Dorothy Stratten: A Playboy Pinup, a Private Investigator, and a Chilling Murder

From Dairy Queen counter girl to Playboy pinup to murder victim – in just two years. Hugh Hefner called her the next Marilyn Monroe. A major Hollywood director wrote a role in his new film just for her, confident that she would make the leap from centerfold to starlet. But all of that was cut short on August 14, 1980, when a private investigator stumbled upon a brutal murder scene that shook the entertainment industry to its core.

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Speaker 1: Hey guys, it's Zeth Lundy, good doctor here at Double

Speaker 1: Elvis and co host of the Hollywood Lamp podcast, and

Speaker 1: welcome once again as we dive into our archive of

Speaker 1: stories that take place at the intersection of Hollywood and

Speaker 1: true crime. Today we're bringing you our episode on Dorothy Stratton,

Speaker 1: who was murdered forty six years ago this week August fourteenth,

Speaker 1: nineteen eighty. To be exact, Dorothy Stratton was only twenty

Speaker 1: years old when she was murdered. She was a model,

Speaker 1: a playboy playmate, and she was looking forward to the future,

Speaker 1: to her career as an actress, to leveling up from

Speaker 1: centerfold to the cinema. In fact, a major Hollywood director

Speaker 1: who saw a great promise in Dorothy wrote a part

Speaker 1: in his new film just for her. But all of

Speaker 1: that was cut short when a private investigator stumbled upon

Speaker 1: a brutal murder scene that rocked Hollywood to its core.

Speaker 1: I hope you dig this episode on Dorothy Stratton, and

Speaker 1: then I hope you join me on Wednesday here in

Speaker 1: the rap party, where I respond to your call and texts,

Speaker 1: and again on Friday for the screening room, where I'll

Speaker 1: do a deep dive into the nineteen eighty three film Star.

Speaker 2: Eighty Hollywood Land is a production of double Elvis. Oh No,

Speaker 2: not Dang Dang some dang nill, we will do her

Speaker 2: The Hill Mountain and the stories about Dorothy Stratton are insane.

Speaker 2: She went from dairy queen, counter girl to playboy pin

Speaker 2: up to murder victim in just two years. Hugh Hefner

Speaker 2: called her the next Marilyn Monroe, a major Hollywood director,

Speaker 2: wrote a role in his new film just for her,

Speaker 2: confident that she would make the leap from centerfold to

Speaker 2: starle it. But all of that was cut short when

Speaker 2: she was brutally murdered by her husband. Dorothy Stratton didn't

Speaker 2: get a chance to make great films. She was killed

Speaker 2: at just twenty years old. But over the years her

Speaker 2: story has inspired countless television shows, music, and even, yes,

Speaker 2: some great films. Unlike that clip I played for you

Speaker 2: at the top of the show. That wasn't from a

Speaker 2: great film. That was a fair youth sample from the

Speaker 2: Library of Congress of the Arkansas Playboys performing There's Nothing

Speaker 2: Like a Song in nineteen forty. I played you that

Speaker 2: clip because I can't afford the rights to a clip

Speaker 2: from Brian to Palma's dress to kill? Why would I

Speaker 2: play you that specific slice of psychological erotic thriller Cheese?

Speaker 2: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one

Speaker 2: movie in America on August fourteenth, nineteen eighty and that

Speaker 2: was the day a private investigator stumbled upon a brutal

Speaker 2: murder scene that would shock Los Angeles to its core.

Speaker 2: On this episode, Hugh Hefner, Private Investigators, Murder victims, psychological

Speaker 2: erotic thriller Cheese, and Dorothy Stratton. I'm Jake Brennan, and

Speaker 2: this is Hollywood Land. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is

Speaker 2: Hollywood Land. I'm Jake Brennan. You want to know the

Speaker 2: secret to a successful stakeout, You got to savor every smoke.

Speaker 2: See what you do is when you're about to go,

Speaker 2: park your ass in one spot for a while while

Speaker 2: get yourself a fresh pack that's twenty in all, and

Speaker 2: after you get your seat adjusted just right, you light

Speaker 2: the first one, take a puff and count to five.

Speaker 2: Now check the door of the place you're watching, and

Speaker 2: then the window, maybe the skylight if it's some bel

Speaker 2: air mansion. And then you exhale so you can't drink

Speaker 2: because then you're gonna have to piss. You can't do

Speaker 2: the Sunday Crossword because while you're still scratching your head

Speaker 2: over eleven down, the perp walks right out of the door.

