Thor Nis Christiansen

Thor Nis Christiansen (28 December 1957 – 30 March 1981) was a serial killer from Solvang, California. He committed his first three murders in late 1976 and early 1977, killing young women of similar appearance from Isla Vista, California. His crimes motivated large demonstrations opposed to violence against women, and in favor of better transportation for the young people residing in Isla Vista. In 1979, he killed a young African-American woman from Los Angeles. A fifth intended victim escaped with a bullet in her head, and later identified him in a Los Angeles bar.

Early life

He was born in Denmark, and emigrated to Inglewood with his parents and on to Solvang when he was five years old. His father, Nis, ran a restaurant in Solvang. He had a high IQ and was a good student until his junior year of high school, when he began smoking marijuana, drinking, and neglecting his schoolwork. He moved out of his parents' house, dropped out of high school, and began working as a gas station attendant; he also gained a lot of weight, at one point weighing 275 pounds.

Murders

He was obsessed with fantasies of shooting women and having sex with their corpses. He stole a .22 caliber pistol from a friend and committed the first three murders. He then moved to Oregon, lost weight, and moved back to Santa Barbara County and completed his high school diploma at a junior college. He moved into an apartment in Goleta with another woman in her 20s whom he met while she was...
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