John Holmes Visits With Dr. Vonda Pelto While In Jail


Dr. Vonda Pelto worked for years as a criminal psychologist in Los Angeles at the men’s central county jail. She was basically put in charge of examining killers and keeping them alive, so the cases could be fully investigated, tried in court and all victims identified, cases solved, etc. She wrote a book about her experiences. Her job was to see anyone in jail who needed to talk, and who was famous or newsworthy. The book is $4 on Amazon, so I am going to order it!

Part of an online review:

One bright side of Pelto’s work at the prison is her meeting with the late porn star, John Holmes, while he was awaiting trial and subsequently held for contempt of court. As with her other patients, Pelto’s believable dialogue with “The Wadd” brings him to life and offers insight to John and his 111 days in jail.

In the book, you get to know this laundry list of classic L.A. characters a bit better:

  • The Trash Bag Killer
  • Hillside Strangler
  • Sunset Killer
  • Arthur Jackson, Theresa Saldana’s stalker and attacker
  • Good Time Charlie Manson
  • Porn star John Holmes. Johnny Wadd would collect cockroaches and mice. He was lonely and kept them as pets in his cell. At one point, John even propositioned her, saying “anytime you want a little, Doc… he’d like to come out for a ride”. (meaning his penis… Niiice). He also promised her marriage if she would sneak him a Cadbury chocolate bar during his hunger strike.

Her book is titled “Without Remorse”, and this is a great video:

A much longer interview video: