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00:30He was discovered late last night at his home in Highland Park. He had apparently been dead for several days.
00:34So a lot of people, when Gino died, they know exactly what happened.
00:39And I'm listening to the person telling the story, and it's not even close to true, because I live the story.
00:43Dallas police say that Hernandez might have been murdered.
00:46The rumor grows, the story grows, and it gets more grandiose as it grows.
00:51At the time of Gino's death, Gino was already a major talent.
00:54He was caught up in a very fast life, and as a result of that, he paid. And he paid with his life.
01:03Well, in all respect to Gino Hernandez, I think the Gino Hernandez you saw in the ring was very much like the Gino Hernandez outside the ring.
01:11And he was one who typically did everything his way.
01:14As a mother, I've got a lot of questions that nobody has ever, ever answered me.
01:20Many believe that Gino's death was a tragic accident, but for over 30 years, family members and wrestlers have believed it to be murder.
01:30Well, I think there are a lot of rumors in wrestling, and it just comes from us being able to tell a story, man.
01:36We're trying to figure out the inside scoop on everything.
01:40The only people that know what really happened to Gino was whoever was there.
01:45A lot has been taken away from me, and God has blessed me to let me stay here this long and say this, finally.
01:54I think my son was murdered.
01:57I don't think it.
01:58I almost know it.
02:00In this episode, we put to rest decades of rumors and investigate one of wrestling's darkest mysteries.
02:07Beautiful pictures, beautiful memories with our beautiful family.
02:20He had a wonderful personality.
02:23He was a good son.
02:26He was a good father.
02:27And I want everybody to remember him as a good man.
02:32I think the hardest thing for me was when he became a bad guy.
02:36And as a child at the wrestling matches, like, people throwing pennies at us.
02:41All these girls coming up to the ring saying, sign it.
02:44And he'd, like, rip it and throw it.
02:46And I was like a little girl.
02:47I was like, oh, no.
02:48You know, that's a bad guy.
02:50As I say, in the ring, Gino was evil.
02:53Don't attempt to adjust your sensor.
02:55What you see is real.
02:56The most gorgeous human being on this earth.
02:58He had it.
02:59He was special.
03:01He was the type of guy that could have fit right in with a Randy Macho Man Savage or some of those guys.
03:05So who knows where Gino would have went?
03:07You can't buy it.
03:08You can't steal it.
03:10You can't borrow it.
03:11You either got it or you don't.
03:13It's called charisma.
03:15And he had charisma.
03:16You guys were some matches, too.
03:17Yeah, tag matches.
03:19Yeah.
03:19Who's the wrestler that you hate the most?
03:21Gino!
03:22Gino!
03:23And Gino was cocky, arrogant, good-looking, talented.
03:27If you were to see Gino, you would have thought he was connected or he was a celebrity of some type.
03:33He always just looked like money.
03:35It was all about the finest suits, the finest custom-made shirts, the rings and the watches.
03:42You name it, that was Gino.
03:44And it wasn't a gimmick.
03:46That was him.
03:46If he wanted to, he could take that room and have everybody in that room hating his butts and wanting to kill him in real life.
03:54I overcome any obstacle in my life, and especially some hormone-embodged female that tries to stick her nose in a man's business.
04:04And he could talk.
04:04And it's easy to hate somebody who's good-looking, got money or whatever, got the pretty girl on the side, and must be nice.
04:15Full head of hair, got all that shit, you know.
04:17I'd like to show you and the people pictures, no other.
04:21Farrah Fawcett, I think they had a few dates.
04:24Who does she choose to be with?
04:26My wife was on the front row, and he said some of the things he would say to them.
04:29I don't know that I wouldn't be waiting outside to knock him out.
04:32It almost came natural for him.
04:33One night, Gino had said something, and he insulted to the point this big cowboy guy was getting up.
04:38He was headed to the ring.
04:39And the police stopped him.
04:41Well, Gino starts saying, let him go, let him go, let him come in here, to the point he convinced the police, let him go.
04:47And then Gino's telling me, stop him, stop him.
04:49He's whispering in the back of my ear.
04:51But I told him in the dressing room, I said, you bit that off, you chew it.
04:54David Manning, I was the referee and promoter and booker for World Class Championship Wrestling from 77, 78, till around 89.
05:07Probably I'd been in the business for about three, four years.
05:09Five years, when Gino started coming in, at that time I was a referee and he was a wrestler.
05:14The greatest thing about Gino being a heel was, one, the microphone.
05:17Gino's one of the few pieces of talent I'd actually put Gino in the category of a Ric Flair, a Jim Cornette, a Michael Hayes.
05:24The people that you just hand them a mic, and they can do it.
