Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. 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/. ', In time, John and Laurie moved in together at Amersons. All the sugar helped him come down. They deserved what they got.. This button displays the currently selected search type. They moved to a house on five acres in wooded, rural Pataskala, Ohio. Jeana hung up the phone. At trial, his lawyer argued that the $1 million worth of coke was not for dealing, that it was strictly for personal use. Sharon had watched through the window as he picked them from the neighbors front yard. Isnt that where John gets his drugs?. In time, Holmes became known as the Errol Flynn of porn. Diles shoved, Holmes skidded across the carpet. Venice Beach boardwalk to the Santa Monica Pier. Lets face it, Amerson says, John was a product. He looked shocked. The guest bedroom. Nash was on the job day and night, wearing a tall white chefs hat, waiting tables himself. The next day, while Holmes was at work, a delegation of residents came to see Jeana. 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. Memorial ID. It's been many, many years since we saw this much snow in our mountains. . We want to hear it. Do you find it challenging to make new friends here? Following his arrest in Miami, Holmes was tried for the murder of the Wonderland Gang. The 43-year-old actor died as a result of complications arising from his infection with the AIDS virus. Nash knew the Wonderland people. Sydney Pollack's adaptation of Horace McCoy's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" John swung and knocked his stepfather out. 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. Now Holmes owed the Wonderland Gang, too. Hanson said Holmes never told his attorneys what happened the night of the killings. Oh, shit, she thought, but she didnt say anything. April Valentine died at Centinela Hospital. Ill teach them a lesson! He chewed gum and overacted. The cast of characters would go from two or three to ten or more. That first time, we didnt get to work together, says Laurie, but we were attracted. John leaned up against the back bumper, smoking a cigarette. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith told . Or that show out of New York, you know, A Current Affair. Now it was December 4th, 1981. Nancy J. Kraft, nee Launius, 69, of Smithton, Illinois, born Friday, August 4, 1939, in East Saint Louis, IL, died Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, IL. Almost everything publicly known about porn king John Curtis Holmes is apocryphal, anecdotal, secondhand or informed by conjecture. I called up and said I had some things for the people inside and to let me up. My husband hired a girl to follow us. Now her husband fixed her with a long stare. Get my property! They were stupid. He was known as Eddie Nash. There was a security system at the house. When Sharon and John were first married, she says, he was very naive, looking for the perfect relationship. His black club was like a Hollywood Harlem, jazz and pinkie rings and wide-brimmed straw hats. The setup, the robbery, Nashs threat to kill his whole family, Sharon included. No strings attached.. They made a run to McDonalds for hamburgers. An argument ensued. At the hospital, as he came out of anesthesia, he said to Mary, Ill never have to work again. He didnt. Not only did the Black Dahlia murder occur in '47 but the town was full of soldiers returning from the war with scarred psyches. Now, in the breakfast nook, a tall, gaunt man with curly hair and a sparse beard pointed to the floor plan he had sketched. Every time you read something, they say its a big mystery. John was really sick by this point, says Laurie. Laurel Canyon had long been a prestige address, an earthy, woodsy setting just minutes from the glitter and rush of Tinseltown. Frequently he brought him girls. He did not testify at his trial, and his later secret testimony before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury remains sealed. . . Caring about employees. Videos . Susan Launius. The murders, he said. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Another officer commented, upon hearing of Launius' death, "I suppose they won't need many pall bearers". When asked by Holmes' attorney what she remembered after that, she replied, 'nothing.'. One day, Jeana was visiting a neighbor when Holmes came by to deliver a bag of pot. