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00:00We had scheduled a bout with Gino Hernandez. However, we've reached a
00:05milestone, a sad moment in world-class championship wrestling. Gino Hernandez
00:10is dead. On February the 4th, 1986, the professional wrestling world was in shock.
00:1728-year-old wrestler Gino Hernandez was dead. The popular wrestling star's badly decomposed body was
00:25discovered late last night at his home in Highland Park. He had apparently been
00:28dead for several days. So a lot of people, when Gino died, they know exactly what
00:34happened. And I'm listening to the person telling the story, and it's not even close to true,
00:37because I live the story. Dallas police say it's Hernandez might have been murdered.
00:41The rumor grows, the story grows, and it gets more grandiose as it grows.
00:45At the time of Gino's death, Gino was already a major talent.
00:50He was caught up in a very fast life, and as a result of that, he paid, and he paid with his life.
00:57Well, in all respect to Gino Hernandez, I think the Gino Hernandez you saw in the ring
01:03was very much like the Gino Hernandez outside the ring. And he was one who typically did everything
01:09his way. As a mother, I got a lot of questions that nobody has ever, ever answered me.
01:15Many believe that Gino's death was a tragic accident. But for over 30 years, family members and wrestlers
01:23have believed it to be murder. Well, I think there are a lot of rumors in wrestling, and it just comes
01:29from us being able to tell a story, man. We're trying to figure out the inside scoop on everything.
01:34The only people that know what really happened to Gino was whoever was there.
01:41A lot has been taken away from me, and God has blessed me to let me stay here this long
01:45and say this, finally. I think my son was murdered. I don't think it. I almost know it.
01:56In this episode, we put to rest decades of rumors and investigate one of wrestling's darkest mysteries.
02:02Beautiful pictures, beautiful memories with our beautiful family. He had a wonderful personality.
02:17He was a good son. He was a good father. And I want everybody to remember him as a good man.
02:27I think the hardest thing for me was when he became a bad guy. And as a child at the
02:32wrestling matches, like people throwing pennies at us, all these girls coming up to the ring
02:38saying, sign it. And he'd like rip it and throw it. And I was like a little girl. I was like,
02:42oh, no. You know, that's a bad guy. As I say in the ring, Gino was evil.
02:48Don't attempt to adjust your sensor. What you see is real. The most gorgeous human being on this earth.
02:53He had it. He was special. He was the type of guy that could have fit right in with a Randy
02:59Macho Man Savage or some of those guys. So who knows where Gino would have went.
03:02You can't buy it. You can't steal it. You can't borrow it. You either got it or you don't.
03:08It's called charisma. And he had charisma right there.
03:11You guys worked some matches here, haven't you?
03:13Yeah, tag matches. Yeah.
03:14Who's the wrestler that you hate the most?
03:16Gino! Gino!
03:18And Gino was cocky, arrogant, good-looking, talented.
03:22If you were to see Gino, you would have thought he was connected or he was a celebrity of some
03:28type. He always just looked like money.
03:31It was all about the finest suits, the finest custom-made shirts, the rings and the watches.
03:37You name it, that was Gino. And it wasn't a gimmick. That was him. If he wanted to, he could take that room
03:44and have everybody in that room hating his guts and wanting to kill him in real life.
03:49I overcome any obstacle in my life, and especially some hormone-imbiased female that tries to stick
03:56her nose in a man's business.
03:58And he could talk. And it's easy to hate somebody who's good-looking, got money or whatever, got the
04:07pretty girl on the side, and must be nice. Full head of hair, got all this shit, you know.
04:12I'd like to show you and the people pictures, no other.
04:16Farrah Fawcett, I think they had a few dates.
04:19Who does she choose to be with?
04:21My wife was on the front row, and he said some of the things he would say to him.
04:24I don't know that I wouldn't be waiting outside to knock him out. It almost came natural for him.
04:28One night, Gino had said something, and he insulted to the point this big cowboy guy was getting up.
04:33He was headed to the ring. And the police stopped him.
04:36Well, Gino starts saying, let him go, let him go, let him come in here, to the point he convinced the police, let him go.
04:41And then Gino's telling me, stop him, stop him, he's whispering in the back of my ear.
04:46But I told him in the dressing room, I said, you bit that off, you chew it.
04:49David Manning, I was the referee and promoter and booker for world-class championship wrestling from 77, 78 till around 89.
05:00Probably, I'd been in the business for about three, four years, five years, when Gino started coming in.
05:06At that time, I was a referee and he was a wrestler.
05:08The greatest thing about Gino being a heel was, one, the microphone.
