In 2002, director Barry Avrich released an unauthorized documentary about Dunne, Guilty Pleasure. In 1969, he was arrested for possession of marijuana. Mr. Dunnes brother was the writer John Gregory Dunne, the husband of the writer Joan Didion. However, the actress was brain dead and eventually removed from life support. I have far better jewels than Sunny von Bulow ever had., Dunnes stories were filled with revelations such as these. I realized the power writing has, and it has also helped me deal with my rage, he said in an interview with The New York Times for this obituary in 2000. Dominick Dunne was an American writer and investigative journalist whose subjects frequently hinged on the ways high society interacts with the judiciary system. A portrait of Dominick Dunne that accompanied his November 2006 Vanity Fair article, Who Didnt Kill JonBenet? Photograph by Mark Seliger. I dont want to die under anesthesia. His father, Richard, was a heart surgeon, and although the family was well-off, his childhood was not happy. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. According to one account, during an argument on August 27, 1982, he yanked handfuls of her hair out by the roots. The final act in his self- destruction was when he told an offensive joke about the powerful Hollywood agent Sue Mengers and the Hollywood Reporter printed it. He had met him when Mr. Fuhrman testified during the O. J. Simpson murder trial. Her parents were actors, and she was the youngest of three siblings. Dominique Ellen Dunne (November 23, 1959 November 4, 1982) was an American actress. Writer-at-large Marie Brenner remembers her late friend and colleague Dominick Dunne. Dominick Dunne: After the Party, a documentary about his life, premiered in 2008. She was also the niece of married novelists John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion. The war-devastated children of the Persian Gulf have their most dynamically eloquent champion in Audrey Hepburn, who has exorcised haunting memories of her own wartime childhood with the most demanding role of her career, as an ambassador for UNICEF. In 1979, he left Hollywood and drove to Oregon. While the tragedies came well after . He denied assaulting Dunne, however, claiming that she accidentally incurred the bruises when he tried to prevent her from leaving their home. [18], Dunne appeared posthumously in the Hill Street Blues episode, "Requiem For a Hairbag, which aired on November 18, 1982, only two weeks after her death. [40] The jury's foreman, Paul Speigel, later told the media that both he and his fellow jurors were surprised by Judge Katz's criticism and he called his comment "a cheap shot. Speigel felt that Judge Katz's criticism did not stem from their verdict but from the harsh criticism he received afterward. What we would not know until the trial was that the marks on her neck were real, from John Sweeney's assault on her." I want a little drama to it. Later, Humphrey Bogart brought him to Hollywood to work on the television version of The Petrified Forest. Having reported on Simpson's first trial and having thought the judicial system failed the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldmanas well as his own family after his daughter's murderhe was personally vested in Simpson's fate. Nationality: American. But we should note that O'Rourke died six years after the film was released and . He made no secret of the fact that his sympathy generally lay with the victim, and he was vocal about what he considered the misapplication of justice. [3][4] His maternal grandfather, Dominick Francis Burns (18571940), was a successful grocer, who, in 1919, co-founded the Park Street Trust Company, a neighborhood savings bank. Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to six and a half years in prison, but he only served two and a half years of his sentence. Hayden Panettiere's Family Reveals Brother Jansen's Cause of Death. In the mid-1990s, Dominick Dunne was contacted by a Florida physician who came across an article which Dunne wrote about Dominique's death. He decided to stay, stopped drinking and using drugs, and contemplated his failures. Several outlets criticized Judge Katz's rulings, which many argued were preferential towards the defense. After graduation, she spent a year in Florence, Italy, where she learned Italian. The consummate insider and relentless crusader, Dunne chronicles the arrogance that leads the rich to believe they are above the law. "[34] The medical examiner who performed Dunne's autopsy determined that the victim had been strangled for at least three minutes. The cause of death was bladder cancer, said his son Griffin Dunne. Celebrity: Dominick Dunne: Directed by Kirsty de Garis, Timothy Jolley. Similarly, Dunne, who had been a guest at the 1950 wedding of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel, turned his theories about the culpability of Ethels nephew, Michael Skakel, in a long-unsolved slaying into another novel, A