On their first date, hed brought a bottle of Mateus and a handful of flowers. He was also in Liberaces Las Vegas act. Then came the late-night news. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. His voice had a smooth Arabic lilt. A California cop called him "one of the coldest people I ever met." The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month.. He just stared. John and Jeana painted the Malibu gray with a red top. What he may have been referring to was the imprisonment, that very same morning, of Eddie Nash, on charges of dealing drugs. Diles hit him again. These five measures map closely with . When Sharon and John were first married, she says, he was very naive, looking for the perfect relationship. There were backhands, lectures, drunken rages. The murder weapon was a steel pipe with threading at the ends. They used cans of spray paint. John was gone now more and more, making films in Europe, San Francisco and Hawaii, doing private tricks, traveling to film openings across the country. Can religion save us from Artificial Intelligence? Net Worth in 2019. Sellers picked up a hitchhiker who was going to Glendale to see his girlfriend. I know Eddie. Then he sold shoes, furniture, Fuller brushes door-to-door. He wanted me to view his body and make sure that all the parts were there, says Laurie. He beat the shit out of me, then walked back up to the room. Holmes hired the sisters to do gardening around the complex. Four inches around!, Thats great, said Sharon, turning a page of her magazine. On his sixteenth birthday, Holmes joined the army. If somebody fucked with him. par | Juil 2, 2022 | mitchell wesley carlson charged | justin strauss net worth | Juil 2, 2022 | mitchell wesley carlson charged | justin strauss net worth Theres somebody out there who wants to kill me, Holmes told Sharon, his wife of 16 years. Too many. He wanted witness protection, a new name, money, a home. How could you do this thing! Eddie Nash screamed. Help me. A fifth victim was carried out alive. In a career that would span twenty years, Holmes made 2274 hard-core pornographic films, had sex with 14,000 women. Nash was acquitted. He was known as Eddie Nash. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Pharmaceutical cocaine was one of the ingredients. She was moving to a house. The setup, the robbery, Nashs threat to kill his whole family, Sharon included. The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month. His penis, when erect, according to legend, measured between eleven and fifteen inches in length. She didnt have any money. The couple ended up in Miami, at a small run-down hotel on Collins Avenue. He wasnt specific, but it really didnt matter anyway. The color drained from his face. Holmes refused to testify. After leaving California, Jeana and John had gone to Vegas, then Montana, then headed south, visiting the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert. Ive waited outside that house. John and Laurie stayed home a lot and watched videos. Jeana packed her suitcase, gathered up her Chihuahua. Holmes finally called on the afternoon of the 29th, after the Wonderland Gang kicked him out. He said that (Nash) told him if he ever talked to the police that (Nash) would kill someone in his family. The detective added that Holmes said he was there when the murders happened, but that he himself did not hurt anyone.. There never was a sexual relationship between us. I know it sounds trite and predictable but "Chinatown" has to be the best L.A. movie ever made. That house, she thought. Bob Gregory, 62, went missing the same day as Sands. (But) we have a certain set of rules to follow that the people who go out and perpetrate crimes dont.. myers park country club lawsuit; turkey hill frozen yogurt discontinued. Ron Launius had an extensive criminal history before coming to a bloody end. When Holmes was eight, his mother married Harold, a manic-depressive who worked for the telephone company. He dunked his head, put a steaming washcloth over his face. But the new accounts cast doubt on the story Holmes told a biographer before his death March 13. Inside was her husband, John. L.A. is too far flung to be any kind of social magnet outside of one's own neighborhood and community. (Taken from Wikipedia on Wonderland Murders). On the morning of June 29, 1981, four men who lived at the Wonderland Avenue address entered Nashs house through a sliding glass door that had been left ajar by Holmes, according to trial testimony. He was dying. Susan A. Murphy Launius, 30, while not an official member of the gang, was married to gang member Ron Launius and had a drug habit. You cannot merge a memorial into itself. Over the years, theyd become like mother and daughter. Sharon had been a virgin when theyd met. They told him to make good. His old friend was happy to pick them up. The Wonderland Gang. It was a strange and violent time and men wore double-breasted suits and snap-brim Fedoras. From then, wrote Schuyler, in a letter to a judge many years later, Ed Nasrallah began a courtship that was as old-fashioned as they come. Susan Launius is beaten but not killed. ", Woman wins $100,000 lottery prize 11 hours after $11,000 casino jackpot. Blond and bearded, Launius had served federal time for drug smuggling. Police, however, believe that Holmes actually took part in the fatal beatings. Even Near The Hollywood Sign, Authorities ID Man Arrested In Killing Of LA Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell As Husband Of Housekeeper, Another Missing Hiker Has Been Found Dead In San Gabriels As Search For Actor Julian Sands Continues. 