Speaker 2: So you savor that first smoke, give it thirty minutes,

Speaker 2: have another, finish two, and it's an hour. If you

Speaker 2: finish the whole pack and nobody's moved inside, it's time

Speaker 2: to either call for backup or get the hell out

Speaker 2: of there. I should know. My name's Carl Rothsey, and

Speaker 2: I'm a private eye. I used to be a lawyer

Speaker 2: until the California Bar Association thought I got a little

Speaker 2: too rough with the defendant before they could testify. They

Speaker 2: yank my license to practice. So now I'm a professional

Speaker 2: dick people paying me to dig up dirt. I specialize

Speaker 2: in matrimonial work. You might even say it's my metier.

Speaker 2: Usually it's easy enough. Some jealous husband wants me to

Speaker 2: tail his wife for a few days, and most times

Speaker 2: I find nothing. But every once in a while there's

Speaker 2: a surprise. Hey, what do you know? She joined a

Speaker 2: bowling league and that type of easy score was exactly

Speaker 2: what I thought I was getting myself into. A few

Speaker 2: weeks ago when this wiry, little, dark haired guy walks

Speaker 2: into my office. My office being a diner a few

Speaker 2: blocks off the Sunset Strip. The coffee's bad and the

Speaker 2: service is even worse, but there's never a crowd. He

Speaker 2: slide into a booth and he shakes my hand hard,

Speaker 2: too hard. Hey, he says, I'm Paul Paul Snyder. Steve

Speaker 2: says you're the best. Steve is Paul Snyder's roommate. Let's

Speaker 2: just say I helped him out of a jam with

Speaker 2: a married brunette last year. And Steve's right in this

Speaker 2: leazy little corner of Los Angeles, I am the best.

Speaker 2: That's why I know everything about Paul Snyder before we

Speaker 2: even sit down. He's a small time want to be promoter,

Speaker 2: quote unquote disco consultant is what his business card says.

Speaker 2: He's got quite the past. Back in Vancouver, he used

Speaker 2: to run a few girls, and his taste for flashy

Speaker 2: clothes and the diamond and crusted star of David he

Speaker 2: wears around his neck or earned him the nickname the

Speaker 2: Jewish Pim. But to the local tough guys here in

Speaker 2: La Paul is a fucking joke. When one of his

Speaker 2: girls steals his money and takes off in his car.

Speaker 2: He decides to go straight. He starts putting together bar nights,

Speaker 2: anything from rock bands to wet t shirt contests. All

Speaker 2: the while he's dreaming of bigger clubs and brighter lights.

Speaker 2: But he's Paul Snyder, so the lights are only going

Speaker 2: to get so bright. It seems like all he's going

Speaker 2: to do is dream about it, until one day, the

Speaker 2: schmuck decides he wants some ice cream. Best decision of

Speaker 2: his life. He rolls into the local dairy queen for

Speaker 2: a strawberry Sunday, only to discover the absolute finest piece

Speaker 2: of ass he's ever seen in his life, working the

Speaker 2: front counter. Even in a red apron and pigtails, Snyder

Speaker 2: can tell she's a thoroughbred. You can't pimp a girl

Speaker 2: like that. Now, this girl is his ticket to the

Speaker 2: big time. All he has to do is wait for

Speaker 2: her to turn eighteen. Her name is a real mouthful

Speaker 2: Dorothy Ruth Hoag Stratton. She has the perfect girl next door.

