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| Christopher Thomas here pictured with his mom, stepmom, and father in the visiting room in 1999. I think the movie producers did a great job selecting Jeremy Jordan to play Nick Ryan in this movie. Even though Thomas has dark hair I think Jordan really captured the essence of Christopher Thomas. There is a really good book on the case called Anatomy of an execution:the life and death of Douglas Christopher Thomas |
Photo of Christopher Thomas (death row inmate)
Twisted Desire based on the Case of Jessica Wiseman and DouglasChristopher Thomas
Twisted Desire Movie is Based on the Wiseman Murders
by Traciy Curry-Reyes
A background sketch of Christopher Thomas
He was a teen who really had no one to discipline him. He lived his life much like an adult. He did not have to worry about curfews, and he never had to answer to anyone about who he was dating or with whom he was associating in his spare time.Thomas lived with his grandparents since he was about two years old. His mother and father had divorced even before his birth. His grandparents were both deceased by the time he reached twelve years old. He was sent back to live with his mom, but the two had a strained relationship. He tried to commit suicide at age 16. He met Jessica not long after the suicide attempt. Sources say that he was sad, desperate, and vulnerable. Jessica Wiseman filled all of his needs. She made him feel special and loved. She lavished him with attention, and he was just not used to that.
A background sketch of Jessica Wiseman
Jessica came from a privileged background. Her parents were very strict, and they did not trust her or allow her very much freedom. Jessica fought constantly with her parents as she struggled to exercise her freedom. She was described as a manipulative and a selfish girl.
Christopher Thomas met Jessica right after he had tried to kill himself. He fell head over hills for Jessica. When her parents became aware of the relationship they did everything possible to put an end to it. James Wiseman even threatened to kill Chris if he didn't leave Jessica alone. The constant infighting between Jessica and her parents became unbearable for the young lovers so the devised a plan to execute the Wisemans. Jessica told Christopher just how he should enter the home. She was very specific about where her parents would be sleeping. So on the night of November 10, 1990, Jessica helped Thomas climb through an open window, and they began staging the scene to make it look like a robbery gone bad. Christopher Thomas then walked into the Wiseman's room with a shotgun and blasted them both as they lay in bed. Kathy staggered down the hallway, and as Jessica began shouting to Chris to finish the job, he blasted her again, and she fell to the floor dead. When the police arrived they found Kathy in the hallway dead. James was found in his bed. He was also deceased. Christopher took the fall for the murders. He refused to implicate his girlfriend in the beginning. He did eventually confess to the murders. He admitted that they were very much in love and that they wanted to be together, and murdering Jessica's parents were the only way for them to be free. At the time the murders were committed Chis was only 17 years old and Jessica was just 14 years old. She was tried as a Juvenile. The was found guilty and sentenced to a juvenile facility until her 21st birthday. Thomas was tried as an adult, and received the death penalty. Jessica was released in 1997. When Thomas spoke with members of the media during his upcoming execution. He told them that he was a very different mature person, unlike the person that he was in 1990. He only wished that he had a second chance to prove it to the judge and the rest of the world.
Aftermath
When Christopher Thomas was put to death his case made national attention. People were outraged that his partner in crime only spent a few years in a juvenile correctional facility. People thought that he got a raw deal. They felt that Jessica, being the mastermind of the murder, should have also received the death penalty or at least life in prison for her part in the murders. Virginia law was eventually changed to include youths who could be eligible to be tried as adults.
