Unseen - The Casino Killer | The Case of Christie Wilson | UNSEEN

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

“I may be 5ft1 and blonde, but I’m a barracuda” At 1:13 AM on the morning of October 5th, 2005, Christie Wilson is captured on a casino parking lot CCTV, walking next to a mysterious figure. The rotating camera takes 3 minutes and 40 seconds to complete its next turn, but in those minutes something terrible happens hidden in the dark, and Christie disappears. It's up to her parents, Debbie and Pat Boyd, to bring their daughter home, and do whatever it takes to catch this dangerous man, and finally put an end to his killing spree. Credits Directed, written & edited by Alexandre Gendron Curated by Tanvi Rajvanshi Researched by Manon Lafosse Voiceover by William Akana Produced by Alexandra Salois & Salim Sader Sources   CBS  Oxygen True Crime Anatomy of Murder Medstar Television Arrow International Media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the last known footage of Christy Wilson. She's 27 years old, a regular at a casino, a pro who knows how to count cards. But look closely, she's being followed. When she sits beside the strange man at his table, everything changes. Christy becomes disoriented. She starts acting weird, completely out of character. It's as if she's losing her mind, but Christy only had one drink that night. This one, what she doesn't know is that her drink has been spiked.

The man leans in too close. Christy shifts uncomfortably, but he doesn't back off. In the parking lot, CCTV captures him grabbing Christy as she pushes him away. The young woman is unaware that the man beside her has already kidnapped and killed people before. And on that night, Christy Wilson disappeared. The surveillance cameras have captured her leaving the casino with an older man. Her family is understandably franticed and her parents. We really need to know, is she dead?

Is she alive? We just want to bring her home. But Debbie, Christy's mother, will stop at nothing to find her missing daughter, even if it means uncovering the horrifying truth hidden behind a series of gruesome crimes and murders, all linked to the very same man who went after Christy that night. I want my daughter back, and I want her back now. I may be five foot one and blonde, but they've just met a barracuda and the fight's on. On October 4, 2005, Christy Wilson,

was on the phone with her mother. Christy liked the holidays and Halloween was coming and she had this cat that she dressed up in this Halloween costume and she sent a picture of the cat with the costume on. She also had some good news to share with her mother. Following massive layoffs in the tech companies she had been working at, Christy had been unemployed for a little while but was recently picked for a new job interview,

coming in just two days. She was so excited and we were so happy for her. she was going to start fresh, and that was her goal. Christy was still living in and out of her ex-boyfriend's apartment. Her new job would be in San Francisco, and the young woman was excited about moving, although there'd be one place she'd miss. On the outskirts of Sacramento was her playground, a casino where she'd made tremendous amounts of money playing blackjack,

the Thunder Valley. Christy was extremely analytical. I mean, just naturally analytical, and she enjoyed blackjack. Blackjack. She knew how to count cards. Blackjack is a game of skill as much as chance, where players try to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. Christy had learned to count cards and always knew when the odds were in her favor. She'd often earn upwards of $5,000 a night playing at the Thunder Valley. Later that evening, Christy headed to the casino to play one last time before leaving for San Francisco. Around 10.30 p.m.,

she called her ex to tell him she was about to leave. However, Christy never returned to the apartment. The next day, he tried to reach her 72 times. This is the last voicemail he sent her. It was 10 p.m. on October 6 when Debbie and her husband received a phone call that would change their lives forever. Our phone rang at 10 o'clock at night. Danny had told my husband that Christy went to Thunder Valley Casino and that was the last anybody saw her. He wanted to file a missing person's report. It had been 48 hours since Christy's disappearance. The police explained that because she was an adult, they needed proof she hadn't left on her own accord. And the fact that Christy was tackling depression at the time didn't help their case.

She just was in a vicious downward spiral of just feeling like, you know, life just wasn't good. I said, look around. Look at everything that you have. Look at everything you've accomplished. You're beautiful. You've got a great personality. And it seems her mother's words resonated with her because the young woman had already begun taking steps to get herself. out of her predicament.

This came in the mail. So she was serious about doing something about depression. Tapes and CDs. Coaching videos. Tacking anxiety, depression. I mean, this is the kind of gal she is. She wasn't going to just sit back and say, woe was me. But amongst her belongings, Debbie found something else.

Dozens upon dozens of notebooks filled with her daughter's handwriting, all of which centered around a single subject, blackjack strategies. It was hard to admit, but maybe Christy's parents. passion for gambling had slowly turned into an addiction. How often do you think she went to the casino? More often than I think I would even imagine. This was when it clicked for Debbie.

