Pussycat Theatre

50sSNIPES on May 9, 2026 at 6:42 am

The Studio Theatre, on February 5, 1956, became national headlines after it became a scene of an unexpected tragedy that shook the entire movie theater world. On February 5, 1956, a 24-year-old 206-pound Montanan and apprentice embalmer employed in a Sacramento-based mortuary born in Miles City, Montana, partially raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota and Billings, Montana, named Thomas Lynn Johnston slashed a 7-year-old boy’s throat named Ronald Wendorf to death in the Studio Theatre’s men’s bathroom. Coroner’s deputies confirmed that Ronald suffered two stab wounds in his throat and gashes beneath his eyes.

At around 1:00 PM that afternoon, Ronnie left his seat and walked to the men’s restroom during a showing of. Johnston saw the boy leave, waited about 30 seconds, got up, and walked out. When he did not see the boy in the lobby, he went to the restroom as well. Johnston took the knife out of his pocket, opened it, and waited. When Ronnie opened the door of a stall, Johnston stepped up from behind, grabbed him, and with his left hand over the boy’s mouth dragged him to another stall. Johnston cut the youngster beneath his eyes and when Ronnie resisted and screamed slashed his throat to quiet him. The assistant manager, William B. Sanderson, heard the child and ran upstairs from the lobby to the restroom. He kicked the door open and saw Johnston with blood on his hand. Johnston slammed the door shut and locked it. Johnston peered beneath the door, saw blood on the floor, and ran downstairs, instructing its owner, Bert Silveria, to call the police.

Johnston descended the stairway and walked to the door which would take him back into the theater. Although considerably smaller, Sanderson grabbed Johnston while being armed with a night stick supplied by Silveria and held him until police arrived. Johnston, his clothing and hands stained with blood, readily admitted to officers who arrived on scene that he knifed the boy, but gave no reason at all rather than he must have gone out of his mind. He exhibited a cut on his hand when he closed the knife in the restroom. He withdrew the weapon from his pocket and handed it to police in the theater. Police recovered Johnston’s jacket a few rows behind where the boy sat. Johnston also told authorities that he was drunk after drinking a bottle of whiskey, with aspirin bottles and a package of cigarettes being recovered.

Thomas Lynn Johnston, the 24-year-old man was born in Miles City, Montana, but moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota during his childhood. Johnston moved to Billings, Montana in 1944 when he entered 8th grade at Lincoln Junior High School. After graduating from Billings High School in 1949, Johnston attended Montana State University before spending nine months in Los Angeles and a period in San Francisco before being employed in Sacramento. His employers described his work as satisfactory and had been on the job for only 13 months. Johnston’s father was an insurance firm owner based in Billings. Johnston also served nine weeks in the navy in 1952 but then received an honorable discharge after he was emotionally sick and needed trained help. The FBI asked the navy department in Washington for his service record.

After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to death despite seeking to escape the death penalty. The judge denies, and was immediately executed on June 28, 1957, at San Quentin’s gas chamber.

rivest266 on May 5, 2019 at 9:11 am

Became the Pussycat theatre on December 26th, 1975. Another ad posted.

rivest266 on May 1, 2019 at 2:35 pm

This opened as Studio on September 27th, 1946 and as Capri on December 25th, 1957. Grand opening ads posted.

loochow on September 10, 2014 at 10:20 am

This was a kung fu grindhouse in the mid to late 70’s.