susan launius interview

At the moment, on this evening of June 28th, 1981, Wonderland Avenue was quiet. Now they had another idea. A house on Wonderland Avenue. I was there., It was my fault, John said, his eyes welling with tears. He didnt want part of him ending up in a jar somewhere. They came even though, at the time, there was no music industry in Los Angeles. Jewelry, wads of money. Its like being a carpenter. The sun was warm and diffuse. Ron Launius had an extensive criminal history before coming to a bloody end. At midnight, the Wonderland people scraped together $400, and Holmes, whose pretense for entrance would be buying drugs, drove off to Nashs house. John? Nobody knew wherewe lived. He wore the buckle when he and Sharon sold bumper stickers door-to-door. He is from . Then came the late-night news. He spent his early life in Tennessee and Georgia, and graduated from Spalding High School in Griffin, Ga. Holmes had nothing to do and nowhere to go. When the cops got to his hotel, Holmes was there. Her daughter was born by emergency C-section. He knew we wouldnt have a life together.. Ive been expecting you, he said. In truth, Holmes was operated on for hemorrhoids. Their attorneys question the credibility of prosecution witnesses and maintain their clients innocence. A girl from the dorm recommended him. Launius' estranged wife, Susan, who was visiting, survived the assault but suffered severe head injuries. An argument ensued. Marriage & Divorce. On the day of the robbery Holmes still hadnt come back. Court records and pllice statements indicated two of the four victims were under prosecution for dealing in cocaine, heroin and Quaaludes. Ricks even came in from his sickbed to sentence Nash. Their association ended in one of the most brutal mass murders in the history of Los Angeles. When Amerson raised their rent to $400, they got their own place in Encino. If you could live in LA during any era, when would it be? March 2 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman scored a $100,000 prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket less than 12 hours after she scored an $11,000 jackpot at a casino. Holmes nodded his head, put out his cigarette, closed his eyes. He wanted witness protection, a new name, money, a home. He was marketing Holmess old films on video. He thinks Im famous.. Suzanne Launius's birthday is 03/24/1951 and is 71 years old.Suzanne calls Hawthorne, CA, home.Susan Launius are some of the alias or nicknames that Suzanne has used. But before they headed east, Holmes paid a final, early morning visit to his wife. It helps that Susan Boyle has made her Asperger's public. He went to garage sales and bought old furniture. Holmes buzzed an outside intercom box and asked someone inside to let him in. She didnt know what to do. arcane traps mousehunt; digital readout for sliding table saw For the last several years, Nash had rarely left his white-stone ranch house in Studio City. At the hospital, as he came out of anesthesia, he said to Mary, Ill never have to work again. He didnt. She couldnt call Sharon. In the car were De Verell, Launius, McCourt and a man named David Lind, a friend of Launiuss. He chewed gum and overacted. barry mcguigan, daughter funeral; susan launius interview All Rights reserved. Or perhaps he had flown from Las Vegas. After that I was his.. Launius served 4 years and was released in 1978. 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. There was one hitch. He offered the police secrets. For many months he took me out to dinner, introduced me to his mother and other relatives. He told us certain things. Deep in Laurel Canyon, the Wonderland Gang was planning its last heist. He has a fascinating style and I liken him to Raymond Carver if Carver had decided to write about L.A.'s slumming angels. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith told . Here, this back bedroom, thats Diless room, he said. Dismiss. Nash would kill him and his family if he talked, he was certain of it. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. There was a lot of screaming going on, Holmes told his wife. It began, according to Thorsons book, Behind the Candelabra, when Liberace ordered him to have cosmetic surgery. In a recent interview with The Times, Sharon Holmes, who divorced the late actor in 1984, described for the first time the story her husband told her less than three weeks after the July 1 killings. Eddie Nash assumed he deserved a certain amount of respect, says one denizen. This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). 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. At trial, his lawyer argued that the $1 million worth of coke was not for dealing, that it was strictly for personal use. Thats probably why he always came back. There were seven of them meeting in the house on Wonderland Avenue, a jaundiced stucco box on a steep, winding road in the hills above Hollywood. Facilitating a sense of purpose. You sure about this, donkey dick? asked Tracy McCourt, the gangs wheelman. Holmes broke into cars along the way. The Sixties, the pill, free love, communes, wife swapping, the perverse creativity of mixed-media artists who were pushing the limit, trying to shock all of these things created an atmosphere in which porn could blossom. He moved to a modest condo in Tarzana and set about rebuilding, taking college business courses at night. I really dont recall. Thorson was the live-in lover of the entertainer Liberace. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics from Emory . He made films nonstop, and he took eighty to ninety telephone calls a day. He told me that he had set up the robbery. Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. Hurricanes and tornadoes are scary as all hell because you usually have a few moments to contemplate what's about to hit you. Holmes wouldnt tell. 