The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders (23 page)

At the time of writing there is relative peace in Ireland thanks to the Good Friday Agreement, Ireland’s framework for peace and political independence. As part of this political process,
prisoners associated with the struggles were to be released early and Thomas McMahon was the seventh high-profile prisoner to be released under this scheme. He walked free, amid a flurry of press
outrage, in 1998, having served 18 years behind bars. He has since turned his back on the IRA and has become a carpenter.

Many people have witnessed at first hand, or at least seen the consequences of a person close to them struggle in an abusive relationship. This is often caused by jealousy and
when fuelled by personal insecurities, the victim’s life can be made a miserable one. They can find themselves constantly trying to reassure their irrational partner, but often these actions
are fruitless. This jealous behaviour is usually most common during the teenage years, and diminishes as couples form a stronger and more stable bond. During young adulthood, adolescent men
encounter their first experiences of love and can become fiercely protective in defending it. If they are aware of any threats to this new relationship they can go to great lengths in order to ward
off predators. These actions alone can be enough to sour their new-found status quo, creating great strains on the romance.

No parent wishes to see their beautiful young daughter spending all her spare time alone in her bedroom, uncharacteristically choosing not to mix with her previously close friends, apparently at
her new boyfriend’s beck and call. When questions are raised at to why she is no longer seeing her girlfriends, and the reply is that her boyfriend simply does not like them, the situation
can be very upsetting for all involved.

Thankfully, as maturity develops, emotions settle down and life becomes much more bearable for most people. Sadly though, for the parents of
Poltergeist
star Dominique Dunne, their
daughter’s jealous boyfriend could not control his temper and the beautiful 22-year-old actress paid the ultimate price. After ending the turbulent relationship, Dominique was trying to get
on with her life, but John Thomas Sweeney was not prepared to leave her alone.

Sweeney was desperate for Dominique to give him yet another chance and for them to reconcile their relationship, so he decided to call round to the home which they had previously shared to try
and convince her that he was a reformed character. Dominique had company as she was rehearsing lines for a new role in the science fiction series
V
, with her co-star David Packer.

When rehearsals were disturbed by a knock at the door, Dominique looked through the window and saw that it was Sweeney, so she told Packer she would be back shortly. Dominique was determined not
to give Sweeney access into the house as she did not want a full-scale argument in front of her guest. She decided instead to try and placate him and then send him on his way as quickly as possible
from the doorstep. Sweeney’s previous track record made her well aware that he would read too much into the meeting with her co-star and Dominique was not willing to go through another
confrontation, hoping that he would take the hint and leave of his own accord. However Sweeney sensed that she was hiding something, or more importantly, somebody, and demanded to be let inside his
one-time home. Dominique stuck to her guns, waiting for the inevitable argument to erupt.

The actress had decided that she was not going to be pushed around by Sweeney, refusing point blank to let him into the property – she would not entertain the idea of reconciling such an
unhealthy relationship. As the couple’s quarrel became louder Sweeney suddenly grabbed Dunne by the throat and dragged her to a nearby driveway where he strangled her for over three minutes;
when she no longer struggled with him he released his grip.

By this time Packer had heard screams and decided he would go outside to see exactly what was going on; he found the pair, Dunne, laid on the ground with Sweeney knelt above her. Packer then
summoned the police, who arrived within five minutes, took one look at the unconscious actress and immediately called for an ambulance to assist. During the journey to the nearest hospital, Cedars
Sinai Hospital, her heart stopped, although fortunately the ambulance crew were able to restart it. Medical staff performed a brain scan, which showed, as they suspected, that she had suffered
severe brain damage owing to anoxia – her brain had been starved of oxygen – while she was strangled. The doctors tried in vain for five days to restore Dunne’s cerebral functions
but were unsuccessful. On 4 November 1982, at 11 a.m., her parents made the difficult decision to have her removed from the life-support machine. Their beautiful daughter died almost instantly,
just three weeks before they were due to celebrate her 23rd birthday.

The Dunne family were united in their grief and helped one another through the terrible weeks following the shocking death of their loved one. Dominique’s funeral arrangements were made
and her funeral service took place on 6 November at the Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverley Hills, the same church in which she had been baptized as a babe in arms. Her funeral was
heavily attended and mourners turned up in their hundreds to pay their last respects to such a well-loved young woman. She was laid to rest near Los Angeles at the Westwood Memorial Park.

Public sympathy was virtually overwhelming and nobody had a bad word to say for the promising young star. The same words were repeated by many: “She had her whole life in front of her and
had so much to live for.”

Meanwhile John Thomas Sweeney was in police custody, having been charged with the murder of Dominique Dunne and was awaiting trial, which was set for early August 1983, nine months after
Dominique’s death. It would be held at the courthouse in Santa Monica.

During Sweeney’s police custody, officers investigating the death never once heard him show any remorse for his actions. In one interview he is reported to have said, “I fucked up .
. . I can’t believe I did something that will put me behind bars forever . . . Man, I blew it. I killed her. I didn’t think I choked her that hard. I just kept on choking her. I just
lost my temper and blew it again.” Although he was willing to admit guilt, he showed no signs of remorse, appearing to regret his actions only because they had now caused him to lose his
liberty.

Sweeney’s defence lawyer, Michael Adelson, based the majority of his defence around the claim that the attack was provoked. He said that Sweeney wished to reconcile the couple’s
differences and try again, but it was Dunne who instigated the physical assault. Sweeney was then said to have lunged for her, after she admitted lying to him when he had earlier suggested that
they get back together, which resulted in a violent struggle, although Sweeney had no reported marks on his body at the time of his arrest. Sweeney’s recollection of the events immediately
after this point in their meeting was very sketchy. He claimed that he could not remember anything until he had knelt beside the unconscious body of his former girlfriend, still with his hands
around her neck. He further claimed that he made an attempt to resuscitate her, but to no avail.

