MIAMI -- Christopher Wilder, blamed for the death or disappearance of 11 women, had an extensive criminal past dating back to a 1962 arrest for a gang rape in Australia, a published report says.
Wilder was believed to have killed at least 11 young, aspiring models across the country before shooting himself last April when stopped by two New Hampshire troopers a few miles from the Canadian border.
Thomas Neighbors, a Palm Beach County detective, said a sex therapist who had examined Wilder told him Wilder was 'a walking time bomb. She never really got to the root of his problem,' The Miami Herald reported Sunday.
Wilder lived his early years in Australia, where his father was stationed by the Navy.
His first brush with the law came in 1962, when he was arrested for gang rape. His brother, Stephen Wilder, told The Herald that the incident was 'a beach thing' that he did not remember well.
But for Wilder, the incident was memorable because he was sentenced to probation after spending a few days in jail, police said.
The lawyer who represented Wilder, Clifford Brown, said it left Wilder with a profound fear of jail because 'something happened to him there.'
Flordia police said their investigation revealed Wilder's court-ordered therapy included electroshock treatments. Later, Wilder told at least one of his victims -- a Florida State University student who was kidnapped but escaped -- that he was shocking her with a crude device made from a flashlight battery as revenge for what he suffered in Australia.
In 1969, Wilder moved to Florida and got into the construction business. Police files show these incidents followed:
-On March 17, 1971, Wilder was arrested in Pompano Beach for disturbing the peace because he tried to persuade girls on the beach to pose nude. He was fined $25.
-On Oct. 4, 1977, Wilder offered to drive a Boca Raton girl to a job interview but instead drove her to a secluded field and allegedly raped her. He was acquitted. Wilder later admitted his guilt in an interview with a psychiatrist, The Herald reported.
-On June 21, 1980, Wilder spiked a teenage girl's pizza with LSD and raped her in Palm Beach County. He was sentenced to five years probation after pleading guilty to reduced charges.
There were other similar incidents, some of which never came to light until years later, when victims saw Wilder's face in the newspaper and recognized him, the newspaper said.
