Update to 2003 murder of Saugatuck woman to air on Dateline

Brittany Flowers
·2 min read

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An update to a 20-year-old murder case that came to the forefront is set to air on Dateline Friday night.

Kristi Johnson, a 1999 graduate of Saugatuck High School, was murdered in Los Angeles in February of 2003 by serial killer Victor Lawrence Paleologus.

Paleologus encountered 21-year-old Kristi Johnson at the Century City Mall, and under the false pretense of a movie audition, lured her to a vacant Hollywood Hills home. There he attacked, raped and murdered her, then threw her lifeless body down a canyon.

The case aired on Dateline nearly 20 years ago but was given a new life this year thanks to a group of women who had also been targeted by a Paleologus.

Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison shared their story as a Dateline podcast series that was number one on the charts for weeks. Now, the true crime original is sharing the updates on the case and bringing it back to television.

Morrison will share how a group of strangers who were targeted by the same man turned into a sisterhood determined to make sure this dangerous predator and killer never struck again.

Keith Morrison spoke with News 8 Friday ahead of the episode airing, you can watch the conversation with him in the video above.

To hear the full story surrounding the death of Kristi Johnson and to find out how women victimized by the same predator stood up to make sure he never struck again, you can watch “The Girl with the Hibiscus Tattoo” on Dateline at 9 p.m. Friday on WOOD TV8.

Justice for Kristi, a group organized to honor Kristi Johnson, an innocent victim of rape and murder, launched their campaign to block serial killer Victor Lawrence Paleologus from being released from prison for his upcoming parole hearing in 2025. You can learn more about their efforts here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.