05:11Gino'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.
05:19The people that you just hand them a mic, and they can do it.
05:22Tonight's the night, I told you, I brought out the $60,000 limo.
05:27Tonight, the world junior heavyweight champion. Not bad for a kid from Spring Ranch High, huh?
05:33You know, he was real close with the promoter, Paul Bosch, in Houston.
05:38Where Gino got his big, big break was Houston.
05:40Gorgeous Gino.
05:42I remember meeting Gino when he had to be 17, 18 years old.
05:47Good looking guy, you know, good body and everything, and had chicks all over him.
05:51Full of himself, conceited.
05:54I was just a kid, so he treated me like a kid at the time.
06:00I was a professional model at one time.
06:03Most of the time, I just took care of my daughter and my son, Gino.
06:07I was a single parent.
06:09Do you prefer to call him Charles or Gino?
06:11Uh-uh, Gino.
06:12Gino?
06:13Well, if you were a wrestler, would you rather use the name Charles or Gino?
06:17Because Gino always referred to himself as Gorgeous Gino.
06:22Gorgeous Gino Hernandez!
06:25Gigi, with two G's on the back of his jacket.
06:29He had Luis's name.
06:30Gino sometimes would kind of prance around, brag that his dad was Luis Hernandez, you know.
06:38Did they play wrestle at all in the house and stuff?
06:40Lord, yes.
06:41From morning to night.
06:44Well, 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.
06:53And 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.
07:01When he got into the ring, it was like he had been wrestling for years.
07:07He was flying off the rope, and I'm going, where did he learn that from?
07:11He said, my dad did it for me. I was wearing his shoes.
07:15He said, he did everything for me.
07:18And of course, I had to cry when he told me that.
07:21We were married very young.
07:23We were both 18, and we had our first child.
07:26So that started our family.
07:28I'm Janice Gillespie, and I grew up in Houston, Texas.
07:32And that is where I met Charles Wolf, who you might know as Gino Hernandez.
07:37After we were married, he kept his life very separate, so he had his professional life.
07:42And he'd work out in the mornings, and then he'd have a workout in the afternoon, and it really consumed most of his day.
07:49And then he had his family.
07:52There was really very little mixing outside of just family.
07:56There was the soft side of him.
07:59It was really a pushover.
08:01He loved his children very, very much.
08:04Everybody knows I'm the man of the hour, the man with the power.
08:06Too sweet to be sour.
08:08You know, going back and, like, watching the footage and hearing him talk.
08:12227 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal.
08:16It's like a voice I always knew.
08:19Really, everywhere we went, people knew he was Gino.
08:23He would get into his persona, his character, especially when he became a heel.
08:28He would really be very, very intimidating.
08:31It made me very uncomfortable to be around him when you would stand like that.
08:36Has there been times in your life where your wrestling personas bled into your real life?
08:42Jake Roberts never had a fucking problem in his life.
08:45He's a bad motherfucker and don't give a fuck about anybody.
08:47And he's going to do what he pleases, and he's going to go on with life.
08:50Don't fuck with him. He will fuck you up.
08:52Aurelian Smith, on the other hand, is a human being, man, that cares about other people.
08:57He's made some mistakes. He's a recovering alcoholic addict.
09:02So, yeah, that guy has problems. Jake the Snake doesn't.
09:06For people to get mad at me for when I get on TV and say I'm the latest, and I'm the greatest, and I'm so fine that I'm divine.
09:13For people to say I'm conceited, I don't understand it.
09:15He lived his gimmick in the ring, and he lived it out of the ring.
09:18We're into sports cars, we're into fast cars, faster women, and fast life.
09:22He lived it, he ate it, and he slept it.
09:24He loved every minute, and he could bring that on just like that.
09:28And I used to tell him, you can drop that now. I know who you are.
09:33I know that he and Chris had a very successful tag team, the dynamic duo.
09:37Chris Adams was, um, he was a good guy.
09:40He could be a good friend as long as alcohol wasn't involved.
09:43They were a great team.
09:44We got the looks, we got the ability, we got the money, we got the women, we got the belt.
09:52And from now on, we are number one.
09:54We're bad, we're real bad. Let's go.
09:56We're bad to the bones, huh?
09:58All right. They're bad to the bone. Well, there they go.
10:01Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez. See you guys.
10:05Gino's social life and his life outside of wrestling was just as flamboyant as inside the Coliseum when Gino came before.
10:17As a matter of fact, one of the highlighted matches and one of the biggest draws we ever had was at the Cotton Bowl.
10:22It's all come down to the Cotton Bowl tomorrow at 3pm.
