On July 1, 1981, Hollywood was rocked by one of the most brutal murders in its history — the Wonderland Murders.
With ties to drugs, sex, and infamous names like John Holmes and Eddie Nash, the case has captivated true crime enthusiasts for decades.
Now, best-selling author Michael Connelly (Bosch, The Lincoln Lawyer) and Emmy-winning director Alison Ellwood (Laurel Canyon, San Francisco Sounds) are bringing this chilling story back to life with The Wonderland Massacre & The Secret History of Hollywood, a four-part docuseries premiering on MGM+ on September 8.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Connelly and Ellwood about their collaboration, our fascination with this crime, and how they’ve turned a notorious Hollywood tale into a compelling visual experience.
For anyone who’s followed the Wonderland case — or those discovering it for the first time — this series promises to be both an eye-opener and a deep dive into Hollywood’s shadowy past.
“A Visual Story Begging to Be Told”
Connelly, whose Audible podcast about the Wonderland Murders inspired the series, was convinced early on that this was a story that needed to be seen.
“I just thought it’s more of a visual story,” he shared. “I mean, had the same producers on both things, and so One Traveler Productions felt that they could go the distance as a documentary.”
Partnering with Ellwood was a natural choice. “They had a relationship with Alison and brought it to her,” Connelly explained. “We took her from the sublime to the sordid without ever even leaving Laurel Canyon.”
Despite the jarring subject matter, it worked, and Connelly says the decision to bring the story to screen paid off. “I didn’t even expect all the deep dive into archival stuff that Alison and her crew were able to find.”
Ellwood, who had just wrapped her highly-praised Laurel Canyon series, agreed that diving into Wonderland was a stark contrast.
“This story to me was the negative image of the beautiful, positive, bucolic image of the Laurel Canyon music scene,” she noted. “It started to dissipate… because of the introduction of cocaine.”
A True Crime Story with a Hollywood Twist
The Wonderland Murders have long fascinated true crime fans, in part because of the cast of characters involved.
John Holmes, the porn star whose career had declined into drug addiction, found himself embroiled in a deadly feud between drug dealers and kingpins like Eddie Nash.
While this larger-than-life setting is what first captures the imagination, The Wonderland Massacre goes deeper into the crime’s ripple effects on Hollywood.
“The secret history of Hollywood,” as Connelly describes it, lies at the heart of this story.
“This really is a story about the overworld and underworld of Hollywood and these people that were the go-betweens, largely through drugs,” Connelly explained. The documentary peels back the layers of a city where success, fame, and crime are inextricably linked.
And, as Ellwood pointed out, the crime itself is indicative of a broader societal shift. “It’s not just a true crime story. It’s about society, and it’s about societal change,” she added.
“The introduction of cocaine had such a massive impact, and you see it in how the atmosphere around these homes changed.”
Michael Connelly, The “Unrequited Detective”
One of the unique elements of the docuseries is Connelly’s role as a kind of on-screen detective. While the best-selling crime novelist is no stranger to the genre, stepping into the role of interviewer for the series was a new experience for him.
“I’ve spent my entire life writing about detectives, so I think it’s pretty obvious I wish I was a detective,” Connelly joked. “And Alison gave me that shot.”
Ellwood saw the potential in Connelly’s deep knowledge of the case and his rapport with the people he interviewed. “In the podcast… you can see the kind of cat and mouse, Michael trying to get information out of Scott [Thorson],” she explained. “I wanted to capture that visually.”
Connelly’s relationship with the detectives who worked on the original case also adds a layer of authenticity. “I’ve had lots of face-to-faces with them over the years,” he noted.
But perhaps most fascinating was his evolving dynamic with Thorson, a key figure in the Wonderland murders who was once Liberace’s lover. “When I first talked to him, he was in prison… Then he got out but was on probation and couldn’t leave his apartment in Las Vegas.”
Eventually, the interviews with Thorson moved to in-person, including a scene filmed at the iconic Musso & Frank’s in Hollywood.
“I was a little nervous about it,” Connelly admitted. “We call him the unreliable narrator… you never know what he’s going to bring up, how shocking it might be, and then we have to turn around and try to prove or disprove it.”
The Unreliable Narrator: Scott Thorson
Thorson’s role as the enigma of the series is undeniable. He’s the connection between Hollywood royalty like Liberace and the crime world, but his credibility has always been in question.
For Ellwood, it was a challenge to decide when and how to introduce him into the series. “The trickiest thing was trying to figure out the structure of how it would work,” she explained. “If we introduced Scott too soon, you wouldn’t have that mystery of ‘Who is this person?’”
Ultimately, Thorson is introduced at the end of the first episode, allowing his story to weave in and out of the main narrative.
“He wasn’t discovered by the police until eight years after it happened,” Ellwood added, giving viewers just enough time to build the intrigue before revealing his larger-than-life claims.
A Fascination with Hollywood’s Underworld
What makes The Wonderland Massacre unique is its exploration of Hollywood’s dark side. Why are we all still so fascinated with Hollywood in general? You get a crime in Hollywood, and it’ll never go away.
Connelly draws comparisons between the Wonderland Murders and other notorious cases. “This is a story that… pierces all levels of society from street-level drug dealing to the higher echelons of Hollywood.”
The docuseries doesn’t shy away from showing how those worlds collided. Connelly highlighted that, unlike the Manson murders, the victims in this case were perceived differently.
Connolly noted, “This is a crime as awful as it was, four people murdered and in really violent ways. That, alone, is big stuff. But I mean, the tentacles of this case that spread across all of Los Angeles just physically, Laurel Canyons.”
He continued, “But also this touches the innocent lives that were destroyed by the crack epidemic. And you can trace the crack epidemic in Los Angeles, at least to Eddie Nash’s mansion. And that, to me, is a significant part of the storytelling.”
The series emphasizes that not all the victims were involved in criminal activity. Some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, highlighting the randomness and danger of life in the Hollywood underworld.
Unearthing New Information
Despite decades of coverage, Connelly and Ellwood’s work manages to uncover new details about the case.
“We have uncovered new stuff,” Connelly revealed. “We met with the cold case unit… and we got to share what information they have. We extended it past the podcast.”
One of the most striking revelations is that no one has ever been brought to justice for the actual murders. While Eddie Nash, a key figure in orchestrating the killings, was sentenced to three years in prison, Connelly pointed out that “he wasn’t in the house.”
“The people that killed those four people have never been brought to justice,” Connelly said, underscoring the ongoing mystery surrounding the case.
A Story That Still Resonates
As The Wonderland Massacre makes its way to audiences, its themes are as relevant today as ever. The obsession with true crime, the dark allure of Hollywood, and the human cost of fame and fortune are timeless.
This crime and others like it will always fascinate people.
Connelly, ever the detective, doesn’t rule out the possibility that the series could even stir new developments in the case. “This documentary series… might make people change their minds and go into the police and so forth.”
Whether it leads to new revelations or simply captivates audiences, The Wonderland Massacre is bound to leave viewers questioning the myths and realities of Hollywood’s shadowy past.
The Wonderland Massacre & The Secret History of Hollywood debuts on MGM+ on September 8.