05:28Tonight's the night I told you I brought out the $60,000 limo.
05:32Tonight, the World Junior Airways Champion.
05:35Not bad for a kid from Spring Ranch High, huh?
05:38You know, he was real close with the promoter, Paul Bosch, in Houston.
05:43Where Gino got his big, big break was Houston.
05:45Gorgeous Gino.
05:47I remember meeting Gino when he had to be 17, 18 years old.
05:52Good looking guy, you know, good body and everything, and had chicks all over him.
05:57Full of himself, conceited.
05:59I was just a kid, so he treated me like a kid at the time.
06:04I was a professional model at one time.
06:08Most of the time, I just took care of my daughter and my son, Gino.
06:12I was a single parent.
06:14Do you prefer to call him Charles or Gino?
06:17Uh-uh.
06:17Gino.
06:18Gino?
06:18Well, if you were a wrestler, would you rather use the name Charles or Gino?
06:23Because Gino always referred to himself as Gorgeous Gino.
06:27Gorgeous Gino Hernandez.
06:30Gigi with two G's on the back of his jacket.
06:34He had Louis' name.
06:36Gino sometimes would kind of prance around, brag that his dad was Louis Hernandez, you know.
06:43Did they play Russell at all in the house and stuff?
06:45Lord, yes.
06:48From morning to night.
06:51Well, I've always been a fan of wrestling all my life, and my father was a wrestler, and he died when I was 12 years old.
06:58And I began to start training for wrestling from the time I was in high school, and I turned professional at the age of 17, right out of high school.
07:06When he got into the ring, it was like he had been wrestling for years.
07:12He was flying off the rope, and I'm going, where did he learn that from?
07:17He said, my dad did it for me.
07:19I was wearing his shoes.
07:20He said, he did everything for me.
07:24And, of course, I had to cry when he told me that.
07:27We were married very young.
07:28We were both 18, and we had our first child.
07:32That started our family.
07:33I'm Janice Gillespie, and I grew up in Houston, Texas.
07:37And that is where I met Charles Wolfe, who you might know as Gina Hernandez.
07:43And after we were married, he kept his life very separate, so he had his professional life.
07:47And he'd work out in the mornings, and then he'd have to work out in the afternoon.
07:51And it really consumed most of his day.
07:54And then he had his family.
07:57There was really very little mixing outside of just family.
08:01There was the soft side of him.
08:04It was really a pushover.
08:06He loved his children very, very much.
08:09Everybody knows I'm the man of the hour, the man with the power.
08:12Too sweet to be sour.
08:13You know, going back and, like, watching the footage and hearing him talk.
08:18227 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal.
08:22It's like a voice I always knew.
08:24Really, everywhere we went, people knew he was Gina.
08:28He would get into his persona, his character, especially when he became a heel.
08:34He would really be very, very intimidating.
08:37It made me very uncomfortable to be around him when you would stand like that.
08:42Has there been times in your life where your wrestling personas bled into your real life?
08:48Jake Roberts never had a problem in his life.
08:50He's a bad man.
08:51He doesn't give a shit about anybody, and he's going to do what he pleases, and he's going to go on with his life.
08:55He lived his gimmick in the ring, and he lived it out of the ring.
09:23We're into sports cars, we're into fast cars, faster women, and fast life.
09:27He lived it, he ate it, and he slept it.
09:29He loved every minute, and he could bring that on just like that.
09:33And I used to tell him, he can drop that now.
09:36I know who you are.
09:37I know that he and Chris had a very successful tag team, the dynamic duo.
09:43Chris Adams was, um, he was a good guy.
09:46He could be a good friend as long as alcohol wasn't involved.
09:48They were a great team.
09:49We got the looks, we got the ability, we got the money, we got the women, we got the belt, and from now on, we are number one.
10:00We're bad, we're real bad.
10:01We're bad to the bone.
10:03All right.
10:04They're bad to the bone.
10:06Well, there they go.
10:07Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez.
10:08See you guys.
10:09Gino's social life and his life outside of wrestling was just as flamboyant as inside the Coliseum when Gino came before.
10:23As a matter of fact, one of the highlighted matches and one of the biggest draws we ever had was at the Cotton Bowl.
10:27It's all come down to the Cotton Bowl tomorrow at 3 p.m.
10:33And it was Gino and Chris Adams against Kevin and Kerry.
10:38A hair match.
10:39Chris and Gino both had just gorgeous hair down, you know, the whole thing, the sculptured look, and the Von Erichs both had long hair, so people weren't sure what was going to happen here.
10:48And he would get in that ring and he just owned the crowd.
10:51He knew exactly what he was doing.
10:53I've seen a lot of wrestlers in my life, and I've seen a lot of guys try to do what Gino did, and he was such an artist.
11:01And sure enough, Gino and Chris lost.
11:04I remember they would hold him in those seats, and they brought the Razors out.
11:07The crowd was going crazy.
11:08They were cheering.
11:09They were so happy these guys were fixing to lose their hair.
11:11And they had the perfect reaction, you know, and it just elevated the feud.
11:17There was a nightclub in Houston called Judges that Gino frequented quite a bit.
11:24That was the place to go on Friday night after the matches, and party all night long.
11:28My name is Gino Williams.
11:30In 1985, Chris asked me to move to Dallas, and he said, you live next door to my friend Gino Hernandez.
11:39So Gino and I were neighbors.
11:41Gino was front and center, man.
11:42It wasn't like it was a secret that Gino did drugs, from smoking dope to cocaine and uppers and downers.
11:49It was the 70s and 80s, and we all did.
11:52I never saw Gino out of control on drugs.
11:56But Gino liked to party and have a good time.
11:58Gino comes knocking on the door.
12:00His eyes are huge, and he's like, touch my head.
12:04Oh, my God, my hair.
12:04Because they just had the hair shaved.
12:07And so we all decided we'd go to a nightclub.
12:10We get in the car, and he's going about 100 miles an hour, and he has this tiny piece of paper.
12:17And he says, just take this.
12:21We get to the club, and then everybody's just, everything's going all strange.
12:27And Gino is laughing.
12:29And I want to go to the bathroom, and as I was walking, it was like my feet were going in clouds.
12:34And I come to find out afterwards that Gino had given me some acid.
12:43I was in Las Vegas one time, and Gino had a friend with him.
12:49This particular gentleman had a plane.
12:51They had rented the whole top suite floor of the hotel there, just partying for like three days.
12:58But I knew a lot of those guys were, I don't know if they were furnishing it all to him.
13:02But from that time on, after Las Vegas, it was just a slowly progression.
13:07Gino just, he ran with a pretty tough crowd at Houston.
13:11You know, if you hang around trouble, you're going to get trouble.
13:14It's like I always say, getting into the wrestling is like getting into the mob.
13:18Once you're in, you're in.
13:19It can go the other way, too.
13:21So you've got to watch who you hang out with.
13:23Unknown to his family, Gino had been running with a fast and dangerous crowd.
13:32But the party wouldn't last much longer.
13:36Do you know or have you heard about some of those people that he was hanging around?
13:39Those heavier folks?
13:40I just heard it was like, no, I don't know.
13:44I don't know.
13:45I don't know.
13:46I don't know, man.
13:47No.
13:48I, that's, that's, what I said is what it was.
13:52I heard that it was people that you didn't mess with that had power in the city of Houston
13:57and Dallas.
13:59And there's certainly those kind of people out there.
14:01Well, when our children were young, we divorced.
14:05I just didn't feel so safe about some of the people he might be hanging out with, things
14:09I was hearing.
14:09These were strong, powerful people within the city that might not have liked certain things
14:16getting out.
14:17There was just a side of him and people he ran with that they were, I felt dangerous.
14:23By 1986, there was a shift in the dynamic duo's storyline, which saw Chris and Gino turn against
14:33each other, igniting a vicious rivalry.
14:42Yeah, one of Gino's last matches was he and Chris, we did a gimmick where, I think it's
14:48narrow, it was like, you know, girls get it to get rid of hair.
14:51Gino sprayed it in Chris's eyes and for weeks, Chris wore this thing he couldn't see and
14:56stuff like this.
14:58Whatever the gimmick was in the ring, that was the gimmick out of the ring.
15:02And so even around in the public, Chris would, you know, like he couldn't hardly see and his
15:07wife, Tony, would lead him around and bumping into chairs and that's what I really liked
15:11about the end.
15:12Whatever happened, you took it with you.
15:14Do you remember the last time you saw him, tell me about that?
15:17Super Bowl Sunday, 1986.
15:21He was in a hurry, always in a hurry.
15:26Did he seem like he was worried about anything to you at that time?
15:29Mm-hmm.
15:30Can you talk about that?
15:31Mm-hmm.
15:33He was very fidgety and nervous when he came in.
15:38Say what you got to say and leave.
15:41She knew something was going on because he had come home to her home and he had something
15:47and he put it somewhere in her home and he was acting nervous and antsy and felt like something
15:56might happen to him.
15:57And who it was, I don't think she knew who he was afraid of or who he was worried about.
16:02Do you know what he hid in her house, you're referring to?
16:06No.
16:07Was he nervous?
16:08Yeah, real nervous.
16:11And Gina wasn't afraid of anything.
16:12But there's certain things you can't dodge.
16:15If somebody wants to get you, they'll get you.
