Original subtitles

[mellow music plays]

[Connelly] Los Angeles--

a city infamous for its music and movies...

[man] Action!

...is also defined by its murders.

[man screaming]

It seems to set the City of Angels apart,

capturing the world's attention.

The randomness of murder plays out

beneath the bright lights of Hollywood--

the boulevard of broken dreams--

and seeps into the veins of the American zeitgeist.

I'm Michael Connelly, and I came here nearly 40 years ago,

drawn by the movies, the music, and, yes, the murders.

This dark pantheon includes the Black Dahlia,

the Hillside Strangler, the Manson case,

the O.J. Simpson case, the slaying of Biggie Smalls,

just to name a few.

But perhaps no other case symbolizes an era in Los Angeles

more than the Wonderland massacre.

[cameraman] Okay, camera's rolling.

[male news anchor] Four murder victims were found today

in a posh Hollywood Hills home.

Police said all four had been beaten to death in a struggle

that splattered the interior of the house with blood.

[male news anchor 2] A Manson-like mass murder.

[Connelly] The tentacles of the case would ensnare

a porn star, a corrupt judge,

and drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Multiple celebrities would be swept into the story

by Liberace's boy toy, enigma Scott Thorson.

To this day, no one has been held directly accountable.

For many, including me, it has been a decades long obsession.

[mysterious music plays]

♪♪

[insects chirping]

[mid-tempo jazz plays]

Most of my work, whether it's in a newspaper story

or in my novels,

most of my work's about what it takes

to do this work as a detective.

To be relentless in your pursuit of something.

And so I have this case, 40 years later,

still bother people like Tom Lange and, um,

Detective Bob Sousa, and, uh, and Rick Jackson.

That connects with me in some way.

So I guess it's all part of the inspirational process

for what I do.

[Connelly] You've had 30 years

of interactions with Scott Thorson.

It seems like, uh,

you needed to keep a Thorson journal

for all the interactions you've had

over the decades with him.

He just kept appearing in my life,

and little did I know that I would be dealing with him

for a long period of time after Wonderland.

And here we are doing a documentary

with Scott Thorson.

[Connelly] I know it's 40 years ago,

but I just want your best, truthful memory.

You have people who believe everything you said.

You've had people that, uh,

are not sure of the things you said.

So I think a lot of people

who watch this will be making those kind of judgments.

I walked into something that, you know, was an accident,

and I-I was scared to death.

I knew a lot about the murders. A lot.

Why, how I survived that is a mystery.

Okay, so, yeah, let's talk specifically about that night.

So, where were you June 30, 1981?

[ominous music plays]

I was at Eddie Nash's

because I was addicted to cocaine.

-So you go over to Nash's. -Yeah.

And Nash opened the door.

Nash never dressed.

He was always in his skivvies. [chuckles]

Just like Boogie Nights.

And he answered the door and he said, "Scott."

He says, "I've just been robbed."

And he explained what happened.

He told me that they stuck a gun down his throat.

They forced him to open the safe.

They took jewelry, they took guns, cash, cocaine.

About a million dollars' worth of stuff was missing.

And, uh, you don't do that to Eddie Nash.

Nash had a monitor.

Next thing I know, on camera

comes Greg Diles with John Holmes

by the back of the neck.

[Diles] Come on.

Now, did you know who John Holmes was?

Yes. He was the biggest porn star at that time.

Then Nash came in,

and Diles beat the shit out of him.

Nash was screaming. He says, "I'll kill you."

He says, "You get back my stuff. You take us there."

He wanted revenge.

So you heard him say this.

Oh, yes. He gave the order for Greg Diles

to go up there and kill him.

[shouting]

So Greg Diles proceeded to take Holmes out the door

to go to Wonderland.

[car engine starts]

[tires squeal]

♪♪

♪♪

So you're sitting in the living room

when they come back in, what is it,

like hours later?

Wasn't that long.

Wonderland was just right up the street from Nash.

-Who came in? Diles? -Greg Diles and John Holmes.

What'd they look like when they came in?

They had blood on 'em.

Diles-- I didn't hear exactly

what he said to Eddie Nash,

but you could tell the job was done.

♪♪

But they couldn't find David Lind.

They were after David Lind.

And David Lind is doing the stick the gun down his throat.

But he wasn't around.

The girls were.

The poor girls were the victims.

But did he talk about the importance of it

being a message?

That sent a horrible message

across Hollywood.

That's when I really got scared

'cause I was in the wrong place

at the wrong time.

Why were you still there? 'Cause--

Because I was waiting for the pound of cocaine.

Why did you need a pound of cocaine?

Well, because I was traveling a lot with Liberace.

