33-Year-Old Cold Case FINALLY Solved By a PODCAST In 2023

William Newton was born on July 26, 1965, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Raised primarily by his mother in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, and later moving to Oklahoma, he had a tumultuous childhood. Yearning for stability, he moved back to Eau Claire at age 16 to live with his father, Richard Harriman, but was brutally rejected and turned away at the door.

Embracing his independence, Newton traveled across the United States. He discovered a passion for beauty and makeup, quickly earning a beautician’s license. In 1984, he moved to Los Angeles, landing a job as a beautician and choreographer for music videos, while also working at a gay bathhouse called the Hollywood Spa.

At the spa, Newton met David Ray, a producer of gay adult films. David introduced Newton to the industry, and their relationship blossomed into both a business partnership and a romance. Together, they founded “London Ray Productions.” Newton was heavily involved behind the scenes as a makeup artist and set designer, and occasionally acted under the aliases “Bill E. London” and “Billy Porter.” As money rolled in, the couple lived in the fast lane, heavily indulging in partying and drugs.

By 1990, the relationship deteriorated, and the two separated. Desiring a change of scenery and a “mental health break,” Newton planned to move to Las Vegas to be closer to his half-sister, Michelle, and his mother.

On the evening of October 28, 1990, just days before he was supposed to leave for Las Vegas, Newton visited the popular “Rage” nightclub in Los Angeles. He was seen heavily intoxicated and left the building alone. That was the last time he was seen alive.

The next morning, on October 29, 1990, a homeless man searching for food in a dumpster in an alley behind Santa Monica Boulevard made a horrifying discovery: a severed human head and a pair of feet. The remains were quickly identified as William Newton. The rest of his body was nowhere to be found.

An autopsy revealed methamphetamine in Newton’s system and determined he had been strangled before being beheaded. Despite a massive initial investigation led by LAPD Detective Wendy Burnt, the case quickly went cold as no actionable leads emerged.

Over the next 15 years, the case lay dormant.

2005: The LAPD announced efforts to reinvestigate, but nothing materialized.

2006: A reporter named Mickey Skea claimed Newton’s father felt the LAPD had neglected the case. The LAPD issued a statement reaffirming their commitment, but no progress was made. Sadly, Newton’s father died in 2011 without seeing justice.

Around 2020, two authors and podcast co-hosts, Christopher Rice and Eric Shaw Quinn, became fascinated with the case and featured it on their Dinner Party Show podcast. Following the broadcast, an unidentified man reached out, claiming he saw Newton at the Rage nightclub the night before his murder, leaving with a man resembling the infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. (While Dahmer’s profile fit, he was incarcerated in 1991 and murdered in prison in 1994, making verification impossible).

In 2012, LAPD Detective John Lamberti had taken an interest in the case. While Googling Newton’s name, he found Christopher and Eric’s podcast. Lamberti reached out, and the three men formed an alliance to solve the murder.

Meanwhile, documentary filmmaker Rachel Mason discovered the case while researching a film about a gay adult bookstore in West Hollywood. Her interest deepened after connecting with Clark Williams, a stay-at-home dad who had grown up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, just like Newton. Drawn by their shared background, Williams became obsessed with telling Newton’s story and eventually joined forces with Rachel, Christopher, Eric, and Detective Lamberti.

Williams’s relentless independent research proved to be the turning point. He began looking into a local amateur detective and gay adult video producer named Rick Paskey (alias Richard Lawrence), who had worked closely with the original detectives in 1990 but had since passed away.

Williams scoured the credits of Paskey’s films looking for surviving actors and producers. One film, The Devil and Danny Webster, featured a young actor named “Billy Houston.” Digging deeper, Williams discovered that Billy Houston’s real name was Daryl Lynn Madden.

Madden had a horrifying history: he was currently serving a life sentence in Oklahoma for the brutal strangulation murder of a gay man named Stephen Domer—a crime committed alongside an accomplice as part of an initiation into a white supremacist group. Madden had subsequently murdered his own accomplice before being caught.

Williams ordered a true-crime book titled American Honor Killings that featured an interview with Madden. In the book, Madden casually mentioned committing another murder in Los Angeles, though he provided no specific details. Williams immediately sent this information to Detective Lamberti.

Lamberti conducted a background check and discovered that the adult film company Madden worked for in Los Angeles was located on Santa Monica Boulevard—the exact area where Newton’s severed head was found.

On January 4th, Detective Lamberti and Detective Tamara Momias traveled to the prison in Oklahoma to interview Madden, who had since transitioned and went by the name Darylynn.

During the interview, Darylynn confessed to the murder. She explained that she and two friends saw the highly intoxicated Newton walking along the street and viewed him as an easy target for a robbery. They abducted him, but the situation escalated, resulting in Newton being strangled to death.

When asked about the mutilation and dismemberment, Darylynn denied involvement, claiming she left the body with her two accomplices. She refused to identify the other two individuals.

Despite the confession, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office (under George Gascón) announced they would not file formal charges against Darylynn, citing insufficient evidence to secure a conviction after 33 years.

While legal charges were not filed, Detective Lamberti, the amateur sleuths, and Newton’s sister Michelle found closure in finally knowing who was responsible for the horrific crime that had terrorized the community for over three decades. The whereabouts of the rest of William Newton’s body remains a mystery.