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. 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. Holmes said hed had sex in airplanes, helicopters, trains, elevators, kitchens, bathrooms, on rooftops, in caves, storm cellars, bomb shelters in Europe, under a table in a restaurant filled with people, fifty feet underwater while wearing scuba gear. Women asked him to deflower their daughters. Thanks for posting though. Alex MurdaughCalled 'Family Annihilator' by Prosecution in Murder Trial. She'd gone into the pregnancy with a plan, knowing Black mothers like herself were at higher risk. One woman survived the attack. Class 1A. 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. Salary in 2020. He did not testify at his trial, and his later secret testimony before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury remains sealed. This is Susan Launius. He has just published his latest project about one of Los Angeles's most well known murder cases in the 80s. They were stupid. Theres somebody out there who wants to kill me, Holmes told Sharon, his wife of 16 years. Thorson had driven from Lake Tahoe to score from Nash. Mrs. Launius, whose husband, Ronald, was killed in the attack, told the court doctors removed a large portion of her skull during surgery following the beating. Diles got seven years on charges stemming from the drug raids. It began, according to Thorsons book, Behind the Candelabra, when Liberace ordered him to have cosmetic surgery. 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. In high school, Holmes said, he slept with all but three girls in his class. Help me. A fifth victim was carried out alive. Ive waited outside that house. 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. A sign on the box, written in blue Magic Marker, said, FOR DISTRIBUTION AT BOX OFFICE. Nobody ever came over, says Laurie. He had ties to the criminal underworld and was known to be dangerous -- it just so happened that he crossed someone even more dangerous than himself, and lost his life for it. In 1960 he opened a hot-dog stand on Hollywood Boulevard. . He was held in the county jail for contempt. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Sometimes he worked around the apartments as the handyman and gardener. Now, in the breakfast nook, a tall, gaunt man with curly hair and a sparse beard pointed to the floor plan he had sketched. That house, she thought. . John said he felt like he was chosen to get AIDS because of who he was, how he lived. All the sugar helped him come down. I loved him. 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. They went to the beach. John leaned up against the back bumper, smoking a cigarette. Editors picks I'm comfortable speaking to 2,000 people about my work, but drop me into a cocktail party with 50 people, and I'm lost. 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. Nolan Miller Big mystery. Tell the cops what they want to know, cause otherwise Johns going to be dead in a few days. I used to be a Web Developer in the Newsroom, now I spend my time in coffee shops researching murder. A day or two later, Holmes gave a compressed, but similar account of what happened to Sellers, she told The Times. 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. 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. Hed sent two of his minions out to score more drugs, but they hadnt yet returned. At an alarming rate.. In the end, both Diles and Nash went to jail. Thread marks found on walls, skulls, skin. John Holmes himself never offered a public account of what happened on that July night. Nash was missing part of his sinus cavity, one of his lungs had been removed, and he had a steel plate in his head. 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. By 1978, Holmes was freebasing cocaine all the time. Holmes and Jeana watched from the bed. His voice had a smooth Arabic lilt. 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. 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. John and Laurie stayed home a lot and watched videos. How do you handle this conflict? 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. The daughter had a kid and a job. Sharon, a registered nurse, rummaged through a well-stocked medicine cabinet, brought out iodine and cotton swabs. 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. This would lead, in the mid-Seventies, to Holmess most successful role, as Johnny Wadd, the hard-boiled detective, porns parody of Sam Spade. Tossing and moaning, punching and kicking. Management asked Jeana to leave. When asked by Holmes' attorney what she remembered after that, she replied, 'nothing.'. No longer the leading man, he was now the featured oddity. Hed been turned on to the drug on a movie set in Las Vegas and had been smoking ever since. In time, Holmes became known as the Errol Flynn of porn. Four inches around!, Thats great, said Sharon, turning a page of her magazine. Jailers said other inmates were giving him candy bars. Latest Videos; Emmy Awards - Show Clips - Winnerviews - Presenterviews . We were like a normal couple. For the next three days, John, Jeana and Sharon were held in protective custody in a luxury hotel in downtown Los Angeles. 