[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
In 1990, gay porn stars became famous Billy London was brutally murdered in Los Angeles. His severed head and legs were found in a dumpster in West Hollywood, but the rest of his body was never recovered.
For more than thirty years, the murder has gone unsolved. And for most of that time, it looks like it will remain unsolved forever. His family prayed for justice, but nothing came. That is, until an unlikely team involving a documentary filmmaker, a detective, a stay-at-home dad, and two true crime podcast hosts start sharing notes.
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At Los Angeles Times detail the London case in a jaw-dropping new feature published on Tuesday morning. The piece tells the story of an LAPD detective John Lambertdocumentary Rachel Masonand Christopher Risang and Eric Shaw Quinnwho is the host Dinner Party Event podcast.
The unlikely group solves the London murders after years of painstaking research. It all started when Rice received a tip from someone who claimed to have seen London – his real name Billy Newton – left a Los Angeles club in October 1990 the night of the murder with “a man who looks like Jeffrey Dahmer.” Rice and Quinn began researching the case and reporting on the podcast.
For a while, they were stumped about who could kill London, and wondered if Dahmer was actually involved. Dahmer himself previously denied killing London. As it turns out, the notorious serial killer had nothing to do with this death – and the real story will finally be known.
At the same time, Lamberti was investigating a cold case from his perch at the LAPD. Doing research online, he found Rice and Quinn’s podcast. Realizing he had received Dahmer’s tip, he began looking deeper into the case. Eventually, Lamberti brought Rice and Quinn into the fold and began coordinating with them on tips and pointers. With the blessing of the family members still in London, the three went forward.
At the same time, Mason was doing his own work on the cold case. As he researched and produced documentary-style coverage, the stay-at-home dad named him Clark Williams reach him. He was going to give Mason background info “about what Billy was able to do growing up in Wisconsin.” Clark is from the same area as Billy, and knows the small town vibe there.
Williams and Mason quickly realized that they both cared deeply about the case, and started doing a “deep dive” on it. In conversation with TooFabThe stay-at-home dad explains how he and the filmmakers began using every free moment to try to solve the case:
“We nurtured a lot of obsession to study and investigate every aspect of this case – literally, leaving no stone unturned.”
Finally, Williams’ exhaustive research into the gay porn industry in the late 1980s yielded a lead: an actor. Billy Houston. The real name of the actor is Darrell Lynn Madden. When Williams began to do more research, he discovered Madden (pictured in the mugshot, above) was a white supremacist who confessed to killing another gay man in the early 2000s.
Talk to Los Angeles TimesThe stay-at-home dad described how the second murder seemed to focus more on Madden:
“It’s a coincidence that I can’t ignore.”
When Williams began to uncover more information, he discovered decades of interviews Madden had done for a book he called American Honor Killings. In the interview, Madden claimed to have committed other murders in Los Angeles. Worried that the incident was turning into a turning point, Williams reached out to Detective Lamberti with what he had found. Soon, detectives began looking for Madden.
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Apparently, Madden is currently serving a life sentence for murder in Oklahoma. The former actor now identifies “as a transgender woman and an Orthodox Jew named Daralyn,” according to Lamberti multiple. In early January, Detective Lamberti and his partner flew to Oklahoma to interview Madden. Under interrogation, the prisoner admitted to “targeting” London for a nighttime robbery in 1990. Along the way, something went wrong, and Madden stabbed London to death. According to multipleMore details Madden told the police matched evidence detectives collected decades ago.
But when Lamberti asked Madden about his accomplices, or where the rest of London’s body had gone, the killer refused to reveal any more information:
“I may be a murderer, but I’m no snitch.”
Oh my…
Considering the age of the case and the fact that Madden was already in prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to file charges in London’s murder. However, the LAPD now officially considers the case closed — after receiving the London family’s blessing to do so.
For Williams, the fact that closure has come is an incredible reward:
“I am truly humbled to have played a role in finding the killer who killed this wonderful young man in October 1990 and to bring justice and peace to his friends and family.”
And in an Instagram post about the incredible story published Tuesday morning, Mason added his own reaction to the incredible conclusion:
“This is the best news I can say. After five years of research- and 32 years of cold weather- this case is SOLVED. Billy’s killer is serving several life sentences. Much will be revealed in a new documentary series we are working on.
Unbelievable!
You can read it in full Los Angeles Times story here.
Reaction, Perezcious readers??
To learn more about how you can help the LGBTQ+ community, check it out https://www.glaad.org/.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, check them out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via WISN 12 News/YouTube/Oklahoma Department of Corrections]