It was also claimed that Dominique would “belittle” Sweeney and that she would make him feel inferior, by her seemingly higher social status. This must have been difficult to hear
– for her friends and family the reality was that she was nothing like this and was very down to earth and well grounded. Finally, Adelson concluded that the tragedy which had occurred was
not a brutal murder, but a sad act of passion, by a man at the depth of despair.

The largest part of the prosecution case, handled by District Attorney Steven Barshop, was formed around Sweeney’s physical abuse of a previous girl friend. Her statement was damning as
far as Sweeney’s defence was concerned. She claimed that the relationship lasted for three years during which she was subjected to physical abuse on several occasions, possibly as many as
ten. The wounds which she sustained on two of these incidents were so bad that she was detained in hospital to recover. Besides the usual cuts and bruises she also suffered from a broken nose, a
perforated eardrum and a collapsed lung. This testimony surely not only proved that Dominique did not die as a result of a one-off act of passion, but that she was murdered at the hands of a serial
abuser. Amazingly Sweeney’s defence team were able to argue with the Judge, Burton S. Katz, that this testimony be excluded from the trial as it was deemed prejudicial, and he agreed.

Dominique’s friends were called to give a character witness and were asked their opinion of her relationship with Sweeney. They agreed that she was initially very happy with Sweeney, but
as the couple became more intimate and started living together, she grew wary of him. One friend described how she was aware that Sweeney and Dominique had on several occasions prior to her death
been involved in heated arguments. She went on to say that after the relationship was over, Dominique was constantly fearful of Sweeney returning to her home.

By the end of September the jury were ready to offer their verdict, finding the defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter. The shocked courtroom went silent – most were surprised to hear
that a man could take the life of a defenceless human being in cold blood and get away with a voluntary manslaughter judgment. Several jury members were questioned afterwards regarding their
findings and admitted that they would have been able to find him guilty of second-degree murder (with a minimum 15-year prison sentence) if they had been given more information regarding
Sweeney’s violent past.

Despite Dominique’s massive popularity with the American public and the huge press coverage of the case, it appeared that Sweeney had managed to “get through the net”.

On 10 November, the Judge sentenced Sweeney to six and a half years imprisonment. As he had already been in police custody for a year, he was looking at only serving another two and a half
years, if he was able to sustain his good behaviour. He served the majority of his sentence at the medium-security prison in Susanville, California and was released on 21 June 1986, promptly
returning to Los Angeles to resume his career as a chef.

It is such a travesty that a young woman with a promising career in one of the most sought after occupations possible, was killed when she had so much to live for. Her life, up until meeting
Sweeney had been a happy one. She was born on 23 November 1959 in Santa Monica, California and her proud parents, Dominick Dunne and Ellen (Lenny) Beatriz Griffin Dunne, named her Dominique Ellen
Dunne. She had two elder brothers Griffin and Alex; the couple also had two other children, but sadly they had died within days of their birth.

Her father was of Irish descent and had grown up in Hartford, Connecticut; her mother was originally from Nogales, Arizona, where she had lived on a large ranch. They met by chance in a railway
station in Dominick’s home town. It was apparently love at first sight and the couple were married on Ellen’s parents’ ranch in Arizona, in 1954. They lived for a short time in
New York, but owing to Dominick’s busy working schedule the couple moved to Beverley Hills.

Dominique was destined to have some form of film, television, or acting career almost from birth, as her mother was an actress and her father a movie producer, later to become a journalist and
author. Her eldest brother Griffin also became an actor, later moving to producing and directing films. Her parents mixed in celebrity circles and the young Dunne children were unperturbed when
introduced to popular movie stars of the day. Indeed Dominique’s godmother was the daughter of actor Gary Cooper – Marie Cooper.

Dominique enjoyed, by many standards, quite a privileged life; she was born in the up-market area known as Beverley Hills and started school life at Westlake School in Los Angeles. She was a
happy outgoing child and was very popular amongst her peers; she was a very bright pupil and had no difficulties with progressing easily in school. She moved on to high school, initially attending
Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, before moving to a previously all boys school – Fountain Valley High School in Colorado, where she had the privilege of being among the first 20 girls
to enrol there when it converted to co-ed status.

The only blemish on a very happy childhood was the separation of her beloved parents when she was 11 years old. But this alteration to her life was only a slight blip as her mother and father
continued to maintain a good relationship and the children spent a good deal of time with each of them. Later in life, when Dominique was 16 years old her mother was diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis, a chronic and progressive disease of the nervous system, although initially her symptoms were very mild.

After graduating from high school Dominique moved to Europe for a year to study the Italian language and art at the Michelangelo School. She was fluent in Italian by the time that she returned
home the following year and immediately wanted to find work.

She initially took a job as a receptionist and translator at the Italian High Commission based in Los Angeles, but this job was short lived as her natural gift was calling her. She longed to
take up acting so she quit and returned to education, enrolling at the Colorado State University to study the art of acting, where she stayed for one year.

Her acting career took off virtually as soon as she left the college and Dominique was soon to be on TV screens in several popular programmes, including
Fame
,
Hill Street Blues
and
CHiPs
.

Her first film role was in 1979, in the made-for-television movie,
Diary of a Teenage Hitch-hiker
, where she won the role of Cathy Burke. This was a relatively easy introduction to film
as she was to act with one of her friends, Charlene Tilton (best known for her role in
Dallas
as the character Lucy Ewing). Also in this production was Craig T. Nelson, who was later to star
beside Dominique in their most famous movie,
Poltergeist
.