Offers may be subject to change without notice. Boris Yaro/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. Today, 8763 Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon is home to a neat little split-level with a carport, an iron-framework balcony, and a family with a minivan. The violence that resulted from the Nash robbery left hardly anything in the Wonderland house free from bloodstains. September 17, 2021. The Wonderland murders were the kind of crime that tends to draw considerable interest from the authorities, and as the Los Angeles Times tells us, the police were quick to connect John Holmes to the gruesome murder scene. Looks like a perfectly nice home in the Hollywood Hills, but this apartment building was the scene of a gory 1981 mass murder. It is available exclusively to Audible members. But what really happened that day, and how did things escalate to a point that left four people dead on the floor of a house on 8763 Wonderland Avenue? Notice the blood on the walls. One was "Boogie Nights" starring Mark Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds. Nov 24, 2016 - Explore Maryanne's board "Wonderland Murders", followed by 112 people on Pinterest. Reportedly, he was also heavily involved in the drug trade that flourished in these establishments. November 4, 2020. wonderland murders crime scene photos. While Holmes may not have been guilty of orchestrating the murders or giving the order, he was not entirely innocent from the circumstances that led to the event, either. Pool photo, 0130 exhibit 29 Dont have a membership? Nothing on the outside suggests that on July 1, 1981, four bodies were discovered there, so beaten and bloody that the LAPD compared them to the Tate-Labianca murders. "All four adults were arraigned, and the case was assigned to Department 6, Judge Maxwell, for all further proceedings," Senior Deputy District . Join us as we attempt to tell the story of the WONDERLAND MURDERS in Hollywood, California.#WonderlandMurders #TrueCrime #HollywoodWant a personalized VIDEO . CAUTION, CRIME SCENE PHOTOS! Only Billy and Joy lived in the house (Joy held the lease), while their associates Susan A. Murphy Launius (Rons wife) and Barbara Lee Butterfly Easton Richardson (Linds girlfriend) dealt cocaine and made the occasional heroin deal from the location. 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters was one of the numerous women held in an 18-wheeler equipped with a torture chamber in the back. Bribed with drugs by the Wonderland gang to unlatch the Nash hideout door a mission that took several trips Holmes had made himself a target for Nash, who believed he was a Wonderland accomplice. He admitted to having bribed the lone holdout in his first trial with $50,000, and pleaded guilty to the RICO charges and to money laundering. It housed hundreds of thousands of dollars in drugs, and, on a vengeful leaders orders, became the scene of a quadruple homicide so bloody that it made the news for decades. The moans that the moving company had heard had been from her. Maggie (right) was fatally shot a short distance from the dog kennels. Launius had already spent time in jail for smuggling and only narrowly escaped life imprisonment for murder when the prosecutions star witness was killed in an accident. 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The Wonderland murders, also known as the Four on the Floor Murders or the Laurel Canyon Murders, are four unsolved murders that occurred in Los Angeles, California, United States, on July 1, 1981. Holmes was arrested in December 1981, charged with the four murders in March 1982, but later acquitted after his lawyers successfully argued he was coerced into leading the assailants to the house but had no hand in the crime. Nash and DeWitt went to trial on 21 March 1991, implicated thanks to new evidence from Scott Thorson, better known as Liberaces lover and the author of Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace. Two years later, in 1990, a mistrial was declared. He was but 43 years of age. Bob Souza lead detectives on the Wonderland case out of LAPDs elite investigation unit, the Robbery Homicide Division (RHD), and authors of their personal account of the case, Malice in Wonderland. Prosecutors claimed that Alex changed his clothes after he allegedly opened fire on his wife and son. LEXINGTON The word came without warning, its suddenness jolting the big courtroom. The podcast will take the listener behind the scenes of this infamous case and look at it from angles never seen before. He was charged $250,000 and given a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence. As a high-profile, bloody murder case right at the edge of Tinseltown, it's no surprise that the Wonderland murders have made their mark on pop culture especially because the case involved a celebrity of sorts. Where is Deniz Aydiner Now? And for the first time, a notorious missing witness unlocks it all and puts the pieces together. (Orlando Police Department) The Wonderland Murders. 