He just stared. He had twenty-seven fan clubs; people wrote for locks of his pubic hair. There was one hitch. In high school, Holmes said, he slept with all but three girls in his class. His old friend was happy to pick them up. Will Dominion-Fox News lawsuit be different? Its like being a carpenter. You said something about blood., Holmess eyes bulged. Holmes hired the sisters to do gardening around the complex. Net Worth in 2021. I said, Please, just let me get my clothes and my dog and well leave.'. The case against Holmes was built largely on two pieces of evidence: An admission that Holmes allegedly made to Los Angeles Police Detective Frank Tomlinson after his arrest in Miami in December, 1981, and a bloody palm print left by Holmes on the rail of a bed on which one of the victims, drug dealer Ronald Launius, died. I know who did it.. She'd gone into the pregnancy with a plan, knowing Black mothers like herself were at higher risk. After a while, the news. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Drawings of the dog, of me. Its business.. Wonderland Gang - Wikipedia Holmess character, said Al Goldstein in Screw magazine, was a thin, bony, trench-coated shamus, outrageously horny, bedding down with client and quarry alike. In Goldsteins opinion, it was a goofy, crudely made series, but it was wildly successful. (But) we have a certain set of rules to follow that the people who go out and perpetrate crimes dont.. There were piles of cocaine in front of you. Theres no mystery. Holmes slept fitfully for a few hours, Sharon Holmes said, and moaned about blood and pain. Ricks cited Nashs need for delicate surgery to remove a sinus tumor. We went on twenty-four-hour watch. Launius served 4 years and was released in 1978. Holmes had nothing to do and nowhere to go. Jeana sat very still on the edge of the bed, watching a TV that was mounted on the wall. We went to a motel, had a nice reunion. Gov. He wanted to make a million dollars so we could just leave and be done with it.. We want to talk to you about Eddie Nash, said McClain. The consumption of alcohol and drugs was an ongoing, everyday affair, says an attorney who is a longtime acquaintance of Nashs. At night, she baby-sat for David and Karen. You just had to ask, and hed give., According to court testimony, Nash had a fancy for young girls, whips and a game with a revolver called Russian roulette. He never went home again. You know, when you were sleeping? I suspect that Launius may have been involved in other violent crimes. As the 1980s began, and Holmes became more heavily involved in cocaine, his absences grew longer. I have been fascinated by the Wonderland case ever since co-producing the documentary Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmesin 1999. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. susan launius interview - lavamusic.is I come back to Wonderland. She hadnt heard from him in, what, six months? These are my tools, I use them to make a living. 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. He told us everything initially, right after it happened. John continued making films for a while. March 2 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman scored a $100,000 prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket less than 12 hours after she scored an $11,000 jackpot at a casino. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith told . All Rights reserved. By 1973, John and Sharon were sharing the same house, even the same bed, but they were no longer having sex. Everything from Volkswagens to a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics from Emory . . He wanted new names for Sharon and Jeana, too. His words to me were Friends can get you killed. We were very careful. He sent flowers, presents, photos of them with the dog. Now her husband fixed her with a long stare. She opened the door, folded her arms against her chest. The maid was the only one home, and they tied her up. See that car over there? . One woman who had sex with Nash remembers a lot of temptation. Allan MacDonell October 2, 2003. One on One Interview with Manson Follower Susan Atkins - YouTube She was twenty, an army brat. 1-20 of 285. John leaned up against the back bumper, smoking a cigarette. He panicked, walked in circles around the doctors office, threw his briefcase down. Hurricanes and tornadoes are scary as all hell because you usually have a few moments to contemplate what's about to hit you. It was Thursday, July 2nd, 1981. 