Passive Arts
- Body Found After Bondage Club Fire
- Posted: Tuesday, 27 July 2010 4:54PM
LOS ANGELES (CBS) -- Authorities say they've found the body of a man in his 50s at the scene of a fire at a bondage club in unincorporated Lennox.
The fire was reported at Passive Arts Studios, 10914 S. La Cienega Blvd. at 11:35 a.m. and was out within 20 minutes of firefighters' arrival.
The man had been burned, county fire Inspector Fred Stowers said, but it was unclear if that was the cause of death. An autopsy will determine how the man died.
His name was withheld pending notification of his next of kin.
Paramedics treated a person at the scene for a minor injury.
CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
- Passive Arts Studio
- From Mistress Cyan's Yahoo Group
I have not posted anything about what happened at Passive Arts all day because I was busy all day getting the facts and taking all the phone calls about what I knew so far about what was happening. I had been told early this afternoon that John and Koda were dead, and there was a suspect in custody, and I was told who that suspect was. I did not think it would be appropriate for me to post what I knew until things were a little more official.
After receiving the call, Genesis and I called John's cell in hopes that he would answer and that what I was told was not true. There were no answers to any of the calls.
Here is where everything is right now...
Approximately 11:35, a fire at Passive Arts was reported. The Fire Dept arrived quickly and forcibly entered Passive Arts and extinguished the fire in about 20 minutes. On their second inspection firefighters found the charred remains of a man in his 50's and his dog. That man was John La vine and Koda. As of right now, there is no "official announcement" that it was John until the coroner makes a positive identification via dental records.
A former employee, David Edward Albert, who many know as "Big Dave", was found in the bushes outside covered with blood. Upon questioning, he stated that he had been hit by a car. Police found evidence that he had been in the building and he has been arrested and charged with murder and arson. He had been fired about a week before.
John's family will decide what is going to happen with the business. That decision is not expected to come too soon though as the family is mourning the death of John.
I have been asked to instruct everyone to NOT go to Passive Arts. It is a CRIME SCENE. Information will be forthcoming soon about a Community Memorial.
Mistress Cyan
- Ex-Bondage Parlor Worker Arrested in Deadly Blaze
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Investigators say a fired employee has been arrested for a bondage parlor death after a man's charred body was found in the gutted building near Los Angeles International Airport.
Sheriff's Deputy Jeffrey Gordon says 53-year-old David Edward Albert was booked early Wednesday for investigation of murder and arson. Bail is set at $1 million.
Flames engulfed the Passive Arts Studio on Tuesday and firefighters found the body after extinguishing the blaze. The bondage club is in the unincorporated Lennox area, near the east end of the airport runway.
The 7,000-square-foot Passive Arts Studio boasts it caters to people interested in sexual fetishes involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission.
Investigators say Albert was fired last week.
The body of a man in his 50s was found today at the scene of a fire at Passive Arts Studios, a bondage club in Lennox, authorities said.
A man believed to be the owner of a Lennox bondage club was discovered dead Tuesday after firefighters doused a blaze that gutted his business.
Although the cause of death was not immediately released, homicide detectives opened an investigation into whether the man was killed and the fire set to cover it up.
The man was discovered shortly before noon inside Passive Arts Studios at 10914 S. La Cienega Blvd. near Los Angeles International Airport, county fire Inspector Fredric Stowers said.
The man had been burned, but it was unknown if the fire caused his death, firefighters said.
His name was not released. Business records show the owner's name as John Cavine.
A dog also was killed, and a club employee was taken for questioning, investigators said.
"The helper guy was across the street," said Scott Hamilton, whose business Hamilton Prototypes shares a wall with the bondage club. "He split because the smoke was so heavy. He was walking back toward the building and got hit by the car."
Employees at neighboring businesses in the industrial area saw smoke about 11:35 a.m. spewing from two roll-up doors.
"Just as I was getting to the front door, the sheriffs pulled up rather anxiously and said `Get out of the building. The place next door is on fire,"' Hamilton said. "It was pretty dense smoke. The Fire Department was there very swift."
According to Passive Arts Studio's MySpace page, its 7,000 square-foot warehouse in Lennox has "become the largest, most elegant and best equipped play area in the nation."
The club caters to people interested in sexual fetishes involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission.
"We are a playground for adults interested in exploring their more complex sides," the club advertises on its Facebook page.
The club includes seven dungeons and theme rooms - a classroom, an office, an interrogation room, a torture chamber - along with a bar and a dance area.
"Sessions from one half hour to overnight and beyond!" the Facebook page advertises.
The Passive Arts Studios MySpace page features numerous photographs of rooms that contain cages, chains and other restrictive devices used for role-playing inside the club.
Some photographs in the club's "friends" section show women wearing leather dominatrix outfits.
"John (the founder of Passive Arts) has often said that Passive Arts is like an adult Disneyland in that it will never be completed," the site says. "Many, many years ago, John once said that Passive Arts is the place where all your fantasies can come true and that is more true now than ever before."
The site said the club has been featured in numerous television programs on networks ranging from Playboy to the History Channel.
Hamilton said he sometimes "would hear screaming and spanking and all that kind of stuff" coming through his neighbor's wall.
About two weeks ago, five sheriff's deputies were called to a disturbance there, Hamilton said.
"There was some argument or something going on," Hamilton said.
Hamilton called the owner a "nice guy" and said his dog was a real wolf.
On the business' MySpace page, one man expressed condolences in the comments section.
"Sorry to hear about your loss," he said. "I was at the Revlon red show Valentines Day 2009. Had a great time."
A Personal Note from Robin
The Passive Arts website (www.PassiveArts.com) splash page says the site is down until further notice
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