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Under : Uncategorized. Though shed survive the attack and make a full recovery, the brain damage she sustained left her with permanent amnesia, unable to recall the events of the Wonderland murders. The relationship between the magnate and the porn star was also pretty clearly skewed in the former's favor, thanks to Nash's power and access to drugs and Holmes' relative destitution and drug addiction. However, the injuries she suffered in the incident caused her brain damage. [10], Although neighbors would later report having heard loud screams around 3:00a.m., no phone calls were placed to the police until 4:00p.m. on July1, over twelve hours later, when furniture movers working at the house next door to the crime scene heard Susan moaning and went to investigate. Major Traffic delays, WB 10 . The massacre gained infamy, not only for the gruesome events but for the names associated with the murders. The living room where the first victim, Barbara Richardson was found. As a surviving member of the group, David Lind, put it, "the certain type of dope dealer you didn't rob was Mr. [Nash]. Nash sent Diles to retrieve Holmes for questioning; Diles supposedly spotted Holmes walking around Hollywood wearing one of Nash's rings and brought him back. Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens were convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder in Jason Corbetts death, and each was sentenced to 20 years to 25 years in prison. In 2001, Nash pled guilty to a number of racketeering charges that effectively proved that he was involved in planning the murders, and threatened and bribed witnesses and a juror. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window). the onion field crime scene photos the onion field crime scene photos. Like the works of press photographer and photojournalist Weegee, the monochromatic portraits capture harrowing . Susan A. Murphy married Ron Launius in Carson City, Nevada on 16 April 1971, and the two of them were heavy drug users. There are dead people here and it is not pretty. This story . It belonged to John Holmes, who was arrested and charged with four counts of murder. As the waning adult industry superstar was on good terms with Nash, he became a courier of sorts between the parties. The events that took place inside happened just 40 hours after Nash was robbed, and they were hardly muted. After his left palm print was found at the crime scene on the Launius' headboard, he was arrested and charged with four counts of murder in March 1982. Metropolitan Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told CNN that the two men, both reportedly 22 years old, were in a dispute that ended in fatal . In the course of their investigation, the detectives dealt with snitches, thieves, drug addicts and porn stars as well as a powerful and connected prime suspect who was able to turn the investigation against them. This article is about a homicide. AsLA Weeklytells us, a 2003 crime drama based on the movie,Wonderland, had some considerable star power behind it, with Val Kilmer as John Holmes, Kate Bosworth as Dawn Schiller, and Dylan McDermott as surviving Wonderland Gang member David Lind. Due to reasons that will become obvious in a moment, Holmes' exact role in the Wonderland murders of 1981 is unclear. Holmes was acquitted, though since he refused to give any evidence during his trial, he ended up serving 110 days in jail for contempt of court. Can the Tech Industry Be Trusted to Police Itself? In these scenes, DeWitt encourages Holmes to get involved, urging him to contribute to the gruesome violence that night. As part of a plea deal, he admitted to having bribed the single dissenting juror in the original trial. Father, daughter moved from prison for possible retrial on Davidson County murder charges. The gang's haul consisted of drugs, jewelry, and cash money, and its value ranges from Coen's estimation of $10,000 to the $1millionreported byLA Weekly. The police searched the home and interviewed neighbors, who later admitted that they had heard screams in the early hours of the morning, around 3:00 a.m. Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens were convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder in Jason Corbetts death, and each was sentenced to 20 years to 25 years in prison. Joy Miller was found dead in her bed, while DeVerells body was slumped at the foot, leaning against the TV stand. Detectives Nico and Cruz (representing real-life detectives in the case, Tom Lange and Bob Souza). Murder Crime Scene (staged Fake theatrical blood used) Staged murder crime scene scene with blood splats and streaks . This ticket was found in Kevin Loibl's pocket. According to Salon, they were a loose collective of drug dealers, evidently named after their base of operations on 8763 Wonderland Avenue. Cousins Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi kidnapped, raped, and murdered 10 women in 1977 and 1978. The Wonderland Gang was centered on the occupants of a rented townhouse at 8763 Wonderland Avenue, in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles, California: leader Ronald Lee "Ron" Launius; second-in-command William Raymond "Billy" DeVerell; DeVerell's girlfriend Joy Audrey Gold Miller, who was also the lease holder for the townhouse; Tracy Raymond McCourt; and David Clay Lind. ALL FREE. Business Advisory; Business Valuation; Corporate Finance; Cash Flow Modelling; M&A Advisory; Venture Capital; Private & Public Partnerships; Owner Supervision And Internal Control According toSalon,Nash was the kind of guy who had $1 million in cocaine stashed in his house, which he eventually went to prison for. Though