Your entry has exceeded the maximum character limit. He is not dating anyone. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. Holmes slept fitfully for a few hours, Sharon Holmes said, and moaned about blood and pain. Please accept Echovita's sincere condolences. . John Holmes died of AIDS complications in 1988. He is survived by : his children, William Launius Jr. (Joan) of Millstadt and Lori Harris (Ken) of Waterloo; and his grandchildren, William "Trey" Launius III, Kasey Launius, Hunter Harris, Carter Harris, Tanner Harris and Cooper Harris. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. Charlie and Watson tied the LaBiancas up, convincing the couple theyd be safe if they cooperated. I know who did it.. Later she worked with her husband at Launius Marketing. He was one of 5 children born during the depression and times were hard. The address: South Norton Avenue. . There are other suspects that we feel are involved. to tell them who it was, Sharon Holmes said. Roland Edward Launius was born on March 17, 1926 in Bauxite, AR (although the family home of John R. and Ora Ophelia Launius was in El Dorado). They were married on May 26, 1946. Special thanks to Hospice of Southern IL for their care and compassion. For some, Los Angeles is an endless highway to success. Heres a list, Greek transportation minister resigns over train collision that killed at least 36, Ohios senators to unveil rail safety bill in wake of East Palestine derailment, After months of pounding, Ukrainian official says military may pull back from Bakhmut. After Holmes negotiations for an immunity deal with police and prosecutors fell apart, the actor made plans to leave town with Sellers. Short seems to have been a drifter. That year, however, Launius was convicted of smuggling heroin and cocaine across the US/Mexico border and eventually served three years of an eight-year sentence in a federal prison. that Nash ordered Holmes to execute a plan for payback and then some. As the wife of a drug dealer on the rise, she was protected from the gritty details of the life while enjoying its benefits for one, the money was great. Susan Launius was born on 1951. Because this was a neighborhood under construction, there were numerous undeveloped lots set amid modest new homes built to alleviate the housing crunch of that era. In the weeks before the killings, Coen told the jurors, Holmes ferried property stolen by the Wonderland Avenue gang to Nashs heavily secured home in Studio City, where he exchanged it for drugs. There was "a lot of screaming going. And yet, virtually since its founding as an entertainment capital of the world, misfortune and misadventure have stalked far more of its denizens than Dame Fortune has smiled upon. Early in the morning of the robbery, Holmes visited Nash's mansion ostensibly to party and to buy drugs, but on his way out, left the patio door to the kitchen unlatched. Ill never forget that as long as I live, she said. And (that they) made him watch.. The case against Holmes was built largely on two pieces of evidence: An admission that Holmes allegedly made to Los Angeles Police Detective Frank Tomlinson after his arrest in Miami in December, 1981, and a bloody palm print left by Holmes on the rail of a bed on which one of the victims, drug dealer Ronald Launius, died. Court records and pllice statements indicated two of the four victims were under prosecution for dealing in cocaine, heroin and Quaaludes. John Holmes, who was tried for and acquitted of the crimes, never told his wife the names of the assailants, she said. No visits to agents, no casting call appearances, no registration in acting classes have been discovered. He had set it up with the other people, the people that lived at Wonderland. Her husband, Ron, 37, of the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, was one of the victims. Susan Bell Launius, nee Haywood, 70, of Belleville, born in Belleville on 9-14-1943, died Sunday August 10, 2014 at her residence, surrounded by her husband and children. At the same time, two-bit hustler and self-styled guru Charlie Manson and his gang were cruising the city in their 59 Ford Galaxie looking for another likely target in their LSD-drenched plan for world domination, nicknamed Healter (sic) Skelter. He had been critical of the amateurishness of the night before, and he wanted to offer his death squad an opportunity to regain his approval. . He has had a long career as a journalist and communications specialist with both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. There are, however, plenty more stories, to be sure, and theyll continue as long as young people are seduced by the allure of Los Angeles, seeking the fruition of their own dreams . The neighborhood: Los Feliz. Theres somebody out there who wants to kill me, Holmes told Sharon, his wife of 16 years. In their comfortable Los Feliz dwelling, constructed in 1922 and situated near the crest of a hill, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca relaxed uneasily at the end of their Saturday. Find the obituary of Lois Marjorie Launius Vaughn (1924 - 2019) from Dexter, MO. The address: Wonderland Avenue. Finally, he replied: The murders . Funeral, time pending, Friday at First Presbyterian. We have estimated Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. Would you like to offer Susan Miller-Preciados loved ones a condolence message? On the morning of June 29, 1981, four men who lived at the Wonderland Avenue address entered Nashs house through a sliding glass door that had been left ajar by Holmes, according to trial testimony. One woman survived the attack. Biography Susan A. Murphy married Ron Launius in Carson City, Nevada on 16 April 1971, and the two of them were heavy drug users. of Cabot, AR. The fourth victim, Billy DeVerell as he died on the floor of the 3rd floor bedroom. She was an associate of the Wonderland Gang, hanging around the Wonderland apartment, where she was savagely beaten by criminals with lead pipes on the night of 1 July 1981. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The multiple homicide shocked the city, which was still somewhat innocent and trusting at the end of the halcyon hippie days. Manson had collected his death cult from the masses of young, aimless drifters who had descended upon the West Coast in the late 1960s, entranced by the supposedly good vibes of a scene populated with other young people, hippies, and freaks not to mention, crooks and hustlers peddling free love and other illusions. Susan was preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Mary, nee Bell, Haywood; a sister Mary Jane Haywood; and a sister-in-law Nancy Kraft. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. David Lind, ordinarily a resident of the Sacramento area, came to Los Angeles in the summer of 1981 at Launius' behest, to aid in their growing drug-distribution business. Susan Launius Susan Bell Launius, nee Haywood, 70, of Belleville, Ill., born Sept 14, 1943, in Belleville, Ill., died Sunday Aug. 10, 2014, at her . With over 1,900 locations, Dignity Memorial providers proudly serve over 375,000 families a year. Visitation: 4 8pm Thursday August 14, 2014 at Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home, Belleville IL, and 9 10am Friday August 15, 2014 at First United Presbyterian Church, Belleville IL. In 1981, at Launius' behest, Lind traveled to Los Angeles to join the Wonderland gang and assist them in running drugs. For example, we know that Short lied to her family back East about her career ambitions. The 43-year-old actor died as a result of complications arising from his infection with the AIDS virus. Nash was separately convicted of cocaine possession and served about two years in state prison. Scott Thorson, who was buying drugs at Nash's home, wrote in his memoir My Life with Liberace (1988) that Nash had ordered Diles to bring Holmes to Nash's house, which Diles did after finding Holmes walking around Hollywood wearing one of Nash's rings. . The grotesque mass murder shocked and horrified the entire neighborhood. The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral, cremation and cemetery providers that include affiliates of Service Corporation International, 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas. Make a life-giving gesture. Its been proven true again and again over the years: Los Angeles attracts dreamers, starry-eyed souls who come into the Canyon, as the Mamas and Papas sang, only to be disillusioned. Haltingly, Holmes confessed to his wife that he had played a central role in four brutal murders earlier that month in a drug dealers hillside home in Laurel Canyon. And following that, why was she transported there, posed like a cheesecake model, with a ghoulish smile cut into her cheeks, and left to be discovered, causing revulsion and terror? Holmes would visit Nash at his home in Studio City and quietly leave a sliding backdoor ajar, through which the Launius crew would later (after Holmes departed) invade the house and relieve Nash of vast quantities of drugs and other valuables. Holmes told his wife that he rode with three armed men to the address on Wonderland Avenue. You can search by first or last name, state and publication date. So Holmes summoned his wife into the bathroom, drew steaming water into the tub, slipped in, and began to talk. Then Manson left to return to the getaway car and sent in the other executioners, cautioning them to make certain each of them had an equal share in the gore. At the house, Holmes told his wife, Nash pored over Holmes address book, and stopped when he came to the pages that listed addresses in Ohio, where Holmes was born and where his mother and other relatives still lived. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on . The armed intruders robbed Nash and his 300-pound body guard, Gregory Diles, of $10,000, two plastic sacks of cocaine and other property. A day or two later, Holmes gave a compressed, but similar account of what happened to Sellers, she told The Times. (Image Credits: [left] The Sun UK; [right] IMDB). Miss Miller's shiny white 1969 Mercedes 280 SL was used to deliver narcotics to her customers, detectives said. How did Shorts body end up in this strange residential environment, seven miles and seven days away from her last sighting? So, Nash became the target of a harebrained idea. Bill was a member of First United Presbyterian Church in Belleville, IL. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Southern IL, PanCan.org, or First United Presbyterian Church Building Fund. A visitor to the house, Susan Launius, couldnt have known what the neighbors thought, though it was where her husband Ronald spent most of his time. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. Sign the Guest Book. . Prior to her disappearance, shed packed up all her earthly possessions and locked then up in the downtown Greyhound bus station. 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". 5 children born during the depression and times were hard join the gang. Up, convincing the couple theyd be safe if they cooperated, 37, of the victims we are. 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