The Other Hollywood (38 page)

PAT LIVINGSTON
:
I killed my father.

BROOKLYN
1982

MIAMI HERALD
, FEBRUARY 27, 1980: DEATH OF MOB’S PORNO KING TAKES WRAPS OFF GUNMEN
:
“The death of organized crime’s pornography czar, Michael (Mickey) Zaffarano, will touch off a gangland war among Mafia chiefs seeking control of the multibillion-dollar porno industry, according to knowledgeable law-enforcement sources.”

BOB HANSON (NYPD DETECTIVE)
:
Back in the early eighties was the beginning of the big Columbo war, where there was a couple of factions of the Columbos splitting up. They were starting to have a little strife amongst themselves—but greed is usually the overwhelming reason why people kill people.

MIAMI HERALD
, FEBRUARY 27, 1980: DEATH OF MOB’S PORNO KING TAKES WRAP OFF GUNMEN
:
“Zaffarano’s key role as the arbitrator among the various Mafia families lusting after profits from the porno business makes Zaffarano’s unexpected demise a serious concern. His death ‘brings violence back’ to the smut business, according to one law enforcement source.”

CHUCK BERNSTENE
:
Mickey kept the peace a lot. That’s what he was, a peacemaker. When he died, who filled that role?

BILL KELLY
:
Joe “the Whale” Peraino and his son—whose name was also Joe—were in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn when these two gunmen came after them. One of the gunmen had a pistol, and I think the other one had a shotgun; they were being chased down the street in a residential area.

The two Perainos ran up on somebody’s porch and started beating on
the door trying to get in. The woman who lived there, Veronica Zuraw, was hanging up clothes in the house. So when she gets to the door—here comes a blast of a shotgun. Hit her right in the head and killed her, dead. A completely innocent victim.

NEW YORK
DAILY NEWS
, JANUARY 5, 1982: 2 DIE, 1 HURT BY SHOTGUN
:
“As the two reached the porch and began to bang on the door, the gunmen jumped from the car and fired at least five shotgun blasts in what police called an apparent gangland hit.

“Joseph Jr. was struck in the chest and killed instantly. His father was hit in the buttocks.

“Veronica Zuraw, 52, was killed by a stray shotgun blast that tore through the window of her kitchen on the second floor.

“‘She was hanging up a shirt in the closet and the blast blew her head off,’ said a police officer.”

BILL KELLY
:
The young Joe Peraino got hit and killed. I don’t know how many times he got hit. Some police officer or FBI agent told me that Joe “the Whale” got hit nine times—but because he was so fat, the bullets never hit a vital organ. So he survived.

Can you imagine getting shot nine times and surviving?

NEW YORK TIMES
, JANUARY 5, 1982: TWO SLAIN AND ONE HURT IN MOB-STYLE SHOOTING
:
“Joseph Peraino, Sr., who was convicted in Miami on December 6, 1981 of six counts of interstate shipments of pornography, was the target of the gunmen, according to other law enforcement officials familiar with the case.”

JAY DOLTON (NYPD DETECTIVE)
:
Mr. Zuraw states that he had come up from the basement with six pairs of trousers. He said, “Ronnie was in the kitchen. She was going to the guest closet in the hallway to get hangers. I heard what sounded like machine-gun fire. I turned and saw Ronnie on the kitchen floor. I went to Ronnie to try to help. I ran up to the bedroom and called 911. When the police arrived, I had to unlock the door to let them in.”

NEW YORK CITY MEDICAL EXAMINER’S REPORT
:
“On January 6, 1982, the M.E.’s office received a call from Detective Morrison, and he stated to the assigned, that deceased Joseph Peraino, Jr., the cause of death was shotgun wounds to the face, neck, head, and brain.

“He also stated the cause of death of Veronica Zuraw was shotgun wounds to the face, neck, head, and brain.”

JAY DOLTON
:
Joseph Sr. has been shot by seven bullets in the right buttock. He’s in stable condition but not critical. No major vessels or bones or
other organs are involved in the injury. However, his condition is perceived to be “serious.”

MICHAEL CROISSANT (NYPD DETECTIVE)
:
Mr. Peraino is at this time a patient at the Helen Hayes Hospital for injuries he received from the shooting. Mr. Peraino was asked by the assigned if he could state what happened the night of January 4, 1982.

At this time, he stated that all he could remember is that he and his son, Joseph Jr., went for a walk, and while they were walking, men with guns started to chase them, and they ran down a street and up a stoop seeking shelter. When they were at the top of the stoop, they were shot, and that is all he can recall. Mr. Peraino was then shown photos and asked if he could identify any of the photos as the perps of this shooting. He stated that he could not identify the perps even if he was shown life-size photos, due to the quickness of said event, and it was dark.