10:27And it was Gino and Chris Adams against Kevin and Kerry. A hair match.
10:33Chris and Gino both had just gorgeous hair down, you know, the whole thing, the sculptured look.
10:39And the Bonnericks both had long hair, so people weren't sure what was going to happen here.
10:43And he would get in that ring and he just owned the crowd. He knew exactly what he was doing.
10:48I've seen a lot of wrestlers in my life, and I've seen a lot of guys try to do what Gino did.
10:53And he was such an artist.
10:55And sure enough, Gino and Chris lost. And I remember they were holding them in those seats and they brought the Razors out.
11:02The crowd was going crazy. They were cheering. They were so happy these guys were fixing to lose their hair.
11:06And they had the perfect reaction, you know, and it just elevated the feud.
11:12There was a nightclub in Houston called Judges that Gino frequented quite a bit.
11:19That was the place to go on Friday night after the matches and party all night long.
11:24My name is Gino Williams. In 1985, Chris asked me to move to Dallas.
11:29And he said, you live next door to my friend Gino Hernandez. So Gino and I were neighbors.
11:36Gino was front and center, man. It wasn't like it was a secret that Gino did drugs.
11:40From smoking dope to cocaine and uppers and downers. It was the 70s and 80s and we all did.
11:46I never saw Gino out of control on drugs. But Gino liked to party and have a good time.
11:53Gino comes knocking on the door. His eyes are huge and he's like, touch my head. Oh my God, my hair.
11:59Because they just had the hair shaved. And so we all decided we'd go to a nightclub.
12:04We get in the car and he's going about a hundred miles an hour and he has this tiny piece of paper.
12:12And he says, just take this. We get to the club and then everybody's just, everything's going all strange.
12:21Gino is laughing. I want to go to the bathroom. And as I was walking, it was like my feet were going in clouds.
12:30And I come to find out afterwards that Gino had given me some assets.
12:36I was in Las Vegas one time and Gino had a friend with him. This particular gentleman was, he had a plane.
12:46They had rented the whole top suite floor of the hotel there, just partying for like three days.
12:53But I knew a lot of those guys were, I don't know if they were furnishing it all to him.
12:57But from that time on after Las Vegas, it was just a slowly progression.
13:02Gino just, he ran with a pretty tough crowd at Houston.
13:06You know, if you hang around trouble, you're going to get trouble.
13:09It's like I always say, getting into the wrestling is like getting into the mob.
13:13Once you're in, you're in. It can go the other way too.
13:16So you got to watch who you hang out with.
13:22Unknown to his family, Gino had been running with a fast and dangerous crowd.
13:27But the party wouldn't last much longer.
13:30Do you know or have you heard about some of those people that he was hanging around?
13:33Those heavier folks?
13:35I just heard it was like, no, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
13:41That's, that's what I said is what it was.
13:46I heard that it was people that you didn't mess with that had power in the city of Houston and Dallas.
13:54And there's certainly those kind of people out there.
13:57Well, when our children were young, we divorced.
13:59I just didn't feel so safe about some of the people he might be hanging out with.
14:03Things I was hearing.
14:04These were strong, powerful people within the city that might not have liked certain things.
14:10getting out.
14:11There was just a side of, of him and people he ran with that they were, I felt dangerous.
14:18By 1986, there was a shift in the dynamic duo's storyline.
14:25We saw Chris and Gino turn against each other, igniting a vicious rivalry.
14:31Yeah, one of Gino's last matches was he and Chris,
14:39we did a gimmick where, I think it's narrow.
14:43It was like, you know, girls get it to get rid of hair.
14:46Gino sprayed it in Chris's eyes.
14:48And for weeks, Chris wore this thing he couldn't see and, and stuff like this.
14:52And whatever the gimmick was in the ring, that was the gimmick out of the ring.
14:56And so even around in the public, Chris would, you know, like he couldn't hardly see.
15:00And, uh, uh, his wife Tony would lead him around and bumping into chairs.
15:05And, uh, that's what I really liked about then.
15:07And whatever happened, you took it with you.
15:09Do you remember the last time you saw him to me and tell me about that?
15:12Super Bowl Sunday, 1986.
15:17He was in a hurry, always in a hurry.
15:21Did he seem like he was worried about anything to you at that time?
15:24Mm-hmm.
15:25Can you talk about that?
15:26Mm-hmm.
15:28He was very fidgety and nervous when he came in.
15:33Say what you gotta say and leave.
15:36She knew something was going on because he had come home, to her home.
15:41And he had something and he put it somewhere in her home.
