He always called Holmes my brother. Theyd known each other for three years. Isnt that where John gets his drugs?. She was living in Hollywood while her autistic son attended the Belle Dubnoff School for Brain-Damaged Children. Are you awake? Holmess eyelids fluttered. The Kit Kat was a strip club. Then one day Harold threw John down the stairs and came after him. John was really sick by this point, says Laurie. Do you find it challenging to make new friends here? The pivotal event in porn history was the release of Deep Throat, starring Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, in 1972. Then he sat up. The next day, while Holmes was at work, a delegation of residents came to see Jeana. Her brother Chris, 16, lived in Oregon. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith told . Tell you its all clear. The police wanted to know who killed the Wonderland Gang. Susan Launius, 25, Ron Launiuss wife. Nash was a drug dealer and a heavy user. I said yes. In the late Seventies, Los Angeles police averaged twenty-five drug busts a month at the Starwood. They were always looking for an opportunity. He keeps a sawed-off shotgun under the blanket Here, this is Nashs room. Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. An hour before, Holmes had run into Diles. They were stupid. Which movie about the entire John C. Holmes story accurately captures the Holmes milieu- "Wonderland" or "Boogie Nights" ? You want to play baseball? hed ask his ever-present guests, lighting his butane torch, offering a hit off his pipe. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? John Holmes was a porn star. . Inside was a painting by Rembrandt, a jade and ivory collection, sterling silver, jewelry and, most appealing of all, large quantities of money and drugs. Lind and his girlfriend had come down three weeks earlier from Sacramento to stay at Wonderland. It was a simple ceremony. Go!. jaydubya2009 10y. Eversz is one of the best unsung novelists in the crime genre we have working today. He was frozen. He had a slight build, a pockmarked face, a record of thirteen arrests. I've always found the Wonderland story so intriguing. And the AIDS thing was just starting to come out. They came from across the countryalthough the Washington, D.C. area was noticeably over-representedas well as from Canada and England, and, in at least one case, all the way from Nazi Germany. Three hours later, everyone was finally awake. One woman who had sex with Nash remembers a lot of temptation. . (But) we have a certain set of rules to follow that the people who go out and perpetrate crimes dont.. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people living and working in L.A. who have never given thought to writing a screenplay. He was in so much pain, you couldnt touch him. Holmes rolled down his window, McCourt rolled down his. Holmes hired the sisters to do gardening around the complex. Holmes thought Nash was the most evil man hed ever met, but he couldnt quite figure him out, so he respected him. Nash shut the bedroom door. The Starwood, on Santa Monica Boulevard, featured cutting-edge rock & roll. We moved around a lot because the rent kept going up. When asked by Holmes' attorney what she remembered after that, she replied, 'nothing.'. They came even though, at the time, there was no music industry in Los Angeles. Susan Launius was severely beaten in her bed, but she narrowly survived, albeit with amnesia, head injuries, and the loss of a finger. John C. Holmes, the worlds premier pornographic film star, sobbed as he sat in a steaming bathtub early one morning in July, 1981. Except for the . He had set it up with the other people, the people that lived at Wonderland. Anyway, Launius, Billy Deverell, and David Lind were robbing a ritzy house in L.A. They made a run to McDonalds for hamburgers. I believe that cocaine paranoia created within him the desire to stay within that closed environment that he had control over. Now he was a drug delivery boy for the Wonderland Gang. Launius' years of operation: 1972-1973 (after he returned from Asia and before prison), 1978-1981. He stared straight ahead, unblinking. She was later unable to identify her attackers. During Holmes murder trial in 1982, then Deputy Dist. Since the late Sixties, Holmes had traded on his natural endowment. Two weeks later, it was reported that hed lost only seven pounds. No one but Holmes has ever been charged in the murder case. It was 8:30 Monday morning. Finally, on the afternoon of November 22nd, 1982, Holmes relented and testified. That first time, we didnt get to work together, says Laurie, but we were attracted. It's a yellow - sometimes green - vehicle with four tires and a Middle Eastern man behind the wheel. The floor plan before them showed a three-bedroom, high-end tract house on a cul-de-sac in the San Fernando Valley. Now, home early from her office, Sharon left her purse in the foyer, squeaked down the hall on white rubber soles to the bathroom of their one-bedroom apartment in Glendale. She had two daughters, had once been married to a Beverly Hills attorney. But Detective Tom Lange of the Los Angeles Police Department, the lead investigator on the case, said, There is no mystery, because we know who is involved and we know why. Susan Launius, who lay wounded with severe head injuries for hours before being discovered in the house by neighbors last July 1, testified during Holmes' preliminary hearing that she could only recall seeing 'shadowy figures.'. I was really charmed, says Jeana. He couldnt walk. to tell them who it was, Sharon Holmes said. When Holmes returned to his car hours later, two armed men ordered him to drive to Nashs home, he said. He cooked coke all night long. Remember me?. She was nowhere to be found. Holmes was one of the greats in the business. . 