BOB HANSON
:
Henry Pastori, one of the alleged shooters, was killed six weeks later. I think Henry Pastori was assigned to do this, and he didn’t do it right, because the old man, Joe the Whale, lived. So that’s one problem that he had. The other problem was that he killed an innocent bystander.

MICHAEL CROISSANT
:
Mr. Peraino was shown a photo and asked if he knew Mr. Henry Pastori…. Mr. Peraino stated that he did not know Pastori, nor does he remember ever seeing him. It has been established that Peraino and Pastori were acquaintances.

BOB HANSON
:
It’s the second problem that he has to be concerned with—because a lot of government agencies are not as concerned when one bad guy kills another bad guy, even though we investigate it like any other case. Society itself doesn’t get that upset about it.

But society
is
very upset when innocent bystanders get killed. That brings heat on everybody. So odds are that Henry Pastori screwed up—botched the hit—and ended up getting killed for it.

MICHAEL CROISSANT
:
According to an FBI informant, Henry Pastori pointed out the Perainos to two Columbo soldiers, who killed Joseph Peraino, Jr., and Veronica Zuraw.

On February 12, 1982, Henry Pastori was shot and killed in the Six-one Precinct and was our complaint number 2169. After viewing the foregoing fact that the perpetrator is deceased and cannot be prosecuted, this reports that the case be now closed: EXCEPTIONAL CLEARANCE.

BOB HANSON
:
It was the Columbos who were behind the hit. Rarely do we find out the exact reason it happened, but usually it has something to do
with money. Money or disrespect—those are usually the two reasons we end up with.

NEW YORK TIMES,
JANUARY 6, 1982: BYSTANDER KILLED IN MOB SHOOTING WAS A SOCIAL WORKER AND EX-NUN
:
“Mrs. Zuraw was born in Brazil as Veronica Vestena. She had become a nun, and as Sister Mary Adelaide received an undergraduate degree from Fordham University’s School of Education in 1964.

“Her 1974 wedding to Mr. Zuraw was attended by Anthony J. Bevilacquia, now Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn.

“Father Failla said Mrs. Zuraw had actually run the Italian Board of Guardians office, an affiliate of Catholic Charities of Brooklyn at 1781 Seventy-third Street, Brooklyn.

“A funeral mass is to be offered Friday at 9:30
A.M
. at St. Mary Mother of Jesus Church, Twenty-third Avenue and Eighty-fourth Street, Brooklyn.”

FLORIDA/LOS ANGELES/BELIZE/THAILAND/JAPAN
1982–1984

DAWN SCHILLER
:
After they arrested John, they drove me back to Louise’s house—the stripper—and I stayed there until I heard from my father. He called after he opened the paper and read, “John Holmes was arrested in Miami Beach.”

He called and asked, “Where are you?”

I told him where I was, and he came and picked me up and took me back to his place—he had a nice house in Pompano with a pool.

My dad just cracked open a beer, and we sat down, and I told him my long, emotional story. He would just sit there and nod, and every once in a while he’d reach into his pocket and break a Quaalude in half, and just hand me one, and open me another beer.

When I was done with the story, I got the spins, and I’m like, “Dad, I have to puke.”

He says, “It’s all right, babe.” He walked me down the hall to the bathroom, and he held my hair while I just heaved my guts up.

It was like the nicest thing my dad ever did for me—holding my hair when I puked.

REUTERS INTERNATIONAL NEWS, DECEMBER 7, 1981: ACTOR ARRESTED
:
“John Holmes, 37, was arrested in Miami on Saturday and brought to Los Angeles, where he is being held on a charge of suspicion of murder, police said.”

FRANK TOMLINSON
:
On Monday, December 7, in jail at the Parker Center, in an interview room, Mr. Holmes said that he—indicating Eddie Nash—had him taken at gunpoint to the house on Wonderland Avenue and that
Holmes knew what was going to happen but that he had no choice, that he had to set things up and let them in.

SHARON HOLMES
:
One morning I went into work and this girl I work with says, “Did you know John is back in California? He’s down at county jail.”

It’s almost prophetic that I learn about it that morning because that very evening John calls and tells me he really wants to see me. I said, “Why, John?”

He said, “You’re the only person who doesn’t want a piece of me.”

And I thought, yeah, I can tolerate seeing him once a week, and yes, if he wants me to write him, I’ll write him, and I’ll send him pictures of the dog. All this just to keep him sane, you know?

DAWN SCHILLER
:
After I puked, my dad said, “I’m going to Belize.”

