The murder of adult film performer Billy London–real name William Newton–rocked the LA queer underground back in 1990. To date, his case remains unsolved.
Now, a new investigative documentary posits that London could have met with foul play at the hands of a notorious serial killer: Jeffrey Dahmer.
Director Rachel Mason, best known for her chronicle of growing up in an adult video store, Circus of Books, has begun working on a film based on new research linking Dahmer to the London murder. Pretty Boy Blue will recount the life and sudden death of Billy London, and examine the possible link between his death and Dahmer.
In an exclusive statement to Queerty, Mason detailed her attraction to the case.
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“Is there a trail of Dahmer to LA? Has it been exhaustively checked out? No,” Mason told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We have one person in L.A. saying he was here.”
Related: A gay man was stabbed and beaten by a Jeffrey Dahmer fan. Police say it’s not a hate crime.
Mason’s assertion takes a cue from the work of Los Angeles Police Department cold-case Detective John Lamberti. In 2020, he told the LA Podcast that he had received information that a witness named Ron Wheeler spotted London talking to a handsome stranger at Rage nightclub just before he disappeared. Later, when Dahmer became a household name, Wheeler says he recognized him as the man talking to London.
This isn’t the first time investigators have examined a possible link between the death of Billy London and Jeffrey Dahmer. When police finally nabbed Dahmer in 1991, they confronted him about his potential involvement in the murder. Investigators noted at the time that London’s body, which was found dismembered, fit with Dahmer’s modus operandi. Dahmer, for his part, denied killing London.
For Mason, even an outside chance of Dahmer’s involvement warrants further scrutiny. “There are guys in Milwaukee who know something and have never told anyone. I’ve talked to some,” she said. “Billy was LA’s gay Black Dahlia, and no one’s ever figured it out.”
Mason also asks that anyone with information or tips regarding the death of Billy London please contact the film’s creative team at [email protected]. All tips will go directly to the homicide detective at LAPD. Pretty Boy Blue is currently in development. Patrons can donate to the project on the film’s website.
Jeffrey Dahmer remains a figure of infamy in and outside the gay community. Police arrested him in 1991 and have linked him to the murders of at least 17 men whom he dismembered. Dahmer also confessed to acts of necrophilia with his victims, and to cannibalizing their bodies. He was murdered in prison in 1994.
SDR94103
why is everybody called a “star” these days? Ridiculous.
Chrisk
The article was about the 80s/90s so the “these days” is off topic. Back then there were allot less of them and to gay men of that generation they were.
Joshooeerr
Not true. Porn stars then were even less known than they are now. There were few marketing campaigns based around personalities, no publicity tours, merchandising etc.
Ricky Rocky
To Joshooeerr:
Chad Douglas was on a publicity tour and stopped at the original Touché in Chicago. My black friend ran up to him and exclaimed “I LOVED you in “The Color Purple” !!
Den
Seems SDR94103 is now the leader in stupid, pointless comments. Leave it to the right wingers to demonstrate a special kind of brainlessness.
wikidBSTN
To Joshooeerr:
Porn stars in the 80’s and 90’s were MORE known in the gay community than they are today. Back then there was a finite set of gay porn stars. It wasn’t like today where anyone with a dick and a cell phone can be on the internet. In the 80’s a single porno tape could easily cost $50. People knew the studio names and each studio groomed and pushed their own stars in magazines and yes, publicity tours.
Chrisk
I remember reading about it a long time ago. I think the Dalmer connection is unlikely though. There were other gay serial killers in Los Angeles at the time too.
On a side note it was nice to see all the old names of porn from back in the 80s and 90s interviewed. Feels very flashback retro.
GayAsHell
That’s so interesting- I never heard of a serial killer targeting gay men (or just men) in the 80’s-90’s in LA — can you say more? As in … names/links etc. ? So curious!
oddtop
There was Randy Kraft …though he may have been a more 70’s type. Bill Bonin I think was active into the 80’s and was very prolific murder of gay boys and men.
SPEEDOSWIMMER
May London rest in peace…
ShiningSex
I doubt there’s a connection. Dahmer tend to “keep” his victims. This is probably a story of the “actor” making money from a trick that went horribly wrong for one way or another. Many adult porn actors sadly have had their lives taking in such horrific way. This sounds like someone wanting to connect it to make a film. BORING.
GayAsHell
except in those other well-documented cases where Dahmer did actually discard body parts in dumpsters- like head and feet– matching this LA case exactly. And his sighting at the exact time of the victim’s exit from the bar— makes it somewhat credible. LAPD are taking it seriously at least…
winemaker
This story really takes me back as I lived in Los Angeles until December 1981 when I moved to San Francisco. Circus Books on Santa Monica Blvd at La Jolla Ave was 24 hr. bookstore that had a had a separate section with all the gay porn mags and a couple of private booths and required a fee of $1.00 to get in. Behind the store there was an alley that saw lots of activity after the bars closed and was quite active trough the wee hours of the morning.
Looking back, this alley was kind of like Ringold Alley in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco that had lots of action after the local bars closed at 2AM. On the other hand this guys demise could have been a scene gone bad, like the death of Sal Mineo in West Hollywood in which budding actor gay actor Sal Mineo was shot and left to die in the alley behind his Holloway Street apt in February 1976
Den
At 37 yrs. old, roles in 23 films some of them major, two Oscar nominations and one Golden Globe win, he was hardly “budding”! Accomplished at mid career might be a more intelligent description. And he was killed by a married man with a long criminal history (ten robberies and Mineo’s murder). That is hardly a scene gone bad, What the hell is it with you right wingers? Do none of you have any understanding that your imagination is different from actual reality?
whatnutz
“budding gay actor Sal Mineo”?? Mineo was an established actor and moving on to writing, directing, etc when he realized that there probably wouldn’t be much work for his ethnic background – unfortunate, but true.
goozy76
Nope, this is sus…
BigJohnSF
In 1990, “queer” was unequivocally hate speech. No one identified as “queer.” There was no “queer” community in 1990, even in fevered imaginations.
Essie
Dahmer had no connections with L.A. He murdered in the Midwest and he “played with” his victims, keeping them for awhile before killing, cooking and eating them. He was questioned about several murders across the country and denied all but the ones he is known for. Why would he do that if he did kill others. I think he wanted credit for everyone he murdered, including that young boy who got away and the police took him back to Dahmer’s house. Dahmer admitted to killing him within an hour of his return. Why would anyone admit to something like that and deny killing a porn star? This woman just wants to use a notorious name everybody knows for a documentary that no one would otherwise care about.
GayAsHell
How to explain eye-witnesses claiming they saw him in LA? Dahmer’s whereabouts have never been resolved the week that this guy was killed. Those two facts add up to at least a bit of major suspicion– also that a LAPD homicide detective has gone out on a limb in public to assert the Dahmer connection is the big news of this story… makes one wonder.
winemaker
Sadly we shall never know the truth about all the crimes jeffrey dahmer committed or was suspected of committing or being involved in.. Aside from that the Los Angeles Police Department has a large room with evidence of old unsolved murders, some decades old that have gone cold and may never be solved. Thank almighty God jeffrey dahmer was killed by a prison inmate in November 1994 thus relieving the taxpayers of incarcerating and supporting this worthless piece of trash. or worse, some bleeding heart liberal namby pamby judge releasing this bastard on good behavior. Think of this the next time election time comes around and get rid of all the worthless bleeding hearted liberal judges allowing trash like this to live and roam our neighborhoods.
DHT
You ask me Dahmer and Buck look enough a like that it could have been either of them.