It was Thursday, July 2nd, 1981. I never get tired of what I do because Im a sex fiend. Deep in Laurel Canyon, the Wonderland Gang was planning its last heist. John kept his porn money and spent it on himself. They needed a score. In Too Deep - LA Weekly Holmes was crumpled on the floor. He offered the police secrets. 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. Eversz is one of the best unsung novelists in the crime genre we have working today. He lost his virginity at age twelve to a thirty-six-year-old woman who was a friend of his mothers. The murder weapon was a steel pipe with threading at the ends. He said, I had to stand there and watch what they did, Sharon Holmes recalled. He stared straight ahead, unblinking. Finally, he replied: The murders . 'We'll probably find a real motive,' he said. Now her husband fixed her with a long stare. He was frozen. Record information. Just after the murders, Nash and Diles had found themselves in a world of shit. Jeana packed her suitcase, gathered up her Chihuahua. Could Ron Launius (victim of the Wonderland Murders of 1981 - reddit He could not be reached for comment on the killings. 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. 3 children killed, 2 hospitalized in North Texas domestic incident, At least 5 dead following year's first severe spring weather outbreak, 'Saving Private Ryan,' 'True Romance' actor Tom Sizemore dead at 61, Dozens killed, injured as Jakarta fuel depot fire engulfs neighborhood, Governor of Philippine province, 5 others killed in gun attack. Sharon Holmes said she is convinced that her former husband was at least present when the murders took place. Holmes went on to say that he wanted to be best in the world at something, and that he thought pornography was it. Then hed swallow a few Quaaludes and return. Here's Where To Maximize The View (And Snap A Great Picture), A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth, A Brief History Of Why It Does Occasionally Snow In LA. Sharon went to the bedroom, laid down, read a magazine. And so the plan was fixed. When the cops got to his hotel, Holmes was there. In the weeks before the killings, Coen told the jurors, Holmes ferried property stolen by the Wonderland Avenue gang to Nashs heavily secured home in Studio City, where he exchanged it for drugs. I was just taken off my feet. We had a big fight. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Then one day Harold threw John down the stairs and came after him. Almost everything publicly known about porn king John Curtis Holmes is apocryphal, anecdotal, secondhand or informed by conjecture. But I had no reason to confront her. 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. At 98 and facing cancer, Bob Dole reckons with legacy of Trump and ponders future of GOP. In 1962 he joined the USAF and served in the Vietnam War, but was caught smuggling heroin and discharged in 1972. Whos this in Montana? Then what?, I leave the sliding door unlocked this one, said Holmes, pointing to the floor plan, here, in the back. Do you find it challenging to make new friends here? 02:26. How you doing, John? said the man in the gray suit, leaning over the safety rail of the bed. His black club was like a Hollywood Harlem, jazz and pinkie rings and wide-brimmed straw hats. I didnt know what was going to happen, but I knew what might, she says. how much does a cfl general manager makeduskull evolution arceus A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. Help me. A fifth victim was carried out alive. First, however, Thorson had to lose thirty pounds. Show your appreciation with the gift of Flickr Pro. Nolan Miller Sellers agreed to talk to The Times on the condition that the paper not reveal her true name. He was also a drug dealer and a heavy user. Through his attorney, Nash has consistently denied any involvement in the Wonderland Avenue killings. He keeps a sawed-off shotgun under the blanket Here, this is Nashs room. LOS ANGELES -- The lone survivor of a bloody attack at a Laurel Canyon home last summer testified today she does not recall seeing porno star John Holmes in the house the night she was attacked and four others were bludgeoned to death. See that car over there? His family had owned several hotels before the creation of Israel in 1948. Now, in an exclusive interview with the Observer, . Others looked like theyd been sucking on the pipe a little too long. What's different Thorson, who was waiting to be sentenced on a drug-related armed robbery, had sought a deal with police. Inside was her husband, John. Some were quite attractive. 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. 