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Was this Murder Victim also a Serial Killer?
The story of Hollywood’s Wonderland Killings victim Ron Launius
In July 1981, four people died in a Laurel Canyon apartment near Los Angeles, the victims of bludgeoning. A fifth victim survived the attack, but suffered significant memory loss.
Known as the Wonderland Murders, these horrific crimes are officially unsolved, although investigators believe they know who committed them. The killings inspired the 2003 film “Wonderland” (with Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow and Dylan McDermott).
But what isn’t widely known is that one of the murder victims is suspected to have been a serial killer.
First, let’s do a quick recap of the murders:
In 1981, famed porn actor John C. Holmes (aka Johnny Wadd) was essentially homeless, living in various hotels with his 20-year old girlfriend Dawn, and heavily addicted to cocaine and crack. Estranged from his wife Sharon, a registered nurse, he and Dawn were on the skids of life.
John befriended a group of people including a man named Billy Deverell. Deverell was a 44-year old drug dealer and low-level thief who lived at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon area of L.A. with his girlfriend, Joy Miller. Joy was 46, a divorcee who had once been married to a high-priced attorney but after medical issues (including surviving breast cancer) she became addicted to heroin.
Holmes was also friends with a man named Eddie Nash. Nash (true name Adel Gharib Nasrallah) was a wealthy immigrant from Palestine, owner of the Starwood in Hollywood and other nightclubs. Eddie liked John, found him amusing especially when he was entertaining friends, and often supplied him with free drugs just to have the famous porn star around.
John was, in fact, getting free coke at every opportunity. But as he got increasingly more addicted, his charming personality was fading. By ’81, he was a crude novelty: guests at parties just wanted him to whip out his famously big dick (reportedly 13 and…
