EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION

The haunting of superman
by Tara Ciampa - EDITOR

..It will forever remain a mystery how George Reeves, the actor who portrayed superman in the 1950s, died of a gunshot wound. His house was full of people...yet its unclear if he was murdered. If he was, the murderer has eluded everyone. Detectives see it as a case of homicide with the suspect being a past lover of Reeves who in later years confesses to his murder. Reeve's ghost has been spotted by numerous people giving credence to his soul not being at rest.

..I have vivid memories of the Superman series due to being brought up with two older brothers. I don't recall ever tuning in on my own but found the show on the tv quite often. The series ran from 1951 to 1957. Sadly Reeves was found dead at only 45 years old. He played a minor role in Gone With the Wind. His other screen credits were: So Proudly we Hale, From Here to Eternity, Blood and Sand and Samson and Delilah.

..George lived in a modest house located in Benedict Canyon, in Los Angeles, California (GOOGLE maplink). After competing in the Golden Globes Boxing competition (he broke his nose 9 times) and going to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1932 he moved into acting. He was now getting work as a director, and he had agreed to do another season of Superman, in which he would get the chance to direct quite a few episodes of. He was engaged to Leonore Lemmon, a New York showgirl. Lemmon moved in with him, and they set a wedding date of June 18. Their plans were to honeymoon in Spain and then go to Austrialia for 6 weeks where Reeves would pick up $20,000.00 for public appearances as his Superman character. The series had just been sold to an Australian televisions network and viewers were anxious to meet "The Man of Steel"

..On June 15, George and Leonore had gone out to dinner to celebrate the upcoming marriage. They had quite a few drinks. They argued over dinner and then returned home and continued drinking. George went to bed at 12:30 a.m. About 1 a.m., two friends, Carol Von Ronkel and William Bliss, stopped by to pay them a visit. Reeves usually had an open door policy, but certainly not after midnight. Shortly after their guests arrived, Reeves came downstairs to investigate the commotion. Upon seeing the neighbors, he basically told them, "Get out. It's too late for this nonsense." Leonore asked, "Is this a joke or a shoot?" in an effort to see if he was he kidding around. Reeves then apologized, and then proceeded to visit with these guests.

..Reeves Found Dead: The following is taken from the official autopsy report: At approximately 1:20 AM, Reeves excused himself, and went upstairs to bed. Miss Lemmon then made the following statement, "He is going to shoot himself." Shortly, you could hear a dresser drawer being opened upstairs, and Miss Lemmon commented, he is sulking... he'll probably go up to his room and shoot himself. Only moments later, a shot was heard, and the Superman so many adored lay dead of a gunshot wound. Reeves was found lying across the bed on his back, naked, with a gunshot wound to the head. On the floor between his feet was a .30 caliber German Luger pistol. The police were called, and the guests were instructed to leave the premises. An ambulance arrived and pronounced him dead, Reeves was pronounced dead in the early morning hours of June 16, 1959. An autopsy ruled suicide.

..On the night of his death, Reeves' blood alcohol level was .27, well beyond the point of intoxication. In addition, he was taking painkillers for injuries that he had sustained in a recent car accident. There were in fact no powder marks or burns from the gun's discharge found on Reeves' head wound. These marks are usually present with a suicide. The bullet that killed Reeves was recovered from the bedroom ceiling. Reeves was found lying on his back on top of a spent shell casing, as the movie portrays. The gun was found on the floor between his feet. His hands were never tested for powder residue or none was ever found. The police determined that there was no sign of forced entry. They did find two additional bullet holes in the bedroom floor, which were discovered at a later date. They had been covered over with a rug on the night of Reeves' death, a rug that Gene LeBell claims did not belong there. A further examination revealed that the same Luger automatic that killed Reeves had fired them. - Sacramento Bee / tvparty.com

..Three Near Fatal Accidents: Reeves had three near fatal car mishaps before his death that could have been impending warning signs that he was in danger. The first one being when his car was almost crushed by two trucks traveling on the freeway. Then there was the car that nearly ran him down but luckily his quick reflexes allowed him to get out of harms way. The most serious incident was when he lost his brakes. His mechanic discovered the hydraulic system was in perfect working order so someone would have had to actually pump the brake fluid out to cause it to be empty like that.

..A month after the car mishaps Reeves started getting death threats on his unlisted phone numbers. These calls took place mainly at night and he would get as many as 20 a day. There were mostly hangups but also some graphic outright threats. Reeves filed a report with the Beverly Hills Police Department and a complaint with the Los Angeles District Attorneys office. He named Toni Mannix as a suspect.

