John James Nazarian | |
---|---|
Born | July 9, 1952 |
Occupation | Private Investigator |
Website | www |
John James Nazarian (born July 9, 1952), is an American private investigator and security expert with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, and Florida. Nazarian is best known as a celebrity guest commentator on crime- and divorce-related television programming, as well as making appearances in documentaries or docudramas in a reality or fictional setting.
John James Nazarian was born July 9, 1952, in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. He moved to California at the age of 16. Nazarian graduated from William S. Hart High School in Newhall, California.
Nazarian entered the U.S. Navy right after high school for four years, leaving the service with an honorable discharge.
Nazarian attended the Los Angeles City College and received an AA degree in Police Science, after being discharged from the Navy. Nazarian received training during his law enforcement career. He also holds two degrees, one in Administration of Justice, and one in Criminology.
Upon returning from the Navy, Nazarian worked as an apprentice embalmer at several different mortuaries in California. He also worked as a heavy-equipment operator, and owned a lawn-care business. [1]
While still in high school, Nazarian began his career in law enforcement as a student worker / Sheriff's Explorer under the tutelage of Sgt. Bob Warford and Deputy Arthur E. Pelino, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, of the old Newhall Station.
In the '80s, Nazarian became a prison guard employed by the California Department of Corrections. He was assigned to the California Institution for Women in Frontera, California, the home to several members of the Manson family, including Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten. Nazarian was one of five people attending the September 9, 1981, marriage of Atkins.
Shortly after leaving the California Department of Corrections, Nazarian went to work for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department as a deputy sheriff. Nazarian worked for the police department of Mendota, California, where he worked with juveniles. [1]
Nazarian left law enforcement, saying it was because; "All my friends who came on the department with me died of AIDS. It was a big part of the reason I left San Francisco. I lost all my friends when I was in my 30s." [1]
Nazarian got his start as a private investigator working for the San Francisco Court system working on court-appointed cases at the nominal rate of just $27 an hour. Nazarian opened his first office in San Francisco with the help of Seymour Jaron. Nazarian credits attorney Gary Lieberman of San Francisco, who suggested Nazarian become a private investigator.
It did not take long for Nazarian to figure out the real money was in Beverly Hills. Following the money, John moved his office to Los Angeles. Armand Keosian provided Nazarian with an office with a view of a golf course in his Century City, Los Angeles Suite on the Avenue of the Stars. This was critical to Nazarian’s success in the early days of his practice. Sorrell Trope, sometimes referred to as the "dean of L.A. divorce lawyers," stated he uses only Nazarian due to his reliability and honesty, proclaiming of Nazarian, "he's legitimate." [1]
The basic retainer fee for Nazarian and his team is said to run between $10,000 and $20,000. [2] Nazarian's normal rate is purportedly $400 per hour plus expenses. [2]
Nazarian's firm has handled case work on behalf of a number of high-profile clients, including boxer Oscar De La Hoya, actor Vin Diesel, writer Steven Bochco, television executive Les Moonves, and actress Pauley Perrette in her case against ex-husband, Coyote Shivers, to whom she was married for three years. She has been granted restraining orders against him since leaving him. [3] Nazarian's client Andrea Thompson, star of NYPD Blue and 24, was involved in another high-profile stalking case. [4] Nazarian was asked to use his San Francisco Police connections to help in the murder case of Gary Murphy [5]
Nazarian was interviewed about the Gypsy Murders on CBS News and in the San Francisco Magazine. [6] [7] The disagreement between two private investigators, one being Nazarian was covered in the book by Jack Olsen. [8]
Nazarian was in high demand during the Anthony Pellicano trial because many consider that Nazarian is the only other high-profile P. I. that has become rich and a celebrity in his own right by doing what he does. His insight on the fall from grace of Pellicano; the California Lawyers Magazine felt the case had such significance that the magazine did a full spread on the "Pellicano Effect" and featured Nazarian including a two-page photo spread of Nazarian. [9] [10] Nazarian also appeared in the German Magazine Der Spiegel discussing the guilty plea of John McTiernan a client of Pellicano [11] in which he was photographed by Robert Gallagher as part of the six picture slide show which is part of the article.