Season in Purgatory (1993). Dunne started writing regularly for Vanity Fair. I wrote The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, about a social family whose son married a showgirl who was then accused of murdering him. Mr. Dunnes magazine career was weighted toward the coverage of sensational murder trials. He attended the Kingswood School and the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut,[6] but was drafted into the Army during his senior year of high school. Write by: . What was indisputable was that Dunne -- with his silver hair, tortoiseshell glasses and Turnbull & Asser finery -- became a celebrity in his own right, sympathizing with crime victims, skewering the perpetrators and riding in limousines to his front-row seat at their trials. Dominick Dunne, a best-selling author and special correspondent for Vanity Fair, died today at his home in Manhattan. Not true! she told Dunne. Mr. Dunnes speaking out led to a lawsuit for slander filed by Gary Condit, a Democratic congressman from California, over remarks Mr. Dunne had made on national radio and television in 2001. [9] She studied acting at Milton Katselas' Workshop and appeared in various stage productions, including West Side Story, The Mousetrap, and My Three Angels.[6]. Dunne was the older brother of writer John Gregory Dunne (19322003), a screenwriter and a critic who married the writer Joan Didion. Before covering such high-profile trials as those of the Menendez brothers and O.J. The cause of death was Parkinson's disease, according to Paul Bogaards, an executive at Didion's publisher Knopf. [42][43], On the advice of Tina Brown, Dominick Dunne kept a journal throughout the trial. [4][5] Dunne had two older brothers, Alexander "Alex" and Griffin Dunne, who is an actor and director. Photo (C) H. Thompson Sweeney's court-appointed attorney, Michael Adelson, argued that his client's actions were neither premeditated nor were they executed with malice. They had two sons, Griffin and Alexander, in addition to Dominique. After her parents divorce she moved first to new york and then to a posh home in beverly hills. He then returned to the driveway, where he laid down beside Dunne, waiting for the pills to take effect. Dominique passed away on November 4, 1982 at the age of 22 in West Hollywood, California, USA. Born into a prominent family, her father, Dominick Dunne, was a journalist and her mother, Ellen Griffin, was an heiress. His first assignment was to write The Winners, a sequel to gossip columnist Joyce Habers popular novel The Users. Released in 1982, it was poorly reviewed but for Dunne it wasnt a bad start. Dunne told the friend that Sweeney had tried to kill her, but Sweeney denied the claim and asked Dunne to come back to bed. Dominique Dunne's murder is the sort of shocking event that most films don't have hanging over their initial release it's true, and the death of Heather O'Rourke aged 12 is the sort of tragedy that will capture the imagination of the conspiracy-minded. He was 83. She later founded the organization "Justice for Homicide Victims, Inc." Ex . Shortly after her death, her appearance on the police drama "Hill Street Blues" aired. The series is dedicated to her memory. After a June 28, 1967 evening engagement, actress Jayne Mansfield and the occupants of her car were traveling down a winding, narrow stretch of US Hwy 90 in rural Louisiana when the car would plow into the back of a stopped big rig. For more than two decades, Vanity Fair published Dominick Dunne's brilliant, revelatory chronicles of the most famous crimes, trials, and punishments of our time. Reports say sweeney an ex of dunnes had routinely abused her causing. The account, Justice: A Fathers Account of the Trial of His Daughters Killer, was published in Vanity Fair in 1984. The daughter of film producer-turned-journalist Dominick. Dominique Dunne was born in Santa Monica. She spent a year in Florence, Italy where she studied acting at Milton Katselas' Workshop. [20] The series was released in 1983,[21] and is dedicated to her memory. His story on the Safra slaying, for instance, was an engrossing brew of fact and rank speculation as only Dunne could produce. He was unique, veteran Associated Press trial reporter Linda Deutsch told The Times recently. Anyone can read what you share. The Library of America selected Dunne's account of the Menendez trial, Nightmare on Elm Drive, for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American true crime writing, published in 2008. In 2003, in a 14,000-word article in The Atlantic Monthly arguing that the case against his cousin was flawed and had left reasonable doubt, Mr. Kennedy accused Mr. Dunne of intimidating prosecutors and helping to drive the news media into a frenzy to lynch the fat kid., Mr. Dunne said in The Times interview that he had also been a source of information for a book that Mark Fuhrman was writing about the Skakel trial. Dominique Dunne . He loved to dish, giving rumor equal time with news