'We have interviewed her but we're not going to say anything about it.'. He was supposed to be doing sales and preproduction, writing and editing, in addition to acting. It sounds silly, but you know how you can meet someone for the first time and its like you know them already?, After the film, John and Laurie, who looked like Jeana, began dating. In addition, more than 3,000 pages of court and police documents and newspaper reports were reviewed. Coughing into the microphone, Ricks called Nash a danger to the public and maxed him out. Get my property! 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. He played it for all it was worth, then he said he wouldnt testify. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. I believe I was watching TV and it seems like a bunch of people were coming in and out,' Mrs. Launius said. The murders are believed to be retaliation for the Wonderland Gang's robbing of Eddie Nash's home two days earlier. At Christmas, they decorated it with colored lights. Girls' Singles. Most people find it hard to believe, but I'm an introvert. Take care of him, Sharon said. He boiled it clean in a pot on Sharons stove. Chris didnt have a drivers license. . He was also a drug dealer and a heavy user. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit LAist.com/radio. He was willing, even eager, to murder a helpless woman who was no physical threat to him. They hadnt spoken in two years. Diles leveled a gun at his head. Nash had clubs of all kinds; he catered to all predilections. After she left, my husband called on the telephone at the farm and said to come home immediately. In February, Holmes was admitted to the VA hospital in Sepulveda. How students with Asperger's cope at university. The sun was warm and diffuse. 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. 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. Eight years in prison, a $120,350 fine. Based on the material given to us by John Holmes (for the book), that version of the facts is not an accurate one, Eisenman said. With all the publicity from the murders, John Holmes had achieved almost mainstream celebrity. Kentucky man stops for breakfast, wins $50,000 lottery prize. He had made a name for himself during the Vietnam War when he was dishonorably discharged from the army for smuggling drugs back to the United States in the bodies of dead servicemen. She came to the farm to find out if a certain man was with me. Net Worth in 2021. 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. He was picking on a kid that didnt know any better. Hed have a big glass of milk, and wed turn on the cartoons, and then hed go to bed in Sharons room. They were going underground. Jeana was tucked into another hotel in the Valley. 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. Nobody ever came over, says Laurie. His lawyer hired a young associate to stick Nash with a pin whenever he nodded off in court. Then I leave. Nash would kill him and his family if he talked, he was certain of it. It was like being in a movie or something., By late 1984, John was working as an executive at Amersons VCX films. Two weeks later, it was reported that hed lost only seven pounds. She was a teenager, and her parents had just divorced. 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. A sign on the box, written in blue Magic Marker, said, FOR DISTRIBUTION AT BOX OFFICE. He was marketing Holmess old films on video. There was a lot of traffic, all day, all night, says a neighbor. Salary in 2020. His drug of choice was freebase, home-cooked crack cocaine, and he was smoking it at the rate of two to three ounces a day. John said he felt like he was chosen to get AIDS because of who he was, how he lived. Holmes hadnt paid for the room. In the late Seventies, Los Angeles police averaged twenty-five drug busts a month at the Starwood. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Their attorneys question the credibility of prosecution witnesses and maintain their clients innocence. Now they had another idea. McKenna was murdered in 1989 when ambushed while returning home in his limousine; his killer sprayed bullets into the vehicle, killing McKenna. If you could live in any neighborhood or specific house in LA, where/which would you choose? 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. Theres no mystery. It's a yellow - sometimes green - vehicle with four tires and a Middle Eastern man behind the wheel. I used to be a Web Developer in the Newsroom, now I spend my time in coffee shops researching murder. 