Christie's ex-boyfriend told her that she left the casino around 10.30 p.m. But what if the game got the better of her? What if she stayed? And what if something sinister happened while she was still inside? The next morning, the cops called us back and said, This is Boyd. We have located Christy's car. It's in the parking lot of Thunder Valley,

At the time, the Thunder Valley CCTV network had over 700 individual cameras. The casino staff needed some time to identify, gather, and copy all the tapes needed for the investigation. So, in the meantime, detectives followed up on Debbie's intuition. She told them if Christy had truly left on her own, she wouldn't have left her pet behind. And sure enough, not only was her cat still there, but so was her luggage, medication, and other personal effects. Now convinced something was wrong.

returned to the casino and began reviewing the surveillance footage. At first, everything seemed normal. Christie arrived right before 7 p.m., withdrew cash from the ATM, exchanged it for chips, and sat at a blackjack table. She was winning as usual. Then, they noticed something, or rather, someone. A short, stocky man with black hair stood near the slot machines, watching her. After a while, he sat at another blackjack table. Christy switched tables a few times before ending up beside him, the man, who appeared to be twice her age, acted friendly, high-fiving her and patting her on the back every time she won. However, casino staff familiar with Christie later reported that her behavior changed

after she joined the man's table. She started losing more, acting completely out of character, and became visibly disoriented. When her stepfather, San Jose Police Sergeant Patrick Boyd, got to review the tapes himself, he confirmed that this behavior wasn't like her at all. real jerk at the time from what I understand. And by watching, I could only see her physical action, couldn't hear her words. I could see the way her body got rigid

and how she had moved differently. And I really wanted him to look hard into this. And you had that gut feeling as both a police officer and as a parent, something really majorly wrong. The man's actions became more intrusive. He wrapped his arms around her, touched her legs, and leaned in uncomfortably close. By 11 p.m., five hours into her stay,

Christy finally pushed him away and left the table. Footage showed her calling her ex-boyfriend. This is when, according to her ex, she said she was about to leave. But instead, she returned to the table and continued playing. As time passed, it became clear Christie was intoxicated, despite having had only one drink that night, offered by the man. By 1 a.m., tensions escalated when Christie got into an argument with a dealer. When security intervened, he stepped in, insisting he would escort her out of the casino himself.

However, as they walked toward the exit, his behavior turned more predatory. He grabbed her, pulling her close as she repeatedly pushed him away. The footage only became more troubling as the minutes passed, until they both vanished, out of the camera's range and into what the investigators called, the black hole. She enters the black hole, and she never exits that particular area again. The camera goes on its rotation, and so for a period of time, we couldn't see what happened. After Patrick shared the details concerning the CCTV with Debbie, the desperate mother was at a loss. What happened that night? Who was that man? Why did Christy act this way? Where was

she now? But one question consumed her above all else, the one she asked during one of her first public addresses since her daughter's disappearance. We really need to know. Is she dead? Is she alive? We just want to bring her home. Debbie wasn't the only one feeling overwhelmed. The police couldn't investigate everything at once, so they focused on what mattered most. Finding Christy, a massive, search began in the field surrounding the casino. Debbie and Christy's sister joined in, but three days had passed since she vanished, and the family couldn't help but think they might already be too late.

You want to hear details, but you don't. It's just I get this image in my head of God, what, she must have been going through. All I could see is all these empty fields, and I kept thinking, this is so big. How are they going to find her? So at that point, sheer panic set in for me, and I, I just was beside myself. Debbie had been a shadow of her former self since Christy's disappearance, but one development quickly changed that.

While the man caught on the casino's cameras stalked Christy from afar, he used one of Thunder Valley slot machines linked to his casino membership cards. The police identified the man in question as 53-year-old Mario Garcia. When this was revealed to the Boyd's, Debbie's attitude drastically shifted. If he's any kind of a man, he'll tell us where he's my daughter. I want my daughter back and I want her back now. Debbie and Pat have been beacons of hope in this situation. They have endured the unimaginable of not knowing where your daughter is.

Debbie turned that pain into passion. This changed everything. There was no doubt in Debbie's mind. Someone had the answers. Someone knew the truth about Christy. And that someone was Mario Garcia. The surveillance cameras have captured her leaving the casino with an older man. Well, Garcia, take a look at it.

this. This is my life. We have too much pain. Please help us. Also. All hands better be on deck because something is seriously wrong. However, the police didn't necessarily see it this way. Mario Garcia wasn't some drifter or known criminal. He was a husband, a father, a soccer coach, and owned a large ranch in the area. On paper, he was the last person they'd expect to be involved in a disappearance, and his family stood by him, insisting it was impossible. In the Chinese culture, your husband is your destiny. And with him, I have that feeling. I just have that connection.

