Launius and four of his associates were found dead in their townhouse on Wonderland Avenue, in Laurel Canyon on July 1, 1981. In the late Seventies, Los Angeles police averaged twenty-five drug busts a month at the Starwood. He had set it up with the other people, the people that lived at Wonderland. A host of musicians, actors and artists make their homes in the rustic canyon. Jeana sat in the front seat, Thor in her arms. She is the sole survivor of the brutal Wonderland attack the night of July 1, 1981; she suffered severe head injuries, amnesia, and a severed finger following the attack. John was tired of the whole industry, she says. Big mystery. We're in a period of seismic drought in L.A. Where do you want to be when the Big One hits? . They hadnt spoken in two years. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. She was in intensive care with a severed finger and brain damage. Lulu Press offers a very affordable set-up with generous royalties. Didn't expect my day to start by downloading #microsoftedge or willingly going to #bing to see #openai's new #gpt4 model. Then hed swallow a few Quaaludes and return. Ill pick you up.. In essence, what they wanted him to do was . That evening, Chinn wrote a three-page screenplay; a partnership was born. These five measures map closely with . He looked like a guy in a dive bar in El Paso, according to a neighbor. The man who owned the house was named Adel Nasrallah. I was working as a computer programmer. susan launius interview - lavamusic.is All his lawyers I think he had maybe six or seven working on different things all his managers, employees, customers, everyone, would come to him. Launius served 4 years and was released in 1978. I believe that cocaine paranoia created within him the desire to stay within that closed environment that he had control over. It is debatable about $3,000. Run me a bath, will you? he said. After a preliminary hearing in January, Ed Nash and Greg Diles were bound over for trial this summer on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the July 1st, 1981, killings. Thats bullshit. Then he designed a massive gold and diamond ring in the shape of a dragonfly, and a gold belt buckle, measuring eight by five inches. 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. Now it was midnight in the parking lot at the Safeway in Glendale. Another victim, William DeVerell, 44, who lived at the house, had an arrest record in the 1950s, mostly for narcotics but had not been arrested in the recent case. Nash would kill him and his family if he talked, he was certain of it. At the same time, Holmes was acting as an informant on matters of porn and prostitution for Sergeant Tom Blake, an L.A. vice detective. He had a full erection. There was a security system at the house. Jeana was afraid to look at John. Most people find it hard to believe, but I'm an introvert. 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. Id usually fall asleep on the couch.. Wonderland murders - Wikipedia Jeana hung up the phone. In high school, Holmes said, he slept with all but three girls in his class. They were married in August 1965 at Fort Ord, California. Memorial has already been merged. Suddenly, Johnny Carson was telling Deep Throat jokes on The Tonight Show. This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). . She walked the streets, tried to think. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? I watched them beat them to death., It was them or me. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Wonderland Gang - Wikipedia . James M. Eisenman, a Century City attorney who represents Holmes estate and his second wife, said he doubts Sharon Holmes story. (John) was so much of a liar . 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. Nine days later, Holmes was picked up in a Sherman Oaks motel in the company of Jeanna Sellers, a 20-year-old neighbor. What does the print-on demand delivery system offer over other, similar systems like iUniverse.com? . It was owned by the pediatrician she worked for; she and Holmes lived rent-free in an adjacent house. Four inches around!, Thats great, said Sharon, turning a page of her magazine. 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. For a time, John Holmes was silent. He spent his early life in Tennessee and Georgia, and graduated from Spalding High School in Griffin, Ga. He invested in movies, leased office space to several porn-related operations. He knew he was dying. Hed have me make these peanut-butter chocolate-chip brown-sugar butter cookies. She didnt know what to do. Her lover was Billy DeVerell. 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. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? 1-20 of 285. Hed been in jail eleven months in all, 110 days on the contempt charge. He wanted to be the Arab man in his tent. I wouldn't doubt it. Sharon went to the bedroom, laid down, read a magazine. Holmes talked a while, looked Jeana up and down. I know Eddie. 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. All the sugar helped him come down. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. John kept his porn money and spent it on himself. That first time, we didnt get to work together, says Laurie, but we were attracted. When I got out, he said, Lets go, and we drove toward home. With Holmes, it was like he was center stage and the lights and the camera were on, says a detective who was present. John bought himself an El Camino pickup and a large diamond solitaire that became his trademark in films. Los Angeles is often stereotyped as a hard place to find personal connections and make friends. Nash was very upset. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/430cdk/four_bloody_unsolved_wonderland_murders/. 