Speaker 2: Look look at the girl next door woke up at

Speaker 2: sixteen with the body of Marilyn Monroe. Maybe if Daddy

Speaker 2: was around, he would have warned her, But he wasn't,

Speaker 2: then nobody did. So. When Snyder swaggers into the Dairy Queen,

Speaker 2: his charm and flashy clothes or enough to turn her head,

Speaker 2: she falls for him hard. She's so in love she'll

Speaker 2: do anything up to and including posing Stark naked for

Speaker 2: a photographer friend of his. See He tells her Playboy

Speaker 2: magazine is turning twenty and they're running a contest to

Speaker 2: find a new centerfold, and the winner gets twenty grand. Incredibly,

Speaker 2: this schmuck's plan almost works. The photos make it all

Speaker 2: the way to Hugh Hefner's desk, and the pajama Man

Speaker 2: likes what he sees. Next thing they know, Dorothy is

Speaker 2: on a plane at Lax. She lands on August thirteenth,

Speaker 2: nineteen seventy eight. Snyder follows a few months later. She

Speaker 2: doesn't win the contest, but her photos appear in the

Speaker 2: twenty fifth anniversary issue. On one condition, She's going to

Speaker 2: drop that last name, Pogue, Stratton, Justice and sexy. Now

Speaker 2: on She's Dorothy Stratton. In nineteen seventy nine, she spends

Speaker 2: six weeks shooting her first Playboy centerfold, and right before

Speaker 2: it drops in July, she and Snyder tie a knot

Speaker 2: and this fucking dope has hit the jackpot. It's barely

Speaker 2: a year after that first flight to la and Hefner

Speaker 2: is already confident to Dorothy Stratton is the crossover star

Speaker 2: he's been looking for. Acting offers poor in Vanity Fair

Speaker 2: wants her on the cover. In April nineteen eighty, she's

Speaker 2: named Playmate of the Year. Snyder is feeling so confident

Speaker 2: they're on a rocket ride to the top that he

Speaker 2: runs out and buys a black Mercedes four P fifty

Speaker 2: se complete with custom plates that read Star eighty. Now,

Speaker 2: even though I already know all of this, I let

Speaker 2: Snyder tell me the whole story. But when he gets

Speaker 2: to the next part, he pauses for a moment, gripping

Speaker 2: the handle of his coffee munks so hard that I'm

Speaker 2: waiting for it to shatter. Everything was perfect, he says,

Speaker 2: until that fucking director started sniffing around. By that director,

Speaker 2: he means Peter Bogdanovich, fresh off of his breakup with

Speaker 2: Sybil Shepherd. Bogdanovitch eases his pain by spending his evenings

Speaker 2: at the Playboy Mansion, and he took an immediate interest

Speaker 2: in Dorothy Snyder's not an idiot. He knows Bogdanovich's tight.

Speaker 2: The guy started fucking Sybil Shepherd when they were filming

Speaker 2: the Last Picture Show, and now he's definitely up to

Speaker 2: the same thing with Dorothy. Says he's written a part

Speaker 2: just for her in his new picture, in which she'll

Speaker 2: work alongside legends like Audrey Hepburn. Of course, this will

Speaker 2: require a lot of time between the director and Dorothy

Speaker 2: to you know, develop the part. I ask him the

Speaker 2: obvious question. You want me to tailor? He nods. He

Speaker 2: wants evidence of the affair. Alienation of affection is what

Speaker 2: it's called. If Bogdanovitch is stealing his wife away, so

Speaker 2: be it. But he says that bandana wearing four eyed

Speaker 2: prick is gonna have to cough up big time to

Speaker 2: help me Snyder's pain. He also wants me to look

Speaker 2: into any assets Dorothy might be hiding, so you can

Speaker 2: do it. He has follow around the sexiest woman in

Speaker 2: the world for a few days. See how the rich

Speaker 2: and famous live and get paid for the privilege. Uh yeah,

Speaker 2: I tell him, I think I can handle this one,

Speaker 2: or at least that's what I thought a few weeks ago.

Speaker 2: Now I'm sitting in an osmobile, sweating bullets with a

Speaker 2: cramp in my leg that won't quit. I reach for

Speaker 2: the pack of cigarettes and shake out another smoke. It's

Speaker 2: the last one in the pack. I inhaled deeply and

Speaker 2: I pray to God. I see Paul Snyder or Dorothy

Speaker 2: Stratton in the next five minutes or els. I'm gonna

Speaker 2: have to choose between two bad options, split or call

Speaker 2: for backup tooling down the LA Freeway. I'm not sweating

Speaker 2: anything but the traffic. The job was a breeze. Catch

Speaker 2: a playboy model doing the dirty with the director. You

Speaker 2: find out where she had her money. For the first

Speaker 2: I needed to do some digging. But for the money,

Speaker 2: all I had to do was make it to City

Speaker 2: Hall before five. See. I have this girl who works

Speaker 2: as a receptionist there, and she has this husband who

Speaker 2: happens to have the keys to the records room, and

Speaker 2: sometimes she likes to share. I push my beat up

Speaker 2: cutlass through traffic like a hot knife through butter and

Speaker 2: make it to city Hall by a quarter of and

Speaker 2: with a little sweet talk and a few greenbacks, I'm

Speaker 2: in and out by the time the clocks are chiming five.