True Story that inspired Twisted Desire, DouglasChristopher Thomas photo
in the morning of November 10, 1990, appellant DouglasChristopher Thomas shot and murdered J.B. and Kathy Wiseman asthey slept in their home in Middlesex County, Virginia. At the timeof the murders, Thomas, who was then 17, was living nearby with hisaunt and uncle, Brenda and Herbert Marshall, and his niece, LanieCreech, then 12.Thomas murdered the Wisemans at the behest of their daughter,Jessica, then 14, whom he was dating, because the Wisemans hadbeen threatening to break up their relationship. On November 6, a fewdays before the murders, Creech overheard Thomas plotting with Jes-sica to "[g]et[ ] rid of her parents." Jessica asked Thomas "if he hadenough bullets"; Thomas said that he did. Jessica Wiseman andThomas then set a time to meet at the Wisemans' house in order tocarry out the murders.At some point during the week before the murders, the Marshalls,with whom Thomas was living, traveled to Roanoke, Virginia, on ahunting and fishing trip. In order to ensure that the Marshalls did notreturn unexpectedly and thereby disrupt the plan to murder the Wise-mans, Thomas drove to Roanoke and cut the brake lines on the Mar-shalls' truck.On November 9 -- the night of the murders -- Thomas admittedto Creech that he was "going over to Jessica's . . . [t]o kill two peo-ple." Thomas told Creech that his plan was to go over to the Wise-mans' house, shoot the Wisemans, and return home and pretend to besleeping; Jessica would then come to the Marshalls' house and bangon the door in feigned panic.Thomas then returned to Jessica's bedroom. Despite her horrificinjury, Kathy Wiseman was not immediately killed, but managed towalk down the hall to Jessica's bedroom in order to check and seewhether her daughter was OK. Upon seeing her mother standing atthe doorway to her bedroom, Jessica yelled, "Oh God, Chris, pleaseshoot her again." According to his subsequent confession, Thomasobliged her request, shooting Kathy Wiseman again in the head andthis time killing her instantly. Thomas then returned home; a shorttime later, Jessica carried out the final stage of the plan, going to theMarshalls' house and banging on the door in feigned panic. Later thatsame day, Thomas confessed to both murders.After talking to Creech, Thomas left his house with a shotgunloaded with buckshot and went over to the Wisemans' house, stop-ping along the way to smoke marijuana. Upon reaching the house,Thomas climbed in through the window of Jessica's bedroom, andbriefly stopped to talk to Jessica and smoke more marijuana. Thomasthen went to the Wisemans' bedroom. There, he shot J.B. Wisemanonce in the head at close range, killing him instantly. He next pro-ceeded to shoot Kathy Wiseman in the head, essentially destroyingthe left side of her face.Thomas pled guilty to the first-degree murder of J.B. Wiseman andrelated firearms charges, and not guilty to the capital murder of KathyWiseman and related firearms charges. He was tried for the murderof Kathy Wiseman as an adult. On Friday, August 23, 1991, a jury3found Thomas guilty on all counts. On Monday, August 26, the samejury sentenced Thomas to death, finding as an aggravating factor thathis conduct in committing the murder was vile, horrible, or inhuman,and finding no mitigating circumstances. See Va. Code § 19.2-264.2.On November 11, the trial judge imposed the death sentence and sen-tenced Thomas to a further sixty-seven years in prison for the murderof J.B. Wiseman.2
Other Cases of Children Soliciting the Murder of Their Parents
The Koslow Murders
In March 1992, Dillingham and his friend Brian Dennis Salter, both 19, were hired by 17 year old Kristi Koslow to murder her parents. Kristi did not get along with them after her father remarried. Dillingham and Salter entered the upscale Fort Worth residence of Jack and Karen Koslow, using a code provided them by their daughter Kristi. The alarm system was disarmed and they came in through a rear entrance. The Koslows were asleep. Following the floor plan given to them by Kristi, the intruders went into the master bedroom and began attacking the Koslows. Mr. Koslow ran to his closet to fetch a shotgun, but he didn't get it loaded in time to defend himself. Both were forced to lie on the floor. Dillingham then beat them with a steel pry bar and Salter slashed their throats with a hunting knife. They stole Mr. Koslow's wallet, $200 in cash and a wrist watch worth $1,600. Karen Koslow, 40, died at the scene. Jack Koslow was beaten into unconsciousness and left for dead, but later regained consciousness, staggered to a neighbor's house, and called police. At first, the police suspected Koslow of murdering his wife. Later, a tip was received from a friend of Dillingham, who assisted in disposing of the murder weapon. A confession from Dillingham followed. Dillingham wept nonstop throughout his trial. Kristi's boyfriend, Brian Salter, testified that they were offered $1,000,000 for the murders by Kristi, who told them she stood to inherit $12,000,000. Christi Koslow and Brian Salter both received life sentences and are eligible for parole in 27 years.
In March 1992, Dillingham and his friend Brian Dennis Salter, both 19, were hired by 17 year old Kristi Koslow to murder her parents. Kristi did not get along with them after her father remarried. Dillingham and Salter entered the upscale Fort Worth residence of Jack and Karen Koslow, using a code provided them by their daughter Kristi. The alarm system was disarmed and they came in through a rear entrance. The Koslows were asleep. Following the floor plan given to them by Kristi, the intruders went into the master bedroom and began attacking the Koslows. Mr. Koslow ran to his closet to fetch a shotgun, but he didn't get it loaded in time to defend himself. Both were forced to lie on the floor. Dillingham then beat them with a steel pry bar and Salter slashed their throats with a hunting knife. They stole Mr. Koslow's wallet, $200 in cash and a wrist watch worth $1,600. Karen Koslow, 40, died at the scene. Jack Koslow was beaten into unconsciousness and left for dead, but later regained consciousness, staggered to a neighbor's house, and called police. At first, the police suspected Koslow of murdering his wife. Later, a tip was received from a friend of Dillingham, who assisted in disposing of the murder weapon. A confession from Dillingham followed. Dillingham wept nonstop throughout his trial. Kristi's boyfriend, Brian Salter, testified that they were offered $1,000,000 for the murders by Kristi, who told them she stood to inherit $12,000,000. Christi Koslow and Brian Salter both received life sentences and are eligible for parole in 27 years.
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