murders that rocked California in the late 70s. We’re tracing the paths of three innocent victims - Jackie Rook, Mary Ann Saris, and Patty Leany - university students who vanished under the veil of hitchhiking. As we stitch together the pieces of their tragic disappearances and the shocking discoveries that followed, you'll hear about the pivotal fingerprint that finally cracked their cases wide open.
We then switch lanes and shed light on a figure known to many as Thor Wald Nis Christiansen, the man who masterminded these heinous acts. Walk with us through the tumultuous journey of his life - from a troubled childhood to his descent into substance abuse. While unraveling the layered and dark duality of his personality, you’ll learn about the abnormal behavior that led to his capture, the irrefutable evidence linking him to the crimes, and the community's unwavering quest for justice. Hear from those who were close to Thor and gain an understanding of his psyche through the lens of Dr. John Stolberg, shedding light on this grim chapter of history. We promise you a riveting tale, filled with darkness, justice, and unexpected turns.
Have you ever wondered what drives a person to commit gruesome crimes? This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on the chilling case of the Hitchhiker Slayers, a series of unsolved murders that rocked California in the late 70s. We’re tracing the paths of three innocent victims - Jackie Rook, Mary Ann Saris, and Patty Leany - university students who vanished under the veil of hitchhiking. As we stitch together the pieces of their tragic disappearances and the shocking discoveries that followed, you'll hear about the pivotal fingerprint that finally cracked their cases wide open.
We then switch lanes and shed light on a figure known to many as Thor Wald Nis Christiansen, the man who masterminded these heinous acts. Walk with us through the tumultuous journey of his life - from a troubled childhood to his descent into substance abuse. While unraveling the layered and dark duality of his personality, you’ll learn about the abnormal behavior that led to his capture, the irrefutable evidence linking him to the crimes, and the community's unwavering quest for justice. Hear from those who were close to Thor and gain an understanding of his psyche through the lens of Dr. John Stolberg, shedding light on this grim chapter of history. We promise you a riveting tale, filled with darkness, justice, and unexpected turns.
Hey, all my fellow crime connoisseurs and welcome back. I'm your host, grace D, and today's case will have you saying WTF throughout the whole show. It's the late 70s and hitchhiking is still actively being done by folks, especially those in college, since most didn't have their own cars. It isn't until girls from the local campus start going missing in similar ways that people start to think that maybe we need to stop hitchhiking. Multiple women get abducted and murdered and the police struggle to find answers. That is until they get a lead from someone they at least expect. This is the case of the hitchhiker slangs.
Speaker 1:
Jacqueline Ann Rook, who goes by Jackie, was born on January 12th 1955. Jackie grew up in Del Mar, california. She was a student at the University of California, santa Barbara. She was the resident advisor of the Francisco Torres dorms and she was majoring in communication studies. On November 20th 1976, jackie told a friend that she was going to go shopping. She was last seen hitchhiking at a busy intersection.
Speaker 1:
Jackie had disappeared from the Isla Vista area. For the police in that area it wasn't uncommon for a student to be reported missing and then show up less than 24 hours later. Perfectly fine. So when Jackie was reported missing it wasn't too much of a concern for them at the time. They figured, eh, she's a college kid, she'll show up soon. But sadly this wasn't the case. It had been over 24 hours and still no sign or word from Jackie. The searching began and missing persons flyers started to circulate. Someone truly going missing in Isla Vista just doesn't happen. Students got involved in petitions for a busing transportation free of charge for students, especially at night, but this was still a time when hitchhiking was a normal way of getting around the area. Two weeks later, another University, california, santa Barbara student went missing.
