John Holmes (suspect)
<p><a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porn_star" title="Porn star" class="mw-redirect">Porn star</a> <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holmes_%28pornographic_actor%29" title="John Holmes (pornographic actor)">John Holmes</a> was arrested, tried, and acquitted for his involvement in the murders.
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<h3 class="in-block">Drugs and the Wonderland murders<a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holmes_%28pornographic_actor%29#/editor/5" title="Edit section: Drugs and the Wonderland murders" data-section="5" class="icon icon-edit-enabled edit-page icon-32px" >Edit</a></h3>
<div class="hatnote boilerplate seealso">For more details on this topic, see <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderland_murders" title="Wonderland murders">Wonderland murders</a>.</div>
<p>In the early 1980s, Holmes developed a close friendship with drug dealer and nightclub owner <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Nash" title="Eddie Nash">Eddie Nash</a>. At the same time, Holmes was closely associated with the <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderland_Gang" title="Wonderland Gang">Wonderland Gang</a>, a group of <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin" title="Heroin">heroin</a>-addicted cocaine dealers, so called for the location of their hideout: a <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowhouse" title="Rowhouse" class="mw-redirect">rowhouse</a> located on Wonderland Avenue in the wooded <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_Canyon,Los_Angeles,California" title="Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California" class="mw-redirect">Laurel Canyon</a> neighborhood of Los Angeles. Holmes worked for the gang, frequently selling drugs for them. After stealing money during a couple of drug runs, Holmes was in trouble with the gang. In June 1981, allegedly in exchange for his life, he told gang leaders about a very large stash of drugs, money and jewelry Nash had in his house. Holmes helped to set up a robbery that was committed on the morning of June 29, 1981: a scenario that was represented in the films <i>Boogie Nights</i> and <i>Wonderland</i>.
Although Holmes did not participate in the robbery, Nash apparently suspected that Holmes had a part in it. After getting Holmes to confess to his participation, and threatening his life and that of Holmes' family, Nash exacted revenge against the Wonderland Gang. In the early hours of July 1, 1981, four of the gang's members were found murdered in their hideout. Holmes was allegedly present during the murders, but it is unclear if he participated in the killings.
Holmes was questioned regarding the murders in July 1981, but released due to lack of evidence. Holmes refused to co-operate with the investigation. After spending nearly five months on the run with Dawn Schiller, he was arrested in Florida on December 4, 1981 by former LAPD homicide detectives Tom Lange and Frank Tomlinson and returned to Los Angeles. In March 1982, Holmes was charged with personally committing all four murders. On June 26, 1982, Holmes was acquitted of all charges except <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_court" title="Contempt of court">contempt of court</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holmes%28pornographic_actor%29#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> The Holmes Murder Trial was a landmark in American jurisprudence, as it was the first murder trial in America where videotape was introduced as evidence.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holmes%28pornographic_actor%29#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup></p>