16:18He came to the matches one night and he came running in my office and he was telling me
16:24this story and he said, you wouldn't believe it, Dave, you wouldn't believe it.
16:28And he said, I'm driving and I look in the back and I can see someone sitting in the back.
16:31And he said, I didn't know what to do.
16:33And he said, so I'm watching to see if they're going to try to stab me or whatever.
16:36And he says, so all of a sudden I just slammed on the brakes and then they jumped out the back
16:39and they ran off.
16:41And he said, I think they were going to kill me.
16:42He's like, I need a gun.
16:45I could just tell he was scared to death.
16:48And so I said, no, I don't have a gun with me, Gino.
16:51I said, but I think you're okay.
16:52I think, you know, maybe you just saw something.
16:54And he was like, no, no, no, they're following me.
16:57I'm afraid something's going to happen to me.
16:58You know, I got to get a gun.
16:59I got to get a gun.
17:01He was adamant someone was sitting in the backseat of his car and he got a glimpse of
17:06him through his rearview mirror.
17:09Maybe Gino was telling me the truth all these times that someone was either stalking him or
17:13someone was after him or someone was going to kill him.
17:16That night was the last night I saw Gino.
17:18The last time I saw Gino live, he said, hey, kiddo, look what I got here.
17:24And he had a white box and he said it was a peach pie.
17:28And he said he was going out.
17:30But if I wanted to stop by the next day, come and have a slice.
17:34It's delicious.
17:35On my birthday, February the 5th, 1986, Walter called me.
17:42He was Gino's manager.
17:45He did a lot of Gino's bookings.
17:48And he said, Patrice, have you heard from Gino?
17:52I said, no, but why?
17:53He said, well, I need to, I need to talk to him.
17:56I haven't heard from him, but today's my birthday and I know he'll be calling me.
18:01I'll tell him to give you a call.
18:03The next day, I saw Gino's car parked.
18:07I noticed the car was sort of out of alignment.
18:10The wheels were strange.
18:13Like he parked it really quick.
18:15He missed a show up in Oklahoma.
18:17And it wasn't like him.
18:19But I didn't think anything about it.
18:21And then we couldn't reach him.
18:22We tried to, we tried to get a hold of Gino.
18:24We couldn't reach him.
18:25The next day, the car was still the same position.
18:31I'm going to go and check on him and knocking on his door.
18:35And I can't really get a good vision, but I did see a pie, the pie.
18:42And then I heard that, you know, he didn't show up in Houston, which was definitely unusual.
18:48When I went to the office on Monday and I hadn't heard from Gino, I said, we got a problem.
18:53One of the guys that were refereed for us was named Rick Hazard.
18:57And I said, Rick, why don't you go over to Gino's apartment and see if his car is there?
19:01And so he called me and he said, well, the car is here, but no one's answering the door.
19:05And I said, why don't you see if you can get over the wall and just peek in?
19:09And sure enough, Rick got over the wall.
19:12The way the bed was laying, at first, he couldn't see anything.
19:14He just happened to glance down.
19:16And where the bed ended, he could see part of the body hanging out.
19:21At that point, they called the police.
19:23The cops said he had been laying there, they had estimated about four to five days.
19:30Walter took some rest and went to the condo.
19:33They got in because Walter was the only one they had the key.
19:36There was a gun on the scene.
19:38So I don't know where Gino got the gun, but there was a gun on the scene when they found him.
19:43I was standing outside Chris's apartment, actually, and bringing out his body in a body bag.
19:49It was just like something you're in denial.
19:54Probably about, I'd say, a very short span of time, Walter calls me again.
20:01And he said, Patrice, it's Walter.
20:08And I said, did Gino get in touch with you?
20:11I said, he hadn't called me, but have you found him?
20:14He said, yeah.
20:16I'm standing here in his condo.
20:21I said, well, is he okay?
20:22He said, he's dead.
20:26And he hung up.
20:31And I just started screaming.
20:33Death came to Gino Hernandez.
20:44Wrestling fans were shocked at the sudden end to one of the brightest careers in the game.
20:50His friends were saddened by an irreplaceable loss of a vibrant young spirit.
20:56To his mother and sister, it was a tragedy of indescribable magnitude.
21:00Police arrived at the home of wrestler Gino Hernandez in February of 1986 and discovered his dead body.
21:10It was so decomposed that the exact cause of death could not be determined.
21:15A loaded pistol was found next to his right hand, and police found no sign of drugs, a paraphernalia in the condo.
21:22Can you walk us through?
21:25You were just home, and you heard a knock on the door.
21:28Yeah, I was grieving.
21:30Mika and I was grieving.
21:32And he just knocked on the door, and he said, I would like to come in and discuss the funeral.