in his Vanity Fair reports. She had two brothers, Griffin and Alex Dunne and she was the niece of Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. She pretended that she was going to comply with his request but she snuck out of the bathroom window. He moved to New York in 1981. In a court case which gained significant media coverage, Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Dunne's death, and served three and a half years in prison. Then came the tragedy that would define the second half of his life: His actress-daughter, Dominique, 22, was strangled by her boyfriend, John Sweeney, a chef at a tony West Hollywood restaurant. Covering the last Simpson trial capped an extraordinary career that had bloomed from tragedy. But his trial coverage became his signature. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. There are various reasons for a person's death, like health issues, accidents, suicide, etc. What's more, Sweeney was hired as a head chef at . Sweeney said that he attempted to revive her by making her walk around, but she fell down. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. He told me there was nothing people liked more than reading about the rich and powerful in criminal situations, Mr. Dunne said. He claimed that they had reconciled, that they were planning to move back in together, and that the two had daily discussions about getting married and having children. I knew all the phone numbers. He then moved on to producing feature films, including The Boys in the Band, Panic in Needle Park, Play It as It Lays, and Ash Wednesday. In 2008, at age 82, Dunne traveled from New York to Las Vegas to cover O. J. Simpson's trial on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery for Vanity Fair. [18], This article is about the author. After he moved out, she had the locks changed and moved back into the Rangely Avenue home.[24]. Within me, I knew I would never be a first-rate producer. Season 1. movies and played a role the 1982 film Poltergeist. I just lost my temper and blew it again. Dunne began working at the . Others were highly placed friends of friends, such as former Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos, who gave him an exclusive interview shortly after she and her husband took up life in exile, and Lily Safra, the international jet-setter whose banker-husband Edmond was killed in a suspicious fire. In September 2008, Dunne disclosed that he was being treated for bladder cancer. We were like minor-league Kennedys.. His willingness to entertain nearly any source made him the target of an $11-million defamation lawsuit by former California Rep. Gary Condit after Dunne told a bizarre, unsubstantiated story on national television and radio programs that implicated Condit in the 2001 disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy. Some of the crasser scribes would later attribute her death to the "Poltergeist" curse, which swirled around the sudden and unexpected deaths of several cast members from the original film and its 1986 sequel, "Poltergeist II: The Other Side." Sweeney's trial for the murder of Dominique Dunne began in August of 1983. The couple frequently fought, and Sweeney began to physically abuse Dunne. . als posted a black photo on Instagram and captioned it: "Joan Didion. He never hesitated to admit that his sympathetic stance stemmed from the murder of his daughter, Dominique, by John Sweeney, her ex-boyfriend, in 1982. By 1970, he was producing films. Sweeney openly admitted to attempting to kill Dominique and then himself. According to the media sources, Quintana was the adoptive daughter of Joan Didion. Ten minutes later, however, Sweeney showed up at Dunne's home. His son Griffin Dunne spoke about it today, which is the publication date, confirming that it is "hardly a novel," but rather a pointed critique of Hollywood's rich and famous, a pointed critique of the people he spent his life writing about. Notes: Grandkin; Events. He apologized to Condit and paid an undisclosed sum to settle the lawsuit in 2005. February 27, 2023 equitable estoppel california No Comments . In 1949, he graduated from Williams College with a B.A. What I saw in the courtroom filled me with the kind of rage that only writing about it could quell., The 1984 article that his journal became, Justice: A Fathers Account of the Trial of His Daughters Killer, was a powerfully dry-eyed indictment of the legal proceedings that found Sweeney guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. He then attempted to give her CPR, which caused Dunne to vomit. Quintana Roo Dunne (born 3 March 1966 - died 26 August 2005, Aged: 39 Years) was an American famous personality, writer, celebrity family member, and entrepreneur from Santa Monica, California, United States. Join us as we tell the story of the tragic death of POLTERGEIST actress Dominique Dunne.#DominiqueDunne #Poltergeist #TrueCrimeWant a personalized VIDEO MESS. Birthplace: Hartford, CT Location of death: Manhattan, NY Cause of death: Cancer - other. The brothers wrote a column for The Saturday Evening Post and they also collaborated on the production of The Panic in Needle Park. Dunne slyly dissected Phil Spector, the eccentric record producer convicted of murder this year, calling him a drama queen, albeit straight.. He had gotten the idea a few years earlier, after a chance encounter in the Beverly Hills Hotel with a Washington Post writer who went to college with Stephen. Dominick Dunne is survived by his two sons, the actor-director Griffin, and Alex. [48], This article is about the actress. In 2000, Mr. Dunne was found to have prostate cancer. Dunne was a frequent contributor to Vanity Fair, and, beginning in the 1980s, often appeared on television discussing crime. The tragic death of Dominique Dunne. Dunne felt it was fitting that Simpsons armed robbery trial should be the last one he would cover. Upon their arrival, the police said that they found Sweeney's demeanor to be both calm and collected". An investigative journalist, writer, and movie producer, he is best known for works such as The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1985), People Like Us (1988), and The Mansions of Limbo (1991). [16], Dunne was married to Ellen Beatriz Griffin from 1954 to 1965. But what is most frightening is the death of the . When youre down and out, theres no meaner place to live than Hollywood. He apologized to the court for the outburst, which Judge Katz accepted. He then realized that she was not breathing. Two children, both girls, died within days of being born. 5-star. The guests included Nancy and Ronald Reagan and Truman Capote, who two years later used the idea for his own ball of the same name, at the Plaza Hotel in New York, a renowned event to which the Dunnes were not invited. He always said, Im for the victims. , Dunne wore his sympathy for victims of heinous crimes like a badge of honor. The book was a novel of Hollywood, The Winners.. According to Wikipedia, Joan was a famous American . Hes a gossip columnist.. Dunne was just 22 years old. The doctor informed Dunne that his daughter had recently become engaged to a chef who went by the name of John Sweeney and inquired if that man was the same man who was responsible for Dominique's death. [33] The prosecution and the police investigators also dismissed Sweeney's version of events, because there was no physical evidence that he had consumed pills in an attempt to commit suicide at the time of his arrest. At one point he sold all his possessions including, for $300, his dog, a West Highland terrier. And I went.. Pierce, who, at the request of Sweeney's attorney, did not testify in the jury's presence, stated that she and Sweeney had dated on and off from 1977 to 1980. As her father Dominick wrote in Vanity Fair, "She played a battered child. She asked him to keep a journal during the trial and come see her when it was over. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. That was when he knew that my demise as a film producer was imminent. He had no more work and was so broke he sold his dog. After her television appearances, in 1981, Dunne was cast in the supernatural horror film Poltergeist in the main role of Dana Freeling,[10] the teenaged daughter of a couple whose family is terrorized by malevolent ghosts. It was released globally and featured Johnnie Cochran, Griffin Dunne, and producer David Brown. Aug. 26, 2009. He unabashedly declared his belief that Simpson was guilty of the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ron Lyle Goldman. A friend of Alfred and Betsy Bloomingdale of the department store fortune, he turned Alfreds relationship with his mistress, Vicki Morgan, into a roman a clef, An Inconvenient Woman (1990). Ive lived this very dramatic life, with high points and terrible low points, he told a London paper as the trial drew to a close. Dominick Dunne, a best-selling author and special correspondent for Vanity Fair, died today at his home in Manhattan. [31] Sweeney was later charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm when, during a preliminary trial hearing, he admitted that he and Dunne had a physical altercation on September 26, 1982, the day before she filmed the Hill Street Blues episode, in which she appeared with visible bruises on her face and body. In 1999 he published a memoir, The Way We Lived Then, Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper, studded with photographs of the famous. He was known for his novels such was "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" (1985), and "A Season in Purgatory" (1993). I stayed home for five days and did everything the doctor told me to do, he added, and a week later I flew to Europe., Dominick Dunne, Chronicler of Crime, Dies at 83, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/arts/television/27dunne.html. Nowadays, even small children have various diseases, which is a piece of shocking news. Dominick Dunne at his home in Manhattan in 2002. Packer left the home through the back entrance, approached the driveway, and saw Sweeney in some nearby bushes, kneeling over Dunne. After graduating from Williams College, Dunne moved to New York City, where he became a stage manager for television. AKA Dominique Ellen Dunne. In an effort to save face, Judge Katz criticized the jury at Sweeney's November 7 th sentencing. Dunne was quoted as saying that Hopper wished he "had a picture of myself with Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer."[10]. Biography - A Short WikiAn investigative journalist, writer, and movie producer, he is best known for works such as The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1985), People Like Us (1988), and The Mansions of Limbo (1991). Later, Packer said that he heard smacking sounds, two screams, and a thud. His father was a renowned heart surgeon and a hospital chief of staff. A friend who was staying with the couple at the time heard "loud gagging sounds" and ran into the room where Dunne was being physically attacked. Episode 3. Speigel went on to say that had the jury been provided with the opportunity to hear all of the evidence, it would have convicted Sweeney of murder. Drafted into the Army during his senior year in high school, Mr. Dunne fought in the Battle of the Bulge and won both his fathers admiration and a Bronze Star for crawling past Nazi sentries and carrying back a wounded soldier. ", "Paid Notice: Deaths DUNNE, ELLEN GRIFFIN", "Celebrity Author And Hartford Native Dominick Dunne Dies At Age 83 -- Courant.com", "Dominick Dunne dies at 83; author and former Hollywood producer", "Remembering the Tragic Murder of 'Poltergeist' Star Dominique Dunne", "Click over, children! The spokesman had initially declined to confirm the death, saying the family had hoped to wait a day before making an announcement so that Mr. Dunnes obituary would not be obscured by the coverage of Senator Edward M. Kennedys death. Perhaps one of the most grisly and tragic deaths was that of 22-year-old actress Dominique Dunne, who played the eldest sister in the first film, Dana Freeling. Dominique's cause of death was murder by strangulation. By the 1970s he was a vice president of Four Star Television and produced The Boys in the Band, Panic in Needle Park and other films. On the night of October 30, Sweeney said that Dunne had abruptly changed her mind about a reconciliation, however, telling him that she had been leading him on and lying to him about getting back together. High society novelist, true crime writer. [9] This lawsuit was eventually dismissed. He was 83. The writer was a screenwriter and literary critic besides being a famous novelist. Ivana Marie Zelnkov escaped from behind the Iron Curtain to storm New York City and help create the twisted miracle of Donald Trump. The man was later identified as the . [40] Afterward, several media outlets also debated the events of the trial and the verdict. I always kept scrap books and saved everything. And the story would almost always start with, Do you know what I heard? and end with Can you believe that!. Home. The cause of death was bladder cancer, said his son . Dominique Dunne Grave (CC BY 2.0) by Ben Churchill Dominique Dunne > Death date: Oct 30, 1982 > Cause of death: Strangulation Dominique Dunne, daughter of actor and writer Dominick Dunne and niece . Their Irish Catholic family had money, and there were several authors among Dunne's . His increasing prominence as a reporter, writer, author and television personality made him a staple at fashionable dinner parties and social events. Five months after the release of the movie with her career . His first article for the magazine appeared in March 1984an account of the trial of the man who killed his daughter Dominique. He was always writing from the point of view of the victim because of what happened to his daughter, and he had a riveting way of knowing, almost like Balzac, what to tell the reader when.. In November 2006, Condit again sued Dunne for comments Dunne made about him on Larry King Live on CNN. Murder with malice". Dominick Dunne, the bestselling novelist and Vanity Fair writer who chronicled the misdeeds of the rich and famous with wicked glee -- most memorably in his highly personal accounts of the trials of Claus von Bulow, the Menendez brothers and O.J. I want something in the papers.. The writer was a screenwriter and literary critic apart from being a renowned novelist. Her godfather, Martin Manulis, delivered the eulogy. Elaine Woo is a Los Angeles native who has written for her hometown paper since 1983. Trial To Be Last", "Crime Writer Rushed From O.J. Sweeney meanwhile was facing first degree murder charges. [38] After Judge Katz excused the jury and commented on the judicial system being upheld, Dominick Dunne, the victim's father, yelled, "Not for our family, Judge Katz! Dunne had written extensively about the bizarre death of Edmond Safra, the billionaire banker who, in 1999, suffocated from a fire set inside his heavily secured Monte Carlo penthouse. Dunne's mother told him to leave and threatened to call the police. [24], On August 29, defense attorney Michael Adelson also requested that Judge Katz rule that the court lacked sufficient evidence to try Sweeney on the charge of first-degree murder, because predetermination was not established. The octogenarian attended the trial against doctors orders, unable to resist what promised to be the final curtain in a protracted saga. Although Dunne led a famous persons life, he felt like an impostor whose success did not match that of his peers. Dominick Dunne attended the trial of John Thomas Sweeney, Dominique's ex-boyfriend. After floundering on life support, she died on Nov. 4, 1982. 