Hello, I'm Keith Morison, with a special preview of, murder in the Hollywood Hills, brought to you by Progressive. Our latest podcast takes us to Hollywood for a story about a smooth-talking predator who lured young women with the promise of Fame. But most of all, it's about how a group of those women banded together to put him behind bars and keep him there. It was late on a Saturday afternoon when Douglas Kirkland ambled down to the end of his driveway in the Hollywood Hills to check the mail. To the West, way out over the Pacific, he might have seen a line of bruise-colored clouds puffing themselves up. Looked like they meant business. La was in for some rain. It was at that moment that Douglas's wife, Françoise, who was futtering in the garage, looked up and noticed that a young woman in a white sports car had stopped in front of her husband.

It was a Miata, and there was a very pretty blonde girl in there with what looked was her entire wardrobe next to her, and she looked very frazzled.

Françoise overheard the girl in the sports car, asked Douglas about a house that resembled a castle. Douglas said he didn't know what she was talking about, but Françoise did.

And I yelled out, said, No, the castle is that place on Green Valley. It's like at the corner of a little street, and it's got statues all around it, a little turret and all that. That's the castle. That's what we call the castle.

Relief washed over the young woman's face, along with what? Anticipation, anxiety, excitement, all mixed up in those big blue eyes. Douglas Kirkland knew the look. For decades, he'd been a celebrity photographer in Hollywood. He made his reputation taking iconic pictures of stars and those who had stars in their eyes. The young woman said thank you and pulled away. And as her red tail lights disappeared around the bend, Douglas turned to Françoise and said, It's another one of those little hopeful girls who is going to a photoshoot.

I hope she's going to be okay.

Douglas was right, of course. The young woman in the white sports car was on her way to a photoshoot or what she thought was a photoshoot. Her name was Christie Johnson. She was 21 years old that day. She would not see 22.

Christie Johnson disappeared February 15th after telling friends she was going to meet a man about a movie role.

Yes, this is a story about what happened to Christie Johnson one Saturday afternoon, but it's about more than that. It's about dreams. And a man who told a lot of young women like Christie that he could make their dreams of Hollywood stardom come true.

He talked about big bucks. He named numbers of money that I can't recall today, but it was a lot of money. He said, Are you kidding me? He said, You're perfect. You're going to make all this money. You're going to be famous. You're going to be on all the talk shows.

It's a story about what can happen when the people who administer our courts play, Let's make a deal with justice. And it's about a group of victims and near victims, determined to turn the tables on a predator.

He did try this ruse on all of us, and that seemed to be enough to bond us together. We all feel very connected, like a sisterhood.

They were everything to the case, and without them, we most likely would not have had a case. I'm Keith Morison, and this is murder in the Hollywood Hills, a podcast from Dateland. Thanks for listening. Search, murder in the Hollywood Hills, to hear the full episode now, completely free. Or subscribe to Dateland Premium on Apple podcasts or on Spotify. Subscribers get early access to new podcasts and can listen to all Dateland podcasts, and free. Murder in the Hollywood Hills is brought to you by Progressive, where drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average. Quote now at progressive. Com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12 months savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary.