Barbara Lee would have been 54 today. Happy Birthday Butterfly! RIP Honey.
The photo below is of Terminal Island Federal Prison. This is where Eddie Nash served a few years upon finally accepting a plea bargain in 2000 for his RICO involvement, which included orchestrating the Wonderland murders. Although a few of the culprits would serve jail or prison time here and there for their other crimes, this was the only hard time served in relation to the murders. Charles Manson also served time here, being paroled in 1958, the year Barbara was born. A Manson connection? Six Degrees of Good Time Charlie to Wonderland, who would have guessed it.
Prison facilities highlighted in yellow
The first prisoners, 610 men and 40 women, filed into the new 21-acre federal prison near the southern end of Terminal Island on June 1, 1938.
The Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution consisted of three cell blocks built around a central quadrangle, and cost $2 million to build.
In 1942, the U.S. Navy took control of the prison for use as a receiving station, and then as a barracks for court-martialed prisoners.
After the Navy deactivated the facility in 1950, the state of California took it over for use as a medical and psychiatric institution.
The state ceded control to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in 1955, which converted the facility back into a low-to-medium security federal prison.
The prison has housed the famous and the infamous over the years.
Al Capone spent the last few months of his 10-year sentence for income tax evasion at Terminal Island in the late 1930s.
Los Angeles gangster Mickey Cohen, left, ended spending some time at the prison in 1967 as part of his own tax evasion sentence, his second. He was moved from Alcatraz at his request so he could be nearer his ailing mother at the time.
Charles Manson, above, did two stints in Terminal Island before his 1971 conviction in the infamous Tate-LaBianca murder case. In the mid-1950s, he was sent there after his conviction for stealing cars, but was paroled in 1958, the same year Barbara Richardson was born. He returned in 1966 and part of 1967 while serving out a sentence for attempting to cash a forged U.S. Treasury check.
Sources
Inside SoCal. http://www.insidesocal.com/history/2010/08/-the-terminal-island-federal.html
Wikipedia
localarts 10:52 am on December 23, 2013 Permalink |
Yes, that would be the logical assumption based on the amount of military records available. The source of the Agent Orange stories come’s directly from launius own mother. In an interview she did days after Ronnie was murdered she said her son “suffered trauma in Vietnam” Those are her words. Clearly, not all of Ron Launius military career is known to the public. For all we know the “trauma” he suffered could have been tendentious for all that manual record keeping!
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John 7:40 am on February 2, 2014 Permalink |
Classic. Yes, I was a records clerk and logistics guy for many years in the 90s at NASA. So true! The monotony and inventory tasks and paperwork, filing…will drive you fucking nuts!
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Chris 5:37 pm on December 22, 2013 Permalink |
I doubt he had Agent Orange poisoning. His military record shows that he never set foot in Vietnam. He was on an Air Force base in Thailand. Plus he was a supply clerk.
My own father was in Vietnam with the 2/35th of the 4th ID US Army and is suffering from Agent Orange related illness. Those with their boots on the ground did get large amounts of exposure to Agent Orange especially in 1968 and later. Launius had already left Thailand by this time.
It fits a nice stereotype for Launius to be a Agent Orange infected PTSD combat veteran and blame his behaviors on the Vietnam war, but the facts don’t add up.
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localarts 6:04 pm on October 2, 2013 Permalink |
Yes. At some point in Ron’s life he was probably a likeable guy. One of his mother’s friends said Ronnie had been to her house one time and he was nothing but a gentleman. Obviously the last three years of his life from the time he walked out of Prison in 78 were very difficult for him. I mentioned before that his brother Rick said the last time he saw Ronnie was in January of 81 and he was sick. If Launius was suffering from the effects of Agent Orange as his mother stated in a newspaper interview, then I imagine he was probably not very friendly or likeable. Most people who are physically suffering aren’t.
Sounds like that cop may have been intimidated by Launius or at least a little nervous.
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James DelCol 4:51 pm on October 2, 2013 Permalink |
“He was con-wise, joint-wise… he’d been around”, Sutter County Det. Schuck recalled of the lanky, dark-haired Launius. “He was not a pleasant one.”
