"I can’t help my feelings, I’ll go out of my mind
These players come to get me ’cause they’d like my behind.
I can’t love my business if I can’t get a trick Down on Santa Monica where tricks are for kids Oh, come on and kick me!" Hash Pipe ~ Weezer


The Wonderland (Four on the Floor) Murders in a nutshell:

ON THE EVENING OF JULY 1ST, 1981, a drug-crazed group of thieves called the "Wonderland Gang", Ronald "Ron" Lee Launius, Barbara Richardson, William "Billy" Ray DeVerell and his wife Joy Audrey Miller were bludgeoned to death on the floor of 8763 Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon. Their skulls were bashed in by one-inch steel pipes, squirting brain matter all over the walls, allegedly by refuted Nightclub owner Eddie Nash (AKA Adel Gharib Nasrallah). Nash ordered the hit after the Wonderland Gang robbed and humiliated him only days before, scoring over 1.5 million in drugs, jewelry, cash and antique guns.
The real story began when washed-up porn star John Holmes began running and abusing drugs between the Wonderland and Eddie Nash gangs to support his $1500.00 a day coke habit. In June 1981, the Wonderland Gang attempted to trade some antique guns for as much "china white" as they could with Nash. Using Holmes as a go-between, they sent him to make the trade. Twelve hours later Homes returns with nothing but stoned as a bejesus belt. The Wonderlands now hell bent on hitting Nash’s crib, use Holmes to leave Nash’s door open when he departs from his routine base binge.
With Nash’s revenge embroiled to exponential degrees, and under supposed duress, Holmes reportedly assisted Nash's crew, Greg Diles (and two "unidentified suspects") to enter the Wonderland house where four of the residents were slaughtered. A fifth victim, Susan Launius, who barely survived, remembers "only shadows". At best, Holmes watched the murders. At worst, he helped swing the pipe citing his bloody handprint above (what was left of) the head of Ron Launius.
The movie beautifully illustrates the conflicting testimonies of Wonderland gang member, David Lind (fortunate to be absent when the murders occurred) and John Holmes. We are given the opportunity to choose which lying, drug-induced scumbag to believe. These statement discrepancies frustrate the LAPD’s hazy investigation already hampered by Nash’s high profile, government contacts.
This would be the crux of the movie, as Holmes manipulates the LAPD to get pampering, protection and cover his ass while still not actually fingering Eddie Nash. As the movie ends, we’re informed one of the bloodiest mass murders in history is solved but unresolved with John Holmes and his teen slave, Dawn Schiller escaping to Florida. Holmes is later arrested.
Shortly after the murders, police arrested Nash when a raid found $1 million worth of cocaine in his house. Nash and Diles were convicted of unrelated drug charges in November 1982 and spent two years in prison. Holmes finally testified before a grand jury about Nash and the Wonderland murders. Although Nash was brought to trial, those hearings were never made public. The Nash jury ended in an 11-1 deadlock and Nash was free. Rumor had it Nash bribed one of the jurors.
In 1982, John Holmes too, was put on trial for the murders. His lawyers convinced the jury that Holmes was just another victim and was acquitted with David Lind. Holmes later found he was HIV-positive but continued to perform in porn. In 1988, he died from AIDS-related illnesses.
On May 19, 2000, a federal indictment named Nash, Holmes, Greg Diles and three others as suspects in racketeering, bribery, drug trafficking, money laundering and the Wonderland Murders. Nash, 71 at the time of the indictment, was in poor health and suffering from emphysema. Not surprising, after his freebasing days, Nash contracted tuberculosis. The remaining three people named in the indictment were convicted of wire fraud and tax evasion. Nash pled guilty to conspiracy to commit the Wonderland murders. He was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and now lives in the Los Angeles area…A free man.
Yes. A Free man.

So what? Who cares about John Holmes or a bunch of dead drug dealers?