My dad was trying to get some money from this chick—she came from a wealthy family—to start a hotel in a resort area. So we went to Belize for six weeks to check it out. And he paid for it.

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, FEBRUARY 2, 1982: HOLMES ORDERED TO STAND TRIAL
:
“Porno star John Holmes was ordered Tuesday to stand trial for the murders of four people bludgeoned to death in a Laurel Canyon home last July, although a detective said he was forced to set up the slayings.

“Holmes, 37, charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, could face the death penalty if convicted.”

FRANK TOMLINSON
:
John said that he was there when the murders occurred but that he himself did not hurt anyone. At that point I told him that one of his palm prints had been found in a location and a position above one of the victims.

I suggested to him that perhaps Nash made him strike one of the victims—thinking that if he himself were involved in the murders, he would be afraid to talk.

I assured John that he was just as guilty of first-degree murder for what he had told me in regard to going to the house to allow the killers inside as he would be if he had struck one of the victims.

John stated that he had not hit anyone and that he did not know how his palm print could have been near one of the victims.

DAWN SCHILLER
:
When my dad and I got back to the States, I started to have to think about money.

My dad says, “Well, we decided not to buy in Belize—we’re going to go to Thailand. But if you want to go, you’ve got to come up with your own ticket.”

I wanted to go. But I don’t have any skills—I mean I’d been a nurse’s aide, but that didn’t make you much money. And I needed money pretty fast.

So my dad opens up the paper and goes, “What does it say under ‘dancers’?”

I go, “Wanted: Dancers. Top money. Great tips.”

He said, “Dawn, strip clubs.”

I go, “That sounds too scary.”

He goes, “I’ll go with you. It should be safe if I go with you.”

I figured that Dad was big and bad enough, so I get dressed, and we go into this place—the Pink Pussycat on Seventeenth Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale. The owner says, “Have you ever done this before?”

I said, “No.”

He said, “Well, we’ll need to see you dance.”

SHARON HOLMES
:
I went down to the jail once a week. I had Wednesday afternoons off, so I would leave the office at 12:30 and go down. Sometimes I would wait two or three hours before they let me see him. I took a book with me—I think I was the only literate person there.

I’d get to spend about an hour with him. John was always paranoid that they recorded everything, so we’d just talk about my family. He’d want to know how Grandma was and how my mom and my dad were. You know, “What have you been doing in the office?”

Just light stuff. Everybody else wanted something from him, and he knew I didn’t because what I wanted he couldn’t give me…or didn’t want to.

DAWN SCHILLER
:
My father’s at the bar of the Pink Pussycat with his friend Mick—this English dude he traveled the world with—and I come out and go, “I’ve got to audition.”

My dad’s like, “Okay.”

I was scared to death. I did three straight shots of whiskey and just bit the bullet. I had this purple dress on—and that comes off—and I think a G-string.

So I go up there and dance to “Start Me Up” and “Another One Bites the Dust.”

FRANK TOMLINSON
:
Holmes said that Eddie Nash held him at Nash’s house, took his address book, and wrote down the names of his family, and that Eddie Nash told him that if he ever talked to the police, he would kill someone in Holmes’s family. And Holmes said that that was why he was afraid to tell me what happened.

DAWN SCHILLER
:
When I finished dancing, I put my clothes on and went and talked to the owner. He goes, “You can start tomorrow….”

I wanted to leave but my dad says, “Come here a minute. I’ve got to shake your hand. There’s no fucking way in hell I would ever take my clothes off in front of a bunch of people. You’ve got balls.”

This is an immensely proud moment in my life, you know? I go, “Did you watch?”

My dad goes, “No, I couldn’t watch. I had to cover my eyes and shit. But I’d look over at Mick, and his eyes were glued to the stage. All I could ask was, ‘How’s she doing, Mick?’”

“And Mick was saying, ‘She’s doing real good, Bill. Real good!’”

My dad was, like, way proud of me, you know?

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, JUNE 25, 1982: HOLMES FOUND INNOCENT
:
“Porn star John Holmes was found innocent Friday of murdering four people found bludgeoned to death in a Laurel Canyon bloodbath last summer.”

AL GOLDSTEIN
:
Despite his acquittal, Holmes was kept in jail, first on a stolen-property conviction, then on contempt-of-court charges for refusing to answer the grand jury’s questions about the Wonderland Avenue killings.

DAWN SCHILLER
:
I raised about fifteen hundred dollars for a round-trip ticket to Thailand. My dad and I went together. He prepped me about traveling. He said, “Once you fly someplace, it’ll never get out of your blood.”