This is interesting. I think this cop is not someone Launius liked much either. His name rhymes with Shmuck. Cops are such dicks and are almost always never cool. Launius got a long with cops that were kind of cool guys themselves. I bet if you go into Mr. Shmuck’s background he’s from some religious organization and wacked out right wing political modem. Cops hate cool guys. What’s the surprise? I bet if you could have asked Ron Launius how he feels about Mr. Shmuck I’m sure that would have been printable news. Everyone who is cool is a wised up and are not pleasant to people who are trying to stand on a righteous soap box to stifle all creativity. This cop was probably such a tool. Just speculating. I think Ron was a cool guy generally. Definitely gangster, but not evil. He just wants some “Goddamn Smack”! He was a misguided vet who got caught up in some shit he had little control over. His heroin addiction and his personality were going to continue to spiral down. The wonderland Gang had numerous enemies. They all needed a rehab.
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localarts 1:34 pm on July 15, 2013 Permalink |
Yeah, but if Ronnie were awake and sober I have a feeling things would have turned out much different that night. You never ever ever bring a led pipe to a gun fight!
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James DelCol 3:42 am on September 8, 2013 Permalink |
I think Ronnie was going to get wacked that night guns or not. I have watched this bouncer type of mentality in clubs in NY. This was 3/4 racially motivated too. Greg Diles was armed with a gun, from Oakland, CA, a “hotbed” of racial discrimination in legislative, local and with corrupt police during 1940-1970. Sober or not they were getting wacked. The racial epitaphs were insult to injury for all the people who worked for Nash.
Ronnie was on everything by this point. His exposure to Agent Orange was taking toll coupled with the drug abuse he was engaging in. Was he trying to self-medicate? To what extent? Quaaludes, heroin, booze, smoking Pall Malls – Unfiltered. He was a wreck.
He was such a tuff-ass that he would have woken up with some booze and coke and appeared before the judge. He had a bondsman coming for him. Better than any alarm is a bondsman who is making a lot of money to get you there. He was kind of friend anyway wasn’t he? I’m sure that the lawyer would be doing the talking anyway. He may have been on his way back to jail anyway. Ronnie was at the end of his rope and this is what precipitated his robbery of Ed Nash. They should have all left town the next day like David Lind.
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Tori 2:53 am on October 8, 2013 Permalink |
That is also what I always think about. The Nash hit they got guns out of it. Launius I could see he was probably out of it. But joy and billy weren’t in bed they were up and I’m guessing looking for ways to defend themselves there were hammers laying there. And where were the guns they clucked? Maybe In Ron’s room? And Susan was out of bed too cuz she was found at the foot of the bed?????? The mystery kills me!!!
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John 9:46 am on October 8, 2013 Permalink
Joy’s room is right up the few steps once inside the front door. She and Billy were awake and taken by complete surprise. Billy had defense wounds and a broken rib near his armpit. He went out swinging!
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dreamweaverjenn 12:21 pm on July 15, 2013 Permalink |
Did he also have heroin in his system? I guess if you are going to be beaten death as HORRIFIC as that is, that might be a good thing that he was already out cold. Sad.
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anthony 7:54 pm on July 13, 2013 Permalink |
I never noticed this until now but Ron had alcohol and barbiturates in his system when he died.
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His blood tested positive for Trichloroethanol and Ethchlorvynol – (Which is the generic name for Placidyl).
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Bottom line, he had no defensive wounds because he was as high as a kite. Probably didn’t feel anything.
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John 7:50 am on July 24, 2013 Permalink |
So Placidyl is a sleep agent, used for insomnia? Man, I guess that Ronnie needed some shut eye, since he had a flight to Sacramento in the morning to meet his court date.
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mark strangelove 6:27 am on September 27, 2013 Permalink
Chloral hydrate
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localarts 8:49 am on July 13, 2013 Permalink |
You have to remember, Launius spent four years in federal prison plus his prior military background coupled with his heroin addiction likely molded him into the person he was at the end of his life.
This probably went a long way in how he treated Holmes.
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anthony 8:44 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
We’ve all seen the movie a million times but has everyone seen the trailer?