02:26. Drinking, driving. He wore the buckle when he and Sharon sold bumper stickers door-to-door. He was in so much pain, you couldnt touch him. It goes from five inches all the way to ten. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news. Join now Sign in . 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. Gregory DeWitt Diles, six feet four, 300 pounds, barged through the front door of the house on Dona Lola, dragging John Holmes by the scruff of his neck. . An hour before, Holmes had run into Diles. They needed a score. Can religion save us from Artificial Intelligence? Isamarie Perez, San Antonio Stacey vs. Brooke Alexander, McLeod; Wyndi Williams, Baird vs. Cassie Petty, White Deer; Kyla Coleman, Whiteface . Following his arrest in Miami, Holmes was tried for the murder of the Wonderland Gang. One search of the premises yielded a cardboard box containing 4,000 counterfeit Quaaludes. The three went back to Sharons house. Over the years, theyd become like mother and daughter. Sharon Holmes said she is convinced that her former husband was at least present when the murders took place. They sat around a glass table in the breakfast nook. He was freebasing one hit of coke every ten or fifteen minutes, swallowing forty to fifty Valium a day to cut the edge. For like three weeks, one of us had to be awake at all times. 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. His black club was like a Hollywood Harlem, jazz and pinkie rings and wide-brimmed straw hats. If you could live in any neighborhood or specific house in LA, where/which would you choose? During recesses in the trial, Nash would go out to his car and smoke freebase. James M. Eisenman, a Century City attorney who represents Holmes estate and his second wife, said he doubts Sharon Holmes story. Eddie Nash was a drug lord. April Valentine died at Centinela Hospital. (John) was so much of a liar . What really cracks me up is people believe he was a dope dealer. A girl entered stage right. She was later unable to identify her attackers. He offered the police secrets. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? Jeana packed her bag, gathered up Thor, put Johns gun in her pocketbook. Kentucky man stops for breakfast, wins $50,000 lottery prize. Eddie Nash was fifty-two years old, six feet tall, gray haired, strong and wiry. He walked through the door, flopped on the bed, passed out. The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month. Now it was December 4th, 1981. Jeana was afraid to look at John. House tossed by assailants. Go back to that house! She was twenty, an army brat. He was sweet. Susan Hayward. Sharon had watched through the window as he picked them from the neighbors front yard. He lost his virginity at age twelve to a thirty-six-year-old woman who was a friend of his mothers. Ten inches long! Get the fuck out of here! he screamed. Holmes buzzed an outside intercom box and asked someone inside to let him in. He told me that he had set up the robbery. 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. The color drained from his face. If you were forced to live in a neighboring county, which would you choose? He could not be reached for comment on the killings. His drug of choice was freebase; sometimes he mixed the crack with heroin. Holmes let his hair grow, started wearing three-piece suits. Tabs. Girls' Singles. Nash knew the Wonderland people. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. How students with Asperger's cope at university. 7 May 2013. The murders are believed to be retaliation for the Wonderland Gang's robbing of Eddie Nash's home two days earlier. But before they headed east, Holmes paid a final, early morning visit to his wife. They mix poorly, and yet they're inexorably linked. In addition, more than 3,000 pages of court and police documents and newspaper reports were reviewed. . He showed Chinn his portfolio of stills, then stripped. John eased into the tub. Launius actually went to shoot her and his partners had to stop him. Youre going to get hurt. Her husband, Ron, 37, of the. 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. You said something about blood., Holmess eyes bulged. The Kit Kat was a strip club. But Sharon Holmes and Jeanna Sellers insist that it is true. Holmes was one of the greats in the business. He moved to a modest condo in Tarzana and set about rebuilding, taking college business courses at night. No one but Holmes has ever been charged in the murder case. He was consuming it. Big Rosie, the manager, let Jeana work the switchboard and clean rooms in exchange for rent. 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/. Aftermath Lind and McCourt were both away from the scene at the time of the murders, so they were able to survive unharmed. He couldnt walk. Nash and Holmes had met three years earlier at the Seven Seas. There are other suspects that we feel are involved. 