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. By 1973, John and Sharon were sharing the same house, even the same bed, but they were no longer having sex. The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month. Holmes rolled down his window, McCourt rolled down his. He seems like he was a crazy fucker. If you were forced to live in a neighboring county, which would you choose? It was a simple ceremony. They came even though, at the time, there was no music industry in Los Angeles. myers park country club lawsuit; turkey hill frozen yogurt discontinued. Wed have dinner with other people at the hotel, go to movies. So much blood! he groaned over and over. Then came the late-night news. After seven years, the district attorney was reopening the Wonderland case, based, in part, on testimony from Scott Thorson, Liberaces ex-lover. Marriage & Divorce. You little Jeana stood, walked away. On Christmas Day 1980, hed even presented Jeana. John and Laurie stayed home a lot and watched videos. You want to play baseball? hed ask his ever-present guests, lighting his butane torch, offering a hit off his pipe. He wanted me to view his body and make sure that all the parts were there, says Laurie. His business empire totally atrophied as a result of the coke. Everybody was down there. He quit the ambulance service and got work stirring vats of chocolate at a Coffee Nips factory in Glendale. Holmes was into Nash for a small fortune. Nobody had gotten it yet, but it was still in the back of our minds. I said, John, how could you? 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. Holmess half brother and his wife lived there; this little community was the personal fiefdom of John Holmes. 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. Her daughter was born by emergency C-section. She had two daughters, had once been married to a Beverly Hills attorney. In high school, Holmes said, he slept with all but three girls in his class. Hed have a big glass of milk, and wed turn on the cartoons, and then hed go to bed in Sharons room. Join now Sign in . Launius and four of his associates were found dead in their townhouse on Wonderland Avenue, in Laurel Canyon on July 1, 1981. 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.. More from Medium For years, a Boy Hung a Photo on his Bedroom. Tom Mix and Harry Houdini once lived there among the quail and scrub pine and coyotes. When Holmes was eight, his mother married Harold, a manic-depressive who worked for the telephone company. He had a full erection. Salary in 2020. This anecdote right there tells me that Launius has a body count. They used cans of spray paint. Susan Launius | Historica Wiki | Fandom By contrast and comparison, the Manson killings of 1969 were resolved. Done. They were always looking for an opportunity. Hed been ripped for eight pounds of cocaine, but the Wonderland Gang hadnt found his private stash, and now he was bubbling his glass pipe furiously. After she left, my husband called on the telephone at the farm and said to come home immediately. John said he felt like he was chosen to get AIDS because of who he was, how he lived. Hed made all these people millions and millions of dollars. He stayed in there like three hours, and Im just sitting there, you know, twiddling my thumbs. A sign on the box, written in blue Magic Marker, said, FOR DISTRIBUTION AT BOX OFFICE. MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM E. OVERACKER > Air Force > Biography Display - AF Tossing and moaning, punching and kicking. Shed often take her son there for lunch. The Seven Seas was a bus-stop joint across Hollywood Boulevard from Manns Chinese Theaters. The setup, the robbery, Nashs threat to kill his whole family, Sharon included. John? Susan Launius Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife, Family, Net Worth Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? How students with Asperger's cope at university. That house, she thought. The color drained from his face. Captain Conan 10y. I marketed him. Five men and two women were meeting in the breakfast nook, sitting in swivel chairs, leaning against walls. . The cops were calling it the Four on the Floor Murders. The woman took her to her house, put her to work painting a wall. There was a telephone at the entrance, an electronic deadbolt on the gate, two pit bulls sleeping on the steps. It was a big ordeal for him, says Laurie. Then I leave. Big Rosie, the manager, let Jeana work the switchboard and clean rooms in exchange for rent. Tell the cops what they want to know, cause otherwise Johns going to be dead in a few days. Ill have them on their knees! Nash ranted to Thorson. When you met with Eddie, you met at his place, on his terms. John and Jeana painted the Malibu gray with a red top. Or perhaps he had flown from Las Vegas. On their first date, hed brought a bottle of Mateus and a handful of flowers. Pin on Wonderland Murders - Pinterest Hed been in jail eleven months in all, 110 days on the contempt charge. . By the time Johns half brother was born, John was spending most of his time in the woods, hunting, trapping, fishing, staying away from Harold. During the dispute, Sherrill shot and killed Moore and Launius helped Sherrill dispose of the body and conceal evidence. Where are you calling from? What he may have been referring to was the imprisonment, that very same morning, of Eddie Nash, on charges of dealing drugs. automotive swap meets in missouri 2022. par | Juil 2, 2022 | mitchell wesley carlson charged | justin strauss net worth | Juil 2, 2022 | mitchell wesley carlson charged | justin strauss net worth Edward, a carpenter, was an alcoholic. For his part, Holmes did anything he could