Speaker 1:
Mary Ann Saris was born in Sonoma County, california, on July 24, 1957. Mary graduated from Santa Rosa High School and attended the University of California, santa Barbara. Mary worked at the Jack in the Box in Galita and Happy Steak restaurant in Santa Barbara. While attending UCSB, mary had a doctor's appointment on December 6, 1976 at 4.30pm which she attended at the local hospital. After her appointment, mary was last seen hitchhiking, like Jackie, at the corner of Patterson and Hollister Avenues in Galita. Mary had been living in Isla Vista for just three months before her disappearance. People were starting to worry about the peaceful town of Isla Vista. Two young students were missing and both had been hitchhiking. The police were no closer to finding Mary because they didn't take Jackie's disappearance as seriously as they should have when it was first reported. So they were starting behind the eight ball. Sergeant Mike Kirkman of the Santa Barbara Police Department was the lead investigator on the case.
Speaker 1:
Students took action to try and help find their peers and get safe transportation for students. Patricia Marie Laney, who went by Patty, was one of those students. Patty was also a student at UCSB. She was an aspiring actress, juggler and social rights activist. Patty started the petition for the extra buses to be free to students, especially at night. She protested for this daily. So it was no surprise when Patty sprang into action to spread the word and tried to help find Jackie and Mary.
Speaker 1:
Patty was born on September 17, 1955 in Whittier in Los Angeles County, california. She's described as intelligent with a bright personality, someone who smiled a lot and was very active in her community. Patty volunteered at the Isla Vista Credit Union, the food co-op and the Isla Vista Medical Clinics. On January 18, 1977, patty helped pass out and hang up the missing person flyers of both Jackie and Mary. Patty's friend from her theater group was supposed to pick her up but he was late. Patty was last seen at a bus stop at the corner of Patterson and Hollister Avenues, and if you're thinking to yourself, wait a minute, that's because this is the same exact location that Mary was last seen at as well, and this happened while she was distributing Mary and Jackie's flyers Wild, I know, I know. I told you guys this was a mind boggler of a case. When the friend couldn't find Patty and no one had seen or heard from her since she was passing out the flyers. She was also reported missing.
Speaker 1:
Police were desperate to find these girls and the community wanted answers, and they were finally about to get some. Lieutenant Peter Ornaldi was about to make a gruesome discovery only 24 hours after Patty's disappearance. On Wednesday January 19, 1977, lieutenant Ornaldi had stopped at one of the turnouts, looked over to the side and saw a young woman's body. The body was stripped and the backpack and the belongings were found about 8 tenths of a mile from her body. It was confirmed that the body was that of 21-year-old Patty Leany.
Speaker 1:
Patty was found in Refugio Canyon, about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara and near former Governor Ronald Reagan's mountaintop ranch. It was clear to investigators that Patty had been shot in the side of her head and dumped. The police taped off the crime scene and began investigating immediately. During their investigation of the crime scene, they found bloodied paper towels. What even more interesting is that they had found a fingerprint with those bloodstained paper towels. They collected this as evidence and felt that they were starting to get somewhere.
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But who was responsible? They had more answers now. You see, the road that Patty was found on is very remote, so the killer had to have been someone familiar with it. It couldn't have been someone completely unaware with the area. Because of how remote the road was, investigators decided to expand their search on a hunch that maybe, just maybe, they'd find something to link the other girls. And lo and behold, it paid off.
Speaker 1:
The next day, on January 20, 1977, the decomposing body of Jackie Rook was found, exactly two months after she went missing. Jackie's body was found by the Sheriff's search and rescue team within one half of a mile from where Patty was found. They knew this was the work of the same man. Like Patty, jackie was found with her clothes removed. Jackie's autopsy report indicated that she was shot twice through her skull and that she had been sexually assaulted.
Speaker 1:
Police started to bring people in for questioning in the disappearance and murders of the girls. The road they found Jackie and Patti on was a back route sometimes used by the residents of Solvang. Solvang is a Danish community started by Danish immigrants who purchased the land in 1911. The FBI advised police to look for a white male, a loner in his mid-20s, which truly wasn't much to go on when you don't have a match on the police fingerprint database. The investigation went cold and it wouldn't be for another four months before police would have anything else on the case.
