Victoria Lynn Morgan (August 9, 1952 – July 7, 1983) was the mistress of

Alfred S. Bloomingdale Alfred Schiffer Bloomingdale (April 15, 1916 – August 23, 1982) was an heir to the Bloomingdale's department store fortune, "father of the credit card", and the lover of murdered mistress Vicki Morgan.Bloomingdale's department store fortune. The details of their tumultuous relationship became known after Morgan sued Bloomingdale's estate for palimony in 1982. Morgan was murdered in 1983.

Early life

Vicki Morgan was born in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. Her mother, Constance Laney, and Vicki's father, a United States Air Force veteran, divorced soon after Vicki's birth. Constance remarried, but that husband died when Vicki was about 9 years old. Vicki and her mother relocated to Montclair, California. At 16, Vicki Morgan became pregnant, dropped out of Chaffey High School, and bore a son, Todd. Leaving Todd with her mother, Morgan ran away from home in 1968.

Bloomingdale mistress

She found work as an usher at

Grauman's Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. The original Chines ...

in Los Angeles. She soon married 47-year-old Earl Lamb. In August 1969, whilst still 17, Morgan met 54-year-old financier

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

. Bloomingdale soon took Morgan as a mistress, and would have her watch as he lashed naked prostitutes with his belt. When Morgan was 18, Bloomingdale offered Lamb a large cash payment to end his marriage with Morgan. Bloomingdale provided an apartment for her. As Bloomingdale's mistress, her social circle would include politicians, businessmen, and the wealthy playboy

Bernie Cornfeld Bernard "Bernie" Cornfeld (17 August 1927 – 27 February 1995) was a prominent businessman and international financier who sold investments in US mutual funds, and who was tried and acquitted for mismanagement of the Investors Overseas Service ...

. With Bloomingdale's financial support, she lived a lavish lifestyle. In 1973, Bloomingdale's wife,

Betsy Betsy is an English feminine given name, often a nickname for Elizabeth. People * Betsy, stage name of Welsh singer Elizabeth Humfrey *Betsy Ancker-Johnson (born 1927), American plasma physicist *Betsy Atkins (born 1953), American business exe ...

, learned of Bloomingdale's affair and told him to break off the relationship. He complied, and Morgan spiraled into poverty and depression. By 1979, Morgan had been through two more marriages and long periods of sex work, and had become a drug addict. That year she entered

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

, where she met Marvin Pancoast, a gay man who was infatuated with Morgan and her stories of the high life she led with Bloomingdale. They vowed to live together once released from treatment. Three years later, Bloomingdale was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He purportedly told Morgan that he had only two months to live and assured her she would be well cared for and never have to worry about money again.

Palimony and murder

The financial situation for the 30-year-old Morgan quickly turned desperate. To protect herself, she hired the famous Hollywood palimony attorney

Marvin Mitchelson Marvin M. Mitchelson (May 7, 1928 – September 18, 2004) was an American celebrity lawyer who pioneered the concept of palimony, calling it "marriage with no rings attached". Early life Mitchelson was born in Detroit, Michigan, the younges ...

to file an $11 million lawsuit ($ million today) for financial compensation as Bloomingdale's mistress. The pre-trial media coverage of the initial complaint revealed details of the couple's sexual relationship that grabbed headlines nationwide, causing particular embarrassment amongst Bloomingdale's friends in Washington, D.C. However, when Morgan learned that Mitchelson had dinner and a meeting with President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and his wife Nancy the latter of whom was friends with Betsy Bloomingdale Morgan lost trust in Mitchelson, fired him, and hired attorney Robert Steinberg in his place. Later court documents and news stories revealed that Morgan supported herself by selling off the jewelry and the expensive car purchased for her by Bloomingdale. It was later reported that she was preparing to write a tell-all book which was going to name influential politicians and businessmen who had been clients of hers. Bloomingdale died of cancer less than two months after the lawsuit was filed. Morgan contacted her friend from rehab, Marvin Pancoast, and moved into an apartment with him. She returned to working as a prostitute while he worked odd jobs. Although Pancoast was a homosexual, their relationship was occasionally sexual. Pancoast thought he had contracted HIV and was terminally ill. He was distraught and unstable after his daily counseling sessions were terminated by psychiatrist Dr. Paul Cantalupo. On the evening of July 7, 1983, less than eleven months after Bloomingdale's death, Pancoast walked into a police station and confessed to murdering Morgan in their apartment. Police found Morgan, apparently beaten to death with a baseball bat. She was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. Pancoast was sentenced to 26 years-to- life in prison and died in 1991 in Chino, California, while undergoing treatment for AIDS-related illnesses. Morgan's 1982 palimony lawsuit against Bloomingdale's estate continued on behalf of her son Todd (born ). She had referred to a contract in which Bloomingdale would have given her $240,000, but instead she was given $40,000. During the trial, the judge ruled the agreement unenforceable as it was for the illegal act of "sex for hire." In December 1984, a jury awarded Morgan's estate the remaining $200,000 ($ today).

In popular media

Morgan's story received considerable print coverage and in 1985 author Gordon Basichis wrote the book ''Beautiful Bad Girl: The Vicki Morgan Story''. In 1990, Dominick Dunne wrote a fictional portrayal of Morgan in his book, ''

An Inconvenient Woman ''An Inconvenient Woman'' is a 1990 novel by Dominick Dunne. Its plot centers on the affair between married Jules Mendelson, an extremely influential member of Los Angeles high society, and Flo March, a diner waitress and aspiring actress whose ...

''. The story of her life and death was the topic of ''Vanity Fair Confidential'' (Season 4, Episode 7: Murder Most Obsessive) which first aired on March 19, 2018. Her BDSM-based relationships with Alfred Bloomingdale and Marvin Pancoast are also explored in the ''Poisoned Passions'' episode titled "Sadistic Pleasure". Morgan's story is mentioned in the 1996 film '' The People vs. Larry Flynt'' in a courtroom scene in which Larry is asked about his source of the John DeLorean video. In the movie "Fletch", Chevy Chase's character Fletch mentions "Vicki Morgan tapes" when talking to his boss about two witnesses rummaging through his boss's office. The Song "Der Mord an Vicky Morgan" from the German music Group "Die Toten Hosen" is based on the story of Vicki Morgan.

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