1. A few days later, Dunne returned to the home which she shared with Sweeney, and the two resumed their relationship. Know the death cause and wife Joan Didion. They insisted that he went to Dunne's home on October 30 in an effort to persuade her to reconcile after she told him that their break up was permanent. Poltergeist was theatrically released in 1982, which marks both her first starring role and her only appearance in a theatrical feature. He was 83. Dominique Dunne, who played the teenage daughter Dana Freeling, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend a few months after the film's premiere. His social ambitions ruined his marriage, and he began drinking excessively and abusing drugs. Go here to read about the Death of Jayne Mansfield (and no, she wasn't decapitated). No one in Hollywood would return the reporters calls so he asked for Dunnes help. Episode 2. [28] She was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. Listening is an underrated skill, he said in discussing his interviews with political figures and celebrities like Imelda Marcos, Elizabeth Taylor, Diane Keaton and Mr. von Bulow. After speaking to him through the locked door, Dunne agreed to speak to him on the porch, while Packer remained inside. Judge Katz granted the request, and as such, the jurors were instructed to consider the charges of manslaughter or second-degree murder. [1] Dunne had Irish and Mexican ancestry, her father was born and raised in an Irish Catholic family with her maternal grandfather an Irish-American and her maternal grandmother a Mexican who was from Sonora, Mexico. Even as his health declined, he would show up in his trademark round glasses and a Turnbull & Asser shirt, with the proper white collar and large blue stripes. Military service: US Army (WWII) As a child, Dominick Dunne was beaten by his father for his "sissy" attempts at writing plays and staging puppet shows. All are welcome! Caption: John Gregory Dunne's wife Joan . He never pretended to be objective in covering trials, Graydon Carter, the current editor of Vanity Fair, said Wednesday. (1983) and filmed several scenes before she was murdered. She had two older brothers, Alexander "Alex" and actor Griffin Dunne. Jayne Mansfield Crash Scene Photos and Nude Pictures. alexander dunne death. [7] Dominick Dunne covered Sweeney's trial for Vanity Fair, and alongside the rest of his family, expressed his outrage when Sweeney was acquitted of second-degree murder in favor of voluntary manslaughter. He was 83. Although ill, he covered Simpsons recent armed robbery trial in Las Vegas, which resulted in a pronouncement of guilt -- a verdict that Dunne awaited for more than a decade. He became a nonperson in the industry. One night he went to bed with a knife beside him, intending to kill himself, only to be jarred awake by a phone call telling him that his youngest brother, Stephen, had committed suicide. Let me get him off the phone." Living alone in a cabin, he became sober and began, at age 50, to write. Dunne's first role was in the 1979 television film, Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker. O.J. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Snowboarder dies at South Lake Tahoe resort, California to alter COVID rules in healthcare settings: Masks and vaccinations not required, Welcome to the world, baby Winter, born amid a snowstorm in Lake Arrowhead, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Californias snowpack is approaching an all-time record, with more on the way, After surviving a war scene car crash, L.A. County sheriffs recruits graduate, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits. Born on October 29, 1925, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, Dominick John Dunne was the second of six children of Dorothy Frances (ne Burns) and Richard Edwin Dunne. Mr. Dunne sits near O. J. Simpson at Mr. Simpsons 2008 trial in Las Vegas. After a few weeks of dating, they moved into a one-bedroom house together on Rangely Avenue in West Hollywood. Ms. Dunne, a 22-year-old actress, was found strangled, and Mr. Sweeney, who was found guilty only of voluntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor for an earlier assault, served less than three years.