Nazarian has been interviewed by numerous publications on high-profile cases or clients including Courtney Love [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Others interviews in Print Media include the Britney Spears Divorce [17] Nazarian was interviewed about his views in connection to the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel Smith. [18] In 2009, Nazarian was asked his take a year after the Tiger Woods scandal on Woods and other high-profile athletes who found themselves involved in allegations of cheating on spouses. [19]
Since 1997 Nazarian has been sought for articles that addresses the use of private investigators in divorce and other high-profile court cases. [20] [21] With one article that dealt exclusively with Nazarian's views in the L. A. Times. [22]
Nazarian has been primary in helping with the investigation of the case of the teen text murder of Mike Yepremyan in North Hollywood California in 2009. [23] [24] [25] [26] Nazarian has continued to work on what is known as the teen text murder through the arrests of the two alleged shooters of Mike Yepremyan in July 2011 [27] and the indictments by a L. A. County grand jury in September 2011 of two for the alleged murder and two for conspiracy to commit murder. [28]
Nazarian appeared as himself in the documentary Divorce Corp in 2014. [29] [30] [31]
Nazarian appeared in a 2014 three part series on E! called "Secret Societies of Hollywood" [29]
In 2004 Nazarian portrayed himself in two episodes of Discovery Channel's American P.I., in which he walked through his take on both the O. J. Simpson and Son of Sam murder cases. [29]
Nazarian also appeared in the movie Fracture as a Private Investigator named Dick. [1]
John J. Nazarian covered the Anthony Pellicano trial in 2008 in the California federal court. He was interviewed on the NBC Today Show about the death of Michael Jackson investigation. [32] and has made numerous appearances in regards to the Ronni Chasen murder. [33] [34]
Nazarian has appeared on the TV Show Extra. [35] in regards to the disappearance of Olivia Newton-John's boyfriend, Patrick McDermott. Nazarian was interviewed by Rita Cosby [36] in regards to the Extra investigation about McDermott. Nazarian was later interviewed by Nancy Grace when McDermott was allegedly found. [37]
Nazarian has been interviewed for the French TV magazine 66 Minutes, the French version of the CBS television news magazine, 60 Minutes.
John J. Nazarian and his family live in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles. [9] Nazarian recently welcomed his first grandchild into the family. [38] Nazarian welcomed his second grandson on October 9, 2011. [39]
Nazarian started an online talk radio show on August 21, 2011. [40]
Patricia Dianne Krenwinkel is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by various aliases such as Big Patty, Yellow, Marnie Reeves and Mary Ann Scott, but to The Family, she was most commonly known as Katie.
Elizabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized owing to the gruesome nature of the crime, which included the mutilation and bisection of her corpse.
John Campbell McTiernan Jr. is an American retired filmmaker. He is best known for his action films, including Predator (1987), Die Hard (1988), and The Hunt for Red October (1990). His later well-known films include the action-comedy-fantasy film Last Action Hero (1993), the action film sequel Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), the heist-film remake The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), and The 13th Warrior (1999). His last completed feature film was the mystery-thriller Basic, released in 2003.
Gloria Rachel Allred is an American attorney known for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particularly those involving feminist causes. She has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Stephen Leo Bing was an American businessman, film producer, investor, and philanthropist. He had business interests in property and construction and was the founder of Shangri-La Entertainment and Shangri-La Music.
Thomas Arthur Mesereau Jr. is an American attorney known for defending Michael Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial, as well as Mike Tyson, Bill Cosby and, in 2023, Danny Masterson, a case in which Mesereau was sanctioned by the judge.
John Arthur Palladino was an American private investigator and attorney. In 1977 he founded the private detective agency Palladino & Sutherland with his wife, Sandra Sutherland, and over a career spanning more than four decades, Palladino specialized in the preparation for trial of witnesses and evidence in litigation. He was best known for his work in the Peoples Temple tragedy, his defense of car maker John DeLorean, for the Bill Clinton presidential election committee, the tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, singer Courtney Love, and musician R. Kelly.
