Episode 1: The Nightmare Begins
- Catching Evil
- Jan 12
- 7 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Flashdance to Fatal Attraction: The Shocking True Story of Terry Ferguson's Tragic Encounter with a Serial Killer
Something new is coming to true crime podcasting.
If you thought Ted Bundy was evil, prepare to encounter a serial killer even more cunning and hypnotic. Tall and handsome, Christopher Wilder was a wealthy race car driver and the son of an American war hero. Women adored him, but behind the facade, he was a deadly danger to every pretty young girl he met. He stalked them, lured them away with his charm, then tortured, raped and murdered them to the lyrics of his favourite songs.
Terry Ferguson was 21, beautiful, and shopping for a new outfit. Her boyfriend was coming back from Spring Break, and she wanted to look perfect for him. But Terry had a secret dream her mother, Frances, didn't know about—she wanted to be a model.
Her beauty was her death sentence.
We begin the Catching Evil podcast series with Terry's story, serial killer Christopher Wilder's first confirmed victim.
March 18, 1984. A Sunday like any other – until it wasn't.
Frances Ferguson watched her daughter Terry get ready for a routine trip to the mall. Something felt wrong. Call it mother's intuition, but Frances couldn't shake the unease creeping up her spine as Terry walked out the door for the last time.
"I didn't want her to go to that mall," she says, her voice still heavy with the weight of a mother's intuition. "I had an uneasy feeling. I just didn't want her to go there."
Two days later, Terry Ferguson was dead. Murdered by Christopher Wilder – a monster who had been killing for two decades.
In the opening episode of Catching Evil, Frances breaks her silence in a raw, unflinching interview. She reveals the final moments she shared with Terry, the daughter who lit up every room she entered.
"She was mesmerisingly beautiful, but not to her,"*Frances recalls. "She never thought she was good-looking. She'd say, 'Oh, Mom, why can't I have blue eyes and blonde hair?' She never thought enough of herself, yet she thought maybe through modelling, she'd be somebody special."
The aspiring model had dreams bigger than her small Florida town. Every Sunday morning, Terry and her boyfriend Dan would meet at the Blueberry Muffin restaurant, sharing breakfast and planning their future together.
Terry's final message to her mother was scrawled on a torn piece of her paycheck: "Wake me up at 10." Those four words now represent the last tangible connection between mother and daughter.
"This man comes up to her saying 'Oh, you're beautiful, I'm gonna take pictures of you, just come out to the car' - and that was the last of her,"* Frances says.
Wilder shattered that future in an instant.
Terry Ferguson's story is just the beginning. Our investigation has unearthed evidence that will rewrite everything you thought you knew about Christopher Wilder. The wealthy businessman and race car driver had perfected his deadly game: charm young women with promises of modelling contracts, then unleash unspeakable horrors. Eyes glued shut. Electric shock torture. Brutal beatings. For twenty years, he'd been hunting across two continents – Australia to America – leaving a trail of broken families in his wake.
Coming episodes will reveal:
Newly discovered victims across America
Cold case connections authorities failed to make
Surviving witnesses speaking out for the first time
Police decisions that allowed Wilder to roam free for decades
Frances Ferguson's courage in sharing Terry's story isn't just about remembrance – it's about justice. For Terry. For the other young women whose names we're only now learning.
The hunt for truth starts now.
Some stories demand to be told. Some truths refuse to stay buried.
You can support our investigation by liking, subscribing and sharing Catching Evil on your favourite platform. Leave us a rating and review. Your support will help us to reach more listeners, dig deeper into these cases, and continue uncovering the truth.
But we don’t just want you to listen—we want to hear from you. Do you have any information, personal stories, or insights related to the cases we cover? Did you cross paths with Christopher Wilder? Do you have memories of his victims, or a perspective that needs to be shared? Or maybe you just have a burning question for us. We’ll be answering as many as possible in a special subscriber episode soon, so contact us today—and let’s uncover the truth, one story at a time.
Email us here:
CLICK to record your message for us here:
Above, Actress Jennifer Beals in leg warmers from the movie Flashdance. Middle, a headshot of the actress from the movie, and on the right, a photo of Terry Ferguson, who styled herself on the film star. Wilder had seen the movie six times, and Terry's resemblance to the actress would have made her an irresistible target for the obsessive killer.
The autopsy on Terry's body, found three days later in Polk County, near Haines City, revealed Wilder had beaten her ferociously with a tyre iron and then strangled her to death.
Terry suffered bruises to her head and face and cuts to her left ear. Her feet were bound, and there was a rope attached to her right wrist and around her neck. She had most likely strangled herself trying to escape.