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. Too many. When theyd finish work, hed make sandwiches. That house, she thought. You sure about this, donkey dick? asked Tracy McCourt, the gangs wheelman. In your opinion, what's the best alternate route to the 405? Then another girl, another. The Most Measured Person in Tech Is Running the Most Chaotic Place on Sharon, a registered nurse, rummaged through a well-stocked medicine cabinet, brought out iodine and cotton swabs. No longer the leading man, he was now the featured oddity. A pimp tried to pick her up. Susan Boyle: my relief at discovering that I have Asperger's The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month. how much does a cfl general manager makeduskull evolution arceus I said, Please, just let me get my clothes and my dog and well leave.'. House tossed by assailants. After Holmes negotiations for an immunity deal with police and prosecutors fell apart, the actor made plans to leave town with Sellers. Six months later, on September 8th, 1988, Diles and Nash were charged with the murders on Wonderland Avenue. Firefighters hoist horse stranded in backyard swimming pool. He always called Holmes my brother. Theyd known each other for three years. Is there something wrong? pillsbury company net worth; does gotomeeting work in china; tanner mark boots website 26th Hall of Fame. Its another thing to testify to it in court.. But Deputy District Attorney Ronald Coen said the prosecution would not attempt to prove Holmes actually killed the victims but was an accessory to the crime. here. He wasnt specific, but it really didnt matter anyway. That we were on the right track, that this is indeed what had happened, that this was the motivation, that this was how it came down. Editors picks Ventura County is a wussy answer. Help me. A fifth victim was carried out alive. Everyone there was on some kind of slide. Holmes hadnt paid for the room. His attorney told reporters that hed changed his mind because of certain arrangements that had been made and certain circumstances that had arisen. John Holmes himself never offered a public account of what happened on that July night. After leaving California, Jeana and John had gone to Vegas, then Montana, then headed south, visiting the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert. He was involved in one murder and a suspect in at least one more. Since the late Sixties, Holmes had traded on his natural endowment. LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. Schuyler said that Ed loved her son exceedingly and that he offered to fix it up for you to take him to a top brain surgeon. The poor girl was emaciated, Sharon says. I think L.A. should be broken up into a series of counties so we have better choices. Holmes drove to Nashs again to make sure the sliding door was still open. Invalid memorial. Neighbors in the canyon, where a conversation at night can be overheard blocks away, said they were used to rowdy, all-night parties in the house. On April 29, 1986, fire tore through Los Angeles' Central Library more than one million books were damaged or destroyed. Susan Launius Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Family, Net Worth 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? Get the fuck out of here! he screamed. The Hippie 'Flower-Child' Revolutionaries & Their Ties To The Military So I told him everything, John said. Eversz is one of the best unsung novelists in the crime genre we have working today. This time, the gang decided not to wait for his return. They called it Louise. Then, in the summer of 1985, John tested positive for AIDS. Things at the house were always hopping, someone was always showing up with a scam. She cleared her throat John?, You had this dream. Lets face it, Amerson says, John was a product. Like all porn actors, John had been paid per day and had signed away the rights to his own films. He treated me very special. John was thirty-one, she was fifteen. They were living out of the trunk of his estranged wifes Chevy Malibu. Sharon sat on the wood-covered commode. Blond and bearded, Launius had served federal time for drug smuggling. One day in 1970, Holmes met Hawaiian producer Bob Chinn. The bride wore white. Up to this time, Holmes had been doing mostly photo layouts, stag films and 8-mm bookstore loops. Not since she was home. 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. Susan Flores, mother of 'prime suspect' in Kristin Smart case - KSBY Or perhaps he had flown from Las Vegas. After a while, I said I didnt want to go out on the beach anymore. but who will buy LA's Los Feliz Murder House? - The Independent Chris didnt have a drivers license. I've always found the Wonderland story so intriguing. 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. That version of the story, Sharon Holmes said, is fiction. Now he was a drug delivery boy for the Wonderland Gang. No one was injured. Join now Sign in . He wanted me to view his body and make sure that all the parts were there, says Laurie. A sunny room in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, California. Police, however, believe that Holmes actually took part in the fatal beatings. A naturalized American, Nash came to California from Palestine in the early Fifties. Also while in college, he said, he danced nude modern jazz ballet and drove an ambulance. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. I played in the water. Suspected burglar inside New Brunswick home was a panicked deer. He stared straight ahead, unblinking. Daniel von Seckendorff on LinkedIn: #microsoftedge #bing #openai #gpt4 He called some people, and they said, Well help you out. But wed never get the money they promised., On January 24th, 1988, John and Laurie were married in the Little Chapel of the Flowers, in Las Vegas. Browse by collection. He said, They stuck a gun to my head and they made me go back in (to the Wonderland Avenue house) and open the door. Thats what he told me. You know, when you were sleeping? Holmes broke into cars along the way. Her left leg is paralyzed because of the head injuries. What's your favorite movie(s) or TV show(s) that are based in LA? You cannot merge a memorial into itself. They came even though, at the time, there was no music industry in Los Angeles. Holmes told his wife that he rode with three armed men to the address on Wonderland Avenue. It began, according to Thorsons book, Behind the Candelabra, when Liberace ordered him to have cosmetic surgery. Updated on November 15, 2022 10:05 AM. John and Laurie stayed home a lot and watched videos. Marriage & Divorce. Holmes went on to say that he wanted to be best in the world at something, and that he thought pornography was it. I come back to Wonderland. What really cracks me up is people believe he was a dope dealer. The armed intruders robbed Nash and his 300-pound body guard, Gregory Diles, of $10,000, two plastic sacks of cocaine and other property. At home, Harold picked on John. An argument ensued. He beat the shit out of me, then walked back up to the room. At home, Nash walked around in a maroon silk robe, or sometimes in bikini briefs, his body covered with a thin sheen of sweat. Eight years in prison, a $120,350 fine. They needed a score. The letters "IC" pronounced properly can say "icy" meaning very cold. Ive waited outside that house. John and Jeana painted the Malibu gray with a red top. Launius actually went to shoot her and his partners had to stop him. 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. The actors wife paused. Blood! He showed up at the house in the early evening. Jeana was tucked into another hotel in the Valley. DeVerell, Launius and McCourt, all heroin addicts, were out cold. Holmes refused to testify. They were always looking for an opportunity. His penis, he said, was bigger than a pay phone, smaller than a Cadillac., Holmess voice was sly and ingratiating. The bodies were discovered by workmen next door; theyd heard faint cries from the back of the house: Help me. 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.. Sharon cooked dinner. 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. There is a substantial audience out there hungry for information on the Wonderland murders. Its the cops.. By this time, Sharon had befriended Jeana. The floor plan before them showed a three-bedroom, high-end tract house on a cul-de-sac in the San Fernando Valley. About this time, Sharon says, Holmes began working as a courier for the Mob. Drugs, inattention, back taxes and lawyers fees had depleted his fortune. Sharing the house with Miller and DeVerell was Ronald Launius, 37. 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. Thanks for posting though. Take care of him, Sharon said. He was consuming it. Inside were his drugs, his glass pipe, baking soda and a petri dish for cooking cocaine powder into rock base, a bottle of 151 rum and cotton swabs for lighting the pipe. You talk to Nash, whatever, you tell him you got to take a piss. I stood there against the wall. Ron Launius was born in 1944 in Shawneetown, IL. John was terrified that I was going to confront her. He was known as Eddie Nash. Where are you calling from? He said, Im gonna die! and drove off., When he came back, says Laurie, he was laughing about it. After mustering out of the army, at age nineteen, Holmes went to work as an ambulance driver, and soon thereafter he met Sharon Gebenini. When Amerson raised their rent to $400, they got their own place in Encino. By the time it was released, in 1987, Holmess health had already begun to slide. to tell them who it was, Sharon Holmes said. In court testimony years later, he would say, in answer to this and many other questions, I dont recall. Nash was on the job day and night, wearing a tall white chefs hat, waiting tables himself. 'We'll probably find a real motive,' he said. Jailers said other inmates were giving him candy bars. Susan Launius, 25, Ron Launiuss wife. Before them were two pairs of handcuffs, a stolen police badge, several automatic pistols and a dogeared sheet of paper, a floor plan. The Wonderland Gang. Once, Sharon says, he got a human head from UCLA. He was great. 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. The guest bedroom. I won't do an extensive write-up of the Wonderland Murders, as they've been written about on here before: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/430cdk/four_bloody_unsolved_wonderland_murders/. 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. When asked by Holmes' attorney what she remembered after that, she replied, 'nothing.'. It's been many, many years since we saw this much snow in our mountains. Venice Beach boardwalk to the Santa Monica Pier. 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. He was like the old John. When the cops got to his hotel, Holmes was there. Holmes, meanwhile, had gone back to making films. Blood! Another officer commented, upon hearing of Launius' death, "I suppose they won't need many pall bearers". Hed never met them, but he had, through Holmes, given them a $1,000 loan. He invited them in for coffee. It was like being in a movie or something., By late 1984, John was working as an executive at Amersons VCX films. He was very upset about the business. Jeana said nothing. They had a few questions for John Holmes. 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. Then, says Laurie, the third time I went up there, he came up to me with the mirror and said, You want a hit? and I turned to him and said no. Nash was acquitted. He greeted reporters, had dinner with his lawyer, then called Sharon. Her husband, Ron, 37, of the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, was one of the victims. Dickman and Throbbin, a lampoon of Batman and Robin. So much blood! Holmes was having a nightmare. An Interview with Bren Brown - Quiet