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. Also while in college, he said, he danced nude modern jazz ballet and drove an ambulance. No one but Holmes has ever been charged in the murder case. She testified in a halting voice that the last thing she recalled was seeing shadowy figures in the bedroom where she lay with her husband. He wasnt threatening. Suzanne Launius (A), 71 - Hawthorne, CA Public Reputation Profile at They called it Louise. Sprinklers were ticking water across lawns. You could walk up, whisper something in his ear, and hed make it available. He dunked his head, put a steaming washcloth over his face. Along the way, in Colorado, Mr. She reached up and took Johns chin in her hand, turned his head side to side. But before they headed east, Holmes paid a final, early morning visit to his wife. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. Then Nash was arrested with three others on federal charges of racketeering, arson and mail fraud. She didnt know what to do. Listen, he said, grabbing her elbow. March 2 (UPI) -- A Florida woman earned a Guinness World Record when she completed 23 ultra-marathon runs -- 31.1 miles -- in a 23-day period. Do you find the threat of earthquakes preferable to the threat of hurricanes and long winters? When he got out of jail, Holmes was jubilant. In the car were De Verell, Launius, McCourt and a man named David Lind, a friend of Launiuss. The setup, the robbery, Nashs threat to kill his whole family, Sharon included. 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. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/430cdk/four_bloody_unsolved_wonderland_murders/. Can religion save us from Artificial Intelligence? How students with Asperger's cope at university. By Steve Helling. Take care of him, Sharon said. Dont worry.. Lets face it, she says. I wouldn't doubt it. He spent his early life in Tennessee and Georgia, and graduated from Spalding High School in Griffin, Ga. The color drained from his face. Names of mobsters, drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps. So Holmes summoned his wife into the bathroom, drew steaming water into the tub, slipped in, and began to talk. Sharon sat on the wood-covered commode. Youre probably going to be saving him.. I had to let her know there was another world out there, that John was not God Almighty. One summer day in 1968, Sharon came home a little early from work. Arriving back at Wonderland just after dawn, Holmes announced the coast was clear. By contrast and comparison, the Manson killings of 1969 were resolved. She didnt have any money. Invalid memorial. After mustering out of the army, at age nineteen, Holmes went to work as an ambulance driver, and soon thereafter he met Sharon Gebenini. only "shadows". The sun was warm and diffuse. She wasnt happy. During one special engagement, Thorson danced with the Rockettes. By June, she was thinking, Well, Im not doing anything here. On June 27th, two days before the robbery at Nashs, she flew to Los Angeles. Im going to quit. A California cop called him one of the coldest people I ever met.. Nash was separately convicted of cocaine possession and served about two years in state prison. Susan Lanius (unlucky) wife of Ron Lanius played by Christina Applegate in the movie Wonderland. SIMON: For more than 40 years, people have been reading and performing Susan Cooper's poem "The Shortest Day" to celebrate the winter solstice. Harold drank a lot. susan launius interview He was like the old John. Hanson said Holmes never told his attorneys what happened the night of the killings. Then what?, I leave the sliding door unlocked this one, said Holmes, pointing to the floor plan, here, in the back. A house on Wonderland Avenue. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. She cut her eyes slowly, caught his profile. No longer the leading man, he was now the featured oddity. The car was on the other side of Santa Monica Boulevard, across six lanes of traffic. Not long after, Launius, Sherrill, and another associate named Junior Ballard were arrested for smuggling heroin and pills across the Mexican border into the US. Holmes thought Nash was the most evil man hed ever met, but he couldnt quite figure him out, so he respected him. . Holmes started in the business around 1968, a time when porn was just beginning to surface from the underground of peep shows and frat houses into mainstream acceptance. What now? she thought. Sellers agreed to talk to The Times on the condition that the paper not reveal her true name. Related Stories He was also in Liberaces Las Vegas act. Launius' wife, Susan Murphy, also claimed that she and Launius were involved in a drug deal gone wrong in Mexico in 1972 or '73, during which she was taken hostage but saved by her husband when he killed her captors. LAist Interview: Rodger Jacobs | LAist He cut Holmes off, canceled his insurance. What really cracks me up is people believe he was a dope dealer. At the hospital, as he came out of anesthesia, he said to Mary, Ill never have to work again. He didnt. barry mcguigan, daughter funeral; susan launius interview You had an accident in the Malibu?. Hours passed, John woke. Is this your brother? A pimp tried to pick her up. It was a strange and violent time and men wore double-breasted suits and snap-brim Fedoras. . According to the law, he had to talk. John Holmes, who was tried for and acquitted of the crimes, never told his wife the names of the assailants, she said. 