15:45And he, uh, was acting nervous and antsy and felt like something might happen to him.
15:52And who it was, I don't think she knew who he was afraid of or who he was worried about.
15:57Do you know what he hid in her house, you're afraid to?
16:00No.
16:01Was he nervous?
16:03Yeah, real nervous.
16:05And Gina wasn't afraid of anything.
16:07But there's certain things you can't dodge.
16:10If somebody wants to get you, they'll get you.
16:15He came to the matches one night and he came running in my office and he was telling me this story.
16:20And he said, you wouldn't believe it, Dave, you wouldn't believe it.
16:23And he said, I'm driving and I look in the back and I can see someone sitting in the back.
16:26And he said, I didn't know what to do.
16:27And he said, so I'm watching to see if they're going to try to stab me or whatever.
16:30And he says, so all of a sudden I just slammed on the brakes and then they jumped out the back and they ran off.
16:35And he said, I think they were going to kill me.
16:37He's like, uh, I need a gun.
16:40I could just tell he was scared to death.
16:42And so, uh, I said, no, I don't have a gun with me, Gino.
16:45I said, but I think you're okay.
16:46I think, you know, maybe you just saw something.
16:48And he was like, no, no, no, they're following me.
16:51I'm afraid something's going to happen to me.
16:53You know, I got to get a gun.
16:54I got to get a gun.
16:55He was adamant someone was sitting in the backseat of his car.
16:58Uh, and he got a glimpse of him through his rear view mirror.
17:03Uh, maybe Gino was telling me the truth all these times that someone was either stalking him or someone was after him or someone was going to kill him.
17:10That night was the last night I saw Gino.
17:14The last time I saw Gino live, he said, hey kiddo, look what I got here.
17:18And he had a white box and he said it was a peach pie.
17:22And he said he was going out.
17:24But if I wanted to stop by the next day, come and have a slice.
17:29It's delicious.
17:31On my birthday, February the 5th, 1986, Walter called me.
17:37He was Gino's manager.
17:39He did a lot of Gino's bookings.
17:42And he said, uh, Patrice, have you heard from Gino?
17:46I said, no, but why?
17:48He said, well, I need to, I need to talk to him.
17:51I haven't heard from him, but today's my birthday and I know he'll be calling me.
17:55I'll tell him to give you a call.
17:57The next day, I saw Gino's car parked.
18:02I noticed the car was sort of out of alignment.
18:04The wheels were strange.
18:08Like he parked it really quick.
18:10He missed a show up in Oklahoma.
18:12And it wasn't like him.
18:14But I didn't think anything about it.
18:15And then we couldn't reach him.
18:17We tried to get a hold of Gino.
18:18We couldn't reach him.
18:20The next day, the car was still the same position.
18:25I'm going to go and check on him and knocking on his door.
18:30And I can't really get a good vision, but I did see a pie, the pie.
18:37And then I heard that, you know, he didn't show up in Houston, which was definitely unusual.
18:43When I went to the office on Monday and I hadn't heard from Gino, I said, we got a problem.
18:48One of the guys that were refereed for us was named Rick Hazard.
18:51And I said, Rick, why don't you go over to Gino's apartment and see if his car is there?
18:55And so he called me and he said, well, the car is here, but no one's answering the door.
19:00And I said, why don't you see if you can get over the wall and just peek in?
19:04And sure enough, Rick got over the wall.
19:06The way the bed was laying at first, he couldn't see anything.
19:09He just happened to glance down.
19:11And where the bed ended, he could see part of the body hanging out.
19:16At that point, they called the police.
19:18The cops that he had been laying there, they estimated about four to five days.
19:25Walter took some rest, sir, and went to the condo.
19:28They got in because Walter was the only one they had to keep.
19:31There was a gun on the scene.
19:33So I don't know where Gino got the gun, but there was a gun on the scene when they found him.
19:37I was standing outside Chris's apartment, actually, and bringing out his body in a body bag.
19:44It was just like something you're in denial.
19:49Probably about, I'd say, a very short span of time, Walter calls me again.
19:57And he said, Patrice, it's Walter.
20:02And I said, did Gino get in touch with you?
20:06I said, he hadn't called me, but have you found him?
20:09He said, yeah.
20:12I'm standing here in his condo.
20:15I said, well, is he okay?
20:17He said, he's dead.
20:19And he hung up.
20:22And I just started screaming.
20:27Death came to Gino Hernandez.
20:39Wrestling fans were shocked at the sudden end to one of the brightest careers in the game.
20:44His friends were saddened by an irreplaceable loss of a vibrant young spirit.