Speaker 2: It may be the end of the day for these

Speaker 2: working stiffs. But my day is just beginning. I've got

Speaker 2: a stack of papers in my hand, a detail of

Speaker 2: business venture. I think Paul Snyder is going to be

Speaker 2: very interested in Dorothy Stratton Enterprises Incorporated earlier this year,

Speaker 2: a number of stockholders, just one missed Playmate of the

Speaker 2: Year herself. The language in these documents is as thick

Speaker 2: as the rush hour traffic. I know I'm going to

Speaker 2: need some bad coffee and an empty booth to get

Speaker 2: to the bottom of it, so I put on my

Speaker 2: blinker and head toward the diner. Inside. I walk past

Speaker 2: the hostess, who doesn't even lift her eyes from the

Speaker 2: nail as she's finally and I just pop down in

Speaker 2: my usual booth. It takes at least five minutes before

Speaker 2: a waitress comes by with a lukewarm cup of joe,

Speaker 2: but I'm too busy reading to care. It's clear that

Speaker 2: all of Dorothy's money is actually held by Dorothy Stratton Enterprises.

Speaker 2: If she and Paul divorce, he won't get a scent.

Speaker 2: As I read, I reach for a flask in my

Speaker 2: pocket to improve the contents of my mug, but a

Speaker 2: hand stops me. I glance up into a pair of

Speaker 2: eyes I recognize from the newsstand. It's her. Dorothy Stratton

Speaker 2: is standing right there in front of me, tracing the

Speaker 2: outline of my knuckle with her fingertips. Mind if I

Speaker 2: join you? She asks, I got a feeling nobody minds

Speaker 2: you joining them? I say, motioning for her to take

Speaker 2: a seat. The coffee's no good here and the pie

Speaker 2: is even worse, so you must be here for something else.

Speaker 2: I know Paul hired you to follow me. How did

Speaker 2: this sweet young thing get the jump on me? She

Speaker 2: may have had the advantage, but she's not the only

Speaker 2: one with surprises, So I lay one on her. I

Speaker 2: tell her that I know all about Dorothy Stratton, enterprises

Speaker 2: that it looks like she's trying to hide money from

Speaker 2: her husband. I kind of thing a judge may not

Speaker 2: like in a divorce. It's not what you think, she says.

Speaker 2: Her upper lip trembles, and I think she's about to

Speaker 2: turn on the waterworks. I hand her a paper napkin,

Speaker 2: but she shakes her head. No. She tells me it

Speaker 2: was for protection, that her marriage with Paul has been

Speaker 2: over for a year, and that he knows it but

Speaker 2: won't sign anything until she gives him half her earnings,

Speaker 2: half your earnings. I raise my eyebrows and let out

Speaker 2: a low whistle. Seems pretty steep, he says, I own,

Speaker 2: since he discovered me, and he won't budge, I just

Speaker 2: might give it to him too. If it gets me

Speaker 2: my freedom, I'll give him all of it, whatever it takes.

Speaker 2: I'm done. In my line of work. I've seen a

Speaker 2: lot of desperate women looking for an escape, and a

Speaker 2: lot of gold diggers looking for the next step up.

Speaker 2: I'm not sure which one describes Dorothy Stratton, but if

Speaker 2: I can keep her talking, I'll find out soon enough.

Speaker 2: I ask her when she first got the inkling that

Speaker 2: things might not work out between the two of them.

Speaker 2: She purses those beautiful red lips into a heart shaped

Speaker 2: frown for a second, and then tosses her long blonde hair.

Speaker 2: It was at the Playboy Halloween party, one of Paul's

Speaker 2: first times at the Mansion, October nineteen seventy eight. Go on,

Speaker 2: I tell her, so she starts to paint a picture

Speaker 2: so vivid it plays like a movie in my mind.

Speaker 2: Paul Snyder punched the accelerator his black dots in two

Speaker 2: forty z roar to life. He swung into the left

Speaker 2: turned lane that pass the slow moving sedan, and Dorothy

Speaker 2: clung to the dashboard. Paul, slow down, Fuck that, we're

Speaker 2: not going to be late to the biggest party of

Speaker 2: the year. Paul turned the car, left, tires chirping as

Speaker 2: it flew through the intersection and up a hill. Dorothy's

Speaker 2: stomach turned too cartwheels. She wasn't drinking, but the way

Speaker 2: Paul was driving might be repuking her guts out on

Speaker 2: the front driveway. When they reached their destination, Paul slowed down.

Speaker 2: I'm feeling sick. Paul's eyes were fixed on the road

Speaker 2: and his foot glued to the gas pedal. Dorothy watched

Speaker 2: the California coast whip by a blur until a surge

Speaker 2: of anger welled up inside of her. Paul, slow down,

Speaker 2: you're making me sick. The car slammed to a stop

Speaker 2: and they sat in silence, engine idling in the middle

Speaker 2: of the road. Paul's eyes were wide with rage. He

Speaker 2: put his hand up like he might slap Dorothy across

Speaker 2: the mouth as she shrunk back in fear. Instead, he

Speaker 2: took a deep breath and lowered his hand. Of course,

Speaker 2: anything you wish, he said calmly. The tension of the

Speaker 2: car ride disappeared as they pulled up to the Playboy match.