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes, Southern California's Snow-Capped Mountains Are Beautiful. He has just published his latest project about one of Los Angeles's most well known murder cases in the 80s. automotive swap meets in missouri 2022 - veasyt.immo A naturalized American, Nash came to California from Palestine in the early Fifties. They needed a score. A sign on the box, written in blue Magic Marker, said, FOR DISTRIBUTION AT BOX OFFICE. Wed have dinner with other people at the hotel, go to movies. In February, Holmes was admitted to the VA hospital in Sepulveda. At the moment, on this evening of June 28th, 1981, Wonderland Avenue was quiet. He tried to think. One day in 1970, Holmes met Hawaiian producer Bob Chinn. Rush hour was on. A girl from the dorm recommended him. Holmes wouldnt tell. He took over the kitchen. 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. John kept his porn money and spent it on himself. Holmes was one of the greats in the business. Hed never met them, but he had, through Holmes, given them a $1,000 loan. His eyes blinked rapidly. He cooked coke all night long. Her brother Chris, 16, lived in Oregon. After a preliminary hearing in January 1989, at which Thorson, among others, testified, Nash and Diles were bound over for trial this summer; they are currently being held without bail in the Los Angeles County Jail. Well, kind of, Video shows Memphis jailers beating Black inmate before his death, Skin lesion removed from President Bidens chest last month was cancerous, doctor says, CPAC shows the GOP has deep divisions heading into 2024, Abortion clinics crossing state borders not always welcome. Then one day Harold threw John down the stairs and came after him. The couple ended up in Miami, at a small run-down hotel on Collins Avenue. Launius and four of his associates were found dead in their townhouse on Wonderland Avenue, in Laurel Canyon on July 1, 1981. He made films nonstop, and he took eighty to ninety telephone calls a day. They wanted to see Holmes. Tabs. A day or two later, Holmes gave a compressed, but similar account of what happened to Sellers, she told The Times. Another woman who had a lengthy intimate relationship with Holmes told The Times recently of a separate, parallel admission made by the actor shortly after the killings, an account she gave to police in 1981. . Ron Launius had an extensive criminal history before coming to a bloody end. He said, Why not? and I said, Because it makes me feel funny and I cant talk. So he went in the bathroom, and he locked himself in. Let him scream? You know, says Detective Lange, theres no mystery here. A California cop called him "one of the coldest people I ever met." The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month.. March 3 (UPI) -- A Kentucky man who stopped to buy some breakfast said he lost his appetite when he won $50,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket. When he became established as a porn star, Holmes said, he had a half dozen agents pulling in work for him. John said he felt like he was chosen to get AIDS because of who he was, how he lived. He lost his virginity at the Florida house, when he was six, to his Swiss nursemaid, Frieda. Whenever he returned from days or weeks away, Holmes would bring gifts: stuffed animals, roses, a ring. Youd walk into the house, there were various girls walking around in various states of undress. I loved him. 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. Chris didnt have a drivers license. The Starwood, on Santa Monica Boulevard, featured cutting-edge rock & roll. The poor girl was emaciated, Sharon says. I was involved. Net Worth in 2019. Its time, Holmes said, and then he smiled and raised his fist. Wonderland murders | Historica Wiki | Fandom Holmes, 37, was formally charged with four counts of murder and one of attempted murder following his arrest last December in Miami. In truth, Holmes was operated on for hemorrhoids. Show your appreciation with the gift of Flickr Pro. Through his attorney, Nash has consistently denied any involvement in the Wonderland Avenue killings. Miller, De Verell and Launius needed drugs every day. . A Prison Interview With Scott Thorson, Wonderland Murders Witness and As much as I like "Boogie Nights", it remains a fairly superficial movie. What's your favorite movie(s) or TV show(s) that are based in LA? Sharons first act was to move Jeana out of Karen and Davids and into a garage apartment in the complex. Police said Holmes was involved in an unreported robbery of cash and drugs at the Studio City home of nightclub owner Adel Nasrallah, also known as Eddie Nash, three days before the bludgeon slayings at a Laurel Canyon home. In Too