20:50To his mother and sister, it was a tragedy of indescribable magnitude.
20:57Police arrived at the home of wrestler Gino Hernandez in February of 1986 and discovered his dead body.
21:05It was so decomposed that the exact cause of death could not be determined.
21:10A loaded pistol was found next to his right hand, and police found no sign of drugs or paraphernalia in the condo.
21:18Can you walk us through?
21:20You were just home and you heard a knock on the door.
21:23Yeah, I was grieving.
21:25Mika and I was grieving.
21:27And he just knocked on the door and he said, I would like to come in and discuss the funeral.
21:33Of course I let him in.
21:35Gino knew him.
21:37Gino went places with him.
21:40But I really didn't know him.
21:43We're both sitting facing each other, sitting on the floor.
21:46And if I can recollect, he says to me, Gino owed me a lot of money.
21:56But just don't you worry about it.
21:59Because I'm going to pay for his funeral.
22:02And I was sitting there and I know how I felt looking at him.
22:06I was scared to death.
22:09Did what he said at the time feel like it was a threat?
22:13Yeah.
22:14Well, it's just the tone of voice and the way somebody looks at you when they stick their finger in you,
22:18and they lean in to you like, do you hear me?
22:22No remorse.
22:24No empathy.
22:26Nothing.
22:28Nothing.
22:30I'm an intelligent woman.
22:32And I can read a person pretty doggone well, eye to eye contact.
22:37That tells you a lot.
22:42You know, I remember walking into the funeral.
22:49Went up.
22:51Paid our respects.
22:53There was a platinum casket.
22:58And it was a closed casket.
23:01So many people.
23:04I dressed the finest I could dress.
23:08Like a movie star.
23:12Because I knew Gino wanted me to look that way.
23:16There were a lot of people that were hurting his mom and his sister.
23:22Oh, my gosh.
23:23And that was just painful to know they were hurting.
23:25There was a group of men, and Patrice would probably know who they were more than I would,
23:31that took care of all the finances of that funeral, and it was a very expensive funeral.
23:36They do the service at the gravesite.
23:42And then they had a bottle of champagne.
23:44They had glasses, and people were pouring champagnes.
23:46And to you, Gino!
23:47Drinking the champagne and breaking champagne glasses, you know, into the casket and toasting Gino.
23:53When you were looking at all of this, it just was surreal to a point.
23:58Almost like an out-of-body experience.
24:02There was a gentleman there that did a eulogy that talked about Gino getting on planes and going to Vegas.
24:10And beating up a guy and putting him in a headlock.
24:13And it was just weird.
24:16It was totally off.
24:18And it was almost like people going, who the fuck is this guy?
24:23And to some of us that hadn't been around for a while, we just thought it was, you know, a new friend or whatever.
24:29We had no clue.
24:31At his funeral, there was a lot of rich people.
24:35You might assume drug dealing is going on.
24:39And people made comments like, do you know who that is?
24:43And I had no clue who it is.
24:45If you ever put him in a lineup today, I wouldn't know who it is.
24:48But people talking about, oh, well, he's, he's, uh, he's wanted by the authority show.
24:54I don't know who the hell he is.
24:56Who was the guy that gave the eulogy?
25:00That's John Royal.
25:04So did you know any of the activities that John Royal was involved in at all?
25:08I just heard that he, he was a drug dealer.
25:12I mean, I didn't know anything about the man, period.
25:17As far as I know right now, he's in prison.
25:21I would have done just pretty much anything then, just to make sure my daughter was safe.
25:26And I was too.
25:28And that's the way it's been all these years.
25:31I hadn't talked to anybody until I talked to you guys.
25:35As the Hernandez family mourned Gino's mysterious death, many questions remained unanswered.
25:48Rumors began to fly throughout the wrestling community and beyond.
25:52So a lot of people, when Gino died, were immediately telling the story.
25:57Here's what happened.
25:58Andre the Giant told us that he knew for a fact that Gino had been shot in the head.
26:02And that was not the case.
26:04I heard from somebody that he was close with that he used to take trips down to Houston.
26:11Southwest Airlines several times a week to go down to Houston for what I don't know.
26:15The rumor mill was that he had gambled and that he owed some money on a football game.
26:21And so you got all these different rumors.
26:23And with Chris and with Gino, you had the conflict going on.
26:26Police have received several telephone calls from concerned fans who say Hernandez might have been murdered.
26:33And immediately it's like, well, Chris did it. Why? The guy blinded him.
26:37Had you ever heard that all the world-class fans called the police saying it must have been Chris?