Speaker 1:
On Sunday, may 22nd 1977, two hunters found skeletal remains near the remote Los Alamos Canyon. Identification was made late the next night and on May 23rd it was confirmed that the remains belonged to Mary Saris. The Santa Barbara Coroner's office confirmed with the help of an unnamed dentist who confirmed the dental records matched Mary's. The autopsy report revealed that Mary had also been shot in the head and it was presumed that she too, like Jackie and Patti, were sexually assaulted. The hunters found Mary on Drum Canyon Road near Highway 246. Investigators cordoned off eight miles of the canyon so investigators could comb through the area for additional clues. It wouldn't be for over two years until there would be a break in the case, and all thanks to a sex worker out in Hollywood.
Speaker 1:
On April 18th 1979, lydia Preston was a sex worker in the Hollywood area who had a John pick her up for a date. A date is sex for money. She went back and forth negotiating a price with the guy and they settled on $45, and then she got in the car with him. Lydia told the guy about a hotel on Franklin in Hollywood and to go there and rent a room for an hour, but he bypassed her. She suggested another location to him and he declined that one as well. He made small talk with her, giving a phony backstory of who he was and where he was from. He then starts driving up into the Hollywood Hills, secluded from everything and everyone. The man pulls out a gun and shoots Lydia in the head. Much to the man's surprise, he was taken to the hospital Repeat after me. Lydia was still alive. She grabbed the wheel making the car crash and she was able to flee to the door of a neighbor who called 911. Lydia was taken to the local hospital where the bullet was removed and she survived. She was left deaf in one ear, had some scars on her face and her facial bone was shattered. Miraculously she was alive without any brain damage.
Speaker 1:
Five weeks after Lydia was attacked, a decomposing body was found in a drainage ditch near Big Tahunga Dam in Los Angeles County. The body of Laura Sue Benjamin, a sex worker, was found on May 26, 1979. The medical examiner estimated that she died sometime in April of 1979. Laura had been shot in the head and it was believed that she was sexually assaulted. Not much other information is known about Laura that I could find. Three months later, while Lydia was at the bottom line bar in Hollywood, she saw an all too familiar face walk in. It was the man who had tried to kill her. Terrified, he would recognize her, lydia ran to the back of the bar, to the pay phone and called for the police. It took a while to convince the operator that the man who shot her had just happened to be at the same bar, and a patrol car was dispatched. The police then arrested Thor Nis Christiansen on July 11, 1979. When detectives learned of where Thor was originally from, they quickly linked the similarities of the young women in Isla Vista to Lydia. They ended up determining that Laura's case was also connected to Thor. But who was Thor Christiansen and how did he fly under the police's radar for so long.
Speaker 1:
Thor Wald Nis Christiansen was born on December 28, 1957 in Denmark. When he was five, he immigrated to the United States with his parents. They initially settled in Englewood, california, and then they moved to Solvang. His family owned a prominent restaurant in Solvang. In sixth and seventh grade, thor started harming little animals like frogs and birds. According to his childhood friend, ron Bender, in an interview with Bored to Kill, thor would capture them, strap firecrackers to their backs, release them and watch them explode. Thor was a very bright and promising student, but when he entered into high school his grades began to drop and he got involved with drugs and alcohol. He gained a ton of weight, coming in at around 275 pounds.
Speaker 1:
Thor attended Santaginez High School. He was described as spoiled. His parents gave him an Audi at 16. In the Bored to Kill episode, childhood friend Guy Muller said that Thor's mom would give him $20 every day and that they would buy a fifth of Scotch and Thor would buy himself a pack of Kohl's. Thor would start the day with a couple of shots and then go to class. He started out with friends, but as he got older he became more and more secluded.