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. Jeana packed her suitcase, gathered up her Chihuahua. We want to hear it. He said, I had to stand there and watch what they did, Sharon Holmes recalled. He was prepared to testify that Eddie Nash had sent Holmes and Diles to Wonderland Avenue and that Nash felt responsible for the bloody mess that resulted. It was like being in a movie or something., By late 1984, John was working as an executive at Amersons VCX films. But Holmes kept calling. He wanted to be the Arab man in his tent. Holmes was to run it. They opened the security gate, and the four of us went up the stairs, and when the door opened, they forced their way inside. jackson falls santa paula. The Sellers would stay there. I think L.A. should be broken up into a series of counties so we have better choices. He treated me very special. John was thirty-one, she was fifteen. Men asked him to autograph their wives breasts. Is this your brother? For a time, John Holmes was silent. The cops were calling it the Four on the Floor Murders. Based on my research, "Wonderland"arrives closest to the truth but in both films an apologist's tone creeps in with reference to Holmes. german apple cake recipe milk street. Youre probably going to be saving him.. Why? Then he sold shoes, furniture, Fuller brushes door-to-door. Ricks cited Nashs need for delicate surgery to remove a sinus tumor. All three of them are sleeping in the same bed. She was nowhere to be found. Except for the . I stood there against the wall. Main Menu. ', Nash is said to have had political, police and crime connections. Once, Sharon says, he got a human head from UCLA. Holmes was telling people that doctors had removed sixteen feet of his large intestine. 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. Videos . She opened the door, folded her arms against her chest. Holmes went on to say that he wanted to be best in the world at something, and that he thought pornography was it. In a way Eddie would assess you on what you took or didnt take., In early 1981, Nashs second wife the mother of his two sons, aged eight and five filed for a protection order against Nash. Holmes went to work for a construction company, painting a hotel down the strip. He went white. I was really charmed, says Jeana. -, Press J to jump to the feed. Hours passed, John woke. There was a telephone at the entrance, an electronic deadbolt on the gate, two pit bulls sleeping on the steps. On the day of the robbery Holmes still hadnt come back. In truth, Holmes was operated on for hemorrhoids. Diles hit him again. The cast of characters would go from two or three to ten or more. She reached up and took Johns chin in her hand, turned his head side to side. We played our favorite songs, walked, talked. Thats bullshit. Web Design & Digital Marketing More from Medium For years, a Boy Hung a Photo on his Bedroom. On July 10th, Police knocked down the door of their motel room and arrested Jeana and Holmes. Rodger Jacobs is an author, journalist, documentary producer, blogger and familiar gadfly in the LA blogosphere. Since the late Sixties, Holmes had traded on his natural endowment. But the new accounts cast doubt on the story Holmes told a biographer before his death March 13. John was doing a lot of drawing. When Holmes returned to his car hours later, two armed men ordered him to drive to Nashs home, he said. Or that show out of New York, you know, A Current Affair. Ricks even came in from his sickbed to sentence Nash. Holmes nodded his head, put out his cigarette, closed his eyes. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. He has just published his latest project about one of Los Angeles's most well known murder cases in the 80s. On Christmas Day 1980, hed even presented Jeana. She survives and is questioned by Nico and Cruz in her hospital bed. He told us everything initially, right after it happened. He showed up at the house in the early evening. or learn more. Theyd sold a pound of baking soda for a quarter of a million dollars. Ill have them on their knees! Nash ranted to Thorson. Soon after, the courtship of Jeana began. 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. Holmes thought Nash was the most evil man hed ever met, but he couldnt quite figure him out, so he respected him. Up to this time, Holmes had been doing mostly photo layouts, stag films and 8-mm bookstore loops. Jeana, Ive got to tell you. He had a full erection. He is from . Jeana stood up, moved closer to the tube. A look at the notorious convicted murderer's life in prison after she drowned her two sons in 1994. . It is debatable about $3,000. It helps that Susan Boyle has made her Asperger's public. Now it was midnight in the parking lot at the Safeway in Glendale. All Marriage & Divorce results for Ronnie Launius. Usually, they smoked freebase and had sex. here. You talk to Nash, whatever, you tell him you got to take a piss. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. You know, says Detective Lange, theres no mystery here. Holmes was into Nash for a small fortune. 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. Its business.. John, theyre coming, Laurie said in a stage whisper. Tell me where you are. On their first date, hed brought a bottle of Mateus and a handful of flowers. Nash and Diles were well known on Sunset Strip. 