LOS
ANGELES - In what may be the most unusual homicide
in recent Hollywood history, hot-tempered media
executive Eddie Ealing was violently murdered like
the victim in one of the movies he produced. Found
dead Tuesday morning in the pool house of his Mulholland
estate, Ealing was maimed, his body brutally filled
with parts of himself, a direct echo of his 1996
award-winning movie, which an ad campaign called,
"the ultimate death for a narcissist."
The victim's estate manager, Helmy Ulgrod, told
police that Ealing received a disturbing message
two weeks ago via e-mail. In it, the image of a
gift box opened to show a blood-spattered photograph
of an unidentified young Latina woman and a beating
heart. A card in the e-mail read "Mike's Gifts."
No one but the dead man knows what the e-mail gift
or the images mean, but they deeply upset the tough-skinned
mogul, typically the last person to show emotion,
Ulgrod told police.
LAPD Lieutenant Theodore Powell says a computer
forensics team is attempting to track the sender
of the message through deleted files on the victim's
PC. And while the police were unfamiliar with the
name "Mike's Gifts," one executive who
asked to remain unnamed is all-too-familiar with
the service, which he called, "The worst kind
of revenge. My boss received a 'gift' from Mike's
two months ago, and it wrecked him. He took a leave
of absence and never returned, he was so shaken."
The executive said that people in his circle refer
to the service as "The Mind Box."