Speaker 1:
Less than a month after Jackie and Patty's bodies were found, in February 1977, thor and Guy, who were 19 at the time, went for a drive. They went to a park after hours, known for teens hooking up, drinking and doing drugs. They cracked up from some beers while Guy rolled a joint. At this time a sheriff was driving by. He saw the car and approached the vehicle. What Thor and Guy didn't realize at the time was that Thor was resting his foot on the brake pedal, so the brake lights were on and that's how the sheriff saw them. The sheriff spoke with the two and told them to hand over the beer in marijuana. He said to them that he would be writing them a ticket for underage possession of alcohol. The sheriff's partner then asked Thor to open the trunk, but he refused. Guy said to him quote, just give them the keys and let's get out of here. They got the beer, they got our weed. Let's go and quote. Finally, the sheriff just took the keys from Thor and opened the trunk himself. In the trunk was a brown paper bag, thinking it was more weed. The sheriff was surprised by how heavy the bag was and, much to his shock, when he opened the bag, he found a.22 caliber pistol. Despite the recent abductions and murders, thor's possession of the gun was not considered unusual At the time. These were common among people in the mid-70s in rural California. The gun was confiscated but Thor was not considered a suspect in the missing and murdered cases of Jackie, mary and Patty.
Speaker 1:
After his encounter with the police, thor left town and the abductions in Isla Vista had stopped. He moved to Oregon and worked as a farmhand. Very little is known about his life and movement during his time here from 1977 to early 1979. Thor had tremendously slimmed down when he returned to California after 22 months and he didn't come back alone he brought his new girlfriend. He met Carrie Solis in 1978 while she was hitchhiking and the two hit it off and began dating. This was Thor's first ever serious relationship with a woman. They moved back to Galita and rented an apartment together. Thor began making regular trips to Los Angeles after returning home. Friends say he became almost compulsive, like making sure his car and trunk were clean, which struck them as odd.
Speaker 1:
When Thor was arrested, his friends didn't believe it at first. Yeah, he had his moments and oddities, but they didn't think that he was capable of murder. Then they started to think about it and things began to add up. Sergeant Mike Kirkman had since left the police department and was hired by the defense. When Kirkman spoke with Thor, he said the girls deserved it because they made fun of his weight. Thor confessed to each of the three Isla Vista murders to Kirkman. Kirkman said he watched as Thor's eyes focused, the muscles in his face changed and then Thor confessed. Kirkman said he knew it was the truth and that it wasn't the same man that he had spoken to before. Kirkman believed Thor had dual personalities and was two people inside the same person.
Speaker 1:
Thor was arrested and charged with the three murders in Isla Vista and then the murder and attempted murder of two sex workers in Los Angeles. When looking into Thor, investigators learned of the ticket that he was issued in February of 1977 and of the.22 pistol that was confiscated from him, matching the murder weapon of Jackie, mary and Patty. This information supported their need to obtain a search warrant for his apartment and on July 27, 1979, the search warrant was executed. Thor was booked on July 27, 1979 for the murders of Jackie Rook, mary Saras and Patty Lainey. He was held in the Santa Barbara County Jail on a $500,000 bond. On August 20, he was charged with Laura's murder and on the next day, on the 21st, he was also charged and booked for the attempted murder of Lydia. Thor pled not guilty to the three Isla Vista murders in October of 1979, and then followed up his plea to not guilty because of insanity on December 26, 1979.
Speaker 1:
Thor was scheduled for two trials, one in Los Angeles on February 4, 1980, for the murder of Laura Benjamin and then the other in Santa Barbara in March 17, 1980, for the Isla Vista murders. The courts hired Dr John Stolberg to assess Thor's state of mind at the time of the crimes. Thor never confessed his crimes to Dr Stolberg, but from the facts Dr Stolberg was able to form a picture of the accusations against Thor. Dr Stolberg said, quote he was very heavy, had a lot of problems in school and I think throughout the years he was rejected by more and more women and he developed more and more anger. And then that's coupled with the relationship problems. Impulse control problems can't get along with people abuse, substances end quote Thor's girlfriend, carrie, had disclosed details of his sexual appetite. Thor, who was 21 at the time, had sex three to five times a day. You heard that correctly, not a week three to five times a day After being examined by several doctors and a postponement of the LA trial, thor changed his plea to guilty.