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. ", Woman wins $100,000 lottery prize 11 hours after $11,000 casino jackpot. John was a shy and lonely kid who kept to himself and had perfect attendance at Sunday school. Launius punched Holmes in the stomach. The murders are believed to be retaliation for the Wonderland Gang's robbing of Eddie Nash's home two days earlier. She was a teenager, and her parents had just divorced. He showed up at the house in the early evening. A stairway, leading from the garage to the front door, was caged in iron. Lt. Ron Lewis discounted speculation that the slayings could be 'random killings' such as the Tate-LaBianca murders committed by the Manson Family in 1969. You said something about blood., Holmess eyes bulged. One of Nashs friends and overnight guests was, according to a law-enforcement official, an Israeli with a military background, the so-called reputed godfather of the Israeli Mafia. A report by the California State Department of Justice revealed that the Israeli Mafia was active in California during the late Seventies and early Eighties and was involved in drugs, arson, extortion, gunrunning and a number of murders, including the death and dismemberment of two Israeli nationals at the plush Bonaventure hotel in downtown L.A. During his six or seven years of heavy drug use, said the attorney, Nash lost over a million a year directly attributable to drugs. He was great. This means absolutely nothing to me. The Wonderland Gang. The attack was allegedly masterminded by organized crime figure Juan Nel 8kfollowers More information Removing Bodies From Wonderland- This Day in History: Jul 1,1981: The Wonderland murders Murder Stories John Holmes Forensic Psychology Laurel Canyon Unsolved Serial Killers True Crime For his part, Holmes did anything he could for Nash. What compels you to revisit the slayings and what does the story say about Los Angeles, in the 80s and now? Court records and pllice statements indicated two of the four victims were under prosecution for dealing in cocaine, heroin and Quaaludes. Thats probably why he always came back. An hour before, Holmes had run into Diles. He took over the kitchen. susan launius interview american airlines core competencies June 21, 2022. the most poisonous snake in the world . He even had the Holy Rollers sister smoking., In the morning, they went out to get food. Hed have me make these peanut-butter chocolate-chip brown-sugar butter cookies. She had two daughters, had once been married to a Beverly Hills attorney. I just didnt like what he was doing.. Latest Videos; Emmy Awards - Show Clips - Winnerviews - Presenterviews . . 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. He also collected animal skulls. Management asked Jeana to leave. Holmes hadnt paid for the room. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. Nash and Holmes had met three years earlier at the Seven Seas. LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. Show your appreciation with the gift of Flickr Pro. Alex MurdaughCalled 'Family Annihilator' by Prosecution in Murder Trial. . He went to garage sales and bought old furniture. Jeana sat very still on the edge of the bed, watching a TV that was mounted on the wall. For the next three days, John, Jeana and Sharon were held in protective custody in a luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles. I know it sounds trite and predictable but "Chinatown" has to be the best L.A. movie ever made. I will kill your whole family! He and Sharon settled into a strange hybrid of domesticity. Blond and bearded, Launius had served federal time for drug smuggling. Where are you calling from? The top story was something about a mass murder. . 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. There was a lot of screaming going on, Holmes told his wife. Susan Hayward. They threw brown bags of dope off the balcony. On the day of the robbery Holmes still hadnt come back. Not since she was home. A look at the notorious convicted murderer's life in prison after she drowned her two sons in 1994. It was a strange and violent time and men wore double-breasted suits and snap-brim Fedoras. 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. After his release, Nash told a friend that jail had saved his life. Laurie was standing at the door when Lange and McClain appeared down the corridor. The drugs affected his penis; he couldnt get it up, he couldnt work in porn. Dismiss. Dead were Joy Miller, Billy DeVerell, Ron Launius, Barbara Richardson. Jeana leaned out the window, and they hugged. Funny, she thought, no cuts, no abrasions. Shed driven out from Miami with her father and younger sister. The Malibu was idling. Holmes was an inveterate collector of junk. 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. He said, Would you make love to me? I literally shook to death. After leaving California, Jeana and John had gone to Vegas, then Montana, then headed south, visiting the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert. When he did coke, says Jeana, hed do it until it was all gone, and then hed scrape the pipe and smoke all the resin he could find, and then hed take a bunch of Valium. We were real friendly. His gay clubs were the first in L.A. to allow same-sex dancing. After a while, the weather report came on. They hadnt spoken in two years. The time was 2:30 in the afternoon. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people living and working in L.A. who have never given thought to writing a screenplay. Earthquakes are sudden and arrive without warning, unless you monitor the USGS earthquake maps on the web every day - which I do. His voice had a smooth Arabic lilt. He wanted to be in charge. You know, says Detective Lange, theres no mystery here. The judge in the case was Everett E. Ricks Jr. I mean, come on: Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino - those are choices? 