We were going to start a tour,

and so I always wanted enough to take with me.

Let's go back to Liberace

and your relationship with him.

Can you tell me a little bit about how that started?

[piano keys playing]

[piano plays]

[cheers and applause]

You had this job where you

drove the Rolls-Royce out on stage.

You're in a white chauffeur outfit.

[cheers and applause continue]

[piano continues playing]

Yeah, I would deliver him to his audience

with $1 million Rolls-Royce, and he'd get out.

And he would introduce me.

I want you to meet my friend over there.

That's Scott Thorson.

[cheers and applause]

Thank you, Scott.

And then I would drive off, "Bye, Scott."

Let's say goodbye to Scott, okay?

We'll see you later, Scott. Bye-bye.

[cheers and applause]

What did that do for you to be on the stage

and be that kind of center of attention?

I didn't want to do it at the beginning

'cause I was too afraid.

But I did it.

I would do anything to please him

and never went home after that.

-Where is this? Las Vegas? -Las Vegas, yeah.

When you were, what, 17 years old?

I was about 17.

Yeah. I think it just turned.

And being with Liberace opened your world to--

to a world of celebrity fashion.

All these things.

You know, I never had a very good childhood.

I went through 17 foster homes and two orphanages.

And then to be thrown into the glamour and the glitz

and the wealth of Liberace.

And it was exciting, you know?

This is my bedroom. How do you like it?

It's French Victorian, and most of the furnishings are antique.

[Thorson] It was just overwhelming.

He's probably got about 20 to $30 million just in antiques.

The candelabras are from a Spanish church.

[Thorson] 18 candles in the Las Vegas home.

And he had a piano in one of the bathrooms even.

This ring that I'm wearing right here.

When he was in South Africa,

he brought back two Krugerrand coins.

Between the two coins,

there is an "S" that's spelled out here done in diamonds.

[Thorson] I'm a man that wore

a quarter of $1 million on one hand.

I had all the riches in the world.

He used to say to me-- he says,

"You're the luckiest boy in the world."

He said, "You know how many other boys

would like to be in your position?"

And he says, "Your job is to make me happy.

You have the most important job

in the organization."

I said, "Okay," and that's what I did.

I didn't want to go back to the foster homes.

He wanted to adopt me. He wanted me for his son.

So when you said he wanted you as a son,

was that as a cover,

or were you like the son he never had?

Well, he said, "You're the son that I've never had,"

but I also believed that it was a cover for him.

This is the master bath

with twin sinks.

They call them his and hers,

but since I'm a bachelor,

I use them both myself.

[Thorson] What he kept from the public and from the world

was he kept that-- that hidden secret

that he was a homosexual.

He used to call me Boober.

He said, "Hey, Boob, do you really think

they think I'm gay?"

I said, "Any man that gets on stage

and dances in 150 pounds of pink ostrich feathers"--

I said, "Oh, yes, that's why they think you're gay,

but you're the queen." [chuckles]

What I finally realized that Lee did not want me as his son,

but he also had plans as me to be his lover.

I was devastated because here we had this

father and son relationship,

and it was something that I was fighting.

I would run away, he'd bring me back;

and I'd run away, he'd bring me back.

It was a -- It was horrible.

It was a hate and love relationship

that I had with him.

He was 45 years my senior.

I was just a kid.

I think they call that now-- he was grooming me.

Liberace called me into his master bedroom one day,

and there was a famous plastic surgeon in there

by the name of Dr. Jack Startz.

And Lee wanted me to look more like him,

to look like his son.

What they did was they rebuilt my entire face,

they added acrylic implant to my chin.

They rebuilt my cheekbones. They gave me a nose job.

[Connelly] It was the first of three plastic surgeries

that Scott claims Liberace had him endure,

including one that involved Michael Jackson.

What's that story?

Michael and I became very close

when Liberace introduced me to Michael.

Later on, Liberace decided to have plastic surgery.

Michael decided to have his nose done.

I was having my chin done and nose.

So we had it on the same day.

It was funny.

But the doctor came and he was drunk

when he was shooting Liberace full of Demerol.

I had to take the needle away from him.

I had to do it, he was so drunk.

I almost feel kind of guilty about Michael having

his nose job 'cause I introduced him to the doctor.

And that's what started the plastic surgery.

He didn't like his nose.

He always hated his looks. He thought he was ugly.

Later on, I was living in France

with Lee for a while,

and I developed about 60 pounds.

I gained over weight.

So the plastic surgeon put me on the Hollywood diet,

he called it, which was pharmaceutical cocaine,

Quaaludes and Demerol.

That's how my drug habits started.

I'd never touched a drug before then.

Was that that Scarz guy? Startz?

Jack Startz.

He was a horrible man.

[Connelly] Scott Thorson's growing drug addiction

had unwittingly put him and Liberace

on a collision course with Eddie Nash.

How did you and Liberace

end up in the orbit of a guy named Eddie Nash?

Well, Chris Cox was one of Liberace's close friends,

and Chris is the one that introduced us.

We wanted to buy into the nightclub business with Eddie.

So was Chris Cox running one of the nightclubs?

Yes, he was running the Odyssey.

But were you aware of Nash owning a number of clubs?

Oh, yes. Yes. The whole purpose was to buy into the clubs.

Nash thought it would be a great idea

because I was with Liberace,

you know, the glitz and glamour.

He wanted the publicity

and he wanted to take over Hollywood.

He wanted to be number one nightclub owner.

He had the Kit Kat clubs,

he had Seven Seas,

he had the Starwood in Hollywood.

But he wanted to to go more towards the gay crowd.

♪ We're a long way from home ♪

♪ Welcome to the Pleasuredome ♪

♪ On our way home ♪

♪♪

They called me a pretty boy back in the day.

And I had every celebrity chasing me.

And it was always drugs involved.

And they were selling quite a bit of cocaine

out of the clubs.

So do you know what the deal was?

It was Liberace's money. What did he buy into?

Well, he bought into a percentage of the clubs

and the properties.

Liberace was excited.

He thought it would be a good investment.

He gave the money to Nash.

You know how much he invested?

It was about $3 million.

Do you know how much you were collecting

every month from him?

Oh, it would be over $100,000.

And it would be in cash?

It's cash, yeah.

Liberace called it his mad money. [chuckles]

'Cause it was never reported to the IRS.

It was very successful.

[Eggar] I've met Scott Thorson in clubs that Eddie Nash owned.

This was within the time, I believe,

he was with Liberace.

But he didn't bring Liberace with him to this club.

He was just somebody who was there quite a bit,

and I recognized him from the pictures.

We were going to these clubs,

a lot of frequency, to be seen

and for people to be comfortable around us

so that we could start asking questions

about getting, you know, a dime bag.

And was it successful in terms of intel gathering?

-Or did you make cases? -We made cases.

We also looked at people who brought drugs

to the entertainment industry.

There were a couple of production crews

that were shut down...

because built into contracts

for making of a movie or a TV series,

they would allow for money to be allocated

to go pick up cocaine.

Because if you're just three hours short in your production

and you can keep everybody going,

they'd go pick up coke, everybody would split it,

and they'd keep going and finish it up.

There was only one case that made the headlines.

-A celebrity, do you mean? -Yes.

And who is that?

Dan Haggerty who was Grizzly Adams.

You weren't targeting celebrities.

You were targeting the people

that were giving celebrities the drugs.

Yes.

We were are looking specifically at Eddie Nash.

When Liberace made this investment,

did he know that Nash was also a drug dealer?

Well, we didn't know anything.

we didn't know who we were getting in bed with.

We didn't know anything about him being one

of the biggest drug dealers.

We would have never done it.

If you guys all went into this investment

not knowing about this other part of Nash's life,

how did you discover it? From going to the house?

Right.

You were making monthly trips

to Nash's house from Vegas.

Yes.

You get the money, and I guess you were exposed

to what's going on in the house with drugs and so forth.

Yes.

Then Nash became a new drug dealer.

And so you were making monthly pickups

of the Mad Money and getting drugs for yourself?

Yeah.

Did Liberace know about that?

The drugs you were also getting for yourself?

No.

So, how long were you and Liberace

in business with Nash

before that fateful night of June 30th?

It was shortly after that.

So it was like only a few months into that?

Yeah, it was very short.

[melancholy music plays]

Let's go back to June 30, 1981.

You go over to Nash's house.

I mean, the story has changed over the years

that you heard Eddie Nash say,

"Go get my money and drugs."

Which is not the same as "Go kill them,"

even though he still--

No, he wanted revenge.

-So you heard him say this? -Oh, yes. Yes.

Gregory Diles, uh, had only one intention.

And that was to kill these people

and get back his things.

Because nobody did that to Eddie Nash.

They had to set an example

because he was the kingpin of Hollywood.

So this is about his pride

and making sure no one did this.

He had a huge ego.

So the police say that Diles and Holmes,

whether he's a willing participant or not,

could not have done this, there had to be other people.

Were there other people in the house that went with them?

No, there wasn't.

I believe they were met though.

I believe there were other people involved.

That's when I really got scared, you know,

because I felt that I knew too much.

Did he give you any kind of warning

about keep your mouth shut as you were leaving?

Oh, yeah. He says it's best not to talk about this.