..There was talk in Hollywood that someone else may have shot Reeves, who had bequeathed his house, car and wardrobe to Toni Mannix. There was no public acknowledgment of Reeve's relationship with Toni Mannix but they were portrayed as a couple by Hollywood gossip columnists. There was good reason for the secrecy. Toni was married to Eddie Mannix, VP of Loew's Theaters Inc. and a former MGM executive. Reeve's friend, Arthur Weissman describes Eddie as a uncouth and despicable person who was disliked by everyone. He believed that Eddie was the one responsible for the death threats and attempts on Reeve's life. He did not consider him responsible for his friend's actual death though, he actually did believe Reeves did commit suicide, perhaps accidently, because he had a history of playing Russian roulette but never with a live bullet in the chamber.

..Its interesting to note that Toni had a key to Reeve's residence. Toni Mannix suffered from Alzheimer's disease for years and finally died in 1983. In 1999 Los Angeles publicist Edward Lozzi claimed that Toni Mannix had confessed to a Catholic priest, in Lozzi's presence, that she was indeed responsible for having George Reeves killed. Lozzi made the claim on TV tabloid shows including Extra, Inside Edition, and Court TV. In 2006, when a movie about Reeves, called Hollywoodland'was popular, Mr. Lozzi repeated his story to the tabloid The Globe and to the LA Times. According to Lozzi, he lived with and then visited the Mannix from 1979 to 1982 and that on at least a half-dozen occasions he would call a priest when Mrs. Mannix wanted to confess her sins.

..Suffering from Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia, Lozzi insists that her "confessions" were made during periods of lucidity. Lozzi states that the "confession" was made in Mannix's home before she was moved from her house to a hospital. Lozzi mentioned Tuesday night prayer sessions and the fact that Toni Mannix had a shrine to George Reeves which she had built in her home. Lozzi stated, "During these prayer sessions she prayed loudly and trance-like to Reeves and God, and without confessing yet, asked them for forgiveness."

..Reeves mother, Helen Bessolo, was convinced that her son had been murdered. She had talked to him days before, and, according to her, he "was in a splendid state of mind." She had the body exhumed, and a second autopsy was performed. She hired The Nick Harris Agency to investigate her son's death. It was their conclusions that the killer was in the house at the time of his death. Detective Speriglio observed that the police report read that the gunshot wound was 'irregular.' After reconstructing the bullet's entry and exit paths (the bullet was found lodged in the ceiling) it was determined that Reeves would have had to have been twisted thus making a self inflicted short next to impossible.

..Speriglio's theory is that an intruder found Reeve's gun and during Reeve's struggle with this intruder Reeves was shot. It's interesting to note that the police report states that Reeves pulled the trigger with his 'right' hand. His hand, in reality, was injured in an auto accident where his Jaguar spun out of control when he hit an oil slick and crashed into a brick wall. Reeves filed a personal injury claim with the Los Angeles Superior Court asking for a half million dollars in damages because his hand was disabled. There were no fingerprints taken at the scene of his death. One has to wonder why their investigation seems to not have been the least bit thorough. Were they covering something up ? The Los Angeles County Coroner’s report said, “the position of Reeves’ body on the bed, the angle of the bullet’s path and the autopsy findings all point to suicide.”

For the funeral George's body was dressed in a gray Clark Kent Suit. His body was taken to Gates/Kingsley/Gates on Sepulveda, and his funeral was held on Wednesday, June 30. Honorary pallbearers included Alan Ladd and Gig Young. He was cremated in Ohio, and ashes given to his mother, who then died in 1964. He left the bulk of his estate to Toni Mannix. "Yes, I said Toni Mannix. Can't you see me waving my red flag".

..The Mystery Surrounding His Death: According to the book Hollywood Kryptonite, Toni had hired a hit man to kill Reeves. To date, this has not been proven to be true. Recent forensic specialists have re-examined the photographs and official reports, and even with modern science, the case remains closed, and ruled a suicide.

..Ghost Sightings: The evidence could easily give way to the possibility that Reeves was the victim of a malicious murder plot. This may also explain the appearance of his apparition that has appeared to many residents of his prior home. There were all kinds of bizarre events occuring when realtors were attempting to sell the actor's residence. Reeves ghost has been seen in his Beverly Hills home. A couple claims to have seen the ghost of Reeves - decked out in his Superman costume - materialize in the bedroom where he died, after which it slowly faded away

..Occupants were short lived at Reeve's last residence because of inexplicable noises that came from the bedroom where George was shot. When they entered the bedroom to investigate the sounds they smelled gunpowder in the air and found bedding that was in tact earlier torn off along with clothing strewn about. One tenant stated that his German Shepard would stand in the hallway and bark furiously as though he saw something threatening and unfamiliar. Two Los Angeles sheriffs were assigned to watch the house after neighbors reported hearing screams, gun shots and lights going on and off during the night. Supposedly, the house has been bought and sold nine times in the years since his death.

..New residents didn't stick around long because they became very frightened when they spotted Reeve's ghost fully clothed in his superman costume. Many other residents reported seeing the same apparition and were so scared they left the same night. Neighboring residents reported seeing his ghost on the front lawn. In the 1980s the house was being used as a set for a tv show. The ghost appeared to several of the actors and crew before disappearing before their eyes.

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