Murder of gay porn star Billy London solved in SXSW documentary My Brother’s Killer

A new documentary premiering at the South by Southwest film festival revisits the 1990 killing of gay adult film performer William Arnold Newton.

Newton, who performed under the name Billy London, was murdered in Los Angeles in October 1990. The case remained unsolved for decades before new evidence emerged during the making of the film.

Directed by Rachel Mason, My Brother’s Killer examines the homicide and the long-running efforts to identify the person responsible.

The project grew out of Mason’s earlier documentary Circus of Books, which explored the history of a West Hollywood adult bookstore run by her parents. While working on that film, Mason came across a newspaper clipping about Newton’s death, which prompted further research into the case. 

Who was William Arnold Newton/Billy London?

Newton, who was born in Wisconsin in 1965, moved to California in the mid-1980s and appeared in several gay adult films. He was found dead in Los Angeles in a killing that became one of the city’s most widely discussed unsolved crimes involving a performer from the gay adult industry. 

As Mason began investigating the case for the documentary, she worked with cold-case detectives, independent researchers and members of the LGBTQ+ community who had also been looking into the homicide. Her research included reviewing archival footage from the gay adult film industry. 

Among the materials Mason reviewed was video from an early 1990s memorial awards ceremony in the adult industry.

“There’s a videotape of a memorial award show from the gay adult industry in the early ’90s,” Mason told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s basically a time capsule of that era. And in that footage you see someone who later became the suspected killer actually walk on stage. It’s chilling.” 

The investigation eventually led Mason to correspond with a prison inmate, DarraLynn Madden, whom investigators identified as a suspect. Madden, a transgender woman who had been active in the same scene years earlier, was later interviewed for the documentary while incarcerated. 

Where can I watch My Brother’s Killer?

“My partner is trans, so hearing that information was like a knife to the heart. The last thing you want is a case like this being used to reinforce harmful stereotypes about trans people,” Mason said. 

During filming, Mason visited Madden in prison. “We were taken into a maximum-security unit. She came out in double shackles with a guard standing extremely close behind her. But what struck me most was how charismatic she was,” Mason said.

Mason said the film ultimately focuses on Newton’s life and the impact of the unsolved case on those close to him, including his partner Marc Rabins.

My Brother’s Killer is currently premiering at SXSW.