On October 28, 1990, the head and feet of William Newton were found in a dumpster in an alley behind Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, Calif. Newton, a gay man, was also known as porn star Billy London. His gruesome murder was never solved.
Detective Wendi Berndt, now supervisor of the LAPD Homicide Unit, Hollywood Division, told GAYVN today that after 15 years the case is being reinvestigated.
Berndt, the original detective on the case, had subsequently been assigned to different Divisions over the intervening years. Returning to Hollywood Division as supervisor, she has decided to reinvestigate the Newton murder.
Though unsolved murder cases are never "closed," Det. Berndt told GAYVN that after time has passed and the original detective on the case has been assigned elsewhere, pursuing an investigation becomes more and more difficult, especially one such as Newton's where all the leads had been exhausted.
Berndt had never forgotten William Newton, though, and hoped that new advances in technology might one day provide some leads or evidence that were unattainable in 1990. "There are such advances now," she said.
In order to revive community interest in the case, Det. Berndt has been contacting media to spread the story of Newton's murder and its renewed investigation.
One of the news outlets she contacted was Los Angeles television station Channel 11, whose reporter Tony Valdez met with Berndt and visited the crime scene.
Valdez' story on the unsolved murder will be telecast on Channel 11 on Saturday, October 29, at 10 p.m.
Berndt hopes that this telecast will jog some memories of people in the gay community who might be able to supply new information that could help solve this case.
Det. Berndt asks that anyone who might have any information, no matter how slight, about the murder of William Newton (a.k.a. Billy London) call her at LAPD Hollywood Homicide Unit, 213-972-2910.