Deep - LA Weekly 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. The Wonderland slayings remain, for all intents and purposes, an unsolved mystery and mysteries without a resolution tend to tantalize and give birth to myth and conjecture. Isnt that where John gets his drugs?. Tossing and moaning, punching and kicking. Everybody was just shocked.. His business empire totally atrophied as a result of the coke. Fine. That first time, we didnt get to work together, says Laurie, but we were attracted. Following his arrest in Miami, Holmes was tried for the murder of the Wonderland Gang. We were really broke. Deep in Laurel Canyon, the Wonderland Gang was planning its last heist. On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 1st, 1981, Eddie Nash was again consuming drugs at an alarming rate. Armed guards in the lobby, in the hallway. She couldnt call Sharon. The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month. Launius was a reckless thief and he went after wealthy targets, not just down-and-dirty drug dealers and bikers, so I'd look for possible victims with either have money or look like they have money, who turned up dead after a home invasion. Susan A. Murphy married Ron Launius in Carson City, Nevada on 16 April 1971, and the two of them were heavy drug users. Eddie Nash was a drug lord. I didnt know what was going to happen, but I knew what might, she says. She walked the streets, tried to think. This was it. Laurie was standing at the door when Lange and McClain appeared down the corridor. My husband hired a girl to follow us. He wouldnt even let me meet the people he worked with.. Susan Orlean tells the story of the suspected arson in The Library Book. How can you spell cold with only 2 letters? - Answers John Holmes didnt go to his grave with anything but a very bad case of AIDS. Police sources said Vlick, who is charged with plssessing drugs and stolen property, is a 'fringe guy' in organized crime circles. What he may have been referring to was the imprisonment, that very same morning, of Eddie Nash, on charges of dealing drugs. He knew he was dying. Sharon had watched through the window as he picked them from the neighbors front yard. 7-year-old baseball umpire seeks Guinness World Record. The first man to win the X Rated Critics Organization Best Actor Award, Holmes was an idol and an icon, the most visible male pom star of his time. Now, in an exclusive interview with the Observer, . He had sex onscreen with two generations of leading ladies, from Seka and Marilyn Chambers to Traci Lords, Ginger Lynn and Italian member of Parliament Ciccolina. He invited them in for coffee. Whatever. 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. No one was injured. There were seven of them meeting in the house on Wonderland Avenue, a jaundiced stucco box on a steep, winding road in the hills above Hollywood. The Week in Photos: California exits pandemic emergency amid a winter landscape, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, 19 cafes that make L.A. a world-class coffee destination, David Lindley, guitarist best known for work with Jackson Browne, dies at 78, Best coffee city in the world? Charles Manson was deranged and messianic but John Holmes only cared about himself and didn't care who got hurt - or killed - in his never-ending quest to feed drugs and self-esteem into his wasted system. 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I loved the schmuck. If you could live in any neighborhood or specific house in LA, where/which would you choose? He came in, sat on a couch. Launius' years of operation: 1972-1973 (after he returned from Asia and before prison), 1978-1981. Would Jeana want to be the live-in baby sitter? Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. How could he rent a car? Susan Hayward | Television Academy Interviews Your mother? 'When you're talking about the star witness in a case like this I think you can safely assume that we've got her pretty well guarded,' a pllice spokesman said. A year ago, shed been busted for dealing drugs out of the Wonderland house. Hed been turned on to the drug on a movie set in Las Vegas and had been smoking ever since. I will kill your whole family! Launius, Deverell, and Miller, along with the girlfriend of an accomplice, Barbara Richardson, died from extensive blunt-force trauma injuries. And like the leading men of yesteryear, what was known of him was mostly myth. Wearing jewel-bedecked livery, he would chauffeur Liberace onto the stage in a glittering mini-Rolls-Royce open the door, take his masters fur coat. $1 Million - $5 Million. Theyd sold a pound of baking soda for a quarter of a million dollars. The judge in the case was Everett E. Ricks Jr. Earthquakes are sudden and arrive without warning, unless you monitor the USGS earthquake maps on the web every day - which I do.
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