Anthony J. Pellicano is a high-profile Los Angeles private investigator and convicted criminal known as a Hollywood fixer. He served a term of thirty months in a federal prison for illegal possession of explosives, firearms, and a grenade. In 2008, he began serving an additional sentence for subsequent convictions for other crimes, including racketeering and wiretapping. Several other people were also convicted of crimes associated with their involvement with his illegal activities, including his actress girlfriend Sandra Will Carradine, film director John McTiernan, Beverly Hills police officer Craig Stevens, Los Angeles police sergeant Mark Arneson, and attorney Terry Christensen.
Sandra Will Carradine is an American film and television actress. She was formerly married to actor Keith Carradine, and around the time of their separation she became involved with Anthony Pellicano, a high-profile Hollywood private investigator who was involved in extensive illegal wiretapping activities. In 2006, she pleaded guilty to perjury for lying under oath about her awareness of Pellicano's wiretapping of Keith Carradine's phone.
Russell Wayne Poole was a Los Angeles Police Department detective who investigated the murder of the Notorious B.I.G., a rapper also known as Biggie Smalls. Poole also investigated the killing of LAPD Officer Kevin Gaines by LAPD Officer Frank Lyga on March 18, 1997. After retiring in 1999, he formed a private detective agency.
Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies, but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Greatest Girl Reporter" during the 1920s and 1930s and her celebrity interviews for Photoplay magazine.
Patrick Kim McDermott was a Korean-American cameraman who disappeared on June 30, 2005, while on an overnight fishing trip off the coast of Los Angeles, California. He was the on-and-off boyfriend of Olivia Newton-John. The United States Coast Guard concluded that he was likely lost at sea. Since his disappearance, unsubstantiated claims have been made, particularly in the Australian media, that McDermott faked his own death and is still alive in Mexico.
T. Christian Miller is an investigative reporter, editor, author, and war correspondent for ProPublica. He has focused on how multinational corporations operate in foreign countries, documenting human rights and environmental abuses. Miller has covered four wars—Kosovo, Colombia, Israel and the West Bank, and Iraq. He also covered the 2000 presidential campaign. He is also known for his work in the field of computer-assisted reporting and was awarded a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University in 2012 to study innovation in journalism. In 2016, Miller was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism with Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project. In 2019, he served as a producer of the Netflix limited series Unbelievable, which was based on the prize-winning article. In 2020, Miller shared the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting with other reporters from ProPublica and The Seattle Times. With Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi, Miller co-won the 2020 award for his reporting on United States Seventh Fleet accidents.
Tarita Virtue is a Trinidadian-American private detective/investigator and model.
Lisa Bonder, also known as Lisa Bonder-Kreiss or Lisa Bonder-Kerkorian, is an American former professional tennis player. During her career, she won four singles titles on the WTA circuit and reached a highest ranking of No. 9 in August 1984.
Charles Harris Garrigues was an American writer and journalist. He was a general-assignment reporter in Los Angeles, California, in the 1920s, a grand jury investigator and political activist in the 1930s, a newspaper copy editor in the 1940s and a jazz critic in the 1950s. His nickname was Brick, for his red hair.
George Hill Hodel Jr. was an American physician, and a suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia. He was never formally charged with the crime but, at the time, police considered him a viable suspect, and two of his children believe he was guilty. He was also accused of raping his daughter, Tamar Hodel, but was acquitted of that crime. He lived overseas several times, primarily in the Philippines between 1950 and 1990.
Ennis William Cosby, the only son of American comedian Bill Cosby, was murdered on January 16, 1997, near Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, California. He was shot in the head by 18-year-old Mikhail Markhasev in a failed robbery attempt. Cosby was 27 years old.
Lake Wellington Headley was a private detective and writer who made a name for himself by being hired to investigate high-profile crimes. Crimes included the Wounded Knee incident, Patty Hearst kidnapping, court-martial of Clayton Lonetree, the murder of Vicki Morgan, and the Don Bolles car bombing. In a series of true crime books, Headley wrote about his investigations.