Speaker 2: Paul slid out of the driver's seat and tossed the

Speaker 2: keys to the valet. He was dressed in full pimp regalia,

Speaker 2: make coat, skin, tight pants, shirt unbuttoned to his navel,

Speaker 2: and that signature diamond star of David hanging off his chest.

Speaker 2: Dorothy was barely in costume at all, a unicorn painted

Speaker 2: on the side of her face, but dressed in all white.

Speaker 2: She looked radiant as they walked towards the front door.

Speaker 2: Two men stopped smoking to turn and stare at her.

Speaker 2: Paul raised his eyebrows. Holy shit with James Kahan and

Speaker 2: warm Beaty. Inside, the party was in full swing. Scantily

Speaker 2: clad young women danced on a table, and outside a

Speaker 2: band was wailing away out by the infamous pool bron

Speaker 2: rumored to be the site of more than one orgy,

Speaker 2: while a crowd of actors, politicians, and business tycoons mingled

Speaker 2: with an endless array of beautiful women. Dorothy quickly spotted

Speaker 2: Playboy's editor and chief, dressed in his signature silk pajamas.

Speaker 2: She grabbed Paul's hand and began to lead him across

Speaker 2: the room. Come on, I want to introduce you. Hef

Speaker 2: stood near the stairwell holding corn, surrounded by half a

Speaker 2: dozen women, but his face lit up what he saw Dorothy.

Speaker 2: He kissed her outstretched hand, and Dorothy turned to introduce Paul,

Speaker 2: but instead Paul squeezed past her. Hey, Hugh, it's Paul

Speaker 2: Paul Snyder, Dorothy's boyfriend and manager. He shook Heff's hand

Speaker 2: with his trademark iron grip. I see, Half refied, how

Speaker 2: are you enjoying LA so far? Oh, it's great. I

Speaker 2: got a lot of deals lined up already. I'm going

Speaker 2: to do a strip night for the ladies at this

Speaker 2: place called Chippendale's. I was thinking it would be perfect

Speaker 2: for Dorothy and a couple of playmates to come down

Speaker 2: and judge the amateur contest. But we should set up

Speaker 2: a meeting. Half replied to be affirmative, but Dorothy could

Speaker 2: tell he didn't beat Trust me, Half, I've got the

Speaker 2: golden touch. Dorothy was just a little ice cream shop

Speaker 2: girl when I found her, And look at her now.

Speaker 2: Half turned his gaze to Dorothy. Indeed, look at her now?

Speaker 2: We have big plans for Dorothy. She's gonna be our

Speaker 2: next Marilyn Monroe. Dorothy blushed, half winked, and kissed her

Speaker 2: hand once more. Dorothy, dear lovely to see you and

Speaker 2: only you, his voice implied as he walked away. If

Speaker 2: Paul noticed, he didn't show it. Hours later, with the

Speaker 2: party winding down, Paul and Dorothy climbed back into the

Speaker 2: Black Dots and head home. Paul was on cloud nine.

Speaker 2: Can you believe it? Hugh fucking Hefner. He loved the idea.

Speaker 2: Don't you think we're on a rocket ride to the

Speaker 2: top baby. The car was silent for a moment as

Speaker 2: Paul envisioned his future glory. You know you might have

Speaker 2: to sleep with them right to get Playmate of the Year.

Speaker 2: Everybody says you have to sleep with them, But it's cool.