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. Holmes refused to testify. She cleared her throat John?, You had this dream. First his forehead, then his cheeks, then his neck. I wouldnt want to be operated on in San Quentin Prison, Ricks said sympathetically. Anyway, Launius, Billy Deverell, and David Lind were robbing a ritzy house in L.A. Number 8763 Wonderland Avenue had some history of its own: Paul Revere and the Raiders once lived there. This button displays the currently selected search type. I didnt know what was going to happen, but I knew what might, she says. Writer and documentary producer. Launius' wife, Susan Launius, survived the attack, which is shocking given the crime scene photos and video. The sun was warm and diffuse. In the end, Deep Throat was massively consumed by an enthusiastic public. They picked up a six-pack, went to a park, sat by a pond. Under Review. There were contracts out on their lives. 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. Others looked like theyd been sucking on the pipe a little too long. I knew the whole picture, says Sharon. 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? A naturalized American, Nash came to California from Palestine in the early Fifties. Though Holmes had left Wonderland at midnight, he had stayed at Eddie Nashs for six hours, smoking up the $400 hed taken to spend, helping himself to a little more of Nashs largess. I believe I was watching TV and it seems like a bunch of people were coming in and out,' Mrs. Launius said. Dismiss. They took back his key to Wonderland, and Launius punched him out, then hit Holmes with his own blackthorn walking stick. This story has not been verified. At least two of the four people beaten to death at the yellow two-story house in rustic Laurel Canyon had narcotics records and the blonde woman who rented the house delivered drugs in her shiny white Mercedes, court records indicated Friday. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people living and working in L.A. who have never given thought to writing a screenplay. 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. Remarks by neighbors in the trendy, secluded area above the Sunset Strip and court records revealed the occupants of the stucco house on Wonderland Avenue lived in Southern California's 'fast lane' -- a lifestyle surrounded by drugs, flashy cars and trouble with police. We had a big fight. I'll sidestep Nathanael West's blistering "Day of the Locust" to applaud some more recent works like Michelle Huneven's "Jamesland" and the Nina Zero private eye novels by Robert Eversz. He looked like a guy in a dive bar in El Paso, according to a neighbor. Learn more about merges. He panicked, walked in circles around the doctors office, threw his briefcase down. In California Valley Girls, for instance, he had one scene. Thorson, who was waiting to be sentenced on a drug-related armed robbery, had sought a deal with police. By the mid-Seventies, Nash held thirty-six liquor licenses, owned real estate and other assets worth over $30 million. And then, just as we got to this intersection, he slammed on the brakes. After a while, the news. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith told . If you're enjoying this article, you'll love my daily morning newsletter, How To LA. He came in, sat on a couch. One summer day in 1968, Sharon came home a little early from work. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Id like you to meet Mr. John Holmes, hed say. Ill never forget that as long as I live, she said. Launius punched Holmes in the stomach. There were piles of cocaine in front of you. Called the Wonderland Killings, the brutal murder of 4 people in a Laurel Canyon home. (Wikipedia article on Wonderland Murders). A pimp tried to pick her up. He spent his early life in Tennessee and Georgia, and graduated from Spalding High School in Griffin, Ga. Ive lived in L.A. since 1979 and currently reside in Glendale. Browse by collection. Then Liberace would make a joke about having the only fur coat in the world that had its own limo. Nash shut the bedroom door. During the dispute, Sherrill shot and killed Moore and Launius helped Sherrill dispose of the body and conceal evidence. He went fucking crazy, says Amerson. Pharmaceutical cocaine was one of the ingredients. In 1981, Ron Launius and his gang of thieves and drug dealers, with assistance from porn star John Holmes, robbed the home of businessman and gangster Eddie Nash. One night Holmes told Jeana to meet him at the van. He didnt want part of him ending up in a jar somewhere. These five measures map closely with . 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. Just recently, he had begun training to be a uniformed security guard. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. The maid was the only one home, and they tied her up. He was also in Liberaces Las Vegas act. His words to me were Friends can get you killed. We were very careful. He introduced him to all his guests. Take care of him, Sharon said. Her lover was Billy DeVerell. Nash loves me. Early in 1983, Holmes was shooting Fleshpond at a studio in San Francisco.