Happy birthday to Dominique. She would have been 48 years old today.
Happy birthday to Dominique. She would have been 48 years old today.
omg! i had no idea it was her birthday. whenever i go to westwood cemetary i always take her a flower.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
right on!
So Sad. I can't believe she would have been that old.
Wow, its so hard to imagine her at that age !
You said it, Jazbabee...she died it seems eons ago...
Renowned Death Hag
That was a shock because at the time, I was huge Poltergiest fan. It affected me, definately.
Happy Birthday, Dominique. You're NOT forgotten.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]peek-a-boo!!
Its funny how time stands still for people that have died!
They won't age but we will!
They are forever frozen in time at the age they died!
That situation was TOO sad. And really would not have happened if that jerkwad who was in her house had had any guts at all and come out and helped her. Honestly, how does that guy live with himself? (Can't remember his name off the top of my head.)
Dominique
In the fall of 1981, after completing work on Poltergeist, Dunne met and later moved in with a popular Los Angeles chef, John Thomas Sweeney, who was working at the restaurant Ma Maison. After a short and abusive relationship, Dunne ended her relationship with Sweeney. A few weeks later, Sweeney strangled Dunne in the driveway of her home after she refused to reconcile with him. She died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California a few days later, at the age of 22.
Her last TV appearance, aired after her death, was in an episode of Hill Street Blues. She played a teenage mother who is a victim of parental abuse. Some of her bruise marks were actual bruises inflicted from abuse by Sweeney the night before filming.[citation needed] The episode was dedicated to her memory.
Sweeney was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 6 and a half years in prison. He served less than four years before his release, having been given credit for time served before conviction.
Dominique Dunne was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery near family friend Natalie Wood. In 1988, Heather O'Rourke, Dunne's young Poltergeist co-star, was buried near her.
Senior Death Hag
Young girl from Poltergist. Her estranged boyfriend strangled her. She was sister to Griffin Dunne and daughter of famous writer Dommick Dunne. There is a thread on FAD
I always found that poltergeist "curse" an interesting phenomenon.
Death Hag
Yep. Strangled the poor girl and went to jail for about 2 weeks as I recall. (yeah I know it was more than 2 weeks but it wasn't very long!)
Me too some people think it's coincidence I think it's more.Originally Posted by bluebear71
Seems he played the clean cut bible thumper card and got a shorter sentence. He deserved a lot longer than that.
There is no such thing as a Poltergeist curse. In a long enough time line the survival rate is always going to be zero. I think I got that from Fight Club. Anyways...my point is misery and death are everywhere. You can try this so-called curse out on any film. You're going to believe what you want to believe.
I always felt so terrible for her dad.....his show on Court TV Power Priviledge & Justice is pretty damn good....in the process of finding her marker, I found a this site for graves....not bad, all and all....
link......http://www.seeing-stars.com/ImagePag...avePhoto.shtml
Every time I see her name, I get angry as hell at our judicial system. WTF???? This guy was a nutzo, pure psycho killer. I was told he has changed his name so he can continue as a "chef". I would never patronize a place that employed him.
this guy is a chef!!???????!!!!????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so the same hands that murdered someone might be making my dinner somewhere?????!!!!!!
yuck!!!
There were so many in that series there were bound to be people dying off & getting sick.
I saw the THS on the films & it was sad, hearing the actors remember her. The "hickie" on her neck in the scene where she gets out of the car screaming was actually a bruise made by her bf, who later killed her.
I love her parents for handing out those infamous flyers outside of his workplace.
I've read a couple of books by her dad and in each one he talked about his daughter's murder...the sadness of it all was so pervasive in his writing...one would thoroughly get the anger of the injustice in not just his daughter's murder but of other murders as well.
And of course Dominick Dunne was one of the major writers who attended a little known trial known as "CA VS. Orenthal James Simpson" in 1994....
My only hope left for Dominique's killer is that he is slaving away at a McDonald's somewhere....
I feel conflicted about this guy.
In the autumn of 1982, the work at the set of the science fiction series â??Vâ? begun. Dominique got the role of Robin Maxwell for the three episodes of the miniseries. The scenes for the first episode were already shot and the second one was also nearly completed, when she met with another actor from the cast of â??Vâ?, the 20-year old David Packer, on October 30 at her home to rehearse some scenes together with him. At about 8:45 p.m. John Sweeney showed up, only ten minutes after he had already phoned Dominique. David Packer asked, if he should leave, but Dominique wanted him to stay, while she went outside to speak with her ex-boyfriend. On the driveway, they started to argue. Sweeney begged for reconciliation. But Dominique, tired of all the discussions and his violence, obviously refused him and wanted him to leave. But like in the quarrel they had five weeks before, he suddenly grabbed her by her neck and dragged her along the driveway up to the back yard of the house next door, where he started to strangle her. The petite actress (5'1'' / 1.55 m, 112 pounds) had no chance to resist against the physical strength of John Sweeney (6'1'' / 1.84 m, nearly 200 pounds).