It’s amazing how folks don’t give a flying rat’s ass about you until you bite the big one. Same as with John Holmes’ post mortem testimonials. For the most part, BEFORE the freebasing, John Holmes was a decent fun loving guy like the rest of us…with a thirteen-inch dick, which is why the Wonderland Gang kept him around. Holmes was the ornament within a pit of snakes, trading his soul and dignity for cocaine. Watching these people and their stupidity of double-double cross gives us a chilling glimpse into a distorted world of chemically-based, concentrated criminality.
In the fall of 1988, I heard John Holmes died of AIDS on the way from University of Missouri to visit my fiancé’s parents in Kansas City. I turned up the radio to hear he died of complications of AIDS at 43. I don’t’ know why it affected me but it did. He was an emblem of my adolescence that self-destructed before my eyes for no good reason. A lesson to be learned indeed.
Director/writer James Cox and writers Captain Mauzner, Todd Samovitz, D. Loriston Scott and Val Kilmer, as Holmes, did a phenomenal job at authenticating Homles’ sleaze and desperation for cocaine. This helps quite a bit for most anyone who has never heard of him. Depicting the events, situations and characters close to the facts, they allow us to understand what a truly fucked up murder investigation it became. Their use of 70’s-80’s motifs and auras puts you smack in the grit of drug-infested Los Angeles, leaving you almost craving for a hit, yourself.

"It had been a glorious evening.
Now to give it the perfect ending
Was a bit of the old ULTRA-VIOLENCE"
Little Alex ~ A Clockwork Orange

DVD 1 – Actual Crime Scene Footage
One of the FIRST crime scene videos used in court gives us an extra-special and engaging treat . Low quality footage of a, supposedly, open and shut case provide sobering images of Barbara Richardson, William "Billy" Ray DeVerell, Ronald "Ron" Lee Launius, and Joy Audrey Miller massacred bodies still warm, blood still flowing. It was as though we were looking though a mirror into that steaming summer day of July 2, 1981. You actually watch REAL investigation footage the way the police found it…only moments before the tape started rolling.
The crime scene video was astoundingly haunting as the victims' TV blared and their water ran in the bathroom, shattering the morbid silence. It was fascinating to view the crime scene, less than 24 hours old, examining, floor to floor, step by step, the residents butchered like cows in a factory. I came close to being bludgeoned my self in 1986 with a hammer. He obviously didn’t do it, but in that short instance of imagination…I pictured the death to be quick and painless since the brain does not report to anything else.
I looked over at Classy. She was enthralled. She knew nothing of John Holmes before now. Neither did investigator Detective Tom Blake LAPD before the Wonderland murders.

