But that may not mean that some of the spirits of the Wonderland house are not done telling the story of what really happened here. The high quality of most of the acting makes this otherwise pointless and indulgent movie at least watchable, and Lisa Kudrow's performance in particular provides a glimpse of the better movie you wish it were. Prior to the robbery, Nash was visited on three separate occasions throughout the day by John Holmes, known at the time as one of the most popular adult film stars. 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). Barbara Richardson was born on 1951. : Schiller eventually calls Holmes to come and get her. in Hollywood, California, Scott Thorson, Last Living Wonderland Murders Witness, Is Finally Free, Family Remembers OnlyFans Model Coconut Kitty as Badass Artist, Rockstar Mom, Alex Murdaugh Admits He Lied to Police, Says Painkillers Made Him Paranoid, LA Man Charged With Hate Crimes Threatened Classmate: I Want You Dead, Jew, The Wonderland Murders & the Secret History of Hollywood, Alex MurdaughCalled 'Family Annihilator' by Prosecution in Murder Trial, Fresh Controversy for Ja Morant as NBA Star Is Accused of Assaulting Teen, Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review: A Candy-Coated Balm for the Soul, NYPD's Violent Tactics During 2020 Protests Will Cost New York City, Tax Payers Millions, People Are Getting Pregnant on TikToks Trendy 'On-Demand' Birth Control, A Year After Brain Injury, Amy Grant Sets First Solo Musical Return in a Decade, Jena Malone Says She Was Sexually Assaulted by 'Hunger Games' Coworker. [citation needed]. The next major character introduced is David Lind. ''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. Source: [https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/wonderland-avenue-house.jpg]. Mr. Lange and another investigator, Nils Grevilius, wrote a book about the case, ''Four on the Floor,'' but it has not been published. The Wonderland Case, Explained O n July 1, 1981, four people were found murdered inside a Los Angeles home in a sensational case combining "dope, porn, sex and drugs and organized crime," as a retired LAPD detective once told The New York Times. Holmes then visits Nash to buy drugs, and on the way out leaves the kitchen door unlocked to give the Wonderland gang easy access. Matt Damon played him opposite Michael Douglas in the 2013 HBO movie Behind the Candelabra, based on Thorsons tell-all book by the same name about his relationship with the famous pianist. He said hed have them all on their knees, teach them a lesson, and that theyd never steal from him again, Thorson said on the stand. 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. After a key witness for the prosecution died in an unrelated police shootout, the murder charges against Launius were dropped. After the members recovered, Holmes was worried that the patio door may have been locked again, so he returned to Nash's a third time, purchased some crack cocaine, ensured the door was unlatched, and notified the gang that the home was ready for invasion. The authorities say that the case grew out of a separate investigation into an Armenian crime syndicate and that it led to renewed accusations that Mr. Nash, with his bodyguard, Gregory DeWitt Diles, and a pornographic film star, John Curtis Holmes, carried out the Wonderland murders. I flew in from I believe I was in Tahoe with Liberace, he says. 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. It was this last line of "business", particularly the armed robbery of Eddie Nash, that ultimately led to the group's sudden and violent end. [11] Nash asked to pray for his children but was instead forced to open his safe. I have to be honest, if I could catch him in a lie, that would have added entertainment value to the podcast. He spent 110 days in jail for contempt of court. Her latest book is Wish, a middle grade novel published by FSG. [1] She graduated magna cum laude from Wheaton College in 1971, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.[2]. 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. Holmes volunteers to draw them a map to plan the robbery, since he has visited Nash's house frequently. Specifically, he was at a drug kingpins house when the man gave the order for one of Los Angeles most infamous mass killings: the Wonderland murders, where four people were beaten to death in a house in Laurel Canyon. 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. Connelly thinks the fact that the killings revolved around the cocaine trade help. While there, he noticed a man resembling Holmes being tied to a chair and being beaten by Diles. In 2001, he reportedly had been wanted by the Colorado Springs Police Department for "assault with a deadly weapon and failure to comply on the original charge of distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance". Discover Barbara Richardson's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. He is buried at Santa Rosa Memorial Park in, Tracy McCourt died of unspecified causes on October 18, 2006, aged 57. Barbara works at Animal Rescue. Release Dates I was just very young, I was very frightened. On June 29, 1981, the Wonderland Gang, comprising Ron Launius, Billy DeVerell, David Lind, Tracy McCourt, and their associate, John Holmes, conspired to launch a home invasion and robbery upon Eddie Nash, a reputedly powerful organized crime figure who usually referred to himself in the third person as "The Nash". According to our Database, He has no children. With its flashbacks, split-screen montages, decade-jumping soundtrack, sped-up action and frequent shifts of light and color, ''Wonderland'' feels like ''Law & Order'' on crack. https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/wonderland-avenue-house.jpg. Aside from their drug dealings, some of the occupants were known for committing robberies and burglaries throughout Los Angeles. Mr. Nash, 71, was arrested at noon on Friday at his condominium in Tarzana, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles. All of this is told through competing versions of the story related to a pair of grim-faced homicide detectives (Ted Levine and Franky G.) by Holmes and by David Lind (Dylan McDermott), a