And, uh, you know, I really got scared.

I didn't know what to do.

You know, I went back to the airport,

got on the jet, went back to Las Vegas,

and then told Liberace what happened.

[male news anchor] A bad cocaine deal

may have led to the beating death of four people

in a Hollywood Hills home three weeks ago.

The next thing you know, it's all over the news.

Los Angeles police investigating those murders

today said they're questioning a nightclub owner

who was arrested on narcotics charges July 10th.

But officers say that Eddie Nash Nasrallah is only one

of several people who is being interviewed

and is not necessarily a suspect at this time.

And Liberace just screamed.

He said, "Oh, my God, what did we get into?"

Was there any discussion about, "We got to call the cops"?

Liberace didn't want to get involved in it,

so he wasn't going to call the police.

He was just very scared. He was very nervous.

And that, you know, he got in bed with a killer.

And was this when Liberace found out

about your drug issues?

I was in the mansion. I was in there talking to him.

I had my cocaine laying on my lap,

and that's when Liberace took it and flushed it.

And then I chased him down the hallway,

and I went to grab him

and my ring got caught in his hair.

It was a toupee, and it tore the toupee off.

[laughs]

And he just screamed. He put his hands up

because he was so sensitive about his hair, you know?

And I felt bad about that, but it was funny.

So was that kind of the beginning of the end?

-of the relationship? -Yeah. Oh, yeah.

He said, "I created a monster."

-He became very paranoid. -It's understandable.

He was living a completely secret life,

not only with you, but also worried about

this guy, Eddie Nash,

that he brought into his world.

What I'm trying to get at is this, like,

double life of Liberace, this--

this performer who could go on

and not show any strain of what's going on in his life.

How was he able to do that?

He was a showman.

Everything else he'd blank out.

[cheers and applause]

Well, I've done my part for motion pictures.

I've stopped making them.

[laughter]

When was the last time you saw him?

-You knew he was-- -It was the night of the, uh--

It was the Oscars. He performed.

[piano playing]

Liberace once told me-- he says,

"I'm in charge on stage."

He says, "I can control that."

[cheers and applause]

Thank you, thank you.

He says, "I feel safe,

and that's when I'm the happiest."

But off camera and off that stage,

when he became Lee, he was in fear.

He wasn't in control of his life.

He feared people.

So Eddie Nash must have been one of those he feared.

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, we didn't know-- I was in fear.

We didn't know who he was until it was too late.

[Connelly] Soon after the Oscars,

Liberace left Los Angeles

for his mansion in Palm Springs.

Scott Thorson stayed behind in L.A.

in the penthouse apartment Liberace kept

on Beverly Boulevard.

That is, until several security men

working for the showman

arrived to evict him,

informing him that his relationship

and employ with Liberace was over.

[Thorson] That's when it was determined that I must go

because of my association,

and in dealing with the drugs

and getting involved with Eddie Nash.

Liberace's security took my clothing,

everything that I had in there,

threw it over the balcony five stories down

in black plastic bags.

He threw me out of the penthouse.

He wanted to get rid of me

because he was in fear that I became this monster.

And he didn't want his reputation ruined.

I didn't know who to call but Eddie Nash.

That's when he sent Gregory Diles.

So I got in the car with Greg,

and they took me to Nash's home.

You weren't scared of that?

I mean, you said you were the guy who knew too much.

Um, yeah, I was scared 'cause I was in the wrong place

at the wrong time.

Um, but he liked me,

and I trusted him in that way.

And he wanted to help me.

And I lived with him for, what, six months.

During that time,

John Holmes had been charged with the murders,

so was there a discussion about that?

I mean, was Eddie worried about it?

Did he talk about the murders?

Yeah, he-- Yes, yes, he did.

He says, "People have been known to disappear here,

so you better keep your mouth shut.

The coyotes we have up here in the hills will eat you,

and you'll never be found again."

[female news anchor] Porno film star John Holmes

was charged today with four counts of murder,

with special circumstances

that could send him to the gas chamber.

The 37-year-old actor is accused of taking part

in four grisly murders at an exclusive Laurel Canyon home

in Los Angeles last summer.

[reporter] What did Mr. Holmes tell you?

Describe his spirits or his mood.

He's like anybody else.

It's a serious case, and he's afraid

and he's concerned, and he has every reason to be.

After all, look at-- look at what's happening.

Okay, so you're going to trial.

Can you talk about video of the crime scene?

That was the key part of the case?

Oh, yes. When I saw the video

of the Tom Lange walkthrough of the house,

I was blown away.

My issue in my mind was,

is it too gruesome for the jury?

It's the bloodiest crime scene I've ever seen.