26:41I did hear that. And I think the police actually did contact Chris about the murder of Gino.
26:50That goes to show just how believable world-class championship wrestling was.
26:54That somebody would go to the death to think, Jesus, he killed that guy because that guy took his eyesight.
26:59This is a case that we're talking 30 years ago.
27:02And there's been a lot of rumors like this.
27:05None of the family members were ever allowed to see him.
27:07His corpse, his body was just so guarded.
27:12Who was telling you guys now?
27:14Um, I think Walter, it would just be too shocking because he had been dead for so long that they didn't want anybody to see him.
27:23I'm pretty meticulous about saving everything.
27:26This is the suitcase that I put everything in after I had collected stuff, after he had passed away,
27:32anything that I could get my hands on, because I never got to go in his apartment.
27:36As a mother, I got a lot of questions that nobody has ever, ever answered me.
27:42Then I said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll just do my own investigating.
27:46And if, if I can find out the right person to contact, I'll contact that person and take care of it myself.
27:53Worry about the consequences later. And that's exactly what I did.
27:58I think there was foul play in Gino's death only because, one, he was super paranoid.
28:03When he walked into his apartment, he locked the doors.
28:06And he had a deadbolt on the inside.
28:08So the deadbolt was not locked from the inside of the apartment.
28:13It never made any sense to me.
28:14The deadbolt wasn't on, and he always locked up.
28:18So somebody was there with him.
28:20Well, who was there with him?
28:23And left him alone.
28:25If it would have been me, and I would have said, you need to do an autopsy, because someone murdered him.
28:29The autopsy report, when they found him, and he was, had been dead for a while, I asked what happened.
28:35I believe they said that it might be a drug overdose.
28:39I remember talking to the coroner, and he said that Gino had cocaine in his system, but he had five times the amount.
28:47I believe I was told he had enough that could have killed an elephant.
28:51He had more than just enough to overdose.
28:53He had three or four or five times in his body that it would take to overdose.
28:57The medical examiner had said that he didn't understand how that much cocaine could get in someone, you know, be ingested.
29:05It makes you question, you know, what the hell happened?
29:09The autopsy report said he was morbidly obese.
29:12It said that he was Hispanic.
29:14She asked me, she said, now, I'm pretty sure about this, because, you know, I did give birth to him.
29:19Was Gino circumcised?
29:21I said, well, he was.
29:23Well, the autopsy report said it was an uncircumcised male.
29:26How did that make you feel?
29:28Well, first of all, is that even really him?
29:30If it's not him, I wondered sometimes, could he have, would he have faked his own death?
29:37When we were married, there was a comedy sitcom.
29:42I don't remember the name of it.
29:43The main character had faked his own death.
29:46He was in some sort of trouble, whether it was tax evasion or he was trying to hide from somebody after him.
29:50He had left a wife and a child and came back like seven years later.
29:56Gino had said, I'm going to do that someday.
29:59That's what I would do.
30:00Well, I wished that it wasn't him in there.
30:04But I know in my heart that if he was alive, I'd have heard from him by now.
30:09She was wanting to push for answers and really push for answers.
30:13And as a mother, I felt for her.
30:15And 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?
30:25At this point, it's sort of your working theory of what happened.
30:28It feels like he was probably killed, that somebody murdered him.
30:32It feels that way to me.
30:34That's what the rumblings were at the time, that he had been murdered.
30:40And I could certainly see that happening with Gino, you know.
30:43Some of the people he hung with were powerful people.
30:46He may have pissed somebody off.
30:49If he were in some way involved with a drug ring, maybe he knew something.
30:56And, um, maybe they were worried he would talk.
31:03Conspiracy theories about Gino's death lingered on.
31:07But it would take over 30 years before answers began to surface.
31:11In the days leading up to Gino's mysterious death, those closest to him noticed that he seemed fearful of something or someone.
31:28Of 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.
31:44To hear multiple people saying that they got that from him as well, maybe this was a very real possibility.
31:51You know, maybe this is what happened.
31:53I was going to my car, and he was coming in.
31:58And, and he says, hey, I want you to come along, have a couple drinks.
32:02So I said, okay.
32:04We actually walked to his apartment.
32:07He walked into the kitchen, and he had a cabinet above his sink.
32:11He took out a cereal bowl, and the bowl was full of cocaine.
32:18There was a lot of cocaine.
32:19There was a lot of cocaine in there.
32:21And he put that on the counter, and he started using the cocaine.
32:27It wasn't very long, maybe 30 minutes, 40 minutes later, he stopped speaking.
32:35And when I talked, he said, shh.
