# Murdered Celebrities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453 "2005-12-20T14:20:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/1 "2005-12-20T14:20:43Z")
TCM had some movies this past weekend that I had never seen, and it was worth noting that Steve Cochran and Virginia Mayo were in two of them together. My wife and I began discussing the career of Steve Cochran and it was her opinion (or at least a fuzzy memory of hers) that he had been murdered. I suggested that it may have been Steve Brodie instead. Her reply was that she wasn’t at all familiar with Brodie so that couldn’t be the one she was thinking of. I checked IMDB for both actors and found that Cochran had a sudden lung infection while on his boat near Guatemala. No murder. I then wanted to see if the word “murdered” appeared in the bios of other stars but ran into the problem that the search didn’t limit the murder to the star in question and that if any word in the bio (or trivia) was “murdered” the search regarded that as a hit. Same problem with “homicide.” Other searches on Google and Yahoo! have left me dissatisfied that a comprehensive list exists as such. So I thought we might as well do one here. A few stars/celebrities that I can think of who were murdered: Sal Mineo Bob Crane John Lennon Sharon Tate Marvin Gaye Tupac Shakur Phil Hartman Jaco Pastorius One list I encountered included people like Jeffrey Dahmer. I don’t regard Dahmer as a celebrity, nor do I want to include politicians and leaders of countries. That would be too big a list. Mostly just entertainers and such. Can you add to this list? ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/2 "2005-12-20T14:25:36Z")
[Dominique Dunne](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001161/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxrdz0xfHE9ZG9taW5pcXVlIGR1bm5lfGZ0PTF8bXg9MjB8bG09NTAwfGNvPTF8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=20;fm=1), who was in the first “Poltergeist” movie, was strangled by an abusive ex-boyfriend. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/3 "2005-12-20T14:26:44Z")
[Rebecca Schaeffer](http://www.poeforward.com/mrperfumery/deadgirls/historical/starlets/schaeffer/schaeffer.htm). Her murder got some anti-stalking laws passed. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/4 "2005-12-20T14:33:45Z")
[Dorothy Stratten](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086355/). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/5 "2005-12-20T14:40:09Z")
**Sam Cooke** Too many rappers to mention. **Mia Zapata** (The Gits) - not terribly famous, though. **Selena** **Bobby Fuller** , though that may have been ruled a suicide. **Haing S. Ngor** That dude from the Killing Fields **Gianni Versace** **Judith Barsi** **Jill Dando** **Dorothy Stratten** ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/6 "2005-12-20T15:26:12Z")
Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer Thomas Ince (possibly). He was a well-known movie director and producer in his time. The official cause of death was heart failure, but there are rumors that he was shot which have not been debunked, even by Snopes. Thelma Todd (maybe). Her death was ruled a suicide, but there are doubts. John Wilkes Booth. He was a successful actor, and he was shot even though the soldiers had been ordered not to. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/7 "2005-12-20T15:44:19Z")
[Merlin Santana](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763332/) from the Steve Harvey show. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/8 "2005-12-20T15:45:26Z")
It now seems likely that **Brian Jones** ’s death was not an accident. The killer reportedly confessed on his own deathbed. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/9 "2005-12-20T16:01:55Z")
Ramon Navarro ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/10 "2005-12-20T16:09:07Z")
Jon-Benoit Ramsey Marilyn Monroe? John Lennon ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/11 "2005-12-20T16:20:29Z")
Was the former wife of OJ Simpson a celebrity? I hear there was a conspiracy involving Princess Di’s death. ---
**Author:** ![Liz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/liz/32/17737_2.png) [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/12 "2005-12-20T16:22:01Z")
Darrell “Dimebag” Abbot, guitarist for Pantera. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/13 "2005-12-20T16:25:01Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > Was the former wife of OJ Simpson a celebrity? > I hear there was a conspiracy involving Princess Di’s death. If not before her murder, she certainly was after. (Nicole Brown Simpson) I recall similar allegations about Di, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/14 "2005-12-20T17:03:52Z")
> [@Mr. Roboto](#): > > Jon-Benoit Ramsey Unknown until after her death. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/15 "2005-12-20T17:06:35Z")
Jack Nance, who was a regular in David Lynch’s movies. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/16 "2005-12-20T17:06:41Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Unknown until after her death. We could probably start a thread of people who became ‘celebrities’ after/because of their death. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/17 "2005-12-20T17:21:50Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > Too many rappers to mention. No, not really. Some, like Aaliyah and Lisa Lopes, died in plane and car accidents. Easy-E died from AIDS complications. Big Pun and Buffy “The Human Beat Box” died of heart attacks. ODB O.D.'d. The _notoriously_ murdered are: Biggie Smalls. Tupac. Jam Master Jay. … and that’s about it. There are some minor rappers who have died in shootouts: Souljah Slim Camoflauge Bugz, from D-12 The perception that rappers are always being shot and killed is way, way overblown. See, most are just shot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/18 "2005-12-20T17:37:11Z")
Don’t forget [Big L](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_L_%28Lamont_Coleman%29), **Askia**. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/19 "2005-12-20T17:52:02Z")
Here’s a list from Wikipedia: Øystein Aarseth David “Stringbean” Akeman Judith Barsi Alan Berg Big L (Lamont Coleman) Marc Blitzstein Francis Boggs Buck Naked and the Bare Bottom Boys Bugz Susan Cabot Lana Clarkson Sam Cooke Tara Correa-McMullen Bob Crane Dimebag Darrell Dominique Dunne Marvin Gaye Dora Gerson Theo van Gogh (film director) Anna Guarini Phil Hartman Al Jackson Jam Master Jay Victor Kilian August von Kotzebue Vijaya Kumaratunga Karyn Kupcinet John Lennon Mac Dre Michel Velleman Sal Mineo Haing S. Ngor The Notorious B.I.G. Ramón Novarro Felix Pappalardi Nasrat Parsa Pier Paolo Pasolini Merlin Santana Rebecca Schaeffer Selena Tupac Shakur Soulja Slim Paco Stanley Dorothy Stratten Igor Talkov Sharon Tate William Desmond Taylor Peter Tosh Luis Vigoreaux Mia Zapata Zapp (band) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453/20 "2005-12-20T18:09:36Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Here’s a list from Wikipedia: That looks like an excellent summary of names already mentioned. Anybody else? I wouldn’t object to that idea of listing people who became “celebrities” because of or after their murders. Cases in point would include the others in the Sharon Tate house. Jay Sebring was already a well-known hair stylist to the stars, and Abigail Folger may have been well-known, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murdered-celebrities/336453.md?page=2)