159K views 3 years ago #NBC #NBCLA NBC News talked one on one with Manson follower and convicted killer Susan Atkins over a decade after her conviction. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. With the preliminary hearing transcript, the Wonderland groupies for lack of a better term can get a glimpse into what really went down on the night of July 1, 1981, in the words of those who were there: Susan Launius, the sole survivor of the attack; David Lind, a slick, smooth-talking hood who was one of the trigger men in the robbery of reputed mobster Eddie Nash that preceded and instigated the murders; and Tracy McCourt, the petulant wheelman in the Nash heist. We closed up the office and went to the beach. She paid for food and household expenses, did his laundry, cooked for him when he was home. Theyd been married sixteen years. A California cop called him "one of the coldest people I ever met." The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month.. He tried to think. All of them! For the last several years, Nash had rarely left his white-stone ranch house in Studio City. Later, in the Sixties, the canyon attracted writers and artists, rock stars and gurus. He invited them in for coffee. A porn documentary of his life, made in 1981, was called Exhausted. -, Press J to jump to the feed. Hed say, Count this. Were talking $56,000 in two boots.. They came even though, at the time, there was no music industry in Los Angeles. Mismanagement, Sloppy Hiring Practices, Lack Of Transparency. He was willing, even eager, to murder a helpless woman who was no physical threat to him. When asked by Holmes' attorney what she remembered after that, she replied, 'nothing.'. I used to be a Web Developer in the Newsroom, now I spend my time in coffee shops researching murder. The fifty-two-year-old former jurist had been arrested after he allegedly punched his eighty-two-year-old mother and threatened to kill someone if she didnt give him keys to a car. Sharon, a registered nurse, rummaged through a well-stocked medicine cabinet, brought out iodine and cotton swabs. No drugs. He would have to take them to the house.. Christ, she thought, John. The murders were so brutal that police were comparing the case to the Tate-LaBianca murders by the Manson Family. Men asked him to autograph their wives breasts. I said, Please, just let me get my clothes and my dog and well leave.'. Her new boss, a pediatrician, had shut down the office for the afternoon, and shed gone to the market, planned a special dinner for her husband. Wed have dinner with other people at the hotel, go to movies. There are other suspects that we feel are involved. Her daughter was born by emergency C-section. Now it was December 4th, 1981. Alex MurdaughCalled 'Family Annihilator' by Prosecution in Murder Trial. I said No and I meant it., Over the next year, Nasrallah brought her grape leaves, hummus, pots of Turkish coffee. March 3 (UPI) -- A 7-year-old Louisiana boy with a firm grasp of baseball rules is seeking a Guinness World Record as the world's youngest umpire. First his forehead, then his cheeks, then his neck. He thinks Im famous.. The time was 2:30 in the afternoon. Hard Candy, a 3-D thriller. Blood and brains splattered everywhere, even on the ceilings. In 1981, Ron Launius and his gang of thieves and drug dealers, with assistance from porn star John Holmes, robbed the home of businessman and gangster Eddie Nash. Go back to that house! Chris caught up. She was the sole survivor of the attack - suffering severe head injuries, amnesia, and a severed finger. Now, as McCourt turned right, off Laurel Canyon Boulevard onto Dona Pegita, he saw Holmes driving back toward them. But the new accounts cast doubt on the story Holmes told a biographer before his death March 13. Now Holmes owed the Wonderland Gang, too. Room service. Its the cops.. They picked up a six-pack, went to a park, sat by a pond. . Coroner Thomas Noguchi said early autopsy results on the bodies found Wednesday -- 12 hours after the neighbors ignored the screams for mercy -- indicated the victims had been beaten to death. Show your appreciation with the gift of Flickr Pro. The top story was something about a mass murder. Im very lusty.. One day, Jeana was visiting a neighbor when Holmes came by to deliver a bag of pot. Wake him? Nash was missing part of his sinus cavity, one of his lungs had been removed, and he had a steel plate in his head. Susan Hayward. Because hed already been tried, Holmes would not be able to invoke the Fifth Amendment. I had to take them there., I took them there. Names of mobsters, drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps. How do other people see you? He has a fascinating style and I liken him to Raymond Carver if Carver had decided to write about L.A.'s slumming angels. Hed sent two of his minions out to score more drugs, but they hadnt yet returned. Like all porn actors, John had been paid per day and had signed away the rights to his own films. At 98 and facing cancer, Bob Dole reckons with legacy of Trump and ponders future of GOP. They were living out of the trunk of his estranged wifes Chevy Malibu. While awaiting that trial, he was ordered by a judge to tell the grand jury what he knew about the Wonderland murders. Usually, they smoked freebase and had sex. He wanted new names for Sharon and Jeana, too. Big Rosie, the manager, let Jeana work the switchboard and clean rooms in exchange for rent. We're in a period of seismic drought in L.A. Where do you want to be when the Big One hits? He