Griffin Dunne opens up about his family like never before in his candid memoir The Friday Afternoon Club , available now. The actor charts his family’s early years, his relationship with his enigmatic father, Dominick Dunne , and the tragic death of his sister, Dominique Dunne . Dominique, who starred in Poltergeist and The Shadow Riders , was strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend, John Sweeney, on October 30, 1982.
She died five days later at 22 years old. The subsequent trial garnered significant media attention as the Dunne family sought justice for their beloved daughter. Below, you’ll discover some of the biggest revelations from The Friday Afternoon Club about the final days of Dominique’s life, the trial, and the aftermath.
Each member of the family had the chance to say goodbye to Dominique in the hospital. Griffin wrote, “None of us could hear what the others said, but later, Dad told me he whispered in her ear, ‘Give me your talent.’” Dominique was taken off life support on November 4, 1982, five days after Dominique was attacked by Sweeney.
Griffin said that there was “no chance she’d recover” and the family wished they could have taken her off life support sooner. However, they were not able to do so because of the California judicial system. While on life support, the charges against Sweeney were only voluntary manslaughter.
When she died, the charges would be upped to murder in the first degree. “If she had been taken off any sooner, Sween.