He would set me up for these things, and I would get so excited. We flew into Bangkok and I was like, “WE’RE ABOUT TO LAND! WE’RE ABOUT TO LAND!”

REUTERS INTERNATIONAL NEWS, NOVEMBER 22, 1982: JUDGE ORDERED HOLMES RELEASED
:
“A judge today ordered pornographic film star John Holmes released from prison after he had apparently told what he knew about one of Hollywood’s most grisly murders, the bludgeoning death of four people.

“Holmes, 38, was acquitted in June of the murders after his lawyers said he had been taken to the scene at gunpoint, but did not take part in the killings.

“Holmes had been held in prison for 111 days for contempt of court for refusing to give details of the murder.

“But today Holmes appeared before a grand jury behind closed doors.

“‘Holmes answered each question put to him,’ Deputy District Attorney Robert Jorgensen told reporters. After the hearing, Superior Judge Julius Leetham ordered the release of Holmes.”

SHARON HOLMES
:
When John got out of jail, he called me and said, “I want to go away and start a new life.”

I could hear a party in the background—and he’s going, “SNNNNIFF”—and I said to myself, “Geez, he just got out of jail, and he’s already snorting coke.”

I had never used the word “fuck” in my life, but I said to John, “Get the
fuck
out of my life,” and slammed the phone down. I just couldn’t believe he had the audacity.

DAWN SCHILLER
:
It wasn’t a big deal when I told my father I was going to become an escort. It was something I knew how to do, and he knew my story, you know? I had given him that seven-hour debriefing of what I had been through with John.

I had my freedom. I had control. I was doing it for a purpose—for money to spend like I wanted.

I took pride in the fact that I wasn’t just doing twenty-dollar blow jobs and stuff like that, that I was making good money. I felt like I was getting paid for what I was worth. I was getting a lot of self-esteem.

John was very open about talking about how sex was a good thing—that there was nothing bad about it. And that we were all whores. That was his theory of life.

SHARON HOLMES
:
John was let out of jail in November 1982. I waited a year; then on Christmas Eve 1983, I built a fire and opened up the Pandora’s box—John’s trunk. When I found out what was in there I said to myself, “Uh-uh. I’m not going to be party to this anymore.”

John was planning on using the trunk as blackmail against the famous people in the photographs. It was like his retirement fund. But I wouldn’t be a party to blackmail.

DAWN SCHILLER
:
I’d have to fly to Japan to see my sugar daddy like once a week—that was it—and he’d pay my rent and give me a bunch of money. But I also worked in a hostess club where you offer fruit and things like that, and you have to look pretty, and be polite, and listen to them talk while they drink. And you try to get them to drink more.

It was very prestigious, too.

Wives would commit suicide because their husbands didn’t go out to a hostess club with their bosses after work because, you know, “Oh my gosh, you’re not good enough”—it was a loss of face.

But then my sugar daddy paid for me to go to school in Bangkok, so I would be gone for three months and then come back for a couple of weeks. And he visited me in Bangkok a couple of times, and I had to take him out to the live sex shows and show him around. You know, get his name written by someone’s pussy. He was all happy.

SHARON HOLMES
:
Was what was in John’s trunk incriminating? Oh, yes. I think it would have been very embarrassing to people if their spouses knew. Did I recognize a lot of the people as famous people? Oh, yeah. People who are in the paper, on television, on a regular basis. Probably 50-50, movie stars and politicians. Celebrities. It could have brought down the California state government.

I burned everything—every piece of paper, every photo, every loop.

DAWN SCHILLER
:
My friend Donald got me this job through a friend—who turned out to be part of the Yakuza—at this hostess club down in the Goya, and I ended up getting trapped down there.

They wouldn’t let me leave. I begged them. Then they sold me to this other Yakuza guy who would take me around with all his bodyguards and shit—and he had tattoos, and permed hair, and you know, no little finger and shit.

They kept me in this room; I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere. I was pretty much property. Were they forcing me to be a prostitute? Yeah, a couple of times. And, you know, I wasn’t given any money.

I was just made to stay in his place while they had their big scary meetings with little cutting-off-little-finger ceremonies.

So I told them, “I know a place to get bulletproof vests in the United States, and if you let me go over there, I can hook you up.”

So I went and never came back.

SHARON HOLMES
:
I guess John was afraid to call me after that last phone call. But his brother called me about a year and a half later and said, “John’s back in Ohio.”

I said, “That’s nice.”

David said, “Um, I’m out here visiting friends, but I’m going back, and John asked me if I could pick up his trunk?”

I said, “I don’t have it, David. I don’t have any of his things.”

And that was true because I’d burned them.