21:38Well, of course I let him in.
21:41Gino knew him.
21:42Gino went places with him.
21:44But I really didn't know him.
21:48We're both sitting facing each other, sitting on the floor.
21:51And if I can recollect, he says to me,
21:57Gino owed me a lot of money.
22:02But just don't you worry about it.
22:05Because I'm going to pay for his funeral.
22:07I'm sitting there, and I know how I felt looking at him.
22:12I was scared to death.
22:15Did what he said at the time feel like it was a threat?
22:18Yeah.
22:19Well, it's just the tone of voice and the way somebody looks at you when they stick their finger in you,
22:23and they lean in to you like,
22:25Do you hear me?
22:28No remorse.
22:29No empathy.
22:31Nothing.
22:33Nothing.
22:35I'm an intelligent woman.
22:37And I can read a person pretty doggone well,
22:41eye-to-eye contact.
22:42That tells you a lot.
22:47You know, I remember walking into the funeral.
22:54Went up.
22:57Paid our respects.
22:59There was a platinum casket.
23:03And it was a closed casket.
23:05So many people.
23:08I dressed the finest I could dress.
23:13Like a movie star.
23:18Because I knew that Gina wanted me to look that way.
23:24There were a lot of people that were hurting.
23:26His mom and his sister.
23:28Oh, my gosh.
23:29And that was just painful to know they were hurting.
23:30There was a group of men, and Patrice would probably know who they were more than I would,
23:37that took care of all the finances of that funeral.
23:39And it was a very expensive funeral.
23:42They do the service at the gravesite.
23:47And then they had a bottle of champagne.
23:49They had glasses, and people were pouring champagnes.
23:51And to you, Gino, drinking the champagne and breaking champagne glasses, you know, into the casket and toasting Gino.
23:57When you were looking at all of this, it just was surreal to a point.
24:03Almost like an out-of-body experience.
24:05There was a gentleman there that did a eulogy that talked about Gino getting on the planes and going to Vegas and beating up a guy and putting him in a headlock.
24:19And it was just weird.
24:21It was totally off.
24:24And it was almost like people going, who, though, is this guy here?
24:27And to some of us that hadn't been around for a while, we just thought it was, you know, a new friend or whatever.
24:35We had no clue.
24:37His funeral, there was a lot of rich people.
24:40You might assume drug dealing is going on.
24:45And people made comments like, do you know who that is?
24:49And I had no clue who it is.
24:50And if you were putting him in a lineup today, I wouldn't know who it is.
24:53But people talk about, oh, well, he's, he's, uh, he's wanted by the authority show.
24:59I don't know who the hell he is.
25:02Who was the guy that gave the eulogy?
25:06It was John Royal.
25:09So did you know any of the activities that John Royal was involved in at all?
25:13I just heard that he was a drug dealer.
25:18I mean, I didn't know anything about the man, period.
25:21As far as I know right now, he's in prison.
25:26I would have done just pretty much anything then, just to make sure my daughter was safe.
25:31And I was too.
25:33And that's the way it's been all these years.
25:37I hadn't talked to anybody until I talked to you guys.
25:39As the Hernandez family mourned Gino's mysterious death, many questions remained unanswered.
25:53Rumors began to fly throughout the wrestling community and beyond.
25:57So a lot of people, when Gino died, were immediately telling the story, here's what happened.
26:03Andre the Giant told us that he knew for a fact that Gino had been shot in the head.
26:08And that was not the case.
26:09I heard from somebody that he was close with that he used to take trips down to Houston,
26:17a Southwest airline, several times a week to go down to Houston for what I don't know.
26:21The rumor mill was that he had gambled and that he owed some money on a football game.
26:27And so you got all these different rumors.
26:28And with Chris and with Gino, you had the conflict going on.
26:32Police have received several telephone calls from concerned fans who say Hernandez might have been murdered.
26:37And immediately it's like, well, Chris did it.
26:41Why? The guy blinded him.
26:42Had you ever heard that all the world-class fans called the police saying it must have been Chris?
26:47I did hear that.
26:48And I think the police actually did contact Chris about the murder of Gino.
26:55That goes to show just how believable world-class championship wrestling was.
27:00That somebody would go to the death to think, Jesus, he killed that guy because that guy took his eyesight.
27:04This is a case that we're talking 30 years ago.
27:06And there's been a lot of rumors like this.
27:10None of the family members were ever allowed to see him.
27:13His corpse, his body was just so guarded.
27:17Who was telling you guys nothing?
27:19Um, I think Walter.
27:23It would just be too shocking because he'd been dead for so long that they didn't want anybody to see him.
27:28I'm pretty meticulous about saving everything.