it happened in 1981, the aftermath of the Wonderland Murders spans decades with characters, details, subplots and investigative twists that prove the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction adage, including: Hollywood underworlds most violent drug kingpin; three murder trials with zero convictions; a bribed juror and accusations of a corrupt federal agent; the birth of the crack cocaine epidemic; the investigators being investigated themselves; the Black Guerilla Family; the biggest porn actor of his generation, John Holmes, not to mention wild claims about the drug use of many major celebrities; a Boston mafia Don; and finally, the story of a quick-buck televangelist who was supposed to be in witness protection when he ended up on the floor of a Florida motel shot in the face and left for dead. Susan Launius (1951-) was the girlfriend of Ron Launius and an associate of the Wonderland Gang. murder crime scene with white outline of man - gruesome crime scene photos stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. Defendant Alex Murdaugh is cross examined by prosecutor Creighton Waters while testifying during his murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. An initial theory of the murders centered on Holmes. Eddie Nash was arrested in a 7 a.m. raid on his Laurel Canyon home. This is how the snow-dusted Santa Ynez Mountains looked on Saturday. Browse 9,074 murder crime scene stock photos and images available, or search for murder scene or murder victim to find more great stock photos and pictures. They were gruesome, bleak, and looked like photos that the police would have taken for evidence rather than something that would appear on the front page of a newspaper. Rene Ballard and Harry Bosch work together to hunt the killer who is Boschs white whalea man responsible for the murder of an entire family. There was also one survivor, Susan Launius, whose moans alerted a passerby a few hours after the incident. The weapons used by the killers were believed to be a combination of hammers and metal pipes. [15] Diles died from liver failure in 1997. "He humiliated himself by asking permission to say his prayers.". 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. This was presumably aided by the fact that, according to UPI, they discovered his palm prints near one of the victims, which was a pretty clear insinuation that he had been present on the scene. Launius was Wonderlands king, and he was as cold as ice. "In the middle of a scene, I would disappear for long stretches, but my co-workers knew where to find me: in the bathroom doing freebase," he said. But be forewarned, the crime scene photos are not pretty to look at. We recommend you read the entire story of the Wonderland Murders here which will include was is believed to be John Holmes's involvement in the crime. Wonderlandrefuses to shy away from the horror and the motifs of those involved, casting Holmes as someone so desperate to find his way out of the hole he dug, he resorted to the lowest depths. Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 drama Boogie Nightstells the story of a Holmes-esque character called Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), whose downfall stage involves a creepy encounter with a shady drug dealer calledRahad Jackson (Alfred Molina). Journey back to 1981, when four people were brutally murdered in their home in the Hollywood Hills. A close-up of the Wonderland houses address, taken by the evidence tech who processed the crime scene and filmed the Wonderland murder video. Porn star John Holmes in 1981, shortly after four people were bludgeoned to death in what came to be known as the Wonderland Murders. Stealing from their rivals was both a source of income and an effective way to keep their competitors out of the game until it backfired one terrible, bloody night. If things would have stayed that way, the story might have ended very differently. Arguments begin on whether to overturn convictions of Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens, New trial ordered for Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens in death of Irish businessman Jason Corbett. Notice the blood on the walls. He immediately pointed the finger to Holmes, who had visited Nash three times in the days up to the robbery and allegedly left a sliding door open on the last occasion. YouTubeThe violence that resulted from the Nash robbery left hardly anything in the Wonderland house free from bloodstains. Breaking. Don't come back to us complaining about how you don't like looking at such things. The robbers surprised the nightclub owner with his bodyguard, Gregory DeWitt Diles, who received a minor gunshot wound in the process. Posted on December 5, 2021. Nashs infamy and reputation came with, and attracted, particular importance, especially of the unsavoury kind. April 14, 1988 12 AM PT. The next night, Archie and his buddies went out in search of victim number one. True Crime story about the Four on the Floor Wonderland Murders that have never been solved. The fourth victim, Billy DeVerell as he died on the floor of the 3rd floor bedroom. Launius and DeVerell, disguised as police officers, led fellow gang members David Lind and Tracy McCourt into the rival leader's home, where they handcuffed Nash and his bodyguard . 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