YNOT — Police continue to search for the person they say last week stabbed to death former adult industry performer Damien Michaels.Michaels appeared in more than 240 adult movies and directed nine between 1994 and 2007. His body, which police said bore multiple stab wounds, was found Oct. 27 in a room at the Comfort Inn across the street from a high school in Woodland Hills, Calif. He was 56.
Although details remain sketchy, police reports indicate officers were called to the motel by a “frantic” woman who told them she became alarmed when she saw broken glass and blood outside a third-floor room. The woman identified herself as a friend of the victim. When police entered the room, they found Michaels’ body on the bed.
“We did observe several puncture wounds to the victim,” Det. Dave Peteque of the Los Angeles Police Department told KTTV-FOX 11 News.
Producer Rob Spallone said he had known Michaels for years. He wasn’t surprised to learn of the performer’s death, he told FOX 11.
“He’s one of the oldest guys in the business, been around a long time,” Spallone said. “He got hooked on crystal meth and crack, and that was the end of it. Always looking to scam and scheme to do something.”
An unnamed adult industry insider called Michaels “a nickel-and-dime player who always aspired to be a quarter,” according to FOX 11.
Born Michael Conoscenti in Brooklyn, NY, in January 1953, Michaels in recent years described himself as a “talent procurement agent” of sorts for the adult industry.
In a video posted at YouTube, he unapologetically announced, “Just went out and got girls everywhere … from bus stops to supermarkets … to whatever. Everyone in the business knows that’s what I’m known to do.”
Police indicated they have several leads in the case but have not made an arrest.
