A notorious mansion. An alleged assault by a Hollywood producer. A suicide. What happened to Brian Claflin?
LOS ANGELES - In the early afternoon of June 5, 2014, a man appeared on the subway tracks between stations in Berlin. He stood alone a few hundred yards into a tunnel, and train conductors said they couldn't brake in time to avoid hitting him.
The fatal accident received no media attention, except for a local brief that noted the early rush-hour train delays. The identity of the deceased - Brian Claflin, a 33-year-old American - was not reported, nor was his connection to powerful men in Hollywood who were accused of sexual abuse. German authorities declared the death to be "presumed suicide."
Four years later, Claflin's parents are still trying to understand what happened to their son. Claflin's father received via email a statement his son sent to a law firm just before his death, alleging that filmmaker Gary Goddard had drugged and sexually assaulted him at age 18 in Los Angeles. It was an allegation Claflin had made repeatedly in the preceding decade. The Los Angeles Times spoke to three people - two close friends and his sister, Molly Jones - who said Claflin told them about the alleged assault, and he accused Goddard directly in an email exchange in
