“A Model Murder,” the most current episode of Lethally Blonde, aired on ID on Monday, April 29, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. It was about David Rademaker’s horrifying murder of model Kimberly Pandelios. This terrible event happened on February 27, 1992, and it shook Northridge, California, where Pandelios lives with her husband Peter and their 13-month-old son.
In the early 1990s, Kimberly Pandelios, a model-to-be, went missing, which shocked the people of Northridge, California. Kimberly Pandelios went missing on February 27, 1992. She was a young mother and wanted to be a model. That day, she left her house and told her husband Peter that she was meeting with a guy named Paul to talk about photoshoot costumes. The last place anyone saw Pandelios was at a salon, where she and Steven Sanchez talked about her hair for the shoot. Then she called the babysitter and told her to let Paul know she was on her way.
The babysitter later got a call from someone pretending to be Paul. He said that Pandelios had left her book at the place where they were meeting and left at 4 p.m. He never heard from her again, though. Her family and friends were very worried about her for years after she went missing.
A big step forward in the case didn’t happen until more than ten years later. A 15-year-old girl’s parents told the police that David Rademaker raped their daughter and forced her to use drugs. During the probe, the teenage girl said Rademaker had said he was going to kill Kimberly Pandelios.
At first, the authorities didn’t believe what the young girl said. Hikers, on the other hand, found Pandelios’ body in the Angeles National Forest in March 1993. Rademaker was arrested after a pair of underwear, a bra with cutouts, and handcuffs were found. After more research, a scary series of events was found.
He claimed to be Paul to get Pandelios to follow him into the forest, where he made sexual advances toward her. Rademaker killed Pandelios and drowned her in a mountain stream when she turned him down. When she died, she was only 21 years old.
In a strange turn of events, though, a key tip in 2004 led to a success that caught her killer, David Rademaker. Rademaker’s friend Cynthia Haddonan called the cops, which was the turning point. It was discovered that Rademaker, her ex-boyfriend, had posed as “Paul” when he talked to models. Cynthia also said that Rademaker had set Kimberly’s empty car on fire while she was waiting for him in their car. The police reopened Kimberly’s case after more than a decade, after this new information came to light.
When police found Rademaker’s phone number on Kimberly’s records from the day she went missing, it made their case against him stronger. Rademaker’s girlfriend at the time, Manya Ksendzov, also gave important information. Rademaker told her more than once that he had lied to get Kimberly to go with him to the Angeles National Forest, near the Monte Cristo Campground, so he could sexually assault her. When Kimberly asked Rademaker to stop and said she would call the police, he drowned her in a nearby creek to stop her.
In February 2004, Cynthia Haddonan recorded Rademaker admitting to killing Kimberly. This was a very important time. During their talk, she had a recording device hidden in her purse. With this proof, the police caught Rademaker in March 2004 and charged him with killing Kimberly Pandelios.
WHERE IS KIMBERLY PANDELIOS’ KILLER NOW
When David Rademaker’s trial for killing Kimberly Pandelios began in January 2006, his name became linked to sadness and crime. Many people were shocked by the case, which revealed the terrible details of a young life lost to needless violence.
Cynthia Haddon was a key witness against Rademaker in the trial. She gave important information that linked him to the murder. The prosecution also showed Kimberly’s day planner, which had Rademaker’s partial palm print on it. This made their case even stronger.
David Rademaker was found guilty of first-degree murder in February 2006 and given a life term without the chance of parole. The decision gave Kimberly Pandelios’ family some peace of mind. Magaly Spector, Kimberly’s mother, said, “At some point, I was going for the death penalty, but it is now OK with me.”
David Rademaker is held in jail at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, at 1600 California Drive. His time in jail is a reminder of how terrible violent crimes are and how important it is to get justice for the victims and their families.