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. John Holmes recounted how he led three thugs to the tightly secured drug house on Wonderland Avenue, escorted them in, and stood by as they bludgeoned the five people inside, spattering Holmes with blood. Edward, a carpenter, was an alcoholic. 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 bodies were discovered by workmen next door; theyd heard faint cries from the back of the house: Help me. How do you handle this conflict? 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We have never heard the whole truth (about the killings) and we never will hear the whole truth, said attorney Earl L. Hanson, who, along with partner Mitchell W. Egers, successfully defended Holmes against the murder charges. After bathing at Sharons, Holmes had come here, to this motel in the Valley. Latest Videos; Emmy Awards - Show Clips - Winnerviews - Presenterviews . Whenever he returned from days or weeks away, Holmes would bring gifts: stuffed animals, roses, a ring. The police wanted to know who killed the Wonderland Gang. -, Press J to jump to the feed. When he became established as a porn star, Holmes said, he had a half dozen agents pulling in work for him. Theres no mystery. You could walk up, whisper something in his ear, and hed make it available. Gov. To get better results, add more information such as Birth Info, Death Info and Location even a guess will help. It is such a quintessential L.A. story of the 80s: drugs, sex, excess, night clubs, gangsters, and porn stars. The Wonderland Gang. For his part, Holmes did anything he could for Nash. A naturalized American, Nash came to California from Palestine in the early Fifties. He was dying. . The armed intruders robbed Nash and his 300-pound body guard, Gregory Diles, of $10,000, two plastic sacks of cocaine and other property. The school was a block away from Nashs place. 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. Although he was often away from home, I was his safe place, Sharon Holmes said. They wanted to see Holmes. I've always found the Wonderland story so intriguing. Nobody ever came over, says Laurie. He keeps a sawed-off shotgun under the blanket Here, this is Nashs room. Drawings of the dog, of me. John tried to make a deal with the cops. His last film was The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empress, starring Ilona Ciccolina Staller, a member of the Italian Parliament. This button displays the currently selected search type. Jeana sat very still on the edge of the bed, watching a TV that was mounted on the wall. Armed guards in the lobby, in the hallway. Then another. Holmes went on to make more than 2,000 movies. A California cop called him one of the coldest people I ever met.. Or the local TV says its a big mystery. Recently, Holmes had been drifting from job to job, trying to find a niche. She didnt know what to do. 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. This was it. She paid for food and household expenses, did his laundry, cooked for him when he was home. When we came back, the door was locked, says Jeana. What's different And the AIDS thing was just starting to come out. I knew the whole picture, says Sharon. The murders are believed to be retaliation for the Wonderland Gang's robbing of Eddie Nash's home two days earlier. We had a big fight. Help me. A fifth victim was carried out alive. Holmes was telling people that doctors had removed sixteen feet of his large intestine. ''Wonderland,'' directed by James Cox, is part of a curious, somewhat unsavory subgenre of movies that involve washed-up, sort-of-famous people and death by bludgeoning. Updated on November 15, 2022 10:05 AM. SIMON: For more than 40 years, people have been reading and performing Susan Cooper's poem "The Shortest Day" to celebrate the winter solstice. Reportedly, at the time of his death,[3] police investigators throughout California, largely in the Sacramento area, had 27 open homicide cases they believed were perpetrated by Launius. Take care of him, Sharon said. This stuff makes me feel funny too. Just recently, he had begun training to be a uniformed security guard. Above all, he said, he loved his work: A happy gardener is one with dirty fingernails, and a happy cook is a fat cook. Hed have me make these peanut-butter chocolate-chip brown-sugar butter cookies. He quit the ambulance service and got work stirring vats of chocolate at a Coffee Nips factory in Glendale. Thanks for posting though. John would just stay home. Ten inches long! Ron Launius was born in 1944 in Shawneetown, IL. Can I come in?, They went to the bathroom. 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, Wadd: The Life and Times of John C. Holmes, Southern California's Snow-Capped Mountains Are Beautiful. Tell me where you are. Sydney Pollack's adaptation of Horace McCoy's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" This is an archival story that predates current editorial management. His clothes were ripped, he was bloody from head to toe. Holmes hired the sisters to do gardening around the complex. People are after John, and they think youre with him. Holmes hadnt paid for the room. His legs and feet would swell up, his ears would bleed, he had infections in his lungs. Ill have them on their knees! Nash ranted to Thorson. Diles shoved, Holmes skidded across the carpet. The cops were calling it the Four on the Floor Murders. Get my property! John had a van by then, and soon he began organizing camping trips with Jeana, Terry and Terrys boyfriend, Jose. He would have to take them to the house.. Youve got to be joking. In California Valley Girls, for instance, he had one scene. He began spilling to Blake in 1973, after he was arrested on a movie set. Class 1A. Some were quite attractive. By 1973, John and Sharon were sharing the same house, even the same bed, but they were no longer having sex. He drove a forklift at a meatpacking plant in Cudahy until his lung collapsed from working in the freezer. Remember me?. It had a pool and a sunken living room, a white stone faade. . Harold drank a lot. Ventura County is a wussy answer. We have estimated Susan Launius's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets. 