DVD 2 - Johnny Wadd and the Early American Porn Industry
The second DVD features Holmes and the American porn industry in general, giving vanilla folks a glimpse at early porn in it’s infancy. Classic porn people appear like Al Goldstien, Juliet (Aunt Peg) Anderson, Bunny Blu, Annette Haven, Gloria Leonard, Ronald, Pacheco, Anne Perry, Sharon Mitchell, Larry Flynt, John Leslie, Ron Jeremy (the Hedgehog), Bill Margold (the Bear) and Kitten Nativad. They all touched on (haha) First Amendment rights, free speech, damnation and praises/curses of John C. Holmes (The King) as a pioneer of porn. He was, indeed, the male standard none of us could reach.
A shadowed out Sharon Holmes (who admits she never saw any of his films) gives us a reality trip into Holme’s youth and painful father experiences of drunken abuse. We also witness Holmes’ unhappy childhood from abuse of his stepfather to his Army days. After which, he went to California, married Sharon and worked as an ambulance driver.
She discussed how she caught him in the bathroom one day measuring his wanker, deciding to go into porn with or without her approval. She went on to explain how she could never be his wife if he made that decision. At first, many thought it was a passing trend and he wouldn’t stay in porn. He was a fish out of water. Luckily for porn, he stayed. After informing Sharon, the marriage became a platonic "arrangement", sharing in name only.
1976 saw the debut of Dawn Schiller, who was 15 at the time and was caught up in Holmes at around 17. Her first time was in a van with Holmes. This was about the time cocaine entered the scene and things went down hill. After the cocaine prevented his pecker from working, he was exiled from the porn industry.
A shadowed Dawn Schiller also tells how Holmes pimped her out to Eddie Nash then backhanded her for doing what he wanted…perhaps for not getting enough coke in the deal. It was here when Holmes darker side of his personality degraded into sleaze, pimping, drug running and robberies, signaling the beginning of his end.
Both Sharon Holmes and Dawn Schiller give chilling accounts of the murders Holmes engineered, and the carnage around them.
Snippets of vintage Swedish Erotica interviews exemplify Holmes’ tall tales to downright lies of not having siblings, family or relatives whatsoever. His manager Bill Amerson and Producer, Bob Chin, discussed how they first glanced at his dork, made him a star and Johnny Wadd took off. Back in the day when porno had plots and a "story", the Wadd series were quite successful.
Bill Vosse his producer credits him as a gentleman. Juliet Anderson said he was a rude asshole. Bill Margold called him a wonderful human being. Candida Royale called him moody and difficult to work with. It would depend on whom you asked or if HoImes was going up or down on any particular day, I suppose.
Vosse also discussed how he double-crossed his own porn people by ratting them out to Detective Bill Ward (Hollywood-Vice).Ward became one of the most successful vice units thanks to Holmes informing on his own co-stars from competitive productions. Bill Ward was the only person Holmes would talk to about the murders and attempted to get Holmes as much help and protection as possible...IF Holmes was forthcoming.
Detective Tom Blake LAPD (RET) who investigated the murders, is featured on the DVD, says Holmes was present and "definitely swung the pipe." Los Angeles DA Ron Cohen, states Nash had many connections throughout City Hall and how Holmes INTENTIONALLY allowed Nash’s thugs to massacre The Wonderland Gang.
Schiller recounts MANY times sitting there at the Wonderland address, then watching the bodies carried out on the TV news. She also describes how Holmes cleaned up briefly and how sweet he was after their "escape" from Los Angeles to Florida where she turned him in after one too many beatings. After he is whisked away to prison, he calls to apologize, but shed heard it all before and finished with him.
Holmes' attorney, Mitchell Egress, of course still defends Holmes and how he would never take the stand. DA Cohen wanted to cross-examine Holmes so bad he could taste it.
The DVD also shows him being acquitted, walking out of court vowing to go back into porno in1983. He does, meets Misty Dawn (the Butt Queen), falls in love and marries her. Sharon Holmes calls her a replacement from the original "Dawn". Holmes also tried to run over Misty with the car to collect the insurance money during his slow decline and pathetic return to porn. He didn’t even remember getting married. Perhaps it was the 10-fifty milligrams of Valium a day to bring him down from the cocaine.
Holmes goes on to Italy and made a porno with Cicciolina after being diagnosed with HIV. She and most agree he wasn’t aware of his sickness or he would not have done it. I’d like to think that myself. We also see when Holmes contracted HIV, had to give up sex and his nose-dive into slow suicide of increased smoking and drugs, watching his mind and body fall apart.

A Day with Bill Margold AKA "The Bear" – 1994
I did an interview with Bill Margold for my radio show on KCLA 11 years ago. I approached his home in WeHo and he greeted me at the gate, handing me his card,

"God Created Man. Bill Margold created himself."

Indeed, to all I asked, Bill Margold was the quintessential pioneer of porn and master of its archive. I thought I would shake him down about the whereabouts of my teen-lust, a one porn actress named Desiree’ Cousteau. Instead, he handed me newcummer, Danyl Cheeks.
"My life is over." He said, doggedly. "Danyl is the next superstar."
The three of us sat in the living room kicking back with coffee and friendly chat. As we talked, we agreed on a vast array of Constitutional freedoms and political issues. We also shared the similar philosophy of "Throw the little ones back."
"Protect the kids." Margold said again and again. I couldn’t agree more.
We all got acquainted and spent the rest of the day together. I found myself very comfortable here and decided to breathe in the remnants of a Porn Empire, long since vanquished.
We all went out and ran several errands in his decrepit, "far-out", 60’s van. If this van could talk it would scream. The seats were tattered. The passenger’s seat was missing, in it’s place, a crate of sorts. Mildewed, discolored upholstery sagged from the sides and above.
"The King sat where you’re sitting now." Margold said, refering to Holmes as we entered.
"I’ll try not to fart." I said holding on for dear life as he shot out of his driveway
I never knew how close Margold was to Holmes as he spoke quite highly of him. He described a gentle man who simply lost his way.