32:38He wasn't being angry to me, but he was, shh, don't speak.
32:43He kept going into the back, and looking out the window.
32:47He had a quite intense paranoia.
32:50He puts a plug in the sink, and turns on the water.
32:56The water started coming over the top, dripping onto the floor.
33:01I go to pull the plug out of the sink, and it stops me.
33:06It pulls me back.
33:08He was like, shh.
33:10The water was still falling on the floor.
33:13I turned just around a little bit.
33:16He had a gun in his head.
33:19My heart stopped to beat, at first.
33:24And he was holding me, telling me to be really quiet.
33:27And I could hear nothing but the water.
33:32And he seemed to be comforted that it was covering up sound of some kind.
33:38Just the sound of the water seemed, for whatever reason, he found that comfort in him.
33:46He would go to the windows, and he would just stare outside into the darkness.
33:52Over and over again, just looking outside into the darkness.
33:58Because he was afraid, it seemed, of the dark in his mind.
34:04Did you know, or come to know at any point, that Gino had sort of issues with drugs?
34:11Yeah, because I was doing them with him.
34:14Duh.
34:15I mean, I was no saint, man.
34:18I know that Gino was doing coke, and I don't know how much he was doing.
34:22But the night I was there, he damn sure had something quite a bit there.
34:27You know, it wasn't no eight ball, for damn sure.
34:30I was surprised that there was not any cocaine found by the police.
34:36But I did hear rumors that it was cleaned up.
34:39I would just say a good source told me that Rick was kind enough to immediately, there was a bowl.
34:44He said it was crazy, it was almost like a sugar bowl.
34:46And he said, I've never seen that much blow in my life.
34:49It was full of coke.
34:51Just out of reaction, he just took it and dumped it.
34:54I don't know, I don't think anyone else that was even there knew that.
34:57I don't know who he thought, maybe he was protecting, but, you know, I think he just did it out of instinct.
35:03Some of the wrestlers, including Chris, said there might be more to it.
35:08Where was he getting so much cocaine from?
35:11I was afraid then, very afraid, because I haven't talked about it all these years.
35:19Because I got tired of looking over my shoulder every time I walked out the apartment.
35:23And I've been living like that ever since.
35:25Nobody should have to live like that.
35:28It took a lot of my life away from me.
35:31And now, you know, 77, where do I go from here?
35:36It's too much secrecy, too much lying, too much deceit.
35:42I truly believe he's not here today because of the people he chose to be around.
35:47I have nothing to lose, because I've already lost part of it.
35:51You know, you can't take any more away from me than you already have.
35:55All we really want is just an answer.
36:00Shortly after Gino's family told their story, producers contacted John Royal by phone.
36:06He had recently served a 30-year prison term for trafficking cocaine.
36:11What follows is their recorded conversation.
36:14We're doing a documentary about Gino, and we've been talking a lot with his family.
36:19And your name has come up a couple of times because you were close friends with Gino.
36:24Gino's mother had told us a story.
36:26Is a time when you approached her and had told her that you were going to pay for the funeral?
36:32Is that true?
36:34Yeah.
36:35I think you had also said that Gino had owed you a lot of money.
36:38Is that something that you had said to her as well?
36:41No, Gino didn't owe me any money.
36:43I mean, I paid for the funeral.
36:45Right.
36:46But Gino didn't owe me any money.
36:48Well, that's really good to know.
36:49What did she think that he owed me some money that I did something to him?
36:53Did you ever heard any rumors about, you know, Gino's death not being something that was accidental?
37:07Like...
37:08No.
37:09I was with him till like one o'clock in the morning the night he died.
37:14Right.
37:15We were at a club and he was in a good mood and he was buying drinks and he was drinking
37:22a lot.
37:23I assumed that he was doing some drugs.
37:27Then Gino left with his airline services.
37:31And that's the last time I saw him alive.
37:35And then...
37:36So, presumably, that was the night that he died.
37:42In addition to John Royal's story, a former drug trafficker who asked to remain anonymous
37:48has come forward with his version of events.
37:50Yeah, I really want to remain anonymous.
37:53This was 30 years ago and I'm not really here to sugarcoat anything.
37:57I wanted to tell the truth.
37:58You know, I'd like to set the record straight for the people who are concerned about Gino's
38:03demise.
38:04I wanted you to hear first what he had to say about him and about everything.
38:10Thank you very much.
38:11Yeah.
38:12I'm sorry.
38:13It's okay.
38:14I know the truth.
38:15When you wait this long, 32 years.
38:23And yes, I miss him.
38:24I prayed for him every day.
