Caitlyn Jenner
Many celebrities were involved in tragic accidents that resulted in deaths, while others committed cold-blooded murder. Others were war heroes who served in the military and engaged in combat during wartime.
Some celebs have served time in prison stemming from convictions, and others have gotten away with murder; sure, maybe they were wrongly accused, or maybe they just had great lawyers. What do you think about all the celebrity murderers and accidental killers?
Olympic champion Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner was involved in a fatal car accident in February 2015. Jenner's SUV rear ended a white car that was coming to a stop at a red light and sent it flying into oncoming traffic, where it was then struck by a Hummer. The 69-year-old woman driver of the white car was killed, and seven others sustained injuries. However, Jenner was not hurt. Police say that Jenner voluntarily submitted to have his blood drawn for a blood alcohol test and that he was not speeding at the time.
Johnny Lewis
After passing a field sobriety test, he initially claimed that he was being chased by paparazzi, and while that's true, the police do not believe that to be a factor in the accident as Jenner is used to be followed by them and was not nervous while driving because of them. Jenner later released a statement saying, "My heartfelt and deepest sympathies go out to the family and loved ones, and to all of those who were involved or injured in this terrible accident. It is a devastating tragedy, and I cannot pretend to imagine what this family is going through at this time. I am praying for them. I will continue to cooperate in every way possible."
In 2012, "Sons of Anarchy" actor Johnny Lewis broke into his 81-year-old landlady's home and ransacked the place before beating and strangling her to death. Witnesses then saw Lewis jump over a fence, assault a neighbor and climb up the side of the house he was renting where he either jumped or fell from the roof and died.
Michael Jace
For some time, police believed that he may have been using a new drug called "smiles," but an autopsy report showed that Lewis had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he died. It was also rumored that he was on a downward spiral after his breakup with Katy Perry.
"The Shield" actor Michael Jace was arrested in May 2014 in Los Angeles for the fatal shooting of his wife, April Jace. According to Michael, he was upset with his wife because he believed she was cheating on him and during the trial he claimed that he was only trying to inflict pain by shooting her in the leg. He waited in their home and when April returned around 8 p.m., he shot her once in the back and two more times in the legs in front of their sons, who were 8 and 5 at the time. Michael then called 911 about thirty minutes later and told the operator he shot his wife.
Matthew Broderick
Her body was found inside the couple's home next to their two children, who were unharmed. At trial, he pleaded not guilty, but despite his claims, he was convicted of second-degree murder by a jury in 2016. (Sounds pretty guilty to us too....) In addition to playing Julien Lowe in "The Shield," Michael has also had a number of small roles in other popular television shows including "The Mentalist," "Burn Notice," "Nikita," and even played one of the Black Panthers in the film "Forrest Gump."
In 1987, Matthew Broderick and his then-girlfriend and Ferris Bueller's Day Off co-star, Jennifer Grey, were on vacation in Ireland. Broderick mistakenly drove the wrong way on a street and crashed into on oncoming vehicle. The driver and passenger (a mother and daughter) in the other car both died from their injuries. Broderick was rushed to the hospital with a badly broken right leg and though Grey only suffered from bruising, she was covered in Broderick's blood. However, the two were more concerned with the passengers in the other car, and continually asked if they were okay while being treated themselves.
Laura Bush
This was just a couple weeks before Grey was scheduled to start publicity for her new movie, "Dirty Dancing." The accident seems to have had a huge impact on Grey. "The juxtaposition of that deep sorrow, the survivor's guilt, and then being celebrated as the new big thing just didn't jibe. It didn't feel good to be the toast of the town," she said. She also admitted that she never fully recovered from the trauma and effectively turned her back on showbiz at the age of 27. "My head was never the same, my ambition was never the same." The police never found any evidence of foul play or negligence.
When Laura Bush was in high school, she ran through a stop sign while she was driving and hit another car, killing its driver, Michael Douglas, who happened to be a close friend, star athlete and popular student at her school. Many years later, she wrote a book and admitted that she and her friend were chatting when she ran the stop sign, though she also claimed that the road was pitch-black, the intersection was unusually dangerous, the stop sign was abnormally small, and the car the victim drove was unsafe. "It was sporty and sleek, and it was also the car that Ralph Nader made famous in his book Unsafe at Any Speed," she stated. "He claimed the car was unstable and prone to rollover accidents. A few years later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration went so far as to investigate the Corvair's handling, but it didn't reach the same grim conclusions.