for Nash. Why? When Sharon and John were first married, she says, he was very naive, looking for the perfect relationship. I ran out the door, down to the pool, and he ran after me, the fool. Its like Raymond Chandler on crack. I've endured both earthquakes and hurricanes. The Story Of The Gruesome And Unsolved Wonderland Murders - All That's Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. There were piles of cocaine in front of you. Holmes was an inveterate collector of junk. Only Launius' wife Susan survived the attack, allegedly masterminded by organized crime figure and nightclub owner Eddie Nash. Because hed already been tried, Holmes would not be able to invoke the Fifth Amendment. You know, when you were sleeping? For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit LAist.com/radio. Mary was a Bible-thumping Baptist John remembered screaming, yelling, his father puking all over the kids. 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. 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. 7 May 2013. Basically, he said, Im going to have to run, Sharon Holmes recalled, And I said, Youre going to have to tell me. . Nash was found guilty of possessing two pounds of cocaine for sale. . His lawyer hired a young associate to stick Nash with a pin whenever he nodded off in court. Ron Launius had an extensive criminal history before coming to a bloody end. Eddie Nash was a drug lord. 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. They sat around a glass table in the breakfast nook. Lets face it, Amerson says, John was a product. To get better results, add more information such as Birth Info, Death Info and Location even a guess will help. He had sex onscreen with two generations of leading ladies, from Seka and Marilyn Chambers to Traci Lords, Ginger Lynn and Italian member of Parliament Ciccolina. She was thin, blond, foulmouthed, a heroin addict with seven arrests. He began spilling to Blake in 1973, after he was arrested on a movie set. Miss Miller's shiny white 1969 Mercedes 280 SL was used to deliver narcotics to her customers, detectives said. Theres somebody out there who wants to kill me, Holmes told Sharon, his wife of 16 years. 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. Jeana said nothing. That's not a stereotypical statement in the least. This story has not been verified. Susan Orlean tells the story of the suspected arson in The Library Book. She told him to get the fuck out of my life. He couldnt call Jeana. Murdoch has survived scandal after scandal. Coroner Thomas Noguchi said early autopsy results on the bodies found Wednesday -- 12 hours after the neighbors ignored the screams for mercy -- indicated the victims had been beaten to death. Everybody at the hotel got to know us, Jeana says. The day after the robbery, someone who knew Nash apparently spotted Holmes in Hollywood, wearing a piece of jewelry that had been stolen from Nashs home, he told his wife. Nash and Holmes had met three years earlier at the Seven Seas. She opened the door, folded her arms against her chest. He knew we wouldnt have a life together.. DeVerell, Launius and McCourt, all heroin addicts, were out cold. Net Worth in 2021. Sherrill confessed to the murder some years later. For the first few months, while she was in Oregon with her mother, Jeana had refused to take Holmess calls. Then he sat up. He went white. He remained addicted to coke. 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. Get my property! Above all, he said, he loved his work: A happy gardener is one with dirty fingernails, and a happy cook is a fat cook. One search of the premises yielded a cardboard box containing 4,000 counterfeit Quaaludes. Atkins was convicted for her involvement. We have estimated Susan Launius's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets. John bought himself an El Camino pickup and a large diamond solitaire that became his trademark in films. Remember me?. Are you awake? Holmess eyelids fluttered. One of the actresses in the cast was Laurie Rose. Holmes broke into cars along the way. He thought one porn person in the family was enough, she says. A stairway, leading from the garage to the front door, was caged in iron. She walked the streets, tried to think. Each time, Nash made bail. Sometimes he worked around the apartments as the handyman and gardener. He chewed gum and overacted. Main Menu. As the 1980s began, and Holmes became more heavily involved in cocaine, his absences grew longer. He boiled it clean in a pot on Sharons stove. There is a substantial audience out there hungry for information on the Wonderland murders. Dickman and Throbbin, a lampoon of Batman and Robin. Editors picks [5] Barbara Richardson 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. Since the late Sixties, Holmes had traded on his natural endowment. John Holmes died on March 13th, 1988. He graduated from UCLA with majors, variously, in physical therapy, pediatric physical therapy, medicine and political sciences. Ron Launius was born in 1944 in Shawneetown, IL. signs you are both hiding your feelings - veasyt.immo They moved to a house on five acres in wooded, rural Pataskala, Ohio. You sound close., Well, I, I, ah, came with a friend. I knew the whole picture, says Sharon. Holmes wouldnt tell. Dole said there's no question that Trump lost his reelection race - narrowly but fair and square. Blond and bearded, Launius had served federal time for drug smuggling. By the Eighties, former California governor Jerry Brown was living on Wonderland Avenue, and Steven Spielberg was building on a lot not far away. We were really broke. Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. It had a tropical motif, a menu of special drinks, a Polynesian revue, sometimes belly dancers. John Curtis Holmes had the longest, most prolific career in the history of pornography. The guest bedroom. Holmes hadnt paid for the room. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. In the summer of 1981, Sharon Holmes said, she and John Holmes were living together as the managers of a small Glendale apartment complex. Firefighters hoist horse stranded in backyard swimming pool. He served in the signal corps, spending three years in Nuremberg, Germany. He was held in the county jail for contempt. You talk to Nash, whatever, you tell him you got to take a piss. Wonderland (2003) - Plot Summary - IMDb He told me that he had set up the robbery. At the hospital, as he came out of anesthesia, he said to Mary, Ill never have to work again. He didnt. They were married in August 1965 at Fort Ord, California. When he became established as a porn star, Holmes said, he had a half dozen agents pulling in work for him. He sent flowers, presents, photos of them with the dog. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Christ, she thought, John. Prioritizing employee development. Its like being married to a hooker., And so began the loops and the stags, and then Johnny Wadd was born. Nash would kill him and his family if he talked, he was certain of it. British bus driver stops to give loose sheep a lift. It helps that Susan Boyle has made her Asperger's public. 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. In addition, more than 3,000 pages of court and police documents and newspaper reports were reviewed. Web Design & Digital Marketing There never was a sexual relationship between us. Her left leg is paralyzed because of the head injuries. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith told . It was dark, and there wasnt any traffic. What does the print-on demand delivery system offer over other, similar systems like iUniverse.com? Also while in college, he said, he danced nude modern jazz ballet and drove an ambulance. Youre going to get hurt. He could repair anything, liked sketching and working in clay. Hey, its cool, said John Holmes, 36, the man with the plan. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. 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. Well, kind of, Video shows Memphis jailers beating Black inmate before his death, Skin lesion removed from President Bidens chest last month was cancerous, doctor says, CPAC shows the GOP has deep divisions heading into 2024, Abortion clinics crossing state borders not always welcome. Chris caught up. Shed never seen him look scared before. He took a lounge singers approach to sex, deliberately gentle, ostentatiously artful, a homely guy with a pinkie ring and a big dick who was convinced he was every womans dream. Anyway, Launius, Billy Deverell, and David Lind were robbing a ritzy house in L.A. Please enter a valid Memorial ID. Rush hour was on. susan launius interviewduskull evolution arceus. Holmes nodded his head, put out his cigarette, closed his eyes. Jeana was doing freebase too, almost every night. Joy Audrey Miller, 46, held the lease. They were going underground. 'I was laying down on the bed. In the end, the most damaging evidence the prosecution could produce was a palm print on a headboard above one of the victims. . He said, Im gonna die! and drove off., When he came back, says Laurie, he was laughing about it. The finish was drippy and streaked, but it didnt matter. When asked to elaborate, the policeman explained: "A trash can only has two handles". I watched them beat them to death., It was them or me. Three hours later, everyone was finally awake. One night Holmes told Jeana to meet him at the van. When VCX cut off Holmess salary, Amerson put up money to start Penguin Productions. he didnt know what the truth was anymore; about himself, about anything, Sellers said. Arriving back at Wonderland just after dawn, Holmes announced the coast was clear. So I told him everything, John said. Someone held a gun to my head. He always had large quantities of coke, heroin, Quaaludes and other drugs at the house. 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. Then she ran into a woman preaching fire and brimstone on a corner. Why would I confront her? The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents. 