The Wonderland Murders Explained

To fully understand what events led to the Wonderland murders, you need to look into the life and times of the notorious John Holmes. As The New York Times puts it, Holmes was a very popular and prolific adult movie performer, who became famous for his many escapades in the nascent industry in the 1970s. Though he died in 1988, at just 43-years-old, his IMDb page reveals that he had no less than 231 credits as an actor, the vast majority of which were porn. 

As Salon tells us, however, Holmes' life wasn't all roses and disrobement. Over his years of increasing fame, he developed a massive cocaine addiction, which took a toll on his professional life. His habit — which allegedly cost him as much as $1,500 per day — also started costing him job opportunities, and the producers who had been lining up to cast him eventually turned their back on him. 

Holmes knew why this was, too. "In the middle of a scene, I would disappear for long stretches, but my co-workers knew where to find me: in the bathroom doing freebase," he said. "I became the butt of jokes, which traveled around like wildfire. 'To get Holmes to work,' they said, 'you have to leave a trail of freebase from the bathroom to the bedroom.'" This behavior led to a huge decrease in his income, which caused him to turn to small-time crime – and some very questionable company.