Speaker 2: As long as you know you're with me, I'll take

Speaker 2: care of you. Paul flipped up the collar of his

Speaker 2: main coat and pushed her in the gas pedal the

Speaker 2: dots it flew. Dorothy just stared at the California coast

Speaker 2: whipping by. As Dorothy finishes her story, a small tear

Speaker 2: rolls down her cheek. Personally, I never trust anyone that

Speaker 2: gets paid to cry on demand. But I can't help

Speaker 2: but feel sorry for it. She slides out of the

Speaker 2: booth and tosses her luscious blonde hair once more. I

Speaker 2: just thought you should know, she says. And then she

Speaker 2: says she's going to be in New York the next

Speaker 2: few days, reshoots her something like that tells me I

Speaker 2: can take a break from being her shadow. And then

Speaker 2: she glides out the door like a vision and into

Speaker 2: her business manager's waiting car. And as the car pulls away,

Speaker 2: I get a strange sensation that it's the last time

Speaker 2: I'll be seeing Dorothy stretton live. That is, we'll be

Speaker 2: right back after this. We're, we're, we're. After hearing Dorothy

Speaker 2: Stratton's story, I have no idea what to do next,

Speaker 2: so I follow my instincts right into the bottom of

Speaker 2: a bottle, where I spend the next three days dodging

Speaker 2: phone calls from Paul Snyder. When I wake up, it's Thursday,

Speaker 2: August fourteenth. My head is killing me. There's a low

Speaker 2: pounding thud in my ears that won't quit. Eventually, I

Speaker 2: realized the pounding isn't coming from inside my head. It's

Speaker 2: coming from the front door, and I stumbled at the people.

Speaker 2: Paul Snyder is standing outside yelling at me to open

Speaker 2: the fuck up. I swing the door open and the

Speaker 2: la sunshine hits my booze add old brain like a shotgun.

Speaker 2: Where you ben, man, I've been trying to reach you,

Speaker 2: I tell him, I've been on a little vacation with

Speaker 2: my buddy Jack. But it doesn't catch my drift. Whatever, man, listen,

Speaker 2: I gotta talk to you. Dorothy is cutting me. Yeah,

Speaker 2: it's that fucker Bogdanovitch, and I can prove it. I sighed.

Speaker 2: Tell Paul to quit yelling and come inside. Once we're

Speaker 2: in the living room, I ask what the hell he's

Speaker 2: talking about, and he starts on about this poster idea.

Speaker 2: Dorothy is the playmate of the year and there's a

Speaker 2: killing to be made. They did a shoot with her

Speaker 2: wearing a sexy leotard in roller skates. He tells me

Speaker 2: I should see it. He says Dorothy loved the idea too,

Speaker 2: it's a gold mine. Only now she's decided not to

Speaker 2: do it. Says it's not a good move for her career. Okay,

Speaker 2: that's rough. I get it, I tell him, But what

Speaker 2: does that have to do with Bogdanovitch. I ask, and

Speaker 2: that's what he tells me. Bogdanovitch, the director, the guy

Speaker 2: who wants to turn her into a movie star. This

Speaker 2: guy has sent her all these love letters. Paul found

Speaker 2: a stash in them that Dorothy had hidden away and

Speaker 2: forgot about when she left. I'm telling you, man, Paul,

Speaker 2: says Bogdanovich. Hefner. They're trying to rule my fucking life.

Speaker 2: I had to buy a gun for protection. The hairs

Speaker 2: on the back of my neck stand up. I tell

Speaker 2: him to settle down, don't do anything stupid. We've got

Speaker 2: the evidence. Now, let's just try to make them pay.

Speaker 2: He weighs me off. What's the point. I can't even

Speaker 2: get nearer anymore. They bare me from the mansion, man,

Speaker 2: the fucking mansion. She wants a divorce, She's gonna have

Speaker 2: to ask me in person, eventually. I send Snyder home

Speaker 2: to cool off. It's a humid day and I can

Speaker 2: already feel a hangover creeping in. I wish I could

Speaker 2: go back to bed, but we've got work to do.

Speaker 2: I leave through the phone book for the address of

Speaker 2: Bill and Susan Lachase, the photographers for this poster deal

Speaker 2: gone busted, and I hop into my cutlass on the

Speaker 2: way to the studio. I'll buy a fresh pack of smokes,

Speaker 2: just a case. When I tap on the studio door,

Speaker 2: a man answers, Bill la chase. I ask, that's right.

Speaker 2: He responds, eye me suspiciously. I tell him I'm a

Speaker 2: friend of Paul and Dorothy's trying to help save this

Speaker 2: poster deal. I figure as the ones who snapped the

Speaker 2: photos in the first they want to see this thing

Speaker 2: happen as much as anyone. Susan appears next to him

Speaker 2: and pulls the door open. She tells me to come

Speaker 2: in and waves at a small bar card in the corner.

Speaker 2: Feel free to make yourself a drink, although you smell

Speaker 2: like you don't need one. I ignore her sage advice

Speaker 2: and pour a double whiskey over her ice before taking

Speaker 2: a seat. I asked them when they last saw Dorothy.

