# Celebrity murderers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276 "2007-03-16T23:26:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/41 "2007-03-17T23:25:01Z")
I believe that **Chester Burnett** killed someone but it was treated by the local police as one of those killings that black folk did to each other and they didnt choose to investigate it. Leslie Grantham is well known in the UK as a tv star, especially for his portrayal of Dennis Watts (A.K.A Dirty Den) in soap opera East Enders. He murdered a taxi driver in Germany, He still generates quite a bit of controversy, personally I dislike soap operas anyway, but given that he murdered a man, it gave me another reason to avoid the show. [http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/celebrity/celebrity\_sins/murder.html](http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/celebrity/celebrity_sins/murder.html) I personally think that serving 10 years in prison for a murder is not enough, especially in his case as it was an attempted robbery, not a barfight of some other hot blooded incident. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/42 "2007-03-18T00:14:30Z")
This thread from a few months back mentions a few celebrity murderers: [Celebrities who have killed people (in a non-military context)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396747). ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/43 "2007-03-18T01:21:37Z")
Has someone mentioned porn star John Holmes? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/44 "2007-03-18T01:50:30Z")
Artie Shaw, in his biography _The Trouble with Cinderella_, wrote of fatally injuring a pedestrian while driving in New York in 1929. As a result, he was ordered to remain in NYC until the case came to trial. This deprived Artie of his income as a traveling musician. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/45 "2007-03-18T02:14:33Z")
[QUOTE=Sonia Montdore] Some historians say that Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover, murdered his manservant. (He was also a rapist and one of his victims may have been his own sister, Princess Sophia.) [/QUOTE] Prince Felix Yussopov and Grand Duke Dimitri conspired to murder Gregory Rasputin-do they count? Juan Carlos I of Spain may have accidentally shot his brother. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/46 "2007-03-18T02:40:42Z")
Fatty Arbuckle probably didn’t kill Virginia Rappe, but her death certainly ruined his life. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/47 "2007-03-18T04:47:14Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] “Wild” Bill Hickok was, in his capacity as a lawman, involved in numerous shootings of varying degrees of legitimacy. [/QUOTE] I have trouble seeing how someone whose celebrity came from his being a gunfighter really qualifies for this thread. However, if you and two of your nearest and dearest would like to spend your time until Doomsday 35 feet from Wild Bill AND Calamity Jane I can set you up with a plot in the Deadwood cemetary. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/48 "2007-03-18T04:56:40Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] It’s a pretty open secret that Clay Aiken kills truckstop whores whenever he’s back in North Carolina, but then covers it up with benefit concerts for the sheriff’s departments. I don’t have a cite unfortunately, but it comes to me from someone who’s brother’s wife’s hairdresser had an affair with a truckdriver whose wife’s sister-in-law knows the brother of one of Clay’s roadies. (Or maybe I’m thinking of one of the New Kids.) [/QUOTE] Speaking of open secrets… [QUOTE=Gwyneth Paltrow] I’m superstitious. Before I start a new movie, I always kill a hobo with a hammer. [/[Paltrow Secrets](http://www.nbc.com/nbc/Late_Night_with_Conan_O'Brien/celebritysecrets/paltrow.shtml)] [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/49 "2007-03-18T16:06:19Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] I have trouble seeing how someone whose celebrity came from his being a gunfighter really qualifies for this thread. However, if you and two of your nearest and dearest would like to spend your time until Doomsday 35 feet from Wild Bill AND Calamity Jane I can set you up with a plot in the Deadwood cemetary. 😃 [/QUOTE] His celebrity came from starring in a series of “dime novels” that exaggerated his prowess as a gunfighter, not from his actual achievements as a lawman. He is believed to have killed around 20 men, one of them in a “drop and draw” showdown; in the dime novels, it’s more like 100 men and numerous “drop and draws”. It’s sort of like the difference between the real-life Elliot Ness and the G-man superhero who was featured in the TV show “The Untouchables.” ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/50 "2007-03-18T18:51:49Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Boxer Emile Griffith killed Benny “Kid” Paret in a televised boxing match. [/QUOTE] And Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini knocked out Deuk-Koo Kim in 1982, who subsequently died. The WBC instituted the twelve round limit on fights, ostensibly to ensure boxer safety. In 1983, Kiko Bejeines was knocked out by Alberto Davila in the twelvth round. Bejeines died without regaining consciousness three days later. Other boxers who killed opponents:[ul][li]Sugar Ray Robinson, who knocked out Artie Doyle [_]“The Great White Hope” Jess Willard, who knocked Bull Young out of the ring whereupon Young died of a broken neck [_]Max Baer, whose opponent Frankie Campbell died after being knocked out [_]Max also softened up Ernie Schraaf, such that Schraaf died after being knocked out by Promo Carnera. (The incident was fictionalized in The Harder They Fall.)[_]Ezzard Charles, who knocked out Sam Baroudi, who then died[/ul] [/li] Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/51 "2007-03-18T19:37:45Z")
If you include sporting accidents, Cleveland Indian Ray Chapman was killed by a ball pitched by New York Yankee Carl Mays in 1920, I believe the only time this happened in the major leagues. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/52 "2007-03-18T20:44:12Z")
I came here to mention Aaron Burr and Lana Turner, but those have been taken. So all I’m left with is Ty Cobb – who was definitely involved in beatings and stabbings, and is rumored to have once beaten someone to death. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/53 "2007-03-19T07:08:35Z")
In the similar earlier thread on this topic I asked if murders ordered by a political leader counted or whether they would be similar to killings during combat. If it’s the former, there are a number of infamous leaders who could be named. ---
**Author:** ![STEVEHOLT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@STEVEHOLT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/STEVEHOLT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/54 "2007-03-19T12:52:51Z")
Keith Moon accidentally ran over his driver after a night on the town started to turn unruly. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/55 "2007-03-19T13:16:07Z")
A drunken Vince Neil, lead singer for Motley Crue (I don’t know how to do those little vowel champagne bubbles) wrecked his Pantera, killing fellow musician Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, the Hanoi Rocks drummer. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276/56 "2007-03-19T13:29:52Z")
Nutjob Steven Lightfoot would add Stephen King to the list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-murderers/396276.md?page=2)