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. John was terrified that I was going to confront her. 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. He did not testify at his trial, and his later secret testimony before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury remains sealed. This time, the gang decided not to wait for his return. Diles hit him again. The house at 8763 Wonderland rented for $750 a month. When Holmes was eight, his mother married Harold, a manic-depressive who worked for the telephone company. For like three weeks, one of us had to be awake at all times. Bring me their eyeballs in a bag, and I will forget what you have done to me! Lets face it, Amerson says, John was a product. Ricks cited Nashs need for delicate surgery to remove a sinus tumor. So much blood! Holmes was having a nightmare. Finally, on the afternoon of November 22nd, 1982, Holmes relented and testified. What really cracks me up is people believe he was a dope dealer. The next day, while Holmes was at work, a delegation of residents came to see Jeana. Memorial ID. They came even though, at the time, there was no music industry in Los Angeles. He treated me very special. John was thirty-one, she was fifteen. ', Nash is said to have had political, police and crime connections. 'We have interviewed her but we're not going to say anything about it.'. (But) we have a certain set of rules to follow that the people who go out and perpetrate crimes dont.. Nolan Miller 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. She walked the streets, tried to think. Bring me their eyeballs! Its business.. Nash shut the bedroom door. I was really charmed, says Jeana. Susan Launius was severely beaten in her bed, but she narrowly survived, albeit with amnesia, head injuries, and the loss of a finger. With the preliminary hearing transcript, the Wonderland groupies for lack of a better term can get a glimpse into what really went down on the night of July 1, 1981, in the words of those who were there: Susan Launius, the sole survivor of the attack; David Lind, a slick, smooth-talking hood who was one of the trigger men in the robbery of reputed mobster Eddie Nash that preceded and instigated the murders; and Tracy McCourt, the petulant wheelman in the Nash heist. There is a substantial audience out there hungry for information on the Wonderland murders. By 1978, Holmes was freebasing cocaine all the time. Nash liked having him around. His business empire totally atrophied as a result of the coke. . 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. Then she ran into a woman preaching fire and brimstone on a corner. John Curtis Holmes had the longest, most prolific career in the history of pornography. 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? Two weeks later, it was reported that hed lost only seven pounds. When asked to elaborate, the policeman explained: "A trash can only has two handles". I trusted you! She was in intensive care with a severed finger and brain damage. If you could live in any neighborhood or specific house in LA, where/which would you choose? Then, in the summer of 1985, John tested positive for AIDS. Blood! to tell them who it was, Sharon Holmes said. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. At home, Harold picked on John. He wanted to make a million dollars so we could just leave and be done with it.. In a way, Holmes was everymans gigolo, a polyester smoothy with a sparse mustache, a flying collar and lots of buttons undone. The buckle depicted a mother whale swimming in the ocean, her baby nursing beneath. here. You want me to call the press?. Theyll never steal from anyone again!, Thorson was excused, and Nash closed the door. . . You talk to Nash, whatever, you tell him you got to take a piss. 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. John was doing a lot of drawing. This means absolutely nothing to me. . I called up and said I had some things for the people inside and to let me up. Hed been in jail eleven months in all, 110 days on the contempt charge. 'I was laying down on the bed. I marketed him. 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. Two customers waited. . The time was 2:30 in the afternoon. In the end, Deep Throat was massively consumed by an enthusiastic public. Holmes finally called on the afternoon of the 29th, after the Wonderland Gang kicked him out. Dole said there's no question that Trump lost his reelection race - narrowly but fair and square. The Kit Kat was a strip club. 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. 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. She cut her eyes slowly, caught his profile. Once, Sharon says, he got a human head from UCLA. 1947 was a pivotal year in L.A.'s history. After she left, my husband called on the telephone at the farm and said to come home immediately. She actually saw it. He panicked, walked in circles around the doctors office, threw his briefcase down. 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. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. One woman who had sex with Nash remembers a lot of temptation. I played in the water. When Detectives Bob Souza and Tom Lange entered the home, nestled in the hip L.A. enclave of Laurel Canyon, they found pills and pipes scattered all over the flooralong with four dead bodies whose. Holmes, in those days, was a string bean, six feet tall, 150 pounds, hair still cut in a military buzz. He invested in movies, leased office space to several porn-related operations. A girl entered stage right. Once, he rammed his own hand into a harvesting machine. In time, Holmes became known as the Errol Flynn of porn. The cast of characters would go from two or three to ten or more. Mr. Oh, shit, she thought, but she didnt say anything. When asked by Holmes' attorney what she remembered after that, she replied, 'nothing.'.

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