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. Mary went to work on an assembly line at a Western Electric plant. John said he felt like he was chosen to get AIDS because of who he was, how he lived. In essence, what they wanted him to do was . Los Angeles, Column: Did the DOJ just say Donald Trump can be held accountable for Jan. 6? Holmes thought Nash was the most evil man hed ever met, but he couldnt quite figure him out, so he respected him. 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. In the still unpublished official version of his life, Holmes is quoted as saying that he was held at gunpoint at another house while the killers, whose names he did not know, went to the home on Wonderland Avenue. John kept his porn money and spent it on himself. You cant do this to me, he said. Holmes went on to say that he wanted to be best in the world at something, and that he thought pornography was it. Here he is, he has two women with him. Six months ago shed had a double mastectomy. 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. 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. Inside was her husband, John. Holmes let his hair grow, started wearing three-piece suits. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. Wake him? They were married in August 1965 at Fort Ord, California. While Holmes was in jail, Amerson had started a company called John Holmes Productions. Finally, he replied: The murders . 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. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. A look at years past when snows creeped into our citified neighborhoods, away from the mountains and foothills. In the meantime, here's an interview with Bren: 1. Sports promoter Vic Weiss was found murdered in the trunk of his Rolls Royce in a Hollywood hotel parking lot in 1979. John, theyre coming, Laurie said in a stage whisper. 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. Mary was a Bible-thumping Baptist John remembered screaming, yelling, his father puking all over the kids. First his forehead, then his cheeks, then his neck. 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. A sign on the box, written in blue Magic Marker, said, FOR DISTRIBUTION AT BOX OFFICE. 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. Eddie Nash was fifty-two years old, six feet tall, gray haired, strong and wiry. According to one eyewitness, Diles once chased a man out of the Kit Kat and emptied his .38 revolver into the mans car. Theres a floor safe in the closet, right over here.. Sharon went to the bedroom, laid down, read a magazine. Whos this in Montana? 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. I was just taken off my feet. Nash shut the bedroom door. Sharon always knew when he was lying. On Christmas Day 1980, hed even presented Jeana. Updated on November 15, 2022 10:05 AM. The motive is not suspected to be robbery as his diamond ring and watch were found on the body. 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. 1947 was a pivotal year in L.A.'s history. Joy Audrey Miller, 46, held the lease. When I refused, he said, Dont come back to California or I will have two men waiting at the airport to kill you, and I will have your parents killed. Finally he came out and said, You know what? It was a big ordeal for him, says Laurie. John eased into the tub. Thorson, who was waiting to be sentenced on a drug-related armed robbery, had sought a deal with police. Record information. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics from Emory . Launius estranged wife, Susan, who was visiting, survived the assault but suffered severe head injuries. It was owned by the pediatrician she worked for; she and Holmes lived rent-free in an adjacent house. She came to the farm to find out if a certain man was with me. Hed been in jail eleven months in all, 110 days on the contempt charge. At Holmes murder trial, Tomlinson testified that Holmes told him that after the robbery had occurred at Ed Nashs house, that Nash had made (Holmes) tell him who the people were that robbed him. The Sellers would stay there. He didnt want part of him ending up in a jar somewhere. She cut her eyes slowly, caught his profile. You cannot merge a memorial into itself. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/430cdk/four_bloody_unsolved_wonderland_murders/. He went white. He cooked coke all night long. In a way, Holmes was everymans gigolo, a polyester smoothy with a sparse mustache, a flying collar and lots of buttons undone. The murderers were brought to justice. Then another girl, another. In jail, Holmes went on a hunger strike. Theyd sold a pound of baking soda for a quarter of a million dollars. How could you do this thing! Eddie Nash screamed. Editors picks His drug of choice was freebase; sometimes he mixed the crack with heroin. Youre going to get hurt. Recently, however, Holmess biggest commodity had been trouble. But Holmes kept calling. 