glowering ex-convict who participated in the robbery and escaped Nash's revenge. When asked to elaborate, the policeman explained: "A trash can only has two handles". Movies. Attempting to get back in the gang's good graces, Holmes suggests robbing Nash's home. Liberace and Scott Thorson at La Cage Aux Folles in Hollywood on April 21, 1981 After a key witness for the prosecution died in an unrelated police shootout, the murder charges against Launius were dropped. In 1981, at Launius' behest, Lind traveled to Los Angeles to join the Wonderland gang and assist them in running drugs. In the early hours of July 1st, 1981, for the umpteenth time in his life, Scott Thorson found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Barbara Easton Richardson. John Holmes was arrested and charged with four counts of murder in March 1982, after his handprint was found in one of the bedrooms. The two of them became heavy drug users, later becoming police informants, and they travelled to Los Angeles in 1981 to join Ron Launius' Wonderland Gang. : 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. Confidential,'' but it is really more ''Boogie Nights.'' 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. It determined that he was an unwilling participant who was forced to watch the attack. https://allthatsinteresting.com/wonderland-murders, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-14-me-1912-story.html. [citation needed]. View the profiles of people named Barbara Ann Richardson. Holmes takes the guns to Nash, but Nash says the guns are too rare to be sold, as they would be recognized right away and everyone involved would be apprehended. Movers who were working next door had heard audible moans coming from the Wonderland house and soon discovered a seriously injured Susan Launius laying on the bed next to her deceased husband. The prosecutors say the killings were committed in retaliation for a break-in and drug robbery at Mr. Nash's home two nights earlier, in which he was made to kneel and beg for his life, and Mr. Diles was grazed by a bullet. 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. Lind and his girlfriend, Barbara Richardson, rode down to the Wonderland house on Lind's motorcycle and slept on the living room sofa. New Charges in 19-Year-Old Drug Killings in Hollywood, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/21/us/new-charges-in-19-year-old-drug-killings-in-hollywood.html. Prior to the murders, five people resided in the home: Ron Launius, Billy DeVerell, DeVerrels girlfriend Joy Audrey Gold Miller, Tracy McCourt and David Lind. Diles died in 1997 from liver failure. He is currently single. We were freebasing, and he was right. Gregory Diles died of liver failure on January 16, 1997, aged 48. Barbara Richardson Owner of Hungryscarecrow, creators of clean label, gluten-free bread mixes. Barbara Easton Richardson. Join Facebook to connect with Barbara Ann Richardson and others you may know. View Barbara Richardson results in Pennsylvania (PA) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. The weapons used by the killers were believed to be a combination of hammers and metal pipes. Launius and Susan Murphy, were married in Carson City, Nevada on April 16, 1971. While he was acquitted with the murders, he served 110 days in jail for refusing to cooperate with authorities and was charged with contempt. 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. Still, the film is absorbing without being especially affecting, partly because it assembles an impressive group of actors who seem to revel in the ambient scuzziness, including Carrie Fisher, Janeane Garofalo, Tim Blake Nelson, Faizon Love and Josh Lucas. All five occupants were known for dealing drugs while using themselves. "[4] On Metacritic it has a score of 43% based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Holmes arrives at the apartment, and they have sex and snort cocaine in the bathroom. But when Mr. Nash, appearing on a television news program two weeks ago, was asked if he had ordered the killings, he said: ''No, I did not. (Nash had befriended Holmes because of Holmes' notoriety as the porn film phenomenon Johnny Wadd.) 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. Historica Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. ''Perhaps things are now provable that weren't provable years ago.''. Ron Launius, Billy DeVerell, Barbara Richardson, and Joy Miller had all been beaten to death with metal objects. Prosecutors believed Nash had forced Holmes to help Diles murder the people in the house on Wonderland Avenue as revenge for a robbery. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. While you may not be able to get inside the home itself, dont be surprised if things start to feel a little eerie if you happen to be walking around Wonderland Avenue in Los Angeles. He has some bad press. The gang hurls racial epithets at Nash and Diles and walks away with over one million dollars in cash, jewels, and drugs. She is also the New Mexico chairperson of Read Across America. Also active in efforts to combat domestic violence, she helped to open a shelter for abused spouses in a corner of the state where such services had been nonexistent. While there probably had been tenants coming in and out, its unknown at this point whether they can confirm if the place was indeed haunted. Ms. Kudrow plays Sharon Holmes, John's estranged wife, to whom he turns when things become really desperate. Tracy Raymond McCourt was the driver of the stolen 1975 Ford Granada that carried the Wonderland Gang to Eddie Nash's home on the night of the robbery. Thorson remembers hearing the news of Nashs sentencing in October 2001. The ''Wonderland murders,'' named after the site, 4763 Wonderland Avenue, where the killings took place on July 1, 1981, proved a potent mix of seamy celebrity, drugs and violence. Recalling his experiences with Liberace and Nash, he talks as if hes recounting the plot of a movie youre already familiar with, dropping names and referring to tangential events without context. 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. The wild details Thorson shares strain credulity. 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