| For the most part, the 1970's were John Holmes decade.
Blessed with a virtually elephantine penis, this asset made him the most
in-demand male star on the emerging porn film circuit. He took on the
'stage' name of 'Johnny Wadd'. From all accounts, Holmes, when he first
started out, had only one vice - smoking cigarettes. But as the decade
wore on, he developed a debilitating cocaine habit. Fortunately for him,
he was a walking freak show and could party relatively freely by merely
showing off his sizeable member at certain 'parties'. One of the main
benefactors Holmes had was Eddie Nash (t/n Adel Nasrallah), a seedy, Lebanese-born
underworld character who laundered money through a series of Hollywood
bars and nightclubs he owned. Nash, a notorious addict as well, liked
having Holmes around, proudly introducing him to his virtually captive
audiences as "my good friend, John Holmes". He was usually happy
to have John share his stash (and run up a line of credit) in return for
having him sometimes run drugs, collect money and occasionally pull down
his pants at his gatherings. But this wasn't enough to feed Holmes habit,
which by now was taking on proportions as epic as his celebrated dick.
GOD'S GOLDEN BACKYARD
Wonderland Avenue is located in Laurel Canyon, a pass between Hollywood
and Studio City in the San Fernando Valley. Starting in the mid-60's,
it became a popular area to live in, especially by the new, young and
free-spirited counterculture populace, due to its then-inexpensive rents
and picturesque, rustic vibe. The hippie, back-to-nature rhythm was born
here. By the end of the decade, almost every L.A. band and record label
had members or employees living throughout the canyon, some in communal
enclaves, and some in more anonymity if so desired. Pamela Des Barres,
celebrated 'Super Groupie' and author of "I'm With The Band"
described it then as "God's Golden Backyard". Buffalo Springfield,
The Byrds, Love, The Mamas & Papas, The Doors and Frank Zappa (who
lived in the late Western actor hero Tom Mix's log cabin on the corner
of Laurel and Kirkwood, which leads to Wonderland Avenue) all called Laurel
Canyon home. But by the mid-70's, it was beginning to be populated not
only by musicians and creative types, but dealers of hard drugs, specifically
heroin and cocaine. By the end of the decade, freebase cocaine reared
its ugly head and became the drug of choice for many. According to David
Crosby (whose expertise in such pharmacology cannot be disputed) freebase
is/was the easiest drug to get hooked on as well as hardest to kick. John
C. Holmes was one of those caught up in its le dernier cri (mania/craze)
and vice-like grip.
The 'Four On The Floor" murders - July 1, 1981
Gregory Diles, over 300 pounds of drug-addicted, gun packing madness was
Eddie Nash's bodyguard. Eddie probably couldn't have made a better choice.
As long as there was enough cash, pussy and 'base around, Diles was happy
to do his job conscientiously. And in Eddie Nash's biosphere, there was
an abundance of all three.
Then there were "The Wonderland Gang", which included Ron Launius
and his wife Susan, David Lind and his girlfriend, Barbara Richardson,
Joy Miller and her boyfriend Billy DeVerell. All were involved in drug
dealing, theft and fencing stolen goods. Nice people. Naturally, Holmes
got involved in them as well, especially when his line of credit with
good ole Eddie Nash got to a point where he wasn't always so welcome.
He also now owed them some serious bread.
DeVerell and Lind confronted John to pay them back, which of course, he
couldn't. But before things got uglier than they already were, these three
geniuses cooked up a scheme. John would go to Eddie Nash's house (his
good friend, remember?), and during his visit, he would leave a sliding
door un-locked, enabling the "gang" to get in and rob the place
blind; they would split the booty with Holmes later. Incredibly, it actually
worked. In late June, 1981, the Wonderland gang arrived at Nash's house,
tortured and tormented Nash and Diles (no small feat in itself), and stole
about $100,000 in cash, $150,000 in jewelry as well as, of course, a large
cache of drugs. And we're not talkin' about weed, here.
Nash got a little cranky about all these shenanigans, and it didn't take
him too long to figure out that John was involved. After getting a hold
of Holmes' address book and threatening to kill (at least) all his family
members unless he told what he knew, John did. It probably saved his life,
which, as it turns out, wasn't worth much anyway.
On July 1, 1981, LA police detectives arrived at 8763 Wonderland Avenue.
What they found was the most gruesome murder scene since the Manson murders
12 years earlier. The bodies of four people, Ron Launius, William DeVerell,
Barbara Richardson and Joy Miller, were found bludgeoned to death. A fifth
victim, Susan Launius, was found barely alive.