Snoop Dogg
I was driving my dad's much larger and heavier Chevy Impala. But none of that would ever ease the night of November 6. Not for me, and never for the Douglases." Mrs. Bush also revealed that she never attended the funeral because her parents didn't want to go, so she slept through it.
Rapper Snoop Dogg and his bodyguard were charged with the murder of a rival gang member. They were arrested after the MTV Music Awards in 1993 and after 2 years of house arrest, Snoop and his bodyguard were found not-guilty.
Rebecca Gayheart
Apparently they had acted in self-defense.
Rebecca Gayheart, model and actress who came into the spotlight as a spokesperson for Noxzema in the early 1990s, was driving when she struck 9-year-old Jorge Cruz, Jr. as he walked across a street in Los Angeles. He died the following day from his injuries.
Brandy Norwood
In 2001 Gayheart pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to three years of probation, a one-year suspension of her license, a $2,800 fine and 750 hours of community service. Gayheart has had many one-time roles in shows like "Medium," "CSI: Miami," and "Ugly Betty" and she's currently married to Eric Dane, aka Dr. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan from Grey's Anatomy.
In 2006 Brandy Norwood (singer, star of TV movie "Cinderella," and "America's Got Talent" judge) was involved in a freeway pile-up that caused the death of single mother, Awatef Aboudihaj. Apparently Brandy hadn't noticed that traffic had slowed considerably, and though Aboudihaj had struck the vehicle in front of her before Brandy hit her rear bumper, witnesses on the scene said the singer claimed responsibility for the accident, repeatedly saying, "I should have stopped." The man driving behind her said, "she walked in front of traffic, crossing the lanes of speeding cars, then she did it again.
O.J. Simpson
People were honking at her to get out of the road.
O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Aaron Hernandez
Though he was eventually found not guilty, many believe that Simpson literally got away with murder.
In 2013, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was accused of murdering his friend, Odin Lloyd, who was found dead in an industrial park a mile from Hernandez's house with gun shot wounds to the back and chest. The Massachusetts State Police obtained a search warrant after evidence surfaced that Hernandez intentionally destroyed his home security system.
John Landis
A cell phone belonging to Hernandez was turned over to police "in pieces" and Hernandez allegedly hired a "team of house cleaners" the same day Lloyd's body was discovered, raising additional suspicion. On April 15, 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of murder in the first degree, a charge that in Massachusetts automatically carries a sentence of life in prison without a possibility of parole.
Director John Landis was charged with involuntary manslaughter after an accident on the set of his film The Twilight Zone caused the deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children, who were extras. The fatal scene they were filming involved a helicopter and several explosions.
Oscar Pistorius
It all went wrong when a fireball engulfed the helicopter and one of the helicopter's blades decapitated Morrow and crushed the other two children. Landis was later acquitted of the charge, but he paid $2 million to each of the families of the children who died.
Four-time Paralympics gold medal runner and double amputee Oscar Pistorius was tried for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The three fatal shots were fired through a locked bathroom door, and Pistorius claims that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder hiding in the bathroom.
Don King
He was found guilty of culpable homicide and is currently serving six years in prison for murder.
Boxing promoter Don King killed two men in separate incidents. King killed the first man in self-defense when the man was trying to break into his gambling operation.
James Stewart
King was convicted of second-degree murder for the second incident, in which he stomped to death an employee who owed him $600.
Legendary actor James Stewart was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force Reserve during World War II.
Sid Vicious
During this time, Stewart participated in several bombings that resulted in the deaths of enemy soldiers and civilians. He received numerous honors for his service, including the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak leaf cluster and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious stabbed his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, to death in 1978. When first questioned, he claimed to have found Spungen dead on the bathroom floor of their hotel room - but later he admitted that he stabbed her, but did not intend to kill her.
Duane "Dog" Chapman
Though he was charged with her murder, Vicious never stood trial; he died of a drug overdose while out on bail.
In 1976, Jerry Oliver was shot to death by one of Dog the Bounty Hunter's friends when they went to buy marijuana from him. Though Dog was outside waiting in the car at the time, he was still convicted of first degree murder.
Phil Spector
He served 18 months of a five-year sentence and has been barred from the UK.
In 2003, Lana Clarkson was found dead from a gunshot wound in Phil Spector's home.
Gig Young
He was charged with the murder, and in 2009, Spector was found guilty and sentenced 18 years to life in prison.
Actor Gig Young and his wife were both found dead in their home in 1978.
Jayson Williams
After surveying the scene, police reported that Young shot his wife and then killed himself.
NBA player Jayson Williams accidentally shot to death his limousine driver while he was playing with a shot gun.
Williams ended up pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