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. John Holmes died on March 13th, 1988. By this time, Sharon had befriended Jeana. Nash was a big fan of porn. susan launius interviewduskull evolution arceus. You want me to call the press?. Gov. When we came back, the door was locked, says Jeana. Its time, Holmes said, and then he smiled and raised his fist. Suzanne Launius's birthday is 03/24/1951 and is 71 years old.Suzanne calls Hawthorne, CA, home.Susan Launius are some of the alias or nicknames that Suzanne has used. Holmes was wearing a ring that had been stolen from the boss. Mrs. Kraft was a former registered nurse at Memorial Hospital, former administrator at Memorial Convalescent Center and owner of Toddle Town Inc, comprised of Toddle Town, Toddler House and Learning Journey. She was the sole survivor of the attack - suffering severe head injuries, amnesia, and a severed finger. A poster for the 1977 John Holmes film The Jade Pussycat., NBA 'Investigating,' Team Suspends Ja Morant After Allegedly Flashing Gun on Social Media, Alex Murdaugh Juror Says Cellphone Video, 'Big Liar' Testimony Led to Guilty Verdict, She Used the Bathroom And Became a Target of the Culture War, Here's How LaRussell and Intuit are Helping Independent Artists Understand How to Achieve Their Financial Ambitions, Alex Murdaugh Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Wife and Son, Glastonbury Co-Organizer Promises Female Headliners in 2024 After All-Male Top Billing This Year, See the Beths Deliver Refreshing 'Expert in a Dying Field' Mini-Set on 'CBS Mornings', Netflixs Sex/Life Is Back to Satisfy Your Softcore Desires. No one was injured. He lost his thumb and three fingers. One was abruptly interrupted on the morning of July 1, 1981, when a shaken John Holmes crawled into their Glendale bedroom, bleeding, and told his wife that he had been in an accident. Her brother was in town; something weird was going on. To get better results, add more information such as Birth Info, Death Info and Location even a guess will help. Sports promoter Vic Weiss was found murdered in the trunk of his Rolls Royce in a Hollywood hotel parking lot in 1979. Holmes let his hair grow, started wearing three-piece suits. By the time it was released, in 1987, Holmess health had already begun to slide. There wasnt any trouble. Whos this in Montana? What's different Holmes went to work for a construction company, painting a hotel down the strip. He lost his virginity at age twelve to a thirty-six-year-old woman who was a friend of his mothers. In time, Holmes became known as the Errol Flynn of porn. It was 8:30 Monday morning. The murders were so brutal that police were comparing the case to the Tate-LaBianca murders by the Manson Family. Her husband watched from the closet. They sat around a glass table in the breakfast nook. 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. He panicked, walked in circles around the doctors office, threw his briefcase down. Susan Launius Remote Medical Transcriptionist for Cardiology Center Of Amarillo Altus, Oklahoma, United States 95 followers 96 connections Join to view profile Cardiology Center Of Amarillo Altus. You know, says Detective Lange, theres no mystery here. 'I was laying down on the bed. When Holmes returned to his car hours later, two armed men ordered him to drive to Nashs home, he said. How do you handle this conflict? He keeps a sawed-off shotgun under the blanket Here, this is Nashs room. Big Rosie, the manager, let Jeana work the switchboard and clean rooms in exchange for rent. The murderers were brought to justice. Holmes nodded his head, put out his cigarette, closed his eyes. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. 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. Sharon sat on the wood-covered commode. Launius actually went to shoot her and his partners had to stop him. Thursday, July 2nd, 3:30 a.m. Sharon Holmes switched on the porch light, spied through the peephole. What does the print-on demand delivery system offer over other, similar systems like iUniverse.com? Jailers said other inmates were giving him candy bars. She cleared her throat John?, You had this dream. When he became established as a porn star, Holmes said, he had a half dozen agents pulling in work for him. John looked down at Sharon. In 1974, Sharon became the resident manager of a ten-unit apartment court in Glendale. Things started to click. Then he left.. In time, the surgery was completed, and Thorson was made into a young vision of Liberace. And so the plan was fixed. Hanson said Holmes never told his attorneys what happened the night of the killings. 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. Recently, however, Holmess biggest commodity had been trouble. We went on twenty-four-hour watch. John Curtis Holmes had the longest, most prolific career in the history of pornography. Its like being married to a hooker., And so began the loops and the stags, and then Johnny Wadd was born. The finish was drippy and streaked, but it didnt matter. 