27:31This is the suitcase that I put everything in after I had collected stuff, after he had passed away.
27:37Anything that I could get my hands on because I never got to go in his apartment.
27:41As a mother, I got a lot of questions that nobody has ever, ever answered me.
27:47Then I said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll just do my own investigate.
27:52And if, if I can find out the right person to contact, I'll contact that person and take care of it myself.
27:59Worry about the consequences later.
28:02And that's exactly what I did.
28:03I think there was foul play in Gino's death only because, one, he was super paranoid.
28:09When he walked into his apartment, he locked the doors.
28:12And he had a deadbolt on the inside.
28:14So the deadbolt was not locked from the inside of the apartment.
28:18It never made any sense to me.
28:20The deadbolt wasn't on.
28:22And he always locked up.
28:23So somebody was there with him.
28:26Well, who was there with him?
28:29And left him alone.
28:30If it would have been me, and I would have said, you need to do an autopsy because someone murdered him.
28:35The autopsy report, when they found him, he was, had been dead for a while.
28:39I asked what happened.
28:41I believe they said that it might be a drug overdose.
28:44I remember talking to the coroner, and he said that Gino had cocaine in his system, but he had five times the amount.
28:53I believe I was told he had enough that could have killed an elephant.
28:56He had more than just enough to overdose.
28:58He had three or four or five times in his body that it would take to overdose.
29:02The medical examiner had said that he didn't understand how that much cocaine could get in someone, you know, be ingested.
29:11It makes you question, you know, what the hell happened?
29:14The autopsy report said he was morbidly obese.
29:17It said that he was Hispanic.
29:19She asked me, she said, now, I'm pretty sure about this because, you know, I did give birth to him.
29:24Was Gino circumcised?
29:26I said, well, he was.
29:28Well, the autopsy report said it was an uncircumcised male.
29:31How did that make you feel?
29:33Well, first of all, is that even really him?
29:36If it's not him, I wondered sometimes, could he have, would he have faked his own death?
29:42When we were married, there was a comedy sitcom, I don't remember the name of it.
29:49The main character had faked his own death.
29:52He was in some sort of trouble, whether it was tax evasion or he was trying to hide from somebody after him.
29:56He had left a wife and a child and came back like seven years later.
30:01And Gino had said, I'm going to do that someday.
30:04That's what I would do.
30:06Well, I wish that it wasn't him in there.
30:10But I know in my heart that if he was alive, I'd have heard from him by now.
30:14She was wanting to push for answers and really push for answers.
30:18And as a mother, I felt for her.
30:21And I just, we had the discussion that, well, if we start stirring the pot, what's going to keep them from doing something to, you know, our children?
30:30At this point, it's sort of your working theory of what happened.
30:34It feels like he was probably killed, that somebody murdered him.
30:37It feels that way to me.
30:41That's what the rumblings were at the time, that he had been murdered.
30:46And I could certainly see that happening with Gino, you know.
30:49Some of the people he hung with were powerful people.
30:51He may have pissed somebody off.
30:53If he were in some way involved with a drug ring, maybe he knew something.
31:02And maybe they were worried he would talk.
31:10Conspiracy theories about Gino's death lingered on.
31:13But it would take over 30 years before answers began to surface.
31:16In the days leading up to Gino's mysterious death, those closest to him noticed that he seemed fearful of something or someone.
31:33Of course, you know, this is hearsay, you know, but it seems to be that general consensus that he, weeks leading up, or prior to his death, he felt like he, somebody was going to kill him.
31:49To hear multiple people saying that they got that from him as well, maybe this was a very real possibility.
31:57You know, maybe this is what happened.
32:01I was going to my car and he was coming in.
32:04And he says, hey, how about you? Come along, have a couple drinks.
32:08So I said, okay.
32:10We actually walked to his apartment.
32:13He walked into the kitchen and he had a cabinet above his sink.
32:18He took out a cereal bowl and the bowl was full of cocaine.
32:24There was a lot of cocaine in there.
32:25And he put that on the counter and he started using the cocaine.
32:32It wasn't very long, maybe 30 minutes, 40 minutes later, he stopped speaking.
32:41And when I talked, he said, shh.
32:43He wasn't being angry to me, but he was, shh, don't speak.
32:48He kept going into the back and looking out the window.
32:52He had a quite intense paranoia.
32:55He puts a plug in the sink and turns on the water.
33:00The water started coming over the top, dripping onto the floor.
33:06I go to pull the plug out of the sink and it stops me, pulls me back.
33:13He was like, shh.
33:15The water was still falling on the floor.
33:18So I turned just around a little bit.
33:21He had a gun in his head.
33:23My heart stuck to beat at first.
