Watch the first trailer for the new crime documentary series

The Oscar-nominated Movie from 1997 Boogie Nights captivated audiences with its fast-paced story of sex, drugs and crime in Hollywood's Golden Age of Porn. But behind the popular film lies a real murder that captured Hollywood's attention for over 40 years. Now Michael Connelly, the crime writer behind bestsellers such as The clientis working with MGM+ to release a new docuseries about one of Tinsel Town’s most notorious bloodbaths: The Wonderland Massacre.

When police arrived at a home of suspected drug dealers in Laurel Canyon on July 1, 1981, they found four people beaten to death: Ron Launius, William Raymond “Billy” DeVerell, Joy Audrey Gold Miller and Barbara Richardson. They were also known as The Wonderland Gang. Only one victim, Susan Lanius, survived, but she was badly injured and suffered amnesia after the incident. The subsequent investigation revealed a tangled web of the Los Angeles crime scene — and linked the murders to a robbery that had taken place two days earlier at the home of Eddie Nash, a nightclub owner and drug kingpin. Although police arrested and tried several people from Nash's drug empire, no one was ever officially convicted of the murders. It's a notorious Hollywood mystery — one that Connelly once again confronts head-on.

Connelly began investigating the Wonderland murders in 2021 for his popular documentary podcast Audible. Now, the MGM+ docuseries uses a mix of archival footage and one-on-one interviews with one of the only true witnesses to the night: former porn star and former boyfriend of Liberace, Scott Thorson. Thorson is the only person still alive with firsthand testimony about the event — though his drug use and behavior at the time have often prompted both prosecutors and documentary filmmakers to close in on him. Connelly spoke to Rolling Stone in 2021, noting that Thorson was a difficult witness to talk to, but he always seemed to tell the truth. At one point, he believed he caught Thorson lying about using drugs with Richard Pryor. “I know when crack started, so I looked up the timing of all of this and said, 'There's no way you were smoking crack with Richard Pryor in 1979,' and he said, 'It wasn't crack. We were freebasing,' and he was right. I watched the tape again and he didn't say crack,” Connelly said Rolling Stone“I have to be honest, if I could catch him lying, it would have increased the entertainment value of the podcast. But the few times I thought he was lying, he had a good and valid explanation that either I misunderstood something or he misinterpreted a question.” Using new footage, interviews and statements from the original investigators and prosecutors, Connelly weaves an important journey through the Hollywood drug scene of the 1980s and the crimes that took place there.

The trailer shows several key moments between Connelly and Thorson, including a chilling statement. “People still know about this case. How much does it bother you that people got away with murder?” asks Connelly. Thorson's answer is simple: “I slept with one eye open.”

The Wonderland Massacres and the Secret History of Hollywood Premieres September 8 on MGM+.