02:26. John was terrified that I was going to confront her. It was really nice. Submissions should outline a mystery and provide a link to a more detailed review of the case such as a Wiki article or news report. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? The Interviews 25th Anniversary. The Starwood, on Santa Monica Boulevard, featured cutting-edge rock & roll. pillsbury company net worth; does gotomeeting work in china; tanner mark boots website She was nowhere to be found. His body was recovered near Mount Islip. He has a fascinating style and I liken him to Raymond Carver if Carver had decided to write about L.A.'s slumming angels. 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. 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. We have lots of information about Suzanne: religious views are listed as Christian, ethnicity is Caucasian, and political affiliation is currently a registered Republican. The daughter had a kid and a job. Drugs, inattention, back taxes and lawyers fees had depleted his fortune. Please enter a valid Memorial ID. A California cop called him one of the coldest people I ever met.. He graduated from UCLA with majors, variously, in physical therapy, pediatric physical therapy, medicine and political sciences. The cops were calling it the Four on the Floor Murders. When he became established as a porn star, Holmes said, he had a half dozen agents pulling in work for him. 7 May 2013. John was into Save the Whales. You know, when you were sleeping? 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. 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. I ran out the door, down to the pool, and he ran after me, the fool. Why? 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. John? He was willing, even eager, to murder a helpless woman who was no physical threat to him. Didn't expect my day to start by downloading #microsoftedge or willingly going to #bing to see #openai's new #gpt4 model. Then I leave. 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. Bob Gregory, 62, went missing the same day as Sands. And, as Holmess supply of coke dwindled, his conscience was overruled by his jones. At home, Nash walked around in a maroon silk robe, or sometimes in bikini briefs, his body covered with a thin sheen of sweat. 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. Both cars slowed, pulled even in the middle of the street. I was really charmed, says Jeana. If you could live in LA during any era, when would it be? Holmes, 37, was formally charged with four counts of murder and one of attempted murder following his arrest last December in Miami. He wanted new names for Sharon and Jeana, too. Los Angeles is often stereotyped as a hard place to find personal connections and make friends. Sharon stood with arms crossed. Built in 1925, in the then fashionable Spanish Revival style, it sits in the leafy hills above the Los Feliz neighbourhood, at the fringes of Griffith Park and with a panoramic view of the city. Sharon had been a virgin when theyd met. John and Laurie stayed home a lot and watched videos. All Rights reserved. Names of mobsters, drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps. Eruption, a porn remake of Double Indemnity. They did hits off Eddies pipe, eyed the door. Early in 1983, Holmes was shooting Fleshpond at a studio in San Francisco. Nashs three coconspirators in the insurance scam were found guilty. He always called Holmes my brother. Theyd known each other for three years. I was involved. Her husband, Ron, 37, of the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, was one of the victims. March 3 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Britain responded to a home to rescue a horse that had fallen into its owner's swimming pool and was unable to get itself out. Join now Sign in . Sharon looked at him. Holmes drove to Nashs again to make sure the sliding door was still open. (But) we have a certain set of rules to follow that the people who go out and perpetrate crimes dont.. For the last several years, Nash had rarely left his white-stone ranch house in Studio City. Holmes was stealing luggage off conveyers at L.A. International, buying appliances with his wifes credit cards, fencing them for cash. At an alarming rate.. There was a telephone at the entrance, an electronic deadbolt on the gate, two pit bulls sleeping on the steps. He went fucking crazy, says Amerson. Haltingly, Holmes confessed to his wife that he had played a central role in four brutal murders earlier that month in a drug dealers hillside home in Laurel Canyon. Miss Miller's shiny white 1969 Mercedes 280 SL was used to deliver narcotics to her customers, detectives said. Blood! Thats what its all about. 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. After a while, I said I didnt want to go out on the beach anymore. 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. 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. Thursday, July 2nd, 3:30 a.m. Sharon Holmes switched on the porch light, spied through the peephole.
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