The Playboy Murders: What Happened to Melonie Haller at Roy Radin’s Party?
Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
“Horror in the Hamptons” is an episode of The Playboy Murders that will air on ID on Monday, February 19, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. It will revolve around the assault of Melonie Haller at Roy Radin‘s Southampton mansion, where he and another man beat and sexually assaulted Haller.
Melonie Haller is an American actress and model known for her role as Angie Grabowski in Welcome Back, Kotter. In 1980, she was found dazed and in a near coma on the Long Island Rail Road train. When the conductor asked her for the fare, she was reportedly clutching nude photographs of herself that had been published in the March edition of the Playboy magazine. The conductor then contacted the Suffolk County police. Authorities admitted Haller at the Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
Haller’s mother, Myra, told authorities that she received a call from Radin’s residence informing her that Melonie Haller had been drinking and injured herself after she fell from the staircase. The hospital diagnosed her with a drug overdose. Reportedly, Haller had gone to Radin’s 72-room oceanfront mansion after she was invited to his wedding and a party that followed.
In July 1980, Melonie Haller charged in the Brooklyn Federal Court that Roy Radin and a wealthy businessman, Robert McKeage IV, beat and raped her at the weekend party. Here, Radin allegedly invited “persons of a vicious character, wild proclivities and dangerous tendencies,” the Daily News reported. After the attack, Haller was found on the Long Island Rail Road train, unconscious. She also accused Radin’s then-fiancée, Toni Fillet, of harassing her and taking part in the assault.
Who was convicted of assaulting Melonie Haller?
On January 26, 1981, Robert McKeage IV pleaded guilty to assaulting Melonie Haller during his visit to the Long Island Mansion. He also admitted to intentionally causing physical harm to Haller and striking her violently with his hands and fists. He was 43 years old and pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. As per the New York Times, this charge typically calls for a minimum of 7 years in prison. However, based on the plea deal, the Suffolk County Court sentenced McKeage to 30 days in jail. He was additionally placed on five years of probation.
Meanwhile, Roy Radin was fined $1000 and was placed on probation. He pled guilty to the possession of a gun that was found during the investigation. Toni Fillet, who was his fiancée at the time, was also fined $50 for harassing Melonie Haller. According to the Daily News, although she also accused the men of sexual assault, the court did not convict any of the accused of rape. The case was tried in the federal court because Haller’s attorneys established that Radin was a fairly influential local figure.
The Daily News reported of several reasons for the rape allegation not resulting in a conviction in the court. The clothes that Melonie Haller had been wearing at the party were reportedly removed from the hospital. They were washed by Haller’s mother, eliminating any evidence of blood stains on the fabric. Secondly, Haller went through a medical examination only more than two days after the alleged rape. This was considered too long a period to establish with certainty whether sexual assault had taken place.
The upcoming episode of The Playboy Murders will be aired on ID on Monday, February 19, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET.
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