The Murder Of Dominique Dunne

A beautiful young actress with a promising career. A jealous ex-boyfriend with a volatile temper. On fatal encounter. Dominique Dunne was destined to enter show business. Her Brother was actor Griffin Dunne and her Father was writer Dominick Dunne. In 1981 Dominique's acting career was certainly on the rise. The future costar of "Poltergeist" was about to hit the big time. According to costar JoBeth Williams she was an aspiring actress and had an innocence about her that was amazing. That same year she met executive chef John Sweeney at a birthday party. The two quickly became inseparable. Sweeney was known as having a hot temper and a lot of Dominique's friends didn't care for him very much. By the summer of 1982 Dominique became the target of Sweeney's violent outbursts. Miguel Ferrer says he beat the crap out of her, banged her head on the floor, and choked her unconscious to the point he thought she might die. He was furious.

On October 30th, Dominique told Sweeney her relationship was over for good. He did not take the news well. That night Dominique was at her Hollywood home rehearsing scenes with her actor friend David Packer. Sweeney arrived at the front door. According to the police report she leaves her friend inside and goes outside to talk with Sweeney. Mr. Packer said he heard a loud conversation from the front porch. At some point Sweeney lost it and lunged at her and they fell off the porch off to the side into the bushes where he had his hands around her throat. According to JoBeth Williams the shocking thing was that someone was inside the house and heard her scream and did not do anything to try to stop it. The lead investigator, Harold Johnston, says John Sweeney was then in the driveway with Dominique trying to give her CPR and told him that he had just committed a terrible crime. At 8:52 PM David Packer called the police in a panic.

While Sweeney was giving her CPR the police plucked him from the driveway and took him into custody. The police report said that Sweeney told the police that he had killed his girlfriend. It is a very personal way to kill someone because you are looking right in their face. However, Dominique was still alive. Following the attack she slipped into a coma. She was on life support for almost a week. The family, after this agonizing week, decided to pull the plug. On November 4th, 1982 Dominique Dunne died just three weeks shy of her 23rd birthday. JoBeth Williams says something like this should not happen to a girl. This was one of those obsession cases where if her boyfriend couldn't have her she couldn't have life. Sweeney was charged with murder but at his trial his lawyers claimed he killed Dominique while he was in the heat of passion. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on November 10th 1983.

He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. Steven Bishop, the prosecuting attorney says it is without a doubt the worst trial that he has ever participated in. Most people were absolutely stunned and outraged at the sentence, not the least of which was her Father, Dominick Dunne, who became an outspoken advocate for victims rights. Sweeney served less than three years. JoBeth Williams says she was furious and outraged and it is just truly sad and our loss that such a special girl is gone.