View the profiles of people named Brbara Richardson. Mr. Lucas, playing the crown prince of the Laurel Canyon drug scene, is all nerves and teeth, showing some of the same sharp-faced ferocity he brought to ''A Beautiful Mind,'' in which he played John Nash's graduate-school rival. The killings occurred in an era of notorious Los Angeles criminals, including the Skid Row Slasher, the Hillside Strangler and the Night Stalker. When he learns that Holmes knows notorious gangster Eddie Nash, he gives Holmes a pair of stolen antique guns to take to Nash, so that Nash can fence them and the Wonderland Gang can split the loot. Eddie Nash died of unspecified causes on August 9, 2014, aged 85. Joy Miller was found dead in her bed, while DeVerell's body was slumped at the foot, leaning against the TV stand. And so there is this sense that no one was innocent in this crime., At the same time, Thorson, who is familiar with the struggle of addiction, points out that even a houseful of drug dealers deserves justice. While prosecutors were attempting to paint Holmes as one of the willing participants of the murders, Holmes attorneys were able to prove that Holmes was not involved with the murders, but rather a victim who was forced to allow the assailants entry into the home to carry out the attack. [Police] would have to investigate it, but I think theres a couple people still alive.. [citation needed] Launius' brazen and fearless nature led both to his dominance in the drug trade as well as his demise, stemming from the events leading up to his death in the Wonderland Murders. Raised in Grayslake, Richardson attended Warren Township High School and, after getting married in the mid-1940s and having three children, she began her professional career working. He spent considerable time in the Colorado prison system, but when he was free he operated a successful mobile phone franchise. Holmes then visits Nash to buy drugs, and on the way out leaves the kitchen door unlocked to give the Wonderland gang easy access. She seems like a real person, and you wonder how she was dragged into a situation -- and a movie -- like this. This film is rated R. WITH: Val Kilmer (John Holmes), Lisa Kudrow (Sharon Holmes), Kate Bosworth (Dawn Schiller), Dylan McDermott (David Lind), Josh Lucas (Ron Launius), Tim Blake Nelson (Billy Deverell), Eric Bogosian (Eddie Nash), Ted Levine (Sam Nico), Franky G. (Louis Cruz), Christina Applegate (Susan Launius), Natasha Gregson-Wagner (Barbara Richardson), Janeane Garofalo (Joy Miller), Carrie Fisher (Sally Hansen) and Faizon Love (Greg Diles). [7], A California police officer described the blond, bearded Launius as "one of the coldest people I ever met". Barbara Richardson (ne Flavin; born March 25, 1949) is the former First Lady of New Mexico and the wife of Bill Richardson, the 9th United States Secretary of Energy . Mr. Cox is not really interested in the truth behind the murders or in generating sympathy for anyone touched by them. Susan Launius is beaten but survives, and is questioned by Nico and Cruz in her hospital bed. The home was located on Wonderland Avenue, in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon neighborhood. As of January 2017, Susan Launius is both the sole survivor of the Wonderland murders and the only living member of the Wonderland Gang. It was said that while the home was known for hosting drug-fueled parties, neighbors assumed the loud noises and screams were just another party. [citation needed], Although the Wonderland Gang was mainly known for its drug sales, which concentrated on cocaine and the occasional heroin deal, the gang also gained revenues through burglaries and armed robberies of rival drug dealers. Launius' brazen and fearless nature led both to his dominance of his chosen profession as well as his demise, stemming from the events leading up to his death in the Wonderland Murders. Lind is not present during the attacks. Drug gang in Los Angeles (1970's & 1980's), Not to be confused with the Wonderland Club, an online child pornography ring busted by, Cass Paley, quotation in the director's cut of. Kilmer plays the role of John Holmes, a famous pornographic film star and suspected accomplice in four grisly murders committed in a house at 8763 Wonderland Avenue, in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles. Barbara Richardson was born on 1951. The police investigation that followed uncovered two versions of the events leading up to the brutal murders - both involving legendary porn actor John Holmes. I really did not kill anyone or have anything to do'' with Wonderland. [3][4], Ronald Lee Launius [5] was a United States Air Force veteran of the Vietnam era, who had been dishonorably discharged and convicted of smuggling heroin from Vietnam back to the United States in the coffins of American service members. But a lot of that happened back then., Over Zoom, Thorson has a plasticky sheen and eyebrows that look painted on the appearance of someone whos been under the knife. [5] Another officer commented, upon hearing of Launius' death, "I suppose they won't need many pall bearers". I flew in from I believe I was in Tahoe with Liberace, he says. The weapons used by the killers were believed to be a combination of hammers and metal pipes. Another officer, Billy Ward, intervenes in the investigation. On the afternoon of July 1, 1981, Los Angeles police responded to a distress call on Wonderland Avenue and discovered a grisly quadruple homicide. The murder victims belong to a group of addicts and small-time dealers whose endless, hectic parties gain a certain sleazy cachet from Holmes's presence. Barbara Flavin was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, March 25, 1949, the daughter of Evelyn Mary (ne Kaplan) and John Francis Flavin. Release Dates We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. Facebook gives. I was scared, he says. It determined that he was an unwilling participant who was forced to watch the attack. He is currently single. Her latest book is Wish, a middle grade novel published by FSG. [1] Nash and Diles faced a mistrial in 1990, and were acquitted in 1991. Official Sites 2023 JustWatch - All external content remains the property of the rightful owner. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 101 reviews. [5], Barbara Lee Easton (married Walter Richardson in 1977 after graduating from Sacramento Cordova high school in 1976) Richardson, who was 22 at the time of her death, was associated with David Lind. Eddie Nash had died in 2014. John Holmes and the Wonderland Murders also did a segment that was released in 2000 around the time of Nash's trial. Afterwards they took John Holmes out by the scruff of the neck, and they made him take [Diles] up to the Wonderland address where they then did the beatings and the killings. A decade earlier, he was tried and later convicted on unrelated charges and had spent time in prison. While he was acquitted with the murders, he served 110 days in jail for refusing to cooperate with authorities and was charged with contempt. It is currently the last production to adapt the original stories (as Tim Burton's 2010 film was written as a sequel) and was first broadcast on NBC and then shown on British television on Channel 4. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a popular holiday destination known for Old Hollywood's rich and famous intrigues. The film stars Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Carrie Fisher, Lisa Kudrow, Josh Lucas, Christina Applegate, Tim Blake Nelson, and Janeane Garofalo. The wide-ranging racketeering indictment unsealed on Friday accuses Eddie Nash, a former owner of Hollywood nightclubs like the Starwood and the Kit Kat Club whose real name is Adel Gharib Nasrallah, of running a cocaine and heroin distribution syndicate since the 1970's, as well as laundering money, tampering with a juror, and witnesses and tax fraud. While there had been no arrests even to this day, the place still might be haunted with a spirit or two that may tell the story of what actually happened. Numerous television shows have covered the Wonderland murders, such as: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I went back to the tape and he didnt say crack. Connelly says. Jurors in Mr. Nash's first trial, in 1990, deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction; and the federal authorities now say the hold-out juror, a woman who at the time was 18 years old, was paid a bribe on May 15, 1990, by an associate of Mr. Nash. Following the robbery, Holmes ended up back at Nash's home. [If he were,] he would not have played me in the movie. Holmes was acquitted in June 1982, after a three-week trial. So Im here to defend Matt Damon., If you ask Thorson now nine years sober all of his troubles can be traced to his time with Liberace, or Lee, as he sometimes calls him. This discovery would lead to Holmess arrest in March of 1982. [5] Neither Lind nor McCourt was present for the attack, as Lind was consuming drugs with a prostitute in the San Fernando Valley, and McCourt was at his own home. Early in the morning of the robbery, Holmes visited Nash's mansion ostensibly to party and to buy drugs, but on his way out, left the patio door to the kitchen unlatched. (Holmes, who had starred in hundreds of films by that time, is the subject of a 1989 Rolling Stone feature by Mike Sager about his involvement in these events, The Devil and John Holmes.) Nash asked me to step out of his bedroom, Thorson says. Schiller eventually calls Holmes to come and get her. However, it wasnt until 1990 when Eddie Nash and his bodyguard were both arrested and were accused of their roles in the murder. Crime author Michael Connelly, creator of the Audible podcast The Wonderland Murders & the Secret History of Hollywood, also struggled to trust what he was hearing from Thorson but found his stories checked out. Barbara Richardson crime scene photo via Morgue Murder Files. Launius wife, Susan, had also been badly bludgeoned but survived with severe head injuries. The gang hurls racial epithets at Nash and Diles and walks away with over one million dollars in cash, jewels, and drugs. Launius was known for remaining composed under pressure. While it is unclear of any paranormal activity happening at the site of one of the most gruesome homicides in Los Angeles history, some have told stories of the possibility of John Holmess ghost still hanging around the house. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Lind's position in the drug underworld was and remains murky due to allegations by rival drug dealers that he worked as a police informant. He spent considerable time in the Colorado prison system, but when he was free he operated a successful mobile phone franchise. The Wonderland Gang was a group of drug dealers involved in the Los Angeles cocaine trade during the late 1970s and early 1980s; their home base was located on Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles, California. Lind and his girlfriend, Barbara Richardson, rode down to the Wonderland house on Lind's motorcycle and slept on the living room sofa. These people, known as the Wonderland Gang, included Ron Launius and his wife Susan, Billy Deverell, Lind's 22-year-old girlfriend Barbara Richardson, and Joy Miller. Connelly thinks the fact that the killings revolved around the cocaine trade help. Gregory Diles died of liver failure on January 16, 1997, aged 48. Instead he treats the episode as a chance to show off his mastery of fast-cutting, atmospheric style, which is impressive, but also a little annoying. All I can say is what I've said for the last 20 years. Holmes arrives at the apartment, and they have sex and snort cocaine in the bathroom. , money, salary, income, and assets. After a key witness for the prosecution died in an unrelated police shootout, the murder charges against Launius were dropped. What seems indisputable is that he was mixed up in some very bad business. 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