He was always there for us. He'd always come home, make sure we all sit at the table. Just, you know, stay close, tight together. We're just a good family. Although Garcia didn't match the profile, police still ran a background check on him. They found nothing except a minor misdemeanor recorded in the 80s, But when they contacted the victim, 52-year-old Wendy Ward, they discovered that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

You don't cross Mario. You don't cross him, especially if you're a woman and you're alone. In her mid-20s, Wendy dated Mario Garcia for some time. She describes him as a usually compassionate boyfriend, but with an extremely violent side. After months of enduring his uncontrollable outbursts, Wendy attempted to leave him, and Garcia sexually assaulted her in retaliation. He was holding my neck. He says, you do anything.

I will take your head and I will smash it. I will just smash it. A few weeks later, all hell broke loose when Wendy told him to stop harassing her over the phone. He drove up to her place and kidnapped her in broad daylight. He said to me, take off your clothes, and I said no. I just was flying, scratching, whatever I could do. Then he choked me. Then he started to choke me.

Garcia proceeded to rape Wendy again in the back of his van. He then drove back to his apartment and dragged her inside. He pulled a gun out of his cabinet. And he took a cartridge and he slammed it up in the bottom. And then he brought the gun over and he held it to my head. And he pulled the trigger. And then he took the gun and then he held it to my mouth and pulled it again. Garcia's gun wasn't loaded, but Wendy was in shock,

realizing she could have been killed right then and there was simply too much for the young woman. He could kill me. I'm surprised that I actually am alive. I'm very lucky. Breaking down in tears on the floor, Wendy was then sexually assaulted for the third time. Garcia then headed to the kitchen and casually made himself a sandwich, as if nothing had happened. She pressed charges, but the procedure stalled for over two years. At first, her legal team intended to charge him with kidnapping, three counts of rape and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. However, in the end, Garcia was only charged with the latter, sentenced to a short probation, and, years later, even managed to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, ridding himself of his felon status in the

process. I felt sick to my stomach. It was just, it was humiliating. I felt after my own incident with him that he could very easily do this again with someone else, Is he dangerous? Absolutely. Absolutely. Garcia's past wasn't as clean as he would have people believe,

but what shocked the detectives most was that Wendy wasn't done yet. Following up on her own violent history with Garcia, she went on to tell them about Lynette Smith, the man's next girlfriend. On Christmas Eve of 1979, one year after Wendy's ordeal, Lynette told Garcia she was leaving him at a family dinner. She was pregnant with his child, but after enduring constant beatings and abuse at his hand,

she made her decision. She wouldn't keep the baby. No records of his reaction exist, but later that night, as Garcia, Lynette and her mother were on their way home in her car, tragedy struck. We do not know what happened inside or even who was driving, but something went wrong when the vehicle passed by the Oakland estuary. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the vehicle pull over on the side of the road, reversed to face the water, and suddenly accelerate through both lanes, plunging straight into the estuary. Police arrived almost immediately, Garcia was still in the water. There was no sign of Lynette or her mother. Actually, Garcia didn't even mention the other passengers until he was formally interrogated

much later that night, even weirder. Right after he revealed Lynette and her mother's existence, he immediately asked for his attorney and refused to give any other information to the police. Lynette's body washed ashore a week later, and her mother was found dead inside the car. No charges were ever filed against Garcia, who claimed he wasn't driving and somehow slid through the accident, conveniently allowing him to feign ignorance. The detectives were stunned. Their once presumed innocent suspect was now not just a violent rapist, but also an alleged murderer.

When asked how she knew all the details, Wendy explained that Lynette's brother, who had been a childhood friend of hers, reached out to her years ago. When she casually asked how his sister was doing, she was baffled by the revelation. I said, yeah, she was killed in a car accident involved with this guy named Mario Garcia. Mario Garcia... It goes beyond disbelief. She says, I used to date him. I was involved with him.

I have rape charges against him. Following the detective's discussion with Wendy, Garcia was arrested. Unfortunately, without CCTV footage of what actually happened to Christy, the police still had no concrete evidence against him. But that didn't matter to Debbie. After speaking with Wendy and hearing her story's horrific details, the distraught mother knew she had to do something, no matter what it took.