Speaker 1:
However, a jury convicted him of first degree murder and assault on April 16, 1980. After Dr Stolberg testified he had exhibited some level of provisional planning. Throughout the trial he disclosed Thor's struggles with intermittent explosive disorder, a paranoid personality, prolonged substance abuse and necrophilia. Because of Thor changing his plea to guilty, he was required to reveal to the courts of his crimes in detail. He answered all of the judge's questions, gave details of his crimes, explained that each time he had shot them in the head, each time he had undressed and had sex with the body's post-mortem and how in each case he dumped the bodies. On May 17, 1980, thor was sentenced to 25 years to life for Laura's murder and an additional nine-year sentence for Lydia's attempted murder. Thor surprised the prosecution during the Santa Barbara trial by pleading guilty to all three murder charges on May 28, 1980. Thor was sentenced to life in a maximum security prison on June 18, 1980. Ultimately, thor was sentenced for all four murders and the attempt on Lydia.
Speaker 1:
There's reason to believe that Thor would have continued killing had he not been caught. He told his friend Guy that he was considering becoming a long-haul trucker. In the Born to Kill interview, guy was noticeably upset by this and said, quote Think of how many people he could have killed across the country. End quote. But is that all? There's a two-year gap, from January 1977 to April 1979. During that time he lived in Oregon. Dr John Stolberg reviewed cases in Oregon with similarities that matched that time frame. There were women in the area who went missing during the time that he was there but were never found. Four of the missing women fit Thor's victim type, age and looks. There hasn't been enough information to prove Thor's involvement in these cases, so at this time it's just speculation.
Speaker 1:
Thor was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison for six months. On March 30, 1981, at 23 years old, thor Christensen was stabbed once in the chest by another prisoner in the rec yard. The prison administrative assistant, gil Miller, stated that Thor walked towards some prison officers from an exercise area near the basketball courts and collapsed at their feet. Around 1 pm Thor was rushed to the prison hospital and was pronounced dead at 1.40 pm, while a bloody shank was found at the scene. To this day the killer's identity remains unknown. Ron Bender, the former friend of Thor's, said, quote it is the best thing that could have happened to him. He didn't need to live. His parents didn't need him to live. They didn't need to have to go and visit him in prison. Now they can move on. Everybody can move on, and a very vicious human being is dead. End quote.
Speaker 1:
In an article in the Daily Nexus dated May 11, 1977, a friend of Jackie Rook, mark Zakavik, and others collected donations to establish a memorial scholarship in her name. Mark said quote Some of us were just talking about some kind of memorial to her and we came up with this End quote. According to Mark, the Jackie Rook Memorial Scholarship will be awarded each year to a college-bound San Marcos senior who has done outstanding work in the speech department. The Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation handles this scholarship. John Zoomer, a friend of Patty Laney, also wanted to honor his late friend. Given that Patty was an avid juggler, they held a juggling festival in her honor. People came from all over. It sparked something that's been going on for decades now. It's a benefit for the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center, a cause that Patty wholeheartedly believed in. I couldn't find any information on memorials from Mary Saris and I could not locate where the soul survivor, lydia Preston, is today.
Speaker 1:
Thor Christensen became a serial killer at just 19 years old. He took the lives of four young women and tried to end the life of another. So many lives were forever changed because of him. If there are more victims, like experts perceive there to be, especially in Oregon, I hope one day soon there will be answers for the cases and the families. May they finally receive some closure. And that's the case of the Hitchhiker's Lines. Tune in next week for a new area that we'll be diving into. You can find crime connoisseurs wherever you get your podcasts, so please download and subscribe. Be sure to follow on Instagram at CrimeConnoisseurs. Source material for this episode can be found in the show notes. In the meantime, keep it classy, connoisseurs, and I'll catch you on the next case. Bye.