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Wonderland murders

UNSOLVED19818763 Wonderland Avenue, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, CA3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

Background

The Wonderland Gang operated out of a rented townhouse at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles. The residents — Ronald Lee "Ron" Launius, William Raymond "Billy" Deverell, Deverell's girlfriend and leaseholder Joy Audrey Gold Miller, Tracy Raymond McCourt, and David Clay Lind — were involved in drug use and dealing.

On June 29, 1981, Launius, Deverell, Lind, and McCourt carried out an armed home invasion robbery at the home of nightclub owner and organized crime figure Eddie Nash, during which Nash's bodyguard Gregory Dewitt Diles was shot and injured. Nash suspected porn actor John Holmes had facilitated the robbery, since Holmes had visited his home multiple times that morning and left a door open. Diles brought Holmes to Nash for questioning; witness Scott Thorson, present to buy drugs, later said he saw Holmes tied to a chair and beaten.

The murders

Shortly before 3:00 a.m. on July 1, 1981, two days after the robbery, unidentified assailants entered the Wonderland Avenue townhouse and killed Launius, Deverell, Miller, and Barbara Richardson — Lind's girlfriend, who had been visiting — using what investigators believed were hammers and metal pipes. Launius's wife, Susan, was severely injured but survived, suffering permanent amnesia about the attack, partial loss of a finger, and surgical removal of part of her skull. Lind and McCourt were not present at the time of the attack; Lind died of a heroin overdose in 1995 and McCourt died in 2006.

Investigation and trials

LAPD detectives Tom Lange and Robert Souza led the investigation and, searching Nash's home days later, found over $1 million in cocaine and items stolen from the townhouse. After Holmes' palm print was found at the scene, he was charged with four counts of murder in March 1982; he was acquitted on June 26, 1982, after his defense argued he had been forced by the actual killers to give them entry. Holmes separately served 110 days for contempt for refusing to cooperate with investigators. He died on March 13, 1988, from AIDS complications; a month before his death, LAPD detectives questioned him but received only incoherent responses. In April 1988, Holmes' first wife told the Los Angeles Times that Holmes had described leading three assailants into the house and watching the killings, though he never named them to her.

In 1990, Nash and Diles were charged in California state court; Thorson testified against them, but a first trial ended in a hung jury (11–1 for conviction), and a second trial in 1991 resulted in acquittal for both. Diles died of liver failure in 1997. In 2000, following a four-year joint local-federal investigation, Nash was indicted on federal RICO charges covering drug trafficking, money laundering, conspiracy in the Wonderland murders, and bribery of the holdout juror from his first trial. In September 2001 Nash pleaded guilty to RICO and money-laundering charges and admitted bribing the juror and ordering associates to retrieve stolen property in a manner that could have led to violence, but he denied planning the murders. He received a 4½-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. Nash died in 2014.

No one has been convicted of the murders themselves.

Key facts

Victims
Billy Deverell, Susan Launius, Joy Miller, Barbara Richardson, Ron Launius
Date
1981
Location
8763 Wonderland Avenue, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, CA
Case status
unsolved

Case timeline

  1. 1981-06-29

    Ron Launius, Billy Deverell, David Lind, and Tracy McCourt commit an armed home invasion robbery at Eddie Nash's home; Nash's bodyguard Gregory Diles is shot and injured.

  2. 1981-07-01

    Unidentified assailants bludgeon Launius, Deverell, Joy Miller, and Barbara Richardson to death at the Wonderland Avenue townhouse; Susan Launius is severely injured but survives.

  3. 1981-07

    Holmes' first wife, Sharon Gebenini Holmes, gives her first newspaper interview stating Holmes had known the victims and had been at the townhouse shortly before the murders.

  4. 1982-03

    John Holmes is arrested and charged with four counts of murder after his palm print is found at the crime scene.

  5. 1982-06-26

    Holmes is acquitted of all criminal charges following a three-week trial.

  6. 1988-03-13

    John Holmes dies from AIDS complications.

  7. 1988-04

    Sharon Gebenini Holmes tells the Los Angeles Times that Holmes described leading three assailants into the townhouse and witnessing the killings.

  8. 1990

    Eddie Nash and Gregory Diles are charged in California state court with planning and participating in the murders; a first trial ends in a hung jury.

  9. 1991

    A second trial results in acquittal for both Nash and Diles.

  10. 1995

    David Lind dies of a heroin overdose.

  11. 1997

    Gregory Diles dies of liver failure.

  12. 2000

    Following a four-year joint investigation, Eddie Nash is indicted on federal RICO charges related to drug trafficking, money laundering, and the Wonderland murders conspiracy.

  13. 2001-09

    Nash pleads guilty to RICO and money-laundering charges, admits bribing a juror, and is sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

  14. 2006

    Tracy McCourt dies.

  15. 2014

    Eddie Nash dies.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Billy Deverell

    VICTIM

    Second-in-command of the Wonderland Gang; killed in the attack.

  • Susan Launius

    VICTIM

    Wife of Ron Launius; severely injured but survived the attack with permanent amnesia and lasting physical injuries.

  • Gregory Diles

    ACQUITTED

    Nash's bodyguard, charged in 1990 as a participant in the murders; acquitted at a 1991 retrial after a hung jury in 1990.

  • John Holmes

    ACQUITTED

    Porn actor charged with four counts of murder in 1982 after his palm print was found at the scene; acquitted on June 26, 1982.

  • Joy Miller

    VICTIM

    Leaseholder of the Wonderland Avenue townhouse; killed in the attack.

  • Barbara Richardson

    VICTIM

    Girlfriend of David Lind, visiting the townhouse; killed in the attack.

  • Ron Launius

    VICTIM

    Leader of the Wonderland Gang; killed in the July 1, 1981 attack.

  • Eddie Nash

    ACQUITTED

    Nightclub owner and organized crime figure charged in 1990 with planning the murders; acquitted at a 1991 retrial after a hung jury in 1990. Later pleaded guilty in 2001 to unrelated federal RICO and money-laundering charges, denying he planned the murders.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

8763 Wonderland Avenue, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, CA

34.1117, -118.3860

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On July 1, 1981, four people were bludgeoned to death in a Laurel Canyon drug house on Wonderland Avenue in Los Angeles; a fifth victim survived with severe injuries. Nightclub owner Eddie Nash, his bodyguard Gregory Diles, and porn actor John Holmes were each tried in connection with the killings and acquitted; the case remains legally unsolved.
Where did the murders happen?
8763 Wonderland Avenue, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, CA.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: unsolved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in California

Sources

  1. Wonderland murderswikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — Los Angeles Timesnews · Los Angeles Times · 2026-07-05
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — The New York Timesnews · The New York Times · 2026-07-05

Last verified JUL 2026