But I wanted the jury to see it.

[man] Victim three

is lying on the king-size bed in a supine position.

There is extensive trauma to the head of victim number three.

[lawyer] During these early morning hours of July 1st,

the defendant set things up.

He let these unknown persons in,

knowing that the occupants were going to be killed.

He thus aided in the crimes and thus commenced

the gruesome revenge of Eddie Nash.

[Egers] He told the police that he was taken at gunpoint

to the location on Wonderland.

How would you characterize the defense

that if anyone's a victim here,

Holmes is the victim.

That's what they argued.

"He's the victim."

I would suggest to you, ladies and gentlemen,

that if you have a gun placed to you,

you are in no condition to intend to do anything

except what the person with the gun tells you to do.

And if you do not, if you are not,

if you cannot intend an act at that time,

then you cannot be guilty of first-degree murder.

I had the evidence that not only

did he allow the killers in,

he was a killer.

We found a palm print on the bed frame

inches...

from Ron Launius.

Holmes's print was on this brass headboard,

palm down,

as if you're bracing yourself

while you're striking the body.

[Lange] There was a small night table there.

To get in that position,

you'd have to push yourself in sideways

because you're between the nightstand and the bed

and up against the wall where this railing was,

to grab that railing.

It's as if somebody was bracing themselves

on the railing, and perhaps coming down

on top of Launius's head.

When asked to explain his palm print,

placed in such a manner, in such a way as to indicate

that he was leaning over Ronald Launius,

what did he say?

"I don't know how the print got there."

If you're on the jury you got half a brain,

you're going to say, "What the hell

is that palm print doing there?"

[Connelly] And in his trial, Holmes didn't testify either.

He did not testify.

And that's probably the smartest thing.

I was hoping. I was praying

to whatever God is up there

that he take the stand.

'Cause if he took the stand,

I could cross him. I could cross-examine him

ask him questions, and he'd have to answer.

If he didn't answer,

that's incriminatory right there.

Maybe he saw me salivating.

I don't know.

Connelly: Unable to cross-examine John Holmes,

Ron Coen turned to his other witnesses,

including David Lind,

the boyfriend of Barbara Richardson.

David Lind, one, was very, very important.

Nash would always indicate later

that Lind was one of the killers.

Why would Lind kill his girlfriend?

Lind was distraught.

I remember talking to Lind in my office.

I was impressed with how intelligent he came off.

He's a doper, he's a biker,

he comes from the dregs of society.

But he actually was a very smart man.

I had explained to the jury,

when a crime occurs in hell,

you do not have angels as witnesses.

I thought he was a good witness.

So you get David Lind, a key figure in this case,

on the stand.

So your first question is, what?

What do you do for a living?

The answer? I'm a robber.

Okay, that laid the groundwork for the jury.

I mean, in a good way, though, right?

He's-- He's believable.

If he's not going to lie about his occupation,

he's not going to lie about anything else.

Well, the defendant was very adamant that we do this robbery,

as he was familiar with Mr. Deverall

and Mr. Launius's past, and in doing --

as doing the same type of thing,

robbing large drug connections.

And Mr. Holmes was in debt to Mr. Launius and Mr. Deverall.

And also he was complaining that he did not have enough money

to pay his film editors for his latest film.

He was very persistent in that we do this.

and that he volunteered to set Mr. Nash up for us.

[Souza] Lind as a witness,

it was credible pretty much from the get-go,

because anytime somebody implicates themselves

in a robbery and shooting somebody,

you have to kind of think,

"Maybe he's telling us the truth here," you know,

'cause he was very-- he was right out front of that,

that he had shot this bodyguard

and that they had robbed somebody.

So that gave him some credibility

as far as we were concerned.

How valuable was Susan Launius

as a witness in this case?

[Coen] I wanted the jury to see her,

to see what carnage occurred.

More than just the pictures, more than just the video.

She walked in the court.

She limped into court, took the stand,

You can see that she was missing a finger.

Can you-- Can you see him clearly?

[Susan] Yes.

And is it your testimony

that you've never seen this man in your life?

No. I don't remember seeing him.

She remembers shadows, some movement, that's all.

But the jury saw her, and that's all I wanted.

She was on the stand for about 10 minutes.

So the end of your closing statement was,

"If John Holmes didn't participate in the murders,

why did the killers allow him to live?"

Can you explain that?

The point I was trying to make is

if he didn't commit the murders,

he's now a witness.

There's no reason to let him live.

They had no idea at the time of the crime

that he was going to shut up.

They didn't know.

It's insurance to kill him.

It's the only logical reason Holmes lived.

Maybe he said, "You better take a couple of whacks

at Launius."

"You take a few whacks here. I know you hate him anyway.

You take a few whacks and you're going to be okay.

You're going to live through this.

Otherwise you're not."

Speculation. You can't prove it.

But Ron Coens' argument was if he hadn't been--

I mean, why would he still be alive

if he hadn't taken part in the murders?

He would be victim number six. It's as simple as that.

And guess who walks in during the trial,

sits in the back of the courtroom?

Ed Nash.

That's pretty wild. I never heard that.

Yeah, he actually came in the courtroom.

He was in there about 20 minutes.

Everybody knew it.

And then he walks out.

[Connelly] I just heard yesterday

that Eddie Nash came in and slipped into the courtroom

and sat in the back of the courtroom during that trial.

I felt bad for John. He was scared to death.

He was a victim of Nash. Nash took everything from him.

Everything.

I'm not saying John Holmes was a perfect human being, you know?

But still, he didn't deserve what he got.

You know, he was addicted. Eddie Nash cut him out.

He'd kill him.

John was in fear of his life. He didn't mention a word.

I got called in my office, the jury has a verdict.

I know there's only one verdict they can possibly have.

It's going to be a guilty. He's going to fall.

I'm going to be victorious.

I walked down there cocky. I'm here to take my win.

[man] We, the jury in the above entitled action,

find the defendant, John Curtis Holmes,

not guilty of murder

as charged in count one of the information.

This 25th day of June 1982.

[people murmuring]

And I remember

this surge of heat going through my body.

Uh... A shock.

[Connelly] I assume you were in there

when the verdict came in.

Was it a surprise or did--

-No. -Too circumstantial?

They made him-- His attorneys made him a victim.

I'm not going to convict this guy.

He's a celebrity, you know,

if you consider a porn actor a celebrity.

Yeah, it seems like in the history of L.A.,

celebrity cases are always the toughest.

It's very hard, you know,

to have a man's life in your hands

and then to try and decide

whether he did or did not do something.

To me, the prosecution did not have enough evidence.

Yes, I think that they liked him.

Surely the women liked him. And as a matter of fact,

prior to the trial beginning, John told us,

"Put a lot of women on the jury if you can.

I think it's going to be best for us."

With John Holmes acquitted, the focus of suspicion

may now shift to Eddie Nash.

He reportedly ordered the Laurel Canyon killings

in retaliation for a burglary at his home.

[Connelly] Holmes is, you know,

guarded by double jeopardy and so forth.

So you lost him as a murderer.

But you still had this drug case that was charged against Nash.

[Coen] The focus of the case,

or cases, was Eddie Nash.

Greg Diles, too.

But it was mainly Eddie Nash.

But now I can't use Holmes as a suspect,

but I can use him as a witness.

And that's when he was taken before the grand jury.

So it was asked to the grand jury,

"All right, who killed the people on Wonderland.

What do you know?"

He refused to testify.

So that's contempt of court.

The judge told Holmes,

"You're going to be held in custody

until you decide to testify.

In other words, you have the keys

to your own freedom.

All you gotta do is testify."

So Holmes refused.

He's jailed.

I think it's basically very unfair

that they're keeping him in jail at this time.

He was acquitted for what he did.

And I realize, of course, that they do want to find out,

you know, who murdered the people

in the Laurel Canyon massacre.

However, I think they're just persecuting him now.

And I will continue to have an interest

until they let him out of jail.

[Connelly] While John Holmes languished in jail

on charges of contempt,

Scott Thorson found himself in court.

Palimony suits seem to be all the rage these days,

but in Los Angeles there is currently one with a difference.

It's a $113 million suit filed today by a young man

who claims breach of contract,

a contract he had with pianist Liberace.

[male news anchor] Scott Thorson and his lawyer

appeared in Superior Court to file the suit,

which claims the young man had a contract

to serve as Liberace's chauffeur,

companion, and lover.

What was the nature

of your relationship with Liberace?

No comment, please, at this time.

Pretty famous news story when you filed a palimony.

Palimony lawsuit for $110 million.

And Eddie Nash was the moving figure

behind that in terms of the lawyers and stuff?

Yes.

So he thought it would be best

if I take Liberace to court.

Maybe we could get an out-of-court settlement

and get back my things.

And he launched a $112 million palimony lawsuit.

It was one of Hollywood's biggest scandals.

I was with him 24 hours a day,

seven days a week,

365 days a year.

Then all of a sudden, after seven years,

to be thrown out

and then to be called a disgruntled employee

and to say that I'm on drugs.

And Mr. Liberace should talk,

because if you want to speak drugs,

he's into amyl nitrite.

So--Which he uses daily.

Do you remember what you got in the settlement?

I got three cars out of 30.