It's a relatively simple deduction that Nash probably sent his head pitbull,
Diles, along with a few knife-wielding associates to go to Wonderland,
not necessarily just to retrieve whatever stolen money and goods that
might have remained, but to attain serious…retribution. They indeed
did. Holmes was apparently taken along for the ride with the purpose of
easy entry, but mainly to show him what could have happened to him.
DEAD MAN WALKING
A bloodied and petrified John arrived at both the homes of estranged wife
Sharon and his manager Bill Amerson the night of the murders. Holmes then
admitted that he was forced to watch - but didn't participate - in the
slaughter.
David Lind was fortunate enough to be 'no en caså' when the murders
took place. When questioned by the police, it was Lind who pointed the
smoking dick at Holmes, which neatly tied into the fact that LAPD detectives
had also found John's bloody hand print at 8763. In probably his only
intelligent move, Holmes turned himself in and agreed to speak to detectives
at a 'safe house' hotel. But with the Los Angeles taxpayers footing the
bill, Big John basically led the police around in circles, fabricating
and revising stories while somehow not pointing the finger at Nash, from
whom he (rightfully) feared for his life. After two weeks, the cops gave
up, and Holmes and his girlfriend Dawn fled as far away as they could,
to Florida. During this period, Holmes - still a raging addict - did the
gentlemanly thing and put the preverbal yoke on his young girlfriend and
'turned her out' (as in prostitution) so that they could stay high, sheltered
and one step ahead of an extremely aggravated Eddie Nash.
After a while, Dawn had had enough. She escaped from Holmes loving ways
and then alerted the L.A. police as to where they could find him. He was
arrested for the Wonderland murders in December 4, 1981, went on trial
in May 20, 1982 and was acquitted on June 16, 1982. The jury either bought
Holmes "man in the middle" defense or believed that he was really
the sixth victim of Nash's barbarity.
The police couldn't convict Holmes, so they turned their attention on
that man they wanted all along, Eddie Nash. Holmes wisely wouldn't testify
against a still-free Nash and Diles with them staring him down in the
courtroom, so he gladly accepted an 11-month prison sentence for contempt
of court. But even if the pair was free, their influence could most likely
penetrate prison walls. Of course, this being Hollywood, John used the
time to work on his autobiography, "Porn King: The Autobiography
of John C. Holmes".
Things changed in November of 1982, when Nash and Diles were convicted
of unrelated drug charges. John C. Holmes testified before the grand jury
and told them all he knew about the Wonderland murders, Eddie Nash, Gregory
Diles and "The Wonderland Gang". He was even mostly honest.
Nash was brought to trial, but the jury deadlocked at 11-1, and Eddie
Nash walked. The common scuttlebutt on the street was that he bribed one
of the jurors in this case as well as in a 2000 racketeering trial that
ended with the same results. Although apparently ill and in his mid-70's,
Adel Nasrallah remains a free man, but tainted with the excessive, Jackson
Pollac/dripping-style Wonderland paintbrush.
Following the grand jury testimony where Holmes implicated all concerned,
John continued working in the porn industry while learning a survivalist
technique of constantly looking over his shoulder. Testing positive for
Aids in 1986 didn't even deter him; he just kept up his hard-working ways.
What a <I>fine human being<I> he was. In 1987 he entered the
VA hospital, and eventually died of Aids on March 13, 1988.
In the end, John C. Holmes' tombstone should read: "The fucking you
get isn't always worth the fucking you get". I'll bet it's hot down
there, Wadd - like Bob Segar said, "they got the fire down below".
POSTSCRIPT
When the police were investigating the Sharon Tate murders in late summer
of 1969 (prior to learning about Manson's involvement), the first thing
that they were certain of was that it was a "drug-burn murder".
Well, 12 years later and about five miles away, they sure got one.
The upcoming film, "Wonderland" - starring Val Kilmer as Holmes
- may shed some new light on the case. Only in Hollywood…where dreams
are stillborn.
©2003 M.E. Greene/Tuesday Friday
Acknowledgements: Parts of this story were sourced from the VKN website.
Thanks also to Miller, J.S., B. Beausoleil, V. Bugliosi, A.T. Lee, A.
Spence, Lloyds of Van Nuys, Geffen Records for the fabulously dated music,
and of course, The Universal. - M.G.
Bonus Track
"She-it, Holmes-boy wuz just a punk kid wit a skinny empty ba-loon
hangin, compared to DA LOG! If it wuz ME killin' doze peeps, I woulda
beat 'em down wit 'jus my Johnson! Fuck a bunch o bullets 'n blades 'n
chit. Who need dat when yo rod be King Kong's baseball bat!?
Y'all gots ta see MY new flick - iss call 'Fo On Da Flo', nome sane?-
Johnson N. Johnson, African-American porn
star
|