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.'. He showed Chinn his portfolio of stills, then stripped. Behind him was his partner, Mac McClain. We cut him loose.. The next day, while Holmes was at work, a delegation of residents came to see Jeana. Christ, she thought, John. Holmes was stealing luggage off conveyers at L.A. International, buying appliances with his wifes credit cards, fencing them for cash. Although he was often away from home, I was his safe place, Sharon Holmes said. John was really sick by this point, says Laurie. June M. Schuyler, an elementary-school teacher from Santa Barbara, remembers meeting the nice-looking, very-light-skinned foreign man at Beefs Chuck. So I told him everything, John said. He said, I had to stand there and watch what they did, Sharon Holmes recalled. The Holy Roller was up in the balcony, waving a Christian flag, praying and hollering, singing We Shall Overcome. She said John had cut some coke with an old tarot card and she believed it was a sign from the devil. He looked very scared. Nash and Diles were well known on Sunset Strip. 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. A gate was unlocked, and Holmes walked up the stairs to the entrance with the gunmen concealed behind him. For the last several years, Nash had rarely left his white-stone ranch house in Studio City. Dismiss. I watched them beat them to death., It was them or me. The buckle depicted a mother whale swimming in the ocean, her baby nursing beneath. Ill have them on their knees! Nash ranted to Thorson. Launius' wife, Susan Launius, survived the attack. The Sixties, the pill, free love, communes, wife swapping, the perverse creativity of mixed-media artists who were pushing the limit, trying to shock all of these things created an atmosphere in which porn could blossom. Ronald S. Coen, now a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, argued that the fatal beatings were intended to avenge the humiliating armed robbery of Los Angeles nightclub owner Adel Nasrallah, also known as Eddie Nash. She was later unable to identify her attackers. Holmes had nothing to do and nowhere to go. I didnt want to believe Id fallen for a line again, Jeana says. The police wanted to know who killed the Wonderland Gang. After mustering out of the army, at age nineteen, Holmes went to work as an ambulance driver, and soon thereafter he met Sharon Gebenini. Captain Conan 10y. Holmess half brother and his wife lived there; this little community was the personal fiefdom of John Holmes. There is a substantial audience out there hungry for information on the Wonderland murders. Holmes broke into cars along the way. He was consuming it. Jeana dropped out of Glendale High School. I was really charmed, says Jeana. Dismiss. He wasnt threatening. He went fucking crazy, says Amerson. Laurie was nineteen; she came from a small town outside Vegas. A host of musicians, actors and artists make their homes in the rustic canyon. Rodger Jacobs is an author, journalist, documentary producer, blogger and familiar gadfly in the LA blogosphere. Launius and four of his associates were found dead in their townhouse on Wonderland Avenue, in Laurel Canyon on July 1, 1981. By the time they pulled into the apartment complex managed by Sharon Holmes, it had been decided. Web Design & Digital Marketing Amerson says Holmes spent most of his time playing cards and shooting darts. Holmes and Jeana watched from the bed. He told me that he had set up the robbery. He had a slight build, a pockmarked face, a record of thirteen arrests. Youd be left in a room for hours, and then youd be called in. No strings attached.. Now things were not so friendly. Anywhere on Los Feliz Boulevard adjacent to Griffith Park. He looked shocked. 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. Lets talk about your latest book, Long Time Money and Lots of Cocaine. Why did you package the transcript of John Holmes preliminary hearing in the Wonderland murders? Her husband, Ron, 37, of the. He served in the signal corps, spending three years in Nuremberg, Germany. Browse by collection. 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. All of them! Where are you calling from? The youngest son in the family, Nash arrived in America with seven dollars in his pocket. how much does a cfl general manager makeduskull evolution arceus Listen, he said, grabbing her elbow. Remember Eddie? He is from . He seems like he was a crazy fucker. He was frozen. Holmes was to run it. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. Nashs three coconspirators in the insurance scam were found guilty. Diles got seven years on charges stemming from the drug raids. He told us certain things. How could he rent a car? I trusted you! Then one day Harold threw John down the stairs and came after him. According to legend largely of his own making Holmes was born in New York and lived with a rich aunt whod been married fifteen times. In 1960 he opened a hot-dog stand on Hollywood Boulevard. Hed underestimated Nash once, but hed never do it again. Id like you to meet Mr. John Holmes, hed say. For his part, Holmes did anything he could for Nash. John Holmes was famous, at least in some circles. I mean, come on: Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino - those are choices? Nash shut the bedroom door. This is an archival story that predates current editorial management. Dole said there's no question that Trump lost his reelection race - narrowly but fair and square. You said something about blood., Holmess eyes bulged. Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. She was nowhere to be found. I ran out the door, down to the pool, and he ran after me, the fool. Barbara's cousin tells me this info. John leaned up against the back bumper, smoking a cigarette. He didnt want part of him ending up in a jar somewhere. Now it was December 4th, 1981. A look at the notorious convicted murderer's life in prison after she drowned her two sons in 1994. After seven years, the district attorney was reopening the Wonderland case, based, in part, on testimony from Scott Thorson, Liberaces ex-lover. 'I was laying down on the bed. Going up there right now isn't safe, but here are some places where you can enjoy the view and snap a pic. The bodies were discovered by workmen next door; theyd heard faint cries from the back of the house: Help me. Susan Goldberg, MBA Expand search. His bodyguard, Gregory De Witt Diles, was a karate expert and convicted felon who weighed a blubbery 300 pounds. They opened the security gate, and the four of us went up the stairs, and when the door opened, they forced their way inside. Called the Wonderland Killings, the brutal murder of 4 people in a Laurel Canyon home gained even more noteriety when authorities discovered that porn star John Holmes had played a mysterious role in the case.Age and Occupation: 46. He took over the kitchen. You want to play baseball? hed ask his ever-present guests, lighting his butane torch, offering a hit off his pipe. 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. Marriage & Divorce. It was like he was doing a movie. Jeana sat very still on the edge of the bed, watching a TV that was mounted on the wall. At an alarming rate.. We did it in the van. Police sources said Vlick, who is charged with plssessing drugs and stolen property, is a 'fringe guy' in organized crime circles. See that car over there? I wouldn't doubt it. By the Eighties, former California governor Jerry Brown was living on Wonderland Avenue, and Steven Spielberg was building on a lot not far away. Thread marks found on walls, skulls, skin. John Holmes didnt go to his grave with anything but a very bad case of AIDS. British bus driver stops to give loose sheep a lift. When Detectives Bob Souza and Tom Lange entered the home, nestled in the hip L.A. enclave of Laurel Canyon, they found pills and pipes scattered all over the flooralong with four dead bodies whose. Just blood. At the hospital, as he came out of anesthesia, he said to Mary, Ill never have to work again. He didnt. John tried to make a deal with the cops. Nash was a drug dealer and a heavy user. Finally he came out and said, You know what? Is this your brother? Miller, De Verell and Launius needed drugs every day. And like the leading men of yesteryear, what was known of him was mostly myth. Susan A. Murphy Launius, 30, while not an official member of the gang, was married to gang member Ron Launius and had a drug habit. Then another girl, another. John, theyre coming, Laurie said in a stage whisper. He wouldnt even let me meet the people he worked with.. Eddie Nash was fifty-two years old, six feet tall, gray haired, strong and wiry. He excused himself, left the room and unlocked the sliding door. Edward, a carpenter, was an alcoholic. Its the cops.. Youre probably going to be saving him.. Five men and two women were meeting in the breakfast nook, sitting in swivel chairs, leaning against walls. After she left him, according to a court affidavit, I took the children to Oklahoma to my aunt and uncles farm, together with my parents. He wanted to be in charge. Listen. When I got out, he said, Lets go, and we drove toward home. For like three weeks, one of us had to be awake at all times. Someone held a gun to my head. A naturalized American, Nash came to California from Palestine in the early Fifties. John was into Save the Whales. Holmes buzzed an outside intercom box and asked someone inside to let him in. Do you find the threat of earthquakes preferable to the threat of hurricanes and long winters? Get the fuck out of here! he screamed. The Sellers would stay there. They moved to a house on five acres in wooded, rural Pataskala, Ohio. 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. Things at the house were always hopping, someone was always showing up with a scam.

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