Speaker 2: They say it's been a few days. She'd been hard

Speaker 2: to get a hold of, so they flew to New

Speaker 2: York to show her the proofs in person, and they

Speaker 2: couldn't get her at the hotel, but someone in production

Speaker 2: sent them to Bogdanovich's apartment Dorothy entered the door, looking terrified,

Speaker 2: like she'd been caught. She asked if Snyder sent them,

Speaker 2: and they swore he hadn't. Dorothy left them waiting at

Speaker 2: the door and went inside the apartment. They could hear

Speaker 2: talking with someone, and they guessed it was Bogdanovich. When

Speaker 2: she came back to the door, she said no, she

Speaker 2: was sorry, but she didn't think it was the right move.

Speaker 2: Just like that, Paul Snyder's last chance at a big

Speaker 2: score was history. I have to know, did Bill and

Speaker 2: Susan Letchase tell Snyder about any of this? When I

Speaker 2: got back to La, Susan hesitates. I can tell she

Speaker 2: doesn't want to say what's about to come out of

Speaker 2: her mouth. Well, we tried not to, but we just

Speaker 2: said she'd declined, and he started ranting about Peter Bogdanovitch. Look,

Speaker 2: we tried not to give anything away, but he could

Speaker 2: read our faces. I knocked back the rest of the whiskey,

Speaker 2: and suddenly I'm not feeling so good. I politely excuse myself.

Speaker 2: Not even a minute later, I'm standing next to my car,

Speaker 2: hurling up last night's liquid dinner. And that hair of

Speaker 2: the dog didn't do me much good. I needed to

Speaker 2: get my eyes on Dorothy Stratton fast. I make tracks

Speaker 2: toward or most likely whereabouts, Peter Bogdanovitch's bel Air mansion.

Speaker 2: As I pull up, I see Dorothy's business manager leaving,

Speaker 2: and I waved the guy down. His face goes pale,

Speaker 2: says Doroth. He just left to meet Paul to sign

Speaker 2: some papers. It feels like I'm about to wretch again,

Speaker 2: but I hold it down this time, and I jump

Speaker 2: back in the car and haul ask for West La

Speaker 2: while I'm driving, A dial Snyder's number from the car

Speaker 2: phone again and again, but there's no answer. And when

Speaker 2: I finally get to the house, Dorothy's cars parked next

Speaker 2: to Paul's Mercedes. I park and I sit there and

Speaker 2: I wait, and I reach for my pack of smokes.

Speaker 2: Now it's ten hours later and I'm stubbing out my

Speaker 2: last cigarette, and that sick feeling in my stomach is

Speaker 2: more than just a hangover. I've delayed as long as

Speaker 2: I can. I pick up the car phone and call

Speaker 2: Paul's roommate, Steve. One house, two landlines. Steve answers. I

Speaker 2: ask if Paul's been around Nah, He tells me he

Speaker 2: hasn't seen him all day. Listen. I tell him his

Speaker 2: car is in the driveway and he's not answering his phone.

Speaker 2: I asked the guy to go check Paul's room. He

Speaker 2: puts the phone down, and I can hear the TV

Speaker 2: playing in the background. It sounds like Fantasy Island. I

Speaker 2: can hear him call out, Paul. There, there's a guy

Speaker 2: on the phone for you, Paul, Paul. I hear the

Speaker 2: stairs squeak and then silence. Suddenly, a bone chilling scream

Speaker 2: rips through the receiver. I'm out of my car now,

Speaker 2: sprinting toward the house. I throw open the front door,

Speaker 2: and Paul's roommate comes running upstairs. Don't go in there,

Speaker 2: don't go in there, he's screaming, But of course I do.

Speaker 2: The dread is overwhelming. As I make my way down

Speaker 2: the stairs. I inch forward toward the bedroom and I

Speaker 2: brace myself and throw it open. Oh my god, there

Speaker 2: is so much blood. The walls are painted red. Paul

Speaker 2: is slumped up against the wall, dead, a giant twelve

Speaker 2: gage shotgun between his legs. In front of him is

Speaker 2: a naked woman, her face mangled by the shotgun blast.

Speaker 2: But I recognize that long blonde hair. It's Dorothy Stratton,

Speaker 2: also dead, just twenty years old. I sit back in

Speaker 2: the booth and I finish my cup of coffee. In

Speaker 2: the corner of the diner, the television is playing MTV.

Speaker 2: On screen, some singer is pouring his heart out on

Speaker 2: a sappy ballad about the so called city of angels

Speaker 2: I couldn't tell you the name of the band. When

Speaker 2: I was younger, I knew them all, but nowadays it's

Speaker 2: hard to keep track. Google this third Eye, that matchbox whatever.