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scabiesoftherat 12:06 am on July 13, 2013 Permalink |
I’ve see that and I still think it’s the coolest movie trailer ever.
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dreamweaverjenn 4:55 am on July 13, 2013 Permalink
I know, right?
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dreamweaverjenn 4:55 am on July 13, 2013 Permalink |
Actually Anthony, I never have seen the trailer until now and I LOVE it! Thank you for sharing!!! 🙂
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anthony 5:37 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
Wonderland Movie –“Ron was fearless”. Most recent quote — “He was not a pleasant one.” Police detective– “One of the coldest people I ever met.” Not to justify his criminal activity but It appears Ron was a bad ass. Not someone you would f**k with!
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John W 7:04 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
Yes! No shit.
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John W 8:05 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
Another cop said, “And Launius was a tough SOB”. So…
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anthony 8:23 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink
When Ron was murdered there were no defensive wounds which could suggest he was doped up and out like a light. The people who killed him should have considered themselves lucky that Ron didn’t see them coming. If Ron was aware of what was happening he wouldn’t have gone down without a fight.
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dreamweaverjenn 4:48 am on July 13, 2013 Permalink
I’ve wondered that myself. He was laying there peacefully and probably barely opened his eyes for a split second in a haze before it happened. I agree, if he had had half a second to wake up and grab a gun, I think there would be at least two less victims that night. It just cracks me up what cops say because we are never expecting them to say he was like a cub scout leader or helped out with the church bake sale. Lol It just makes me laugh a bit.
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anthony 5:29 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
I had to Google this — “Con-wise (1912), joint-wise (1935), and jail-wise (1967) are all used to mean experienced and sophisticated in the ways and mores of incarceration”
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John W 7:02 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
Cool! Yea it seems like a cop in 81 would use that term. Today they will just taze you and do the good cop/bad cop routine. I’d like to see them do good cop/bad cop on Ronnie. He’d just clam up knowing he’d make bail in 24 hrs. Most new guys squeal thinkin they are gonna get cold sleeping on concrete for a few days.
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anthony 5:27 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
I thought Ron has sandy blonde hair?
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John W 8:03 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
This is a guess. But I have speculated before that Ron dyed his hair after robbing Nash. His hair was sandy in his mug or parole photo! The coroner listed his hair as Brown.
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dreamweaverjenn 1:49 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
That is so sad…..And I can’t help it. It always makes me smile when cops are interviewed about Ronnie and they are like “He was mean, he was not a nice one, he was one tough guy” I really don’t know what else they could say about him. He could have been the nicest guy in the world but with the cops he wasn’t going to be Mr. Rogers. Just sayin’.
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anthony 2:01 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
I have a friend from college who became addicted to heroin and pain killers. Prior to his addiction, he was the nicest and most gregarious person you’ve ever met. Unfortunately, once he became an addict his personality was almost unrecognizable. He wasn’t a criminal but he became a nasty person who was completely untrustworthy. He lived for his next fix and didn’t care about anything else. I haven’t spoken to him in years and I fear the worst. This could very well be what happened to Ron. The one picture of Ron smiling (yearbook photo?) makes me think he was at one time a good guy.
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dreamweaverjenn 2:05 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink
I agree. We are going through this with one of my cousins right now and my best friend of 20 years who is like a sister to me. I had to cut her out of my life for 3 years but she swears now she’s clean. From what I can see drugs definitely make people do things they probably never dreamed they would do. Sad.
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John W 8:00 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink
My older brother and my uncle were awesome. But they went down the wrong path, bad choices. I can’t help them but it’s always nice to see them on holidays and stuff. They haven’t hurt anybody… But sobriety is not an option and I understand it, especially after studying the Gang. The only thing they wanna heat up is some smack. Word.
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John 3:02 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
Yes, I feel that way too. Of course, I see a cop having that attitude or opinion towards him. They feel that way about most of us. I got a ticket for my inspection sticker being out 6 months ago, and the cop acted like I belonged behind bars.
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anthony 1:44 pm on July 12, 2013 Permalink |
Great find!!!
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