33:28And he was holding me, telling me to be really quiet and could hear nothing but the water.
33:35And he seemed to be comforted that it was covering up sound of some kind, just the sound of the water.
33:45And he was a sin, for whatever reason, he found that comforting.
33:50He would go to the windows and he would just stare outside into the darkness.
33:57Over and over again, just looking outside into the darkness.
34:03Because he was afraid, it seemed, of the dark in his mind.
34:09Did you know or come to know at any point that Gino had sort of issues with drugs?
34:17Yeah, because I was doing them with him.
34:20Duh.
34:21I mean, I was no saint, man.
34:23I know that Gino was doing coke and I don't know how much he was doing.
34:28But the night I was there, he damn sure had something quite a bit there.
34:32You know, it wasn't no eight ball for damn sure.
34:35I was surprised that there was not any cocaine found by the police.
34:41But I did hear rumors that it was cleaned up.
34:44I would just say a good source told me that Rick was kind enough to immediately, there was a bowl.
34:49He said it was crazy, it was almost like a sugar bowl.
34:52And he said, I've never seen that much blow in my life.
34:55It was full of coke.
34:57Just out of reaction, he just took it and dumped it.
35:00I don't think anyone else that was even there knew that.
35:03I don't know who he thought, maybe he was protecting.
35:04But, you know, I think he just did it out of instinct.
35:08Some of the wrestlers, including Chris, said there might be more to it.
35:13Where was he getting so much cocaine from?
35:19I was afraid then.
35:21Very afraid.
35:22Because I haven't talked about it all these years.
35:24Because I got tired of looking over my shoulder every time I walked out the apartment.
35:28And I've been living like that ever since.
35:30Nobody should have to live like that.
35:33It took a lot of my life away from me.
35:37And now, you know, 77, where do I go from here?
35:42It's too much secrecy.
35:44Too much lying.
35:45Too much deceit.
35:47I truly believe he's not here today because of the people he chose to be around.
35:53I have nothing to lose because I've already lost part of it.
35:57You know, you can't take any more away from me than you already have.
36:01All we really want is just an answer.
36:04Shortly after Gino's family told their story, producers contacted John Royal by phone.
36:11He had recently served a 30-year prison term for trafficking cocaine.
36:16What follows is their recorded conversation.
36:18We're doing a documentary about Gino, and we've been talking a lot with his family.
36:25And your name has come up a couple of times because you were close friends with Gino.
36:29Gino's mother had told us a story.
36:31Is a time when you approached her and had told her that you were going to pay for the funeral?
36:37Is that true?
36:39Yeah.
36:40I think you had also said that Gino had owed you a lot of money.
36:43Is that something that you had said to her as well?
36:46No, Gino didn't owe me any money.
36:48I mean, I paid for the funeral.
36:51But Gino didn't owe me any money.
36:53Well, that's really good to know.
36:54What did she think?
36:55Did he owe me some money that I did something to him?
37:04Had you ever heard any rumors about, you know, Gino's death not being something that was accidental?
37:13Like...
37:13No.
37:14I was with him till like 1 o'clock in the morning the night he died.
37:20Right.
37:22We were at a club, and he was in a good mood, and he was buying drinks, and he was drinking a lot.
37:28And I assumed that he was doing some drugs.
37:33Then Gino left for these airline services.
37:37And that's the last time I saw him alive.
37:40And then, so, presumably, that was the night that he died.
37:46In addition to John Royal's story, a former drug trafficker who asked to remain anonymous has come forward with his version of events.
37:57Yeah, I really want to remain anonymous.
37:59This was 30 years ago, and I'm not really here to sugarcoat anything.
38:03I wanted to tell the truth.
38:04You know, I'd like to set the record straight for the people who are concerned about Gino's demise.
38:09I wanted you to hear first what you had to say about him and about everyone.
38:15Thank you very much.
38:16Yeah.
38:17I'm sorry.
38:17It's okay.
38:20I know this is...
38:21When you wait this long, 32 years.
38:24And yes, I miss him.
38:29I pray for him every day.
38:30I talk to him.
38:31She knows that.
38:33I get up at 4 o'clock every morning.
38:35She was up this morning.
38:37Yeah.
38:37Never miss him again.
38:38Prayed for two hours.
38:40Yeah, I do that.
38:42Okay, let me know when you're ready.
38:43Okay.
38:44I'm ready.
38:44Okay.
38:46There's nothing I can gain from this.
38:47I'm only doing this because I don't want you and his family to worry one more minute.
38:51If they've been worried for 30 years, they worried, you know, 29 years and 364 days too long.
38:58I met Gino through some of the other people in the group, and we got to be good friends.
39:03This was the 80s, and disco was popular, and the cocaine and drugs were all just a part of that culture.