Speaker 2: The fuck. I'm Karl Rothstein. Thirty years ago. I was

Speaker 2: a private eye. I was the fucking best too, at

Speaker 2: least in this sleazy little corner of Los Angeles. But

Speaker 2: when you see something as horrifying as what I saw

Speaker 2: that night in Paul Snyder's bedroom, it changes you forever.

Speaker 2: It certainly changed Peter Bogdanovich. After the murder. No distributor

Speaker 2: would touch his new movie. They all laughed, the one

Speaker 2: he wrote for Dorothy Stratton. He was obsessed with putting

Speaker 2: it out in her memory, so he bought the rights

Speaker 2: and released it himself. Shocker turned out, no one wanted

Speaker 2: to watch a dead girl up on the screen, especially

Speaker 2: in a romantic comedy. The film bombed and he nearly

Speaker 2: went bankrupt. With Paul Snyder dead, Bogdanovitch directed his anger

Speaker 2: at his former friend Hugh Hefner. He wrote a book

Speaker 2: about Droth he called The Killing of the Unicorn, in

Speaker 2: which he claimed Hefner forced himself on her at the

Speaker 2: Playboy mansion. He said Playboy knew Paul was dangerous, but

Speaker 2: didn't want to risk profits by getting involved, and Bogdanovitch

Speaker 2: railed against Playboy's treatment of women so strongly that Peter

Speaker 2: Bogdanovitch was sued for libel. Of course, Bogdanovitch's crusade against

Speaker 2: Playboy it would have been a lot better received if

Speaker 2: at the same time he wasn't moving Dorothy's twelve year

Speaker 2: old to Guiz into his place in bel Air. He

Speaker 2: had a phone mine installed in her room so he

Speaker 2: could always reach her. He vacationed with her on the

Speaker 2: pair stage how we say close for the next few years,

Speaker 2: and they married when she turned twenty years old, the

Speaker 2: exact same age as Dorothy was when she was murdered.

Speaker 2: As for me, after that night, I quit the private

Speaker 2: investigation game for good. Nowadays, I squeezed a dollar out

Speaker 2: of a dime anyway I can. But mostly I just

Speaker 2: sit here, drinking the same old bag coffee and trying

Speaker 2: to forget what I saw that night. But I never

Speaker 2: can because everybody else seems to want to remember. They

Speaker 2: made so many movies and television shows about the death

Speaker 2: of a pin up, or the death of a starlet,

Speaker 2: or the death of a playmate that I can't keep track.

Speaker 2: I look up for a waitress to refill my cup

Speaker 2: and realize I might be looking for a while. In

Speaker 2: the meantime, on the TV, now they're talking with the

Speaker 2: band from La, a bunch of wild eyed freaks with

Speaker 2: a shirtless lead singer. Apparently they went from teenage punks

Speaker 2: to superstars so fast that it almost killed them. Somehow

Speaker 2: they managed to survive after six years away, and they're

Speaker 2: back with a new album filled with songs about the

Speaker 2: dark side of the Hollywood dream. The segment raps, the

Speaker 2: MTV host does the segue thing, says something like, that's

Speaker 2: the Red Hot Chili Peppers talking about their new album, Californication,

Speaker 2: And now let's check out the video for the title track.

Speaker 2: I look away from the screen, but I can still

Speaker 2: hear the music. It's a mournful minor key tune kind

Speaker 2: of calls up old memories. The singer comes in, weaving

Speaker 2: this hallucinatory blend of famous film scenes and seedy street

Speaker 2: level images. It captures this city in a way that

Speaker 2: I've never seen or heard before. And then the chorus

Speaker 2: kicks in and it all clicks. Dorothy, like so many others,

Speaker 2: dreamed of Californication. Moment, it looked like that dream might

Speaker 2: come true because Dorothy Stratton was a unicorn, the rare

Speaker 2: playboy model, poised to become a movie star. Un till

Speaker 2: that dream became a tragedy. That is, It's a story

Speaker 2: so shocking it ought to be in pictures. I'm Jake

Speaker 2: Brennan and this is hollywood Land. Hollywood Land was created

Speaker 2: by Years Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis.

Speaker 2: Follow like, rate and review hollywood Land wherever you get

Speaker 2: your podcasts and get in touch with us on social

Speaker 2: media at double Elvis. If you like hollywood Land, check

Speaker 2: out my other show, the award winning Disgraceland, which looks

Speaker 2: at the world of music through the lens of true crime.

Speaker 2: Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts

Speaker 2: that's there's a WIF