In the meantime, David Packer witnessed their loud discussion outside with fear. He later stated, that he feared for his own life because of John Sweeney's obvious anger and jealousy. Suddenly, he heard two screams and a thud. Scared, he called the police, but the officer told him that the scene was out of his department's jurisdiction. Then, Packer tried to phone a friend, leaving a message on the tape of his answering machine, saying that if he was found dead, the killer was John Sweeney. After a while, he went outside. Nearby the driveway, he saw Dominique lying on the ground without moving and John Sweeney crouching beside her. Sweeney wanted him to call the police, and so David Packer did again. After a few minutes, the police arrived. They found Dominique unconscious and so they called for an ambulance, which arrived five minutes later at the scene. They rushed Dominique immediately into the nearby Cedars Sinai Hospital. On the way, her heart had come to a full stop, but it was possible to restore her to life after she arrived at the hospital. But the results of the examinations showed, that Dominique's brain was heavily damaged because of the anoxaemia during the strangulation, and that there would be no real chance to reverse the death of her brain. Nevertheless, the doctors made every effort to restore the cerebral functions, but without a success. After five days, on November 4, her parents signed her off the life-support systems, and Dominique died instantly, at 11:00 a.m. After she died, her heart and her kidneys have been donated to the hospital for transplants.
He admitted he was afraid for his own life & stayed in the safety of the house instead of helping Dominique. Even if I was terrified & Sweeney had a gun, I feel like I would have called the police until they took em seriously. I would run down the street screaming for help. I could not have let her be murdered on the other side of the wall.
How can he show his face?
Last edited by RaRaRamona; 04-11-2010 at 08:01 PM.
I know what you mean about not knowing how to feel about the guy. On one hand I always think he is such an ass hat for not going out there and attempting to save her since he and Dominique out numbered Sweeney. The least he could have done was gone out there and caused a ruckous and stirred the attention of others in the neighborhood who may have helped stop it. But all in all I think he's the kinda guy that would grab an old lady and use her as a human shield if something went down.
Oh and on the other hand, nah , he's just a pu$$y who let his friend die because he was scared.
Yes! Sad but true. He's a George Cantstandya.
Renowned Death Hag
I used to like him. Then I found out what happened, and I was, as you say, conflicted. I was very disappointed to hear how he acted. I could maybe understand if he was afraid of going outside and confronting Sweeney, but certainly he could've done more to get help there. Didn't Jobeth Williams say some derogatory things about him? Maybe on the True Hollywood Story about Dominigue?
Renowned Death Hag
I suppose I would have grabbed any tool at hand; a chair; a lamp; a bottle; if not one of my guns; and given him someone his own size to contend with.
That young lady should not have died that way; that day.
He could have at least given her time to run for help and safety.
I agree. I am conflicted. I understand the whole self preservation instinct but from what I hear about Dominique she was very small. He could have called 911 right away and run next door for help or yes, grab a lamp, bottle, chair, ANYTHING.
I have no idea how a man or a woman can see this happen and not chase him away with something! I would have had a knife or a chair anything I could have gotten a hold of and gone fter him. He knew she was screaming so why didn;t he help. He isn't a pussy he is a coward. I don;t know how he can live with himself.
he should have made as much noise outside as possible...he already called the police and was told that wasn't that departments jurisdiction...did they even have 911 back then??? I think he probably called the number to HIS local department because that is the number he knew? So what he should have done is like you say grab a chair and run out swinging and screaming HELP HELP MURDER MURDER SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE to alert those in the neighborhood to do just that...I mean what bothers me is this...he says he came out and found Sweeney next to her and that Sweeney said call the police...obviously Sweeney didn't attack him after all...that guy could have easily killed him when he came out and made a clean getaway...but instead he tells Packer to call the cops?! I have to believe since Packer wasn't attacked by Sweeney that if Packer had some balls and would have come out sooner rather than later maybe she could have been saved?
