Lurid Tale of Producer’s Killing Spun in Court

Brash and flamboyant, New York theatrical producer Roy A. Radin considered himself a consummate showman. But the plot line that has unfolded during a Los Angeles court hearing into his brutal murder is turning out to be far more compelling than anything he ever staged.

Tales of sex, drugs and high-flying Hollywood deal-making have swirled around the Radin case over the last two weeks, as prosecutors seek to prove that the rotund, 33-year-old producer became a victim of the treacherous world in which he lived.

One witness testified that Radin, killed six years ago while negotiating over the rights to the film “Cotton Club,” bought and consumed massive amounts of cocaine in the months leading up to his death. Another said Radin’s alleged killers, three former bodyguards for pornography king Larry Flynt, bragged of shooting him so many times that he couldn’t be identified.

Tempestuous Relationship

There have also been detailed descriptions of Radin’s tempestuous relationship with Karen DeLayne (Lanie) Greenberger, 42, who is alleged in court testimony to be a cocaine trafficker, social climber and plastic surgery promoter accused of plotting the producer’s death while the two were negotiating the “Cotton Club” deal with producer Robert Evans.

And, if that weren’t enough, there was even pathos this week as a star witness, former Radin assistant Jonathan Lawson, showed up appearing drunk, trembling and sobbing to the dismay of the judge.

These events are being recorded by a battery of reporters, authors and producers who see the makings of a major story in the Radin case, especially if former Paramount Pictures chief Evans, 58, is implicated in the cocaine-murder scenario. The word around Judge Patti Jo McKay’s courtroom, site of the preliminary hearing, is that there are already five motion picture deals in the works.

At the center of the drama are the gray-haired, fashionably dressed and relaxed-looking Greenberger and her co-defendants, Alex L. Marti, William M. Mentzer and Robert U. Lowe. Lowe is fighting extradition from Maryland, but Marti and Mentzer shuffle into court with Greenberger each morning, alternately snickering and moping as the proceedings drag on.

Prosecutors say that the three guards kidnaped and murdered Radin on Greenberger’s orders, shooting him in the head 13 times and dumping his body in a remote canyon near Gorman.

Greenberger and Radin had become friends in early 1983 and Greenberger later helped Radin get his start in films by introducing him to Evans. But in testimony this week, Lawson said Radin and Greenberger had a falling out over drugs, money and Greenberger’s role in the film.

Sizable Drug Theft

Lawson testified that on one occasion Radin stopped payment on a $4,000 to $5,000 check, written to Greenberger for cocaine, because the drugs made him ill; that Greenberger subsequently accused Radin of participating in a sizable drug theft from her home, and that Greenberger flew into a rage when Radin and Evans allegedly cut her out of the deal on the financing and production rights for the movie about the Cotton Club, the famed Harlem nightclub of the 1930s.

“Did she tell you this was important to her?” Greenberger’s attorney, Edward Shohat, asked of the production deal.

“Yes,” Lawson answered.

“And there was obviously emotion involved in the matter?”

“Yes,” Lawson replied again.

Details of Agreement

The agreement called for Radin to raise $35 million to finance the “Cotton Club” movie, Lawson testified. In return, Radin and Evans each would receive 45% of the profits. The remaining 10% would go to a Puerto Rican banker instrumental in helping Radin raise money for the film.

Evans, producer of “Chinatown” and “Marathon Man,” appeared in court last week but refused to tell his version of events on grounds that his testimony might incriminate him.

But Lawson said Radin and Greenberger argued bitterly over the deal. And for the first time in court, Lawson, a skittish, slightly built man who testified for two days before his breakdown, offered a detailed account of the events leading up to Radin’s disappearance.

Obsessed With Succeeding

In his testimony and records filed with the court, the 275-pound Radin emerges as a slick and unsavory deal-maker who was obsessed with succeeding in Hollywood after producing a string of successful but unglamorous East Coast vaudeville-style shows. Greenberger is characterized as a woman who expected to make it big in the high-stakes movie production business by trading on her striking good looks, her drug connections and her forceful personality.

Lawson said Radin and Greenberger’s fateful encounter occurred Friday, May 13, when she demanded one last meeting on the “Cotton Club” contract. The former assistant said Greenberger made it clear that she expected a $50,000 finder’s fee for introducing Radin and Evans. “There was also discussion of points and percentages in the production,” Lawson testified.

Dinner Arrangements

Radin initially put her off, Lawson said, before they agreed to resolve their differences over dinner at La Scala in Beverly Hills. Radin arranged for Greenberger to meet him at his room at the Regency Plaza Suites Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Lawson implied that Radin feared being alone with Greenberger. He asked a close friend and associate, actor Demond Wilson of “Sanford and Son” fame, to wait outside the hotel with a gun and to surreptitiously follow them to the restaurant.

Lawson said the mood was friendly when Greenberger arrived at the hotel around 8:30 p.m. But Lawson said Radin’s carefully laid plans for the evening started unraveling when Greenberger insisted that they go to dinner in her limousine, rather than Radin’s car.

Lost in Traffic

Lawson recalled that he nervously followed them downstairs and signaled for Wilson to trail the limousine as it pulled away from the curb. But another limousine pulled in behind the one carrying Greenberger and Radin, and Wilson lost them in traffic, according to Lawson.

When he had not heard from Radin by 11 p.m., Lawson said he called La Scala, only to learn that Greenberger and Radin had not shown up. Then, when Radin still had not returned to the hotel by the next morning, Lawson said he called and left several messages for Greenberger.

“I said in one of the messages that she had to call me within an hour or I was going to call the police,” Lawson said. “I was going to blow the lid off the whole thing.”

Report Filed

Greenberger called back later that day, telling Lawson she and Radin had split up after arguing in the limousine. But a disbelieving Lawson eventually filed a missing-person report.

Radin’s decomposing corpse was discovered by a beekeeper a month later in a ditch. The case, however, remained open for five years because of a lack of evidence. The big break finally came when William Rider, a former supervisor of Flynt’s bodyguards, told police that at least two of the men had admitted playing a role in Radin’s murder. The suspects were arrested after police listened to conversations that Rider had secretly taped in which one of them, Lowe, said that the Radin “hit” had been financed by Greenberger and film producer Evans.

Plan Overheard

Evans has denied this and Rider has yet to make an appearance in court. But Carl Plzak, another former Flynt bodyguard who was offered immunity, testified that he overheard the male defendants in the case making plans to “grab a fat pig and take him to the desert.”

In testimony that stretched over several days, the burly Plzak also said that Greenberger was present when bodyguard Mentzer later announced that Radin’s body had been found.

“He told me they had found the body of the producer they shot in the desert,” Plzak said. Under further examination from Deputy Dist. Atty. Sally Thomas, Plzak then added: “She (Greenberger) was present when it was said. She was standing right next to us.”

Legal Indiscretions

In an effort to discredit Plzak, the defense attorneys asked if he had ever broken any laws. Among the legal indiscretions acknowledged by Plzak, who continually rubbed his eyes and sighed during his time on the witness stand, was the time he falsely reported that his car had been stolen. Plzak said the car had actually been taken to the desert and blown up by defendant Marti. When an attorney asked why, Plzak said: “He enjoyed blowing things up.”

The preliminary hearing is expected to last two more weeks.