was picking on a kid that didnt know any better. Focusing on employee strengths. She was twenty, an army brat. John kept his porn money and spent it on himself. So, how much is Susan Launius worth at the age of 70 years old? Over the years, theyd become like mother and daughter. Now she shook her head slowly, walked around the car to the passenger side. His eyes were open, says Laurie, and it looked like he had looked up to Death and said, Here I am. It was the most peaceful look I ever saw in my life. (Taken from Wikipedia on Wonderland Murders). Now, in an exclusive interview with the Observer, . Nash hadnt slept in ten days. I mean, come on: Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino - those are choices? Holmess parents separated when he was three, and Mary moved the family into a housing project in Columbus. The cops were calling it the Four on the Floor Murders. Detectives said they had talked to Susan Murphy Launius, 29, at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, where she is in critical condition with gashes in her head and neck. He showed up at the house in the early evening. The man in the suit was Los Angeles Police Department detective Tom Lange. Once, he rammed his own hand into a harvesting machine. A look at the notorious convicted murderer's life in prison after she drowned her two sons in 1994. (Wikipedia article on Wonderland Murders). Police, however, believe that Holmes actually took part in the fatal beatings. She didnt have any money. He walked through the door, flopped on the bed, passed out. Lulu Press offers a very affordable set-up with generous royalties. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. It was like being in a movie or something., By late 1984, John was working as an executive at Amersons VCX films. Sharon sat on the wood-covered commode. Done. His gay clubs were the first in L.A. to allow same-sex dancing. Sharon had gone so far as to stop physical relations, but she couldnt bring herself to kick him out. His bodyguard, Gregory De Witt Diles, was a karate expert and convicted felon who weighed a blubbery 300 pounds. Then Nash was arrested with three others on federal charges of racketeering, arson and mail fraud. National Park Service: 'Never push a slower friend down' in a bear encounter, March 2 (UPI) -- The National Park Service offered some sage advice for park visitors who encounter bears: "Never push a slower friend down. His old friend was happy to pick them up. They made him beg for his life. Thats what its all about. I stood there against the wall. Now it was December 4th, and she hadnt seen Holmes in two weeks. This is a man who pimped out his underage girlfriend to Eddie Nash in exchange for drugs and that's just the beginning of his sins. Videos . A year ago, shed been busted for dealing drugs out of the Wonderland house. The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month. They watched some more TV. His penis, he said, was bigger than a pay phone, smaller than a Cadillac., Holmess voice was sly and ingratiating. Holmes went to work for a construction company, painting a hotel down the strip. Nash and Holmes had met three years earlier at the Seven Seas. I wouldnt want to be operated on in San Quentin Prison, Ricks said sympathetically. Whos this in Montana? Writer and documentary producer. I had to let her know there was another world out there, that John was not God Almighty. . Holmes slept fitfully for a few hours, Sharon Holmes said, and moaned about blood and pain. For a time, John Holmes was silent. Two days later, Coen alleged that Holmes, acting on Nashs orders, led the killers to the Wonderland Avenue address and then helped murder the occupants. I marketed him. This anecdote right there tells me that Launius has a body count. Come with us, Sharon., It can be the three of us, Sharon, like old times.. He even had the Holy Rollers sister smoking., In the morning, they went out to get food. The daughter had a kid and a job. I watched them beat them to death., It was them or me. It was owned by the pediatrician she worked for; she and Holmes lived rent-free in an adjacent house. She opened the door, folded her arms against her chest. And so the plan was fixed. Mr. So I told him everything, John said. He boiled it clean in a pot on Sharons stove. Yeah, well, uh, he said. He excused himself, left the room and unlocked the sliding door. Barbara's cousin tells me this info. Latinx Files: In praise of Jenna Ortega, Aubrey Plaza and moody, deadpan Latinas, Arizona governor wont proceed with execution set by court, Civilians flee embattled town of Bakhmut as Ukrainian pullout looms. This article is based on information obtained from interviews with more than seventy people including law-enforcement officials, porn-industry insiders, attorneys, court officials, family members and eyewitnesses connected with the Wonderland case. He also renovated the house, outdoing himself in the master bathroom, recreating a backwoods outhouse, complete with a quarter-moon cutout, a shingled roof over the bathtub and a rough-hewn box around the commode. They called it Louise. A California cop called him one of the coldest people I ever met.. He thought one porn person in the family was enough, she says. Nash was on the job day and night, wearing a tall white chefs hat, waiting tables himself. A bloody mess. He went out of his life denying, said Sharon Holmes, (saying) I had no involvement., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Texas congressman who broke with GOP is censured, Hong Kong court convicts activists behind Tiananmen vigil, Election conspiracies fuel dispute over voter fraud system, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Californias snowpack is approaching an all-time record, with more on the way. Where are you calling from? 1947 was a pivotal year in L.A.'s history. When he got out of jail, Holmes was jubilant. According to one eyewitness, Diles once chased a man out of the Kit Kat and emptied his .38 revolver into the mans car. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. By contrast and comparison, the Manson killings of 1969 were resolved. Holmes was crumpled on the floor. Everything from Volkswagens to a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Harold drank a lot. He wanted to make a million dollars so we could just leave and be done with it.. So Holmes summoned his wife into the bathroom, drew steaming water into the tub, slipped in, and began to talk. The cost of the ISBN - to get your title into other markets like Amazon and bricks and mortar book stores - comes out of the author's own pocket but that's a small price to pay, literally, for everything else Lulu does for authors, such as providing a storefront free of charge. If you could live in any neighborhood or specific house in LA, where/which would you choose? Allan MacDonell October 2, 2003. He cut Holmes off, canceled his insurance. I was working as a computer programmer. His legs and feet would swell up, his ears would bleed, he had infections in his lungs. Dear reader, we're asking you to help us keep local news available for all. She wasnt happy. James M. Eisenman, a Century City attorney who represents Holmes estate and his second wife, said he doubts Sharon Holmes story. When asked to elaborate, the policeman explained: "A trash can only has two handles". Girls' Singles. Firefighters hoist horse stranded in backyard swimming pool. We have never heard the whole truth (about the killings) and we never will hear the whole truth, said attorney Earl L. Hanson, who, along with partner Mitchell W. Egers, successfully defended Holmes against the murder charges. He wanted to be the Arab man in his tent. Hed been ripped for eight pounds of cocaine, but the Wonderland Gang hadnt found his private stash, and now he was bubbling his glass pipe furiously. One of the actresses in the cast was Laurie Rose. Susan A. Murphy Launius, then 30, while not an official member of the gang, was married to gang member Ron Launius and had a drug habit. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. Jeana, Ive got to tell you. He was consuming it. I tried to shut his eyes like in the movies, but they wouldnt stay shut., Holmes didnt want a funeral, but he did have a last wish. March 3 (UPI) -- A sheep spotted wandering loose on a British highway was given a lift back to its owner by a concerned bus driver on her first day on the job. Amerson, meanwhile, accused his friend of embezzling $200,000 from the company. March 3 (UPI) -- A New Brunswick couple who initially thought a burglar had broken into their home discovered the invader was actually a panicked deer. A doctor of dubious practice prescribed a salad of different drugs to aid the weight loss. The murderers were brought to justice. I believe I was watching TV and it seems like a bunch of people were coming in and out,' Mrs. Launius said. I was there., It was my fault, John said, his eyes welling with tears. In jail, Holmes went on a hunger strike. John was doing a lot of drawing. The car was on the other side of Santa Monica Boulevard, across six lanes of traffic. John eased into the tub. Two years later, Ricks was ordered held against his will for psychiatric observation. Didn't expect my day to start by downloading #microsoftedge or willingly going to #bing to see #openai's new #gpt4 model. Just blood. Jeana sat very still on the edge of the bed, watching a TV that was mounted on the wall. A stairway, leading from the garage to the front door, was caged in iron. Bob Gregory, 62, went missing the same day as Sands. Sharons first act was to move Jeana out of Karen and Davids and into a garage apartment in the complex. She was an associate of the Wonderland Gang, hanging around the Wonderland apartment, where she was savagely beaten by criminals with lead pipes on the night of 1 July 1981. Hed been with three governors, two of their wives and one senator, who was really a freak., Holmes said he owned ten different businesses, that he was a gourmet cook, that he had written twenty-nine books, including a how-to manual combining cooking and sex. The bride wore white. Help me. A fifth victim was carried out alive. Jeana leaned out the window, and they hugged. After that I was his.. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Susan A. Murphy Launius, then 30, while not an official member of the gang, was married to gang member Ron Launius and had a drug habit. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/430cdk/four_bloody_unsolved_wonderland_murders/. Tossing and moaning, punching and kicking. Or the local TV says its a big mystery. Hed come home from one of his movie premires, take off his boots, peel down his socks and take out a wad of large bills. I trusted you! You talk to Nash, whatever, you tell him you got to take a piss. The armed intruders robbed Nash and his 300-pound body guard, Gregory Diles, of $10,000, two plastic sacks of cocaine and other property. Sharing the house with Miller and DeVerell was Ronald Launius, 37. The Interviews 25th Anniversary. Diles shoved, Holmes skidded across the carpet. A day or two later, Holmes gave a compressed, but similar account of what happened to Sellers, she told The Times. pillsbury company net worth; does gotomeeting work in china; tanner mark boots website

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