There was nothing unusual about loud noises coming from the apartment at 8763 Wonderland Avenue. In fact, it was notorious for loud and wild parties almost everyday of the week. So much so that when neighbors heard the screaming on June 29, 1981 they did their best to ignore it and tried to get some sleep. However, some sounds can’t be ignored. The next day a nearby worker heard horrible moans coming from the apartment and decided to investigate further. What he discovered was a brutal scene of death and blood painted walls. However, as it would later come to light the murders at Wonderland Avenue were only one part of a twisted tale involving drugs, felons, and a strung out and downtrodden porn king.
The Wonderland Gang
The apartment was the nest of a gang of criminals and addicts with long wrap sheets and lives filled with violence. Housing themselves securely behind a caged fence and snarling guard dogs drug dealing became as effortless as tossing a bag over the railing to waiting customers below (TruTV). The Wonderland Gang made their mark on the Los Angeles drug scene by robbing other dealers and quickly selling off the narcotics and other valuables they had seized. By all acounts, the members partied to the extreme and were known users of the drugs they sold. Ron Launius served in Vietnam and one can only speculate if that was his first exposure to death and killing, as he would later be a suspect in up to 27 unsolved murders (Wikipedia). Billy Deverell had a severe addiction to heroin and an arrest record to back it up. David Lind was a biker who met Ron Launius in prison during one of their repeated stints in the big house and became a member of the gang after his release. Joy Audrey Miller was the name on the lease for the apartment and was herself addicted to drugs (Wikipedia).
John Holmes
John Holmes flew onto the adult film scene during the 1970s just as the explicit genre was becoming fashionable. Holmes adopted many screen monikers in his films among them, Johnny Wadd, and quickly became the businesses’ most famous male performer. With his rise to fame came piles of cash and a world of easy sex and drugs. His drug use became an extremely expensive habit to maintain both financially and physically. The drugs took a huge toll on his body and his inability to perform in sex scenes lost him many jobs he had gotten and any more offers to star on film soon dried up. John Holmes now broke and unable to work turned to a life of petty crime and a continued relationship with his teenage girlfriend, Dawn Schiller. At some point, he began to hang around the apartment of the Wonderland Gang and would often stay there during his many drug binges. There are conflicting reports about why the gang allowed the washed up porn star to hang around. Some say that he served the role of a sort of mascot, while others say it was because he had a very special connection in Los Angeles, Eddie Nash.
Eddie Nash
The police could never successfully convict Eddie Nash, even when they were aware of the drugs he was supplying to the city behind his manicured front as a legitimate businessman. Nash owned nightclubs all over Los Angeles including the famed rock spot the Starwood (flipsidefanzine). Nash owned a beautiful mansion in Studio City which like the apartment on Wonderland was a place to party and do large amounts of drugs. John Holmes found himself as a regular at Nash’s place and would often sell things he or the gang had stolen to Nash for a supply to keep his addiction fed (TruTV).
The Robbery
John Holmes had seen the huge quantities of drugs and money that Eddie Nash kept at his mansion and at some point during 1981 he decided to formulate a plan with the Wonderland Gang to rob him. It would later come out that John Holmes involvement in the robbery of Nash was to draw the gang a map of the house and to leave a sliding glass door unlocked (Franksreelreviews). David Lind and two other gang members entered Nash’s home and when they were discovered by his bodyguard Gregory Diles, Lind drew his gun and presented the man with a stolen police badge. The gun fired grazing Diles body and the Nash entered the room begging the men to spare his life (Franksreelreviews).
According to TruTV, “The gunmen forced Nash to his feet and made him open a safe, from which they extracted heroin, cocaine, Quaaludes, jewelry and $185,000 in cash. The U.S. Department of Justice estimated the take at $1 million.” This had become the Wonderland gang’s big score. However, the good times wouldn’t last for very long because Eddie Nash wasn’t the type of man you wanted to mess with and he wanted revenge.
The Murders
It would once again be the link between the Wonderland Gang and Eddie Nash who allowed their paths to cross again. After the robbery of Nash, John Holmes was seen wearing a stolen ring by one of Nash’s associates. According to Holmes estranged wife, Holmes would later say that they had forced him into a car to go see Eddie Nash where the lives of his family back in Ohio were threatened if he didn’t reveal the identities of the armed assailents. What exactly happened next may never be known, it appears that Holmes led Nash’s men to the apartment and was forced to watch or even participate some in the slayings. However, in his autobiography Holmes disputes this saying that he was kept at Nash’s residence during the murders (TruTV). Evidence would say otherwise, in order to enter the apartment one had to be buzzed in pointing to John Holmes as the killer’s access into the home and secondly there was a bloody palm print stained on the wall that would be identified as Holmes’.
Once they had gained access to the apartment the rampage began. Among those to be killed was Barbara Richardson, the girlfriend of David Lind, who had nothing to do with the gang and just happened to be sleeping over. Ronald Launius, Billy Deverell, and Joy Miller were also beaten to death with a steel pipe. The only survivor was Launius’ wife Susan who was horribly mutilated and who’s moans would be heard by the worker that discovered the awful scene (Franksreelreviews).
According to Sharon Holmes, John came over to her house covered in blood that she could tell was not his own and stated that they made him stand there and watch the murders take place (TruTV). John Holmes and his young girlfriend, Dawn Schiller would later flee to Miami before John was charged with murder in late 1981. David Lind was not present at the house the night of the murders claiming to be spending the night with a prostitute (TruTV).
The Aftermath
John Holmes was put on trial for the murders of that night and ultimately acquited when there was insuffiecient evidence that he had killed anybody. A judge ordered him to testify before a grand jury after his trial and when he refused Holmes was sent to prison for 110 days for contempt of court (TruTV). Eddie Nash continued to be targeted by the police who after raiding his house for a third time found two pounds of cocaine. Eddie Nash had finally been nabbed after so many years of avoiding any kind of jail time. John Holmes would later testify and before his death from HIV in 1988.
Eddie Nash and his bodyguard Gregory Diles were put on trial for the murders after Holmes had already passed away. David Lind was put on the stand to testify and spoke openly about his former gang’s robbery of the Nash mansion. Scott Thorson, the former lover of Liberace became a witness for the proscecution because he claimed to have been at the mansion the night of the murders and saw Nash order Holmes to take his men to the Wonderland apartment (TruTV). In order to get the acquittal Nash had to bribe one of the jury members and got the 11-1 ruling. It would not be until 2001 when he was faced with other charges and all of the other major players in the case had passed away that Eddie Nash finally admitted in court to ordering his men to go to the apartment of the Wonderland gang. Because of his previous acquittal he could only be charged with conspiracy to commit murder and spent only 37 months in prison (TruTV). Eddie Nash still lives in Los Angeles.
It has been almost 30 years since the Wonderland Murders took place and since that time it has spawned numerous articles, television segments, and even a feature film. I think the intrique surrounding this crime has to do with who was involved a porn legend, life long criminals, and a night club owner with ties to organized crime. Add that to the sheer violence that was discovered at the crime scene and you have a story that begs to be told. This seedy entanglement all stemmed from a man named John Holmes and a small place on Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon.
Sources:
Scheeres, Julia. John Holmes and the Wonderland Murders. trutv.com
Wikipedia. The Wonderland Murders. en.wikipedia.org
The Not So Wonderland Murders. franksreelreviews.com
Wikipedia. The Wonderland Gang. en.wikipedia.org
Eddie Nash and the Wonderland Murders. flipsidefanzine.com