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. There was a lot of traffic, all day, all night, says a neighbor. He looked very scared. He sounded a lot like Eddie Haskell on Leave It to Beaver and bore some resemblance to the actor who played him. Now it was December 4th, and she hadnt seen Holmes in two weeks. She was in intensive care with a severed finger and brain damage. He wanted new names for Sharon and Jeana, too. He went to garage sales and bought old furniture. At the house, Holmes told his wife, Nash pored over Holmes address book, and stopped when he came to the pages that listed addresses in Ohio, where Holmes was born and where his mother and other relatives still lived. The cast of characters would go from two or three to ten or more. I just didnt like what he was doing.. Its another thing to testify to it in court.. We have lots of information about Suzanne: religious views are listed as Christian, ethnicity is Caucasian, and political affiliation is currently a registered Republican. He thought, Well, if Im going to take a chance, thats enough. . Its business.. . 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. Jeana sat in the front seat, Thor in her arms. Chris didnt have a drivers license. Police, however, believe that Holmes actually took part in the fatal beatings. Writer and documentary producer. Hed been with three governors, two of their wives and one senator, who was really a freak., Holmes said he owned ten different businesses, that he was a gourmet cook, that he had written twenty-nine books, including a how-to manual combining cooking and sex. He invited them in for coffee. Edmund Brown Jr. owns a house about a mile from the scene of the murders. He was very possessive. The murders, he said. . John Holmes didnt go to his grave with anything but a very bad case of AIDS. Lulu Press offers a very affordable set-up with generous royalties. And the AIDS thing was just starting to come out. When Amerson raised their rent to $400, they got their own place in Encino. The Wonderland Gang. 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. For like three weeks, one of us had to be awake at all times. Though the movie, when it began to appear at theaters around the country, was branded as obscene and closed down almost everywhere it played, its producers contested the charges in the courts and eventually won. By Steve Helling. This is an archival story that predates current editorial management. Holmes refused to testify. No drugs. Hard Candy, a 3-D thriller. Aftermath Lind and McCourt were both away from the scene at the time of the murders, so they were able to survive unharmed. Recently, Holmes had been drifting from job to job, trying to find a niche. Diles leveled a gun at his head. Though, she didn't survive unscathed. A mother and daughter offered to help. Are you afraid its withering and dying? she said, laughing. Lind and his girlfriend had come down three weeks earlier from Sacramento to stay at Wonderland. But the new accounts cast doubt on the story Holmes told a biographer before his death March 13. jackson falls santa paula. The house at 8763 had passed from a raucous group of women neighbors recall naked women being tossed from the first-floor balcony to the members of the Wonderland Gang. I was really charmed, says Jeana. Her husband, Ron, 37, of the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, was one of the victims. 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. Sharing the house with Miller and DeVerell was Ronald Launius, 37. He was also in Liberaces Las Vegas act. By the time they pulled into the apartment complex managed by Sharon Holmes, it had been decided. Ventura County is a wussy answer. 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. 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. He treated me very special. John was thirty-one, she was fifteen. Most people find it hard to believe, but I'm an introvert. 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. He made films nonstop, and he took eighty to ninety telephone calls a day. Called the Wonderland Killings, the brutal murder of 4 people in a Laurel Canyon home. On his sixteenth birthday, Holmes joined the army. (John) was so much of a liar . She even had to have part of her skull surgically removed as a result of her injuries. On weekends they went to swap meets and yard sales. The letters "IC" pronounced properly can say "icy" meaning very cold. You sure about this, donkey dick? asked Tracy McCourt, the gangs wheelman. Too bad youre so young, he said finally, then left. 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. He was supposed to be doing sales and preproduction, writing and editing, in addition to acting. 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. ', In time, John and Laurie moved in together at Amersons. Whos Mary? We scattered his ashes over the ocean.. I told where the robbers lived and how to get there. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Finally he came out and said, You know what? Some heard a woman's screams coming from the house Tuesday morning, but ignored them in the belief someone was playing a joke, partying or having a nightmare. He and Sharon settled into a strange hybrid of domesticity. She tells them (in a near comatose state) that she does not remember anything. As much as I like "Boogie Nights", it remains a fairly superficial movie. Things at the house were always hopping, someone was always showing up with a scam.