38:25I talked to him.
38:26She knows that.
38:27I get up at four o'clock every morning.
38:29She was up this morning.
38:31Yeah.
38:32Never been afraid for two hours.
38:35Yeah, I do that.
38:36Okay.
38:37Let me know when you're ready.
38:38Okay.
38:39I'm ready.
38:40Okay.
38:41There's nothing I can gain from this.
38:42I'm only doing this because I don't want Gino's family to worry one more minute.
38:46If they've been worried for 30 years, they worried, you know, 29 years and 364 days too long.
38:53I met Gino through some of the other people in the group and we got to be good friends.
38:58This was the eighties and disco was popular and the cocaine and drugs were all just a part of that culture.
39:05And we kind of saw the opportunity to get involved in selling drugs.
39:09And one of the guys in the group had cultivated a connection.
39:12He would bring it in and he would give us each a certain amount of it.
39:17Not many people know that Gino was involved in this.
39:19He was a professional wrestler and he saw us starting to make some money and he thought it would be a good opportunity for him.
39:25He 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.
39:30And it was just something that everybody was kind of doing in that period of time.
39:34Do you remember giving a eulogy at Gino's funeral?
39:39Absolutely.
39:40Do you remember what you said?
39:42I know it was a long time ago.
39:43Well, I mean, I said something like, you know, in wrestling, there's good guys and bad guys.
39:48Gino was a bad guy, but in life, Gino was a good guy.
39:51You know, that's kind of what I opened up with.
39:54I remember there was no foul play with me.
40:00And this is something you don't know either.
40:02I had a trial.
40:03See, I was selling drugs at the time.
40:06They basically said that I gave Gino the drugs that he died on.
40:12You know, basically, you know, they're talking bad, don't bad.
40:15You know, it was just fabricated.
40:17And what do you think the circumstances were of his death?
40:20Unfortunately, I felt like Gino started off recreationally using the drugs.
40:25And I think the drugs got hold of him.
40:27And of course, we were all, you know, super concerned because we were in a business that we knew could get us in a lot of trouble, even though we weren't gangsters.
40:34And at the same time, I don't think we saw a cop behind every bush like Gino seemed to do in the last part of his life.
40:42Just knowing Gino, I would imagine that he probably went to a club and probably drank a lot of alcohol.
40:47And he probably came back to his apartment, overdosed on drugs and died of a combination of drugs and alcohol.
40:52I have misgivings because Gino had this problem with the drugs and that I should have recognized it and did an intervention with him and saved him.
41:05I don't know Gino's family, but I would speak to them directly and say, do not be concerned about anything that happened to Gino.
41:13It was basically just a situation of his own doing, unfortunately.
41:17I know that's hard to hear because I know you loved him and I loved him too.
41:20But if you're concerned about anything, you should put that at rest because you've worried for 30 years and I can absolutely tell you there's nothing to worry about.
41:33I can't take those years back.
41:38But I still have my daughter.
41:42And it's just nice to know that we don't have anything to worry about.
41:50Not anymore.
41:51And I thank you very much for this.
41:58I want to believe that it was a tragic accident.
42:02I want to believe that somehow, someway, he made a mistake.
42:14That's what I want to believe.
42:15I'm the type of person I can forgive anybody.
42:19You know?
42:21Yes, I forgive John Lyle.
42:24I forgive anybody that I thought the wrong way, but I didn't know any different.
42:30I had nobody tell me outright.
42:35Watching my grandma, she's lived a sad life.
42:38I mean, she's gone through things and lived through things that no mother should ever have to.
42:42And sometimes you look at her and you think, wow, you know, you can't believe that she walked that walk and that she's still smiling today.
42:49But she is, you know, and that's, I think, the peace of life that goes on.
42:54But now I know there's nothing to be afraid of. Nothing.
42:59I feel so good.
43:01I could even have a margarita.
43:04All right.
43:06The legacy of Gino Hornandis, unfortunately, he wasn't around long enough to create one of those.
43:12I would like to see him put Gino into the Hall of Fame.
43:16I think Gino was that good.
43:18I want him to be remembered for the person that he was.
43:21And he made me, as his mother, very, very proud.
43:27I hear a lot that I look like my dad.
43:30I mean, my mom used to say, you look like your dad. You talk like your dad.
43:34It's smooth sailing from here on out.
43:37I have five children. I have two girls and three boys.
43:39And you see little pieces of each of them in him through those videos.
43:44That's what's cool to watch.
43:46With you guys here and doing this, it's kind of like I finally get my peace at heart.
43:54And I thank you for that.