There was no evidence of sexual assault. Wilder was positively identified by a witness in a shopping mall talking to Terry, where she disappeared, and a second witness, a tow truck driver, was contacted by Wilder to pull his vehicle from boggy sand on a remote state road shortly after.
The driver had no idea when he was hooking up a chain to the back of Wilder's car, that Terry was in the trunk fighting for her life…slowly being strangled by the rope around her neck.
Left, Frances Ferguson's wonderful book about her daughter. Middle, Frances holding her favourite photo of Terry, and on the right, Penni Pearce, whose life could have ended instead of Terry's that day if she had fallen for Wilder's charm and followed him to his car.
To every family member, survivor, and friend who lost someone to Christopher Wilder's violence —Catching Evil is for them.
We made the podcast with one simple purpose: to honour the victims who never made it home. Not as statistics in a crime story, but as the daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends they were.
Parents opened their doors to us. Siblings shared memories they'd never spoken aloud. Friends trusted us with stories of young women who had dreams as big as their futures were bright—nurses, teachers, students, mothers — all with lives that mattered far beyond the moment they encountered evil.
What we discovered changed us.
We witnessed grief that spans generations. We met families still carrying wounds from forty years ago. We saw how one act of violence doesn't just end a life — it reshapes every life it touches, forever.
But we also saw something else: the fierce love that refuses to let these women be forgotten. The determination to ensure they are remembered not for how they died, but for how they lived.
Their stories deserve to be heard. Their names deserve to be spoken. Their lives deserve to be celebrated.
If this podcast helps one person recognise danger, trust their instincts, or find the courage to speak up — then these women's voices will have saved a life.
That would be the greatest tribute of all.
A Wake-Up Call That Never Came: The Letter That Could Have Healed a Mother's Broken Heart
The heartbreaking letter below could have saved Frances Ferguson's marriage if only she had discovered it sooner.
After her daughter Terry was abducted and murdered by Christopher Wilder, Frances believed her husband Don, the local police Captain and Theresa's stepfather, didn't love her as deeply as she did.
Frances felt she was grieving alone for their daughter, and she left the marriage of 19 years and moved away, losing touch with her husband and a lot of her friends.
Years later, after Don's death, Frances found this letter he had written to a detective in Australia just over a year after Terry was murdered.
He wrote how much he loved his daughter with his whole heart and just wanted the detectives' help to understand more about Wilder.
Frances says it broke her heart to read the letter and realise how much she had misjudged her late husband.
On the day she was abducted, Terry left her mother a note on the refrigerator door as was her habit: “Wake me up at 10:00, Love Terry.” It is the last note she left, and Frances considers it an everlasting gift of love.
Terry left the house to go to the mall wearing Frances' blouse. She had a habit of borrowing her Mom's clothes. As her daughter walked out to her car, Frances says a funny feeling hit her in the pit of her stomach.
Catching Evil is committed to making a meaningful impact in the lives of those affected by violent crime, particularly in light of the chilling legacy of serial killer Christopher Wilder, who left behind a still-growing number of victims. In our pledge to honour these individuals and support their families, we donate to not-for-profit groups in both America and Australia.
Survivors of Homicide Inc, based in Connecticut, provides help to anyone who has lost a loved one to violent crime.
All services are offered to members free of charge, including one-on-one counselling, support groups, court support throughout the judicial process and personal advocacy in working with law enforcement and other community agencies.
It was founded in 1983, just before Christopher Wilder went on his rampage, by a group of families trying to cope with the murder of a loved one that shattered their lives.
When you donate to Yesterday Today Tomorrow Women, you are investing in the empowerment of women across generations. This Florida-based not-for-profit was founded by Kris Conyers, who was abducted off the street at gunpoint by Christopher Wilder with her sister when she was 11 years old.
YTT Women is dedicated to advancing women’s mental health and social wellbeing. Contributions directly support community-based initiatives that raise awareness, provide resources, and foster safe, supportive spaces for women to grow and heal.
Mary’s House Services was founded in 2015 by a dedicated group of concerned citizens from Sydney’s northern suburbs, close to where Christopher Wilder was born and lived wth his family. Members of the local clergy, health authorities, philanthropists and community and business leaders came together to help provide safety for women and their children, victim-survivors of violence and abuse.
Mary’s House refuge was established to address the significant gap in government-funded services and to save lives by providing critical support and a safe space for people to cope with their trauma and begin to rebuild their lives.
How to donate: https://mhs-summer-appeal-2025.raiselysite.com/#donate
Catching Evil, proudly a part of the Acast Creator Network, is an Original Voices presentation for Sticky Toffee Media
Comments