4/25/2k5 Bill Margold Phone Interview
I called the 11 year-old number I had in my BladeRunner Organizer and lo ‘n behold it didn’t work worth a damn. So I splurged a whole 2 minutes and typed his name into Google, clicked his site and sent him email, reminding him of our glorious day in 1994 with Danyl Cheeks. He called me immediately and we chatted for a while. He didn’t remember me, but it didn’t matter. We had a lot to talk about.
"The problem with Eddie Nash is the son-of-a-bitch won’t die!" he told me in his raspy Jewish voice. "Ok, what concerns me are the ‘unidentified others’ who participated in the murders. There were two others besides Diles and Holmes. Know who they were?"
"A guy named ‘Danny’ and…hey you’re right." I admitted, overlooking the obvious. "How did I overlook those two loose ends?"
"Easy. They were never identified. They were brought in by the mob." Margold said.

5/1/2k5 - Bill Margold Interview - Virgin Mega Store,
Sunset Strip
Did Holmes swing the pipe?
Margold: No
Everyone Else: Probably. Yes

Did Holmes have the INTENT when he left the gate open to Wonderland?
Margold: No
Everyone Else: That’s the kicker. Who can be sure?
Eddie Nash and Greg Diles would. But they weren’t returning my calls.

Was Holmes present when the murders occurred?
Margold: Oh yeah.
Everyone Else: Yup!

Much, much more on The Bear later.

Director James Cox used authentic footage including the actual newscaster on the actual scene who was delighted to reprise his role of bringer of horrendously bad news. From the basepipes and lensflares to the brain-splattered albums, they reproduced the characters, scenes and details in every respect. Excellent story telling, wonderful Los Angeles images and newspaper shots from the times make this quite an enjoyable and intellectually challenging DVD to own.
On commentary, Cox and Mauzner point out how this is Dawn’s and Sharon’s story and that they are the survivors. As we know survivors write the history. The dead can’t use pens or pencils.
A middle-aged couple quietly inhabit 8763 Wonderland Ave. in Laurel Canyon who don’t even want to THINK about the grizzly murders, much less answer futile questions. Who can blame them? What would change? I decided to leave them be for now and bring psychic friends over much later.
I also found that Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders lived in both the Sharon Tate house and the Wonderland house. I sent his agent email and am still awaiting reply. Mr. Lindsey is currently on his comeback tour. I'll keep this portion updated as it occurs.

4/28/2k5 - Delores Mills Interview
As this story was wrapping up, I had business in West Los Angeles and had some time to kill on my way through Hollywood, so I stopped in at a dive on Cahuenga and Selma called the Spot Light Lounge. I used to work across the street and in the early mornings we could watch Keifer Sutherland suck cigarettes outside, soothing his hangovers. The Spotlight is one of the only bars open at 6am and is a fav for many an alcoholic needing tocalm their DTs. This said, I had friends there and perpetually tried to sell this shithole a website.
I walked in to grab a soft drink and sat down next to an elderly lady with really big hair named Delores Mills, who only moments before played "Flowers on the Wall" on the jukebox. She was waiting for a man who never showed up and appeared quite sad. I tried to cheer her up by asking her questions about the KnickerBocker Hotel. Somehow, I ended up back in Wonderland…
"I used to date Eddie Nash!" She exclaimed, sipping her booze.
"You’re kidding." I said.
"Nope. I was a showgirl and I knew Eddie Nash back in the 50’s when he owned the Seven Seas Restaurant." Delores said proudly, taking her back to those precious moments. "Eddie was part of the Mob, you know? That was Mob money they stole, you know, CJ?"
I changed the subject.
"So what was he like?" I asked her through the smoke filled darkness.
"He was soo suave, debonair, and handsome. Not like those pictures later or Eric Bogosian in the movie. I cannot believe he was involved in drugs or gangs, much less multiple killings. I simply don’t believe it." She whispered in her drunken stupor.
"Yeah, well. Shit happens." I mused. "That’s what they said about John Holmes before he was lost in Wonderland."