And my jewelry, my fur coats, $75,000.

And...that was it.

[Connelly] Indebted to Eddie Nash for his help

with the palimony suit,

Scott Thorson was put to work.

What did you do for Eddie?

What I did for Eddie was

he taught me the trade of the drugs

and the business and how it worked.

He had piles and piles, pounds, kilos of cocaine

that they were selling out of the clubs.

So, where were you getting these drugs

and where were you taking them?

I was getting from the Colombians.

Escobar.

What do you say to people who are watching this

and don't believe you,

who think there's lies coming out of your mouth?

I don't care what they think.

[Connelly] Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar

was the leader of the Medellin Cartel.

At its height, his organization was responsible

for 80% of the United States cocaine supply.

I met Escobar twice at his house.

He was very nice, very polite,

you know, had the best coke in town.

I would dispense it. I would sell for him.

Were you involved in securing it,

picking it up, anything like that,

or it would just come to the house?

They brought it in by girls.

The girls would swallow it

and then they'd throw it up when they go to the bathroom.

Eddie also wanted me there

because I had the connection to the stars.

Where he couldn't get in, I could.

And that's what he wanted.

So who are some of these people,

these stars that Eddie Nash wanted?

Redd Foxx,

Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor.

So he needed me for them.

Why did he need the celebrities?

Well, because he enjoyed the publicity.

He enjoyed the excitement of it.

Of knowing somebody who's famous?

Somebody famous. Yeah.

[Connelly] Despite his looming trial on drug charges,

Eddie Nash was boldly expanding his business.

But a new indictment put him back in the spotlight.

[female news anchor] Nash is currently under investigation

by a federal grand jury

as a possible mastermind behind an arson-for-hire ring,

a ring responsible for millions of dollars damage

to local nightclubs.

Authorities said there was no connection

between the timing of today's indictment

and recent highly publicized state allegations

involving narcotics, murder, and Ed Nash.

[Lange] Ed Nash was one of the 22 people

under indictment for arson-for-hire.

Ed Nash--his attorney was the president

of the Los Angeles City Fire Commission.

At the same time he was representing Ed Nash

in arson-for-hire charges,

his unit was investigating his client.

And he's the commissioner. I mean, is there a conflict?

But it came all the way back from the mayor.

You know, there's no conflict of interest here.

Mayor Bradley didn't think there was a problem.

He didn't think there was a...

We go to trial and he's acquitted.

[Connelly] Why do you think the case was acquitted?

I mean, Nash was worth millions and millions

and millions of dollars.

Except for who he paid off, he would have been sentenced.

[Connelly] Though Nash was acquitted of the arson charges,

he had reason to be concerned that Holmes,

still in jail, months after his own acquittal

might implicate him in the murders.

When Holmes was being kept in lockup

after he was acquitted,

Nash wrote him a long letter.

This is the letter Eddie sent to Holmes.

-"Dear John." -"Dear John."

"It's been a long time, friend."

"By now you've heard about all the troubles,

pain and aggravation that you've caused me."

"I know, John, that way deep down in your heart,

you didn't intend to have this happen to me."

"You know, as God as your witness

that I am innocent."

"And I never sent anybody with you to kill anybody."

"So don't you think it's about time to tell the truth?"

"I swear, man, I will forgive you for what you did to me..."

"...if you snap out of it..."

"...and tell them the truth."

"Signed your friend..."

"Ed Nash."

[all chuckle]

Good Lord.

That's not obvious, you know.

What do you think his purpose was with that?

I think its purpose was don't talk.

[camera shutter clicking]

Or else.

[reporter] Would it take John Holmes's testimony

to press charges against Diles and Nash?

Of course it would help.

And that avenue is always left open.

[Connelly] After spending 111 days in jail for contempt,

John Holmes finally agreed to testify.

At the end of what was at that time

the record for being in contempt of court

for refusing to testify,

he goes before the grand jury

and says some innocuous crap that got him out of jail,

but it didn't add anything to the case.

[Connelly] What he said to the grand jury

has never been fully made public,

but is pretty clear that he didn't exactly come clean

and finger Eddie Nash or anybody else in the Wonderland Massacre.

[female news anchor] John Holmes walked out of jail

tonight saying he still feared for his life.

Fear was the reason John Holmes refused to tell a grand jury

who murdered four people over a drug deal in Laurel Canyon.

At the time, I was willing to take a contempt of court.

I was told by certain individuals to keep quiet,

not to make any statements to anybody.

I received communication in jail

that they wanted me to go ahead and testify.

-[man] Why? -I have no idea, but I did.

Are you afraid at all? Afraid for your life?

Sure. Of course.

I'll keep a very low-key figure.