I think he probably has some serious guilt issues...I know I would...haven't seen much of his since V either...hard to respect someone who doesn't do what they can to help someone in danger...preserve yourself is fine...but there are so many other things he could have done instead of hiding inside the house
Same here. I wonder if his lack of work has anything to do with it. She was very loved & respected. I'm sure his actions didn't sit well with people.
Renowned Death Hag
Actually he is working as an upscale chef in a tony part of Hollywood.And of course Dominick Dunne was one of the major writers who attended a little known trial known as "CA VS. Orenthal James Simpson" in 1994....
My only hope left for Dominique's killer is that he is slaving away at a McDonald's somewhere....
Wanna see my grandkids?
I've had cilds longer than the time he served. It wasn't much more than two weeks.
He was released and worked in a trendy LA eatery and the Hollywood community united and picket the restaurant with signs saying a murderer is making your meal. He moved back East and he began dating a girl. When the girls dad realized who he was he wrote Dominck Dunn and asked if he thought he would murder again. Dunn told him all about his daughter's murder and to get his daughter away from the creep.
Dunn also encouraged Furman to write about the OJ trial and then to investigate and write about the murder of martha Moxley. His investigation help led the trial.
Senior Death Hag
During the murder trial of Dominique's killer, the jury was never allowed to hear about the beatings and other abuse of his earlier girlfriends. He and his lawyer fooled the jury into believing he was a gentle man who just slipped and killed her accidentally.
After Dominick Dunne spoke to the father of the girl the murderer (Sweeney, i believe his name was) was about to marry, the engagement was broken. Sweeney then changed his name. Can you imagine some poor girl being taken in by him, not having a clue about his past.
It's a very scary world. Thank God that girl was smart. So many girls wouldn't care and would stay with him.
Dominique was beautiful.
Her brother played David's friend in "American Werewolf in Londson" who kept visiting him after he died telling him he needed to kill himself
I'm thinking his name is John Maura now. I can't remember where I read that. But life just seemed to go on as usual for him. Disgusting.
I LOVE THAT MOVIE!Her brother played David's friend in "American Werewolf in Londson" who kept visiting him after he died telling him he needed to kill himself
I love it when David calls Jack "a walking meatloaf"!
I had no idea "jack" was Dunne's brother!
Yes, that was a pretty hilarious movie. I like it when David walks into the adult theater and all of his murder victims are sitting next to him, some even saying hello. FUNNY! And how Jack looks more horrible every time he sees him.
I met David Naughton in 1981 at a JCPenney store here in town. Somewhere I have this photo!
I love that theater scene too. That movie is so good because it is scarey and funny at the same time.
If you find that pic of Naughton, post it! I would love it. He was here in MN about 10 years ago for a Halloween promo, at a place we used to have here called Spooky World. It was raining, so I did not go, but wish I would have. I think Naughton was hot. He was also in a TV show called "Making it" I loved it.
Sorry to go OT, mods.
What bothered me about that trial they couldn't bring up his past offences against other women but they can and could on OJ and Spector. This doesn't seem right to me. If it is ok to tell on Peterson, oj and spector why not him? Ca does not play fair and does keep the laws the same for all people.
It's a Polaroid of me standing next to him. I think he was in his Dr. Pepper duds. This was right after Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. I had a part-time job at JCP and he came in through our back catalog door. I saw him and went and got my photo taken and returned to work. He was pretty cute back then...
LMAO Dr Pepper duds. I remember that!
What a cool story!
I'm not sure if this was a quote, but I read somewhere that after his release he became a chef in a classy restaurant. Apparently Dominick Dunne heard about it and stood outside of the eatery handing out flyers to the patrons that "the food you are eating was prepared by the hands that viciously killed Dominique Dunne" which resulted in Sweeny's dismissal.
Here is an interesting excerpt from Wiki on this:
Dunne's father, journalist and author Dominick Dunne, has said that in his frustration over Sweeney's relatively short prison term, Dunne hired private investigatorAnthony Pellicano to follow and report upon Sweeney. According to Dunne, the last information he had was that Sweeney had changed his name to John Maura â?? taking his mother's first name for his new last name â?? moved to the Pacific Northwest and found employment as a chef in a Seattle restaurant. [2] [3] [4] [5] Dunne has said that he eventually decided he didn't want to spend his life consumed by such a pursuit, and he no longer has any information regarding the current activities or whereabouts of Maura (né Sweeney).
I can't believe Sweeney only served 2 1/2 years for manslaughter...and then got a job...and then was able to leave the state and change his name. Dude should've served life for that. Freakin' prick!
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