Debbie would see to it that Garcia paid for his crimes. Really emotionally ripped me apart. The thought of him getting off on this case, once again scares a living daylight out of me for every woman, every woman. With Garcia in custody, detectives immediately noticed the cuts and scratches covering his face and lower neck. His left eye was also swollen and bruised. But when questioned about his injuries,

the suspect quickly came up with the story. I had a little tractor in the tree and got pushing up on my face. The day after Christie's disappearance, Garcia showed up to work late and left after just an hour. Unusual behavior for a manager as employees confirmed he already had the scratches

when he arrived, but an ER doctor who sat across from him and Christi at the casino the night before couldn't recall seeing any. Did he seem to have any injuries on his face? I didn't see any injuries, no. And I'm reasonably good at making those kind of observations. because that's what I do for a limit.

This blew up Garcia's alibi. There was no logical reason he'd been out clearing trees in the middle of the night. However, one major issue remained. If Debbie wanted justice, they would have to go to trial without a body, and detectives had yet to uncover a single clue about Christy's whereabouts. Instead, they focused on the gap in the parking lot surveillance footage, the so-called black hole. The lots cameras rotated on a three-minute and 41-second cycle,

briefly leaving certain areas unwatched. Garcia's car was barely visible on another feed, only its tail lights were in the frame. Whether by chance or design, he had parked in some sort of blind spot, but detective still found something. Garcia was driving a Toyota Camry, and in the early 2000s, these models had an unusual feature. Their lights would flash in quick succession, depending on how many doors were opened. For over three minutes, the secondary feed actually gathered four flash sequences, meaning that every door was open, and just before the rotating camera swung back, he drove off,

but instead of heading home, as he later claimed, he went to the opposite direction. During that period of time, I believe that she was incapacitated in some fashion and probably laid in the backseat. Garcia had been lying every step of the way, and now, Debbie, Patrick, and the state prosecutor were ready to take him to a trial without a body, a first in North Sacramento legal history. Without Christie's remains or a murder weapon, everything would hinge on circumstantial evidence, convincing a jury beyond reasonable doubt would be far from easy. When I was learning all this, I said, no, he's not going to be this one. We've got to be sure that this guy and all this

arrogance does not escape. You're not fooling anybody, and especially not me. And I will continue to pursue you and pursue you and pursue you. The trial began on September 2,000. 25th, 2006, a little over a year after Christie's disappearance, in front of the court, Wendy Ward met with Debbie and her family for the first time, and she remained by their side for the entirety of the procedures. I couldn't stop hugging her. I just wanted to just hold her and hug her and all the family. I felt like Christy wanted me to give her a hug.

I just did. During the trial, the prosecution showed the CCTV footage to the jury, but this time it carried even more weight. He said uncovered new evidence on Garcia's computer. After Christie's disappearance, he searched extensively for information on date rape drugs. He was reading through, once ingested, how long does it take to leave your system? Two days after my daughter goes missing, are you kidding me? He slipped something in her beverage because the behavior that she exhibited while at that blackjack table over the course of time, it was not her. However, the most incriminating evidence came from Christie herself.

Despite Garcia's attempts to scrub his car with bleach, he failed to remove all of Christy's DNA. Tiny strands of her hair and microscopic droplets of her blood remained on the back seat. The injuries Garcia received after the final fight Christy put up were even more compelling. This is because, on top of attending kickboxing classes, Christy had also been taught self-defense by her stepfather, Patrick. The police sergeant gave her tips, like aiming for the eyes if she was attacked. or faking an STD if someone attempted to rape her, a skill she had used once before when an abusive ex physically assaulted her. After police arrested the ex in question, they documented his injuries.

Amongst the scratches and bruises, four deep claw marks on his chest, some of the same wounds Garcia received the night of Christie's disappearance. She fought and she fought and she fought and she fought her killers. She was going to lose her life to violence. She made darn sure. that she left her mark on her killer. The prosecution dismantled Garcia piece by piece. His lies, his false alibi, his injuries, the DNA, the surveillance footage.

They didn't need a body to prove what had happened. There was overwhelming evidently. You could actually feel what Christy must have been going through at that time. All of her actions, the marks on him. For me, that was, Christy was right there. After hours of deliberation, the jury returned with the verdict. We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Mario Flavio Garcia, guilty of a violation. Absolutely justice has been served. It's about time.

Justice for the Boyds, but no closure. Garcia was gone, yet Christy was still missing, and her fate remained locked away with the man who took her. There's no happiness in this. This is kind of a very shallow victory. It's always going to be hollow. because no matter what happens, she's gone. That was a smart, intelligent young woman that had so much to offer, and he took that. Now Mario Garcia, where did you put my daughter? Where did you put my daughter?

