Dirty Things Afoot at CleanFlicks: The Fall of Danny Thompson **UPDATED, 1/29/08**

Danny Thompson had to shut CleanFlicks down last year. Hollywood had finally taken the little guy out. And Danny, bless his Christian soul, was doing it -- cleaning all the naughty bits out of the movies he rented to online customers and real-world folks in and around Orem, Utah -- for the kids. He said the following about court actions against his business in 2006: "I think it's ridiculous that you can't watch a movie without seeing sex, nudity or extreme violence. I don't understand why they're trying to keep that in there."

Police in Orem believe Thompson and one of CleanFlicks's top MySpace buddies, Isaac Lifferth, were also doing it with some kids. Thompson and Lifferth have been arrested for unlawful sexual activity with underage teen girls.

Some of the acts allegedly took place at Thompson's Flix Club store. The same store was closed after a lawsuit backed by major names in the film business against Thompson's endeavor and several other similar businesses brought about a ruling in favor of the industry. Thompson's efforts towards making certain films family-friendly amounted to a kind of copyright infringement, and were therefore illegal.

Police spoke with one of the young girls, and she said that Lifferth and Thompson were paying her and a friend for sex. The girls were just 14.

As if the alleged acts with the girls weren't enough, Danny Thompson's hypocrisy sundae was complete when police discovered, inside Flix Club, the cherry: a lot of (presumably unedited) porno flicks.

Isaac Lifferth's MySpace profile seemed to show a regular guy with a thing for motorcycles. The only odd note was his use of a template that incorporated a photo of a bare-chested Brad Pitt.

One of Thompson's pages may have been hacked, as the headline read, "I AM GAY." It looked as though he ran the profile at one point, based on comments left by friends. His "About Me" read, in part:

My name is Daniel. I am 6,1 and 192lb. I have ocean blue eyes, as well as a nice butt. I am extremely well traveled and college educated. I spend a great deal of time working, which leaves little time for social encounters; my company requires my detailed attention. I am success prone and have a fascination with the finer things that life has to offer. I love to attend social gatherings (elegant parties), and upscale nightclubs (Los Angeles being one of my favorite).

Even though big names in the entertainment business had backed measures leading to the death of his sanitized-movie rental business, Thompson apparently had Hollywood ambitions of his own:

www.myspace.com/dannythompsonlive.

The following is a quote from that page:

WHO IS DANNY THOMPSON LIVE? WELL NO ONE REALLY KNOWS MUCH ABOUT HIM BUT THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE CROSSED HIS PATH OR HAVE ATTENDED ONE OF HIS PARTIES SAY HE IS THE MOST AWESOME COMEDIAN, SINGER, AND IMPRESSIONINST THEY HAVE EVER SEEN! DANNY THOMPSON HAS CREATED HIS OWN LITTLE WORLD AND WANTS OTHERS TO COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE!!!!! SEE DANNY THOMPSON LIVE!!!!!

It was as if Thompson felt that having his photo made with actor and comic (and all-time greatest MySpace whore) Dane Cook somehow conferred some legitimacy on his own pursuits as an impressionist, comic, and musician.

Now he can only hope that the boys in lock-up are just as impressed with his multiple talents as he apparently was.

UPDATE, 1/29/08

The Orem Daily Herald is reporting that the story gets worse:

"Clean-film business was front for porn, police say."

Quote -- a link not found in the original article has been added below:

According to a report Thursday by John McCombs, an investigating officer with the Orem Police Department, Thompson told the girls that edited movies were sold at Flix Club as a front, but he and Lifferth actually made and distributed pornography.

[...]

For Troy Slade, owner of modest-clothing retailer Mod Bod in Orem and Pleasant Grove, the news was startling. Thompson managed the Mod Bod store at 910 S. State St. in Orem. He was fired last year, Slade said.

"We hired him to manage our store because he had a successful business running CleanFlicks at that time," he said. "He was always talking about fighting Hollywood for the good of the children," Slade said.

Thompson also was founder and former member of Truth in Politics, a group started in 2006 purportedly to expose the people behind anonymous political attacks. The idea for the group was conceived at Thompson's former CleanFlicks dealership in Orem...

Just... damn.

(The preceding can also be filed under "[Alleged] Creeps of the Week.")

Thursday Notes: American Idol, Drew Peterson, and Corpses

I've got a true crime-related post up at RadarOnline.com:

"Win a Date with Drew Peterson."

You just can't make some things up. Drew Peterson, ex-cop and prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, 24-year-old Stacey Peterson, is easily one of the most macabre clowns to be found in a crime story since his fellow Chicagoland resident John Gacy. And Peterson doesn't even need the makeup. After the stunt you'll read about in my Radar piece, Peterson also needs to get a new attorney, because the one he's got now seems to have a bit of a tin ear for the public perception of this case.

My most recent American Idol post for Radar is here: "American Idol Slips into a Coma." Click "Recommend It" if you like either post. You have to register to comment on a Radar article, but it only takes a second to do so, and then you can riff on any entry you read there. I suggest really browsing the site, because there's plenty of good stuff there. For example, a fellow CrimeLibrary.com alum, Seamus McGraw, has a fascinating and creepy featured article that's certainly worth a read and a recommendation:

"Confessions of a Body Snatcher."

I have to admit, I'm enjoying the fact that the magazine is letting me do some blog entries about something other than crime. I've been watching Idol since it premiered and have more opinions on the whole phenomenon than I'll ever really get out there. And yes, it isn't the heaviest writing I'll ever do.

Updates and in-depth entries here have been slow in coming because I'm getting plenty to do elsewhere, which is a very good thing. But I'm also learning how manage my time a little better than I have in the past, so the pace of posting in this blog should pick up as Winter moves into Spring.

There are still the Capote Awards, too. I'm up for a couple, but I'd be fine with it if folks voted for my blog here, and not for me, personally. My perspective on these things has changed a great deal in the past 3 years or so -- I imagine little polls like the ones Corey Mitchell created for these awards would have been 100 times more important to me in January, 2006. I feel less and less like a lone blogger toiling away lately and more like a writer, and that's a good thing -- because I'm making a living at it, slowly but surely. There are some other good things afoot, but you'll know more about those when I know more. Just keep checking this space.

I have at least two true crime stories ideal for this blog that I'm watching, but if you have any suggestions, send me an e-mail. Before you do, please be sure to search this weblog and make sure I haven't already covered the story.

UPDATE

Oh, yeah. Another Idol post for Radar:

"American Idol Contestant Questions Show's Credibility."

Imagine that.

Heath Ledger Found Dead in Manhattan

According to both Radar and TMZ.com (among others), Heath Ledger was found dead today in his Soho apartment.

The Brokeback Mountain star and 2006 Academy Award nominee was only 28 years old.

Ledger was found unresponsive in his bedroom by a housekeeper. Police said pills were found near his body.

Heath Ledger most recently completed filming his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, a new Batman movie starring Christian Bale. He leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter.

At the moment, police do not suspect foul play.

UPDATE

Comprehensive NY Times blog post about this tragic death.