Dominique Dunne had all the ingredients necessary to be a Hollywood superstar. Pretty, talented, and with an enviable resum, Dunnes star was on the rise with roles in such films as Poltergeist and Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker.But on October 30, 1982, Dunne was attacked by her ex-boyfriend and subsequently fell into a coma. After floundering on life support, she died on November 4, 1982.Despite the brutality of the crime committed against her, Dominique Dunnes killer, John Thomas Sweeney, got only six years in prison. Whats more, Sweeney was hired as a head chef at an upscale restaurant in Santa Monica, California. And when her family campaigned for justice and founded a victims advocacy group, Sweeney himself claimed he was being harassed by the grieving family.This is the disturbing but true story of Dominique Dunnes death and what her family felt was justice denied.Dominique Dunnes Rising StarMGM/GettyDominique Dunne, center left, with Oliver Robins, Craig T. Nelson, Heather ORourke and JoBeth Williams on set of the film Poltergeist in 1982.By all accounts, Dominique Dunne had all the stars aligned in her favor literally and figuratively. Her father was the acclaimed journalist Dominick Dunne (for whom she was named), and her mother, Ellen Griffin, was the heiress to a ranching fortune. She had two older brothers Alex and Griffin, the latter of whom is best known to television watchers as Nicky Pearson on the acclaimed NBC series, This is Us. She was also the niece of the novelists John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion, and her godmother was the daughter of the Hollywood legend Gary Cooper.By all accounts, Dominique Dunne was raised in a life of privilege. Despite her parents divorce in 1967, she attended the best schools, including the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. After she graduated high school, she spent a year in Florence, Italy, where she learned how to speak Italian.Upon her return to the States, she took acting classes at Colorado State University, and ultimately began getting cast in film productions like Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker and in television shows like The Day The Loving Stopped.Her defining role, however, would also be her only major appearance on the silver screen. In Poltergeist, Dominique Dunne played Dana Freeling, the sardonic teenage daughter of the family who was terrorized by an in-house supernatural presence. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Poltergeist earned Dunne high praise and Hollywood cache, and many critics believed that this role would be the first of many to come for her.Unfortunately, just like in her most infamous film, a sinister force was making its way into her life. Dominique Dunnes Brutal MurderIn 1981, Dominique Dunne met John Thomas Sweeney, who was a chef at the upscale Ma Maison Restaurant in Los Angeles which was best known for giving Wolfgang Puck his start in the culinary world. After only a few weeks of dating, Dunne and Sweeney moved in together but their relationship deteriorated very quickly.Sweeney was jealous and possessive, and soon began physically abusing Dunne. After much back and forth, Dunne finally snuck away from her abuser on Sept. 26, 1982, and subsequently ended the relationship. Sweeney moved out of their shared apartment, and Dunne who was staying with her mother until Sweeney moved out moved back in, changing the locks as she did so. But her safety was short-lived.On October 30, 1982, Dominique Dunne was rehearsing for the TV series V with her co-star, David Packer, when Sweeney showed up at her door. According to Packer, he then heard a scream, a smack, and a thud. Packer tried to call the police, but was informed that Dunnes house was out of their jurisdiction. He then phoned a friend and told him that if he ended up dead, John Thomas Sweeney was his killer. Finally, he went outside to find Sweeney standing over the lifeless body of his girlfriend. When the police came, Sweeney put his hands in the air and claimed that he tried to kill his girlfriend, and then himself. He was booked on attempted murder charges, and Dominique Dunne was taken to Cedars-Sinai, where she was immediately put on life support. She never regained consciousness, and Dominique Dunne died on Nov. 4, 1982. She was only 22 years old.The Trial Of John Thomas SweeneyAfter Dominique Dunnes death, John Thomas Sweeney was charged with second-degree murder. According to the Daily News, Sweeney couldnt be charged with first-degree murder because a judge ruled there was no evidence of premeditation on his part.Sweeney later testified that he only recalled standing over her body when the attack was over. Furthermore, while Sweeney insisted that he and Dunne were getting back together, Dunnes family insisted that their breakup was permanent and Sweeneys murder of Dunne was due to his refusal to accept that the relationship was over.The judge also struck testimony from Sweeneys ex-girlfriend, Lillian Pierce who testified that Sweeney sexually assaulted her, perforated her eardrum, broke her nose, and collapsed her lung on the grounds that the testimony was prejudicial. The judge also wouldnt allow Dunnes family to testify to what they witnessed between Sweeney and their daughter, with the Honorable Burton Katz claiming that their observations were hearsay.The jury ultimately only found John Thomas Sweeney guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, which carried a maximum sentence of six-and-a-half years in prison. The jury foreman, Paul Spiegel, later commented that had the jury been allowed to hear all the evidence that was stricken and withheld, they would have unquestionably found Sweeney guilty of malice murder.Nevertheless, after serving only three years in prison, Sweeney was set free.Griffin And Dominick Dunne Deal With The AftermathWikimedia CommonsDominique Dunnes headstone in Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles.After John Thomas Sweeney was set free, he was hired as an executive chef in Los Angeles as if nothing ever happened. In protest of this move, actor Griffin Dunne and other members of Dominique Dunnes family stood outside the restaurant handing out fliers letting patrons know about Sweeneys conviction.Under growing pressure, Sweeney quit his job, moved away from Los Angeles, and changed his name to John Patrick Maura. A Reddit group subsequently revealed that as of 2014, he was living in northern California and working at Smith Ranch Homes retirement community in San Rafael in the dining services department.The Dunnes, however, never truly found peace.Griffin Dunne said that if she had lived, shed be an actress everyone in the world would know. He [Sweeney] is a murderer, hes murdered, and I think he will do it again. In 1984, Lenny Dunne founded what is now known as Justice for Homicide Victims, an advocacy group that she ran until her death in 1997.But it was Dominick Dunne who was most profoundly affected by his daughters death. In 2008, just one year before his own death, he penned a memorial in Vanity Fair for his brother John Gregory Dunne, and once again made reference to the life of the sweet, irreplaceable Dominique Dunne.The major experience of my life has been the murder of my daughter, he said. I never truly understood the meaning of the word devastation until I lost her.Now that youve read all about the horrific murder of Dominique Dunne, read about Stephen McDaniel, who was interviewed on television about a murder only for him to turn out to be the killer. Then, read all about Rodney Alcala, the Dating Game Killer.The post Inside The Murder Of Actress Dominique Dunne At The Hands Of Her Abusive Ex-Boyfriend appeared first on All That's Interesting.