Which, to this day, we don't have the answer. Following the trial, Wendy, Debbie, Patrick, and Christy's sister all attended Garcia's sentencing. Because of extended procedure regarding Wendy's case, The judge more than doubled Garcia's sentence from 25 to 59 years, guaranteeing he would stay behind bars until his death. The convicted murderer wasn't happy about this, to say the least. I suppose that at this hearing, I'm supposed to ask for mercy and to show remorse.

However, I will not do such thing. You killed my daughter. I have no doubt that you would kill again. And for that, I thank my daughter for her bravery, her fight, And I love her very much. Thank you very much. From then on, the Boyd's had to campaign against Garcia's appeal every few years, reliving their trauma and loss each time.

However, nothing hit harder than when the murderer began writing directly to Debbie in 2017. Even though he didn't admit to anything or express any remorse, his writing suggested that some kind of deal could be made to help her find Christy. Was she an ocean? Was she in a ditch for 15 years? I never went to bed without wondering, where is she? I wanted Christy back so bad that I thought, you know what? Let's see how far this goes.

It is unclear whether Garcia wanted a reduced sentence or to be let go entirely, but Debbie had to make a choice. This might be her only chance to be reunited with her missing daughter. She harbored no illusions, though. It had been more than a decade. She knew Christy was dead. Debbie only wanted to turn the page. Yet, closure came at a cost.

The question was, how much was she willing to pay? I was sitting there thinking, what on earth are you doing, Debbie? Get a grip. This would be such a disgrace. He will not use my daughter's body as a bargaining chip. At this point, all hope seemed lost for Debbie and Patrick. Still, following Garcia's failed plea attempt, detectives revisited the case, re-interviewing key people, especially his one.

wife and now grown children, their views on Garcia had shifted, they no longer defended him. In fact, his son, Chris, shared something new, something he had never fully understood before. A few days after Christy vanished, Chris had a big soccer game. Garcia, his coach, had never missed one before. But that day, when Chris went to get him, he found his father working on his tractor, far from their house. He was frantic and disheveled. When Chris asked if he was coming, Garcia barely looked up.

I'm not coming, he muttered. Back then, Chris didn't think much of it, but knowing everything that went down afterward, he wasn't so sure anymore. During their initial search in 2005, cadaver dogs scoured Garcia's five-acre property and found nothing. But, with the location pointed out by Chris in mind, detectives returned with a ground-penetrating radar. It didn't take long before it picked up something buried deep beneath the soil. They started digging. 20 feet down, they uncovered a bone. They needed confirmation, so an archaeologist was brought in to determine. whether it was human or not.

He's like, you're not close enough. I said, oh, yes, I am. And he said, get closer. So they had me get down in the trench, really double-check, triple-check. Okay, yes, it's human. For the past 15 years, Christie's case had been handled

by the same pair of detectives, Nuno Tavares, and Don Murchison. Both fell to their knees when the archaeologist confirmed the bone's human origin. Finally, a breakthrough. As the excavation continued, their team discovered an entire skeleton

and forensic experts quickly identified it as being Christie's. The bones revealed that she had broken her hand and nose, confirming she fought back against Garcia before he killed her. Later that night, the two detectives visited Patrick and Debbie to announce to them that their daughter's body had finally been recovered. I remember her that night saying, is it okay to be happy or joyful? She kept looking around going, is that okay?

We didn't know whether we should open a bottle of champagne, what, there was just a lot of hugs, some quietness, sometimes just sitting there, letting it sink in. The following day, Debbie and Patrick broke the news to the rest of the world and properly think the detectives who had never stopped looking for their daughter for the past 15 years. Have a break. Have a Kit Kat. Today is a day that absolutely reflects some of the greatest level of perseverance in police work that a victim's family could ever ask for. They brought two people home.

They brought my daughter home. They brought my wife home. Debbie was finally free. On the anniversary of Christy's passing, she had her remains cremated and finally put her daughter to rest. We can grieve the way that we should have been able to grieve 15 years ago. There's a peace about that. I was so blessed to be her mom for 27 years,

and that I will carry with me forever. But Christy's death left, wounds far beyond her immediate family. Her best friend, Tiffany, took the stage at a memorial held in her honor. I will never forget Christy and will carry her with me always. I have to remember those words that she said to me when my sister died. Tiffany still remembered the words her best friend shared that day, a year before her disappearance. It was almost as if Christy had unknowingly written her own eulogy, her voice reaching from across the veil. My name is Christy Wilson.

I do want to tell Tiffany, though, that she loved you very much. Because although her presence, her body isn't here on earth, her spirit will be with us forever. I don't know what's fair. I mean, it's just such a hard time for everyone. And I just want you guys all of it to think how one day you guys will join her again in heaven. Thank you.