39:10And we kind of saw the opportunity to get involved in selling drugs.
39:14And one of the guys in the group had cultivated a connection.
39:17And he would bring it in, and he would give us each a certain amount of it.
39:22And not many people know that Gino was involved in this.
39:25He was a professional wrestler, and he saw us starting to make some money,
39:29and he thought it would be a good opportunity for him.
39:31He didn't make a lot of money as a wrestler, and it was basically just a way for some young guys to make some money.
39:36And it was just something that everybody was kind of doing in that period of time.
39:40Do you remember giving a eulogy at Gino's funeral?
39:44Absolutely.
39:45Do you remember what you said?
39:47I know it was a long time ago.
39:48Well, I mean, I said something like, you know, in wrestling, there's good guys and bad guys.
39:53Gino was a bad guy, but in life, Gino was a good guy.
39:56You know, that's kind of what I opened up with.
39:59I remember there was no foul play with me.
40:05And this is something you don't know either.
40:07I had a trial.
40:08See, I was selling drugs at the time.
40:11They basically said that I gave Gino the drugs that he died on.
40:17You know, basically, you know, they're talking bad, don't bad.
40:20You know, it's just fabricated.
40:22And what do you think the circumstances were of his death?
40:24Unfortunately, I felt like Gino started off recreationally using the drugs.
40:30And I think the drugs got hold of him.
40:32And of course, we were all, you know, super concerned because we were in a business that
40:36we knew could get us in a lot of trouble, even though we weren't gangsters.
40:40And at the same time, I don't think we saw a cop behind every bush like Gino seemed to
40:45do in the last part of his life.
40:47Just knowing Gino, I would imagine that he probably went to a club and probably drank
40:51a lot of alcohol, and he probably came back to his apartment, overdosed on drugs, and died
40:56of the combination of drugs and alcohol.
40:58I have misgivings because Gino had this problem with the drugs, and that I should have recognized
41:05it and did an intervention with him and saved him.
41:11I don't know Gino's family, but I would speak to them directly and say, do not be concerned
41:16about anything that happened to Gino.
41:19It was basically just a situation of his own doing, unfortunately.
41:23I know that's hard to hear because I know you loved him, and I loved him too, but if
41:27you're concerned about anything, you should put that at rest because you've worried for
41:3130 years, and I can absolutely tell you there's nothing to worry about.
41:39Can't take those years back.
41:43But I still have my daughter.
41:46And it's just nice to know that we don't have anything to worry about.
41:55Not anymore.
41:58And I thank you very much for this.
42:04I want to believe that it was a tragic accident.
42:07I want to believe that somehow, some way, he made a mistake.
42:19That's what I want to believe.
42:20I'm the type of person I can forgive anybody, you know?
42:26Yes, I forgive John Lyle.
42:28I forgive anybody that I thought the wrong way, but I didn't know any different.
42:35I had nobody tell me outright.
42:38Watching my grandma, she's lived a sad life.
42:42I mean, she's gone through things and lived through things that no mother should ever have to.
42:47And sometimes you look at her and you think, wow, you know, you can't believe that she walked
42:52that she walked that walk and that she's still smiling today, but she is, you know, and that's, I think, the peace of life that goes on.
42:58But now I know there's nothing to be afraid of, nothing.
43:05I feel so good.
43:07I could even have a margarita.
43:09All right.
43:12The legacy of Gino Hornady is, unfortunately, he wasn't around long enough to create one of those.
43:17I would like to see him put Gino into the Hall of Fame.
43:21I think Gino was that good.
43:23I want him to be remembered for the person that he was.
43:28And he made me, as his mother, very, very proud.
43:33I hear a lot that I look like my dad.
43:35I mean, my mom used to say, look like your dad.
43:38You talk like your dad.
43:39It's smooth sailing from here on out.
43:42I have five children.
43:43I have two girls and three boys.
43:45And you see little pieces of each of them in him through those videos.
43:50That's what's cool to watch.
43:51With you guys here and doing this, it's kind of like I finally get my peace at heart.
43:59And I thank you for that.
44:01And I thank you for that.
44:02And I thank you for that.
44:03And I thank you for that.
44:04And I thank you for that.
44:05And I thank you for that.
44:06And I thank you for that.
44:07And I thank you for that.
44:08And I thank you for that.
44:09And I thank you for that.
44:10And I thank you for that.
44:11And I thank you for that.
44:12And I thank you for that.
44:13And I thank you for that.
44:14And I thank you for that.
44:15And I thank you for that.
44:16And I thank you for that.
44:17And I thank you for that.
44:18And I thank you for that.
44:19And I thank you for that.
44:20And I thank you for that.
44:21And I thank you for that.
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