But, I mean, you know, I gotta go back to work.

[funky music plays]

♪♪

[Connelly] With Holmes's release,

Johnny Wadd was back in business.

John Holmes was honored by the industry

and was asked to leave his autograph,

handprints, and shoe prints in the wet cement

outside the Pussycat Theater in Los Angeles.

John Holmes is by far the biggest name

in adult motion pictures.

Actually he is the most spectacular

male actor I've seen.

♪♪

Rehearsal warm-up.

Let's try the eyes. Now the eyes cross.

Ready? And cross and cross and cross.

[female news anchor] On March 5th,

the body of actor-comedian John Belushi

was found in a Hollywood bungalow.

The coroner's report said he died of a self-induced overdose

of cocaine and heroin.

[camera shutters clicking]

When he died, did that send a wave of shock...

-Oh, God. -...through the Nash business?

Yeah, I mean, with the Belushi death,

yeah, he was in fear.

A big star Belushi was back then.

Yeah, he was worried.

[female news anchor] Newspapers called her

the mystery woman,

led away in handcuffs from the Hollywood bungalow

where John Belushi's body was found.

She said she was the last to see him alive.

She was later identified as Kathy Evelyn Smith,

a known drug user.

Smith claims she injected Belushi

with a so-called speedball--

a mixture of heroin and cocaine.

In her words, the coup de gras that killed him.

Tell me about Kathy Smith.

Did you deal with her or just Nash?

I dealt with her. I was in the room,

and she was the John Belushi supplier.

She was responsible for bringing the drug to him.

Nash was responsible for getting the drug.

It was Nash's drugs that killed John Belushi.

Just as Scott seems to be a Zelig

of the underbelly of Hollywood,

you're somewhat of a Zelig of Hollywood crime,

and you had a part in the investigation

of the overdose death of John Belushi.

Scott Thorson says that she was a client of Eddie Nash

and that he possibly was involved in supplying the drugs

that killed John Belushi. Do we believe him?

Partner and I worked "Belushi investigation."

I have no doubt that she very easily could have

been a direct buyer from Nash

because she ran around with

some fairly prominent people.

But he's also skilled at telling stories

-that can't be checked. -You know, he may, um,

you know, be a little grandiose,

but overall, I think most of it has been corroborated.

[male news anchor] 38-year-old Kathy Evelyn Smith

was taken by marshals and LAPD detectives

to Hollywood Police Station

for routine booking on second-degree murder

and drug charges.

[Thorson] You know, they go after the dealers.

If the dealers are offered a sentence or something,

you might turn Nash in.

Of course he was worried.

He didn't know if Kathy was going to talk.

Nash just thought it was too much publicity.

When they were investigating him,

they raided the house several times

and they took pounds of cocaine.

What were you thinking at that point?

Did that increase danger for you

because you were in that house at the time?

Of course I was scared.

I bought a condominium in Studio City.

With what? Money from Liberace?

Liberace, yeah.

But you continued to work with Eddie

-or for him? -He was stealing my money.

The cars he took, all three of them.

He said those are mine.

I said, "Those cars are $100,000, $250,000 cars.

You can't do that." He says, "Oh, yes, I can."

He says, "You owe me a debt."

I took the Rolls-Royce back from him.

I snuck the keys. I snatched them,

and I drove the Rolls-Royce down to my condo in Studio City,

right off of Laurel Canyon.

And he came down and he says, "I want that car."

And I says, "You're not going to get the car back."

He says, "Then I'm going to blow your brains out."

Now, would he have done it? Absolutely.

I think he would have done it.

Yeah. He was dangerous.

He was capable of doing anything.

He was smoking that heroin.

He was addicted, and he just lost his mind.

He became very paranoid.

He would turn on you.

And that's when Eddie

started hooking me on the freebasing,

which was even worse than snorting cocaine.

I mean, it's more of a intense high,

but it's only a high that lasts maybe a minute,

and then you're right back there loading the pipe

and you never achieve that first hit.

He wanted me hooked on it so I would rely upon him.

[Connelly] I just wonder if you can talk about

how the drug trade, especially around cocaine,

changed from the '70s into the '80s.

[Eggar] At that time,

some people decided

they wanted to do something different

with the cocaine to make it more valuable.

And this is when the start of the freebasing

of cocaine occurred.

When you say more valuable,

you mean that it took such large amounts of cocaine

to freebase that it was a very expensive habit?

Yes. What you do is

you take cocaine to a more pure form.

The original freebase formula was very flammable

and has a lot of fires and a lot of problems.

Wow, that's a pretty blue.

[laughter]

You know what?

That looks like fire!

[laughter]

[intense music plays]

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