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From notorious financiers to celebrated musicians, join us as we explore the shocking final chapter of celebrities who met their end behind bars. Our countdown includes figures who gained fame in sports, entertainment, business, and politics before their arrests led to tragic conclusions in prison or police custody. What other infamous prison deaths come to mind?
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00:00For many, the most outrageous part of Epstein's plea bargain was a seedy deal he struck with the
00:06Attorney General for the Southern District of Florida. It gave Epstein and any alleged
00:12co-conspirators, known or unknown, immunity from further prosecution. Welcome to WatchMojo,
00:19and today we're exploring the most shocking times celebrities passed away in jail or police custody.
00:23Aaron Hernandez is found guilty of murdering Odin Lloyd. You were sentenced by order of the court
00:30for the term of your natural life without the possibility of parole. We won't be looking at
00:34people who became famous due to their crimes. Instead, we'll focus on those who gained recognition
00:38in other areas before their arrests. Jan Plaas, labeled the father of kickboxing in the Netherlands,
00:44Plaas opened the renowned Meijito Gym in Amsterdam in 1978, which produced some of the best to grace
00:49the sport, such as Rob Kamen, Peter Arts, and Andrii Menard. Yet even when he was doing this,
00:55there was a darker side to Plaas. Involved in organized crime with the group De Hakalar,
00:59the Dutchman committed all sorts of crimes, including kidnapping. In 2008, Plaas was arrested
01:04for trafficking in illegal substances. At the same time, his daughter and son-in-law,
01:08who were police officers, were arrested for fraud. In 2010, Plaas was reportedly found in his cell
01:12after taking his own life. Emile HaHa. Depending on who you ask, HaHa was either a patriot or a traitor
01:18to the former country of Czechoslovakia. Following the Munich Agreement, which allowed
01:22Adolf Hitler's Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia, HaHa became the nation's president
01:26in 1938. In 1939, Hitler gave him a choice. Either HaHa allowed Germany to occupy Czechoslovakia
01:32and keep some autonomy, or their army would brutalize the nation. The president went with
01:36the former, turning him into the state president to Bohemia and Moravia as he swore allegiance to
01:41Hitler. In 1945, HaHa was arrested by Soviet Union forces and taken to prison. During the arrest,
01:46he was said to have been brutally beaten before dying from an unknown cause a few weeks later.
01:51Dudu Topaz. Starting in the 1970s, Topaz became a fixture in Israeli entertainment as a TV host,
01:56director, comedian, and many more roles. His popularity turned him into a national icon as
02:01he was nicknamed the Ratings King. However, in 2009, Topaz was arrested for allegations that he
02:06was the organizer and financier behind attacks on multiple TV executives, presenters, and agents.
02:11Topaz was also accused of possessing illegal substances. Reports soon emerged that the disgraced
02:16host confessed to being behind the assaults. A couple of months after his arrest, Topaz attempted
02:20to take his own life in prison. However, he survived. A few weeks later, Topaz tried again
02:25and passed away.
02:26Lawrence Phillips. If it wasn't for his personal and legal troubles, Phillips could have been a star
02:31in the NFL. Watch the lead block right there. Nice job against Ron George. And that's full speed
02:36running by Lawrence Phillips. Phillips goes in for his fourth touchdown. In 2005, two years after being
02:45released from the Canadian football team, the Calgary Stampeders, his legal problems took over
02:49his athletic career when Phillips was arrested after trying to drive his car into a group of teenagers.
02:54He was found guilty and sentenced to jail. In 2009, the former running back was convicted of
02:58assaulting his former partner, earning him a combined sentence of 31 years inside. In 2015,
03:03it got worse when Phillips' cellmate Damian Souherd was found dead in their cell. Phillips was charged
03:08with the murder. However, before the trial, he took his own life in 2016.
03:11Maybe he just felt, you know, he's been going to be accused of murder, spend the rest of his life in
03:16prison. Maybe he felt he just didn't have no hope no more. It just looks like he just lost all hope.
03:22Brian Christopher. While he was the son of legendary wrestler Jerry the King Lawler,
03:25Christopher had a legacy of his own at WWE as Grandmaster Sexay by being in the beloved
03:30tag team of Too Cool with Scotty Too Hotty.
03:49Sadly, that run ended in 2001 with his release after an arrest for substance trafficking.
03:54Christopher then spent years juggling an independent career with occasional WWE appearances.
03:58However, in 2018, he was arrested for evading police after being suspected of a DUI.
04:03Three weeks later, Christopher took his own life in his cell within Tennessee's Hardman County Jail.
04:07At least 200 people turned out here at Hope Church to pay their respects to the man known
04:12as Brian Christopher. There were signs of his personality and the many Pittsburgh Steelers and
04:17wrestling memorabilia displayed. Lawler issued a lawsuit against the jail for the wrongful death of
04:22his son, which was dismissed in 2024.
04:24Jim Gordon. As a highly respected drummer, Gordon was part of the Derrick and the Dominoes band,
04:29which was led by Eric Clapton. On top of that, he was a session drummer who worked with acts including
04:34Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, George Harrison, and many, many more. Yet away from music, Gordon was
04:39struggling with undiagnosed schizophrenia. His illness led to him hearing voices, which encouraged
04:43him to attack his mother in 1983, taking her life. Following his arrest, Gordon was diagnosed
04:48with schizophrenia. Regardless, he was sentenced to 16 years to life in jail. While he was up for
04:53parole several times, Gordon didn't appear at the hearings, resulting in parole being denied.
04:57In 2023, he passed away from natural causes at Vacaville's California medical facility.
05:03Taiji Sawada. Better known by only his first name, Taiji became a star with the legendary rock band
05:08X-Japan. Even after leaving the group in 1992, the bassist would go on to work with several other
05:13bands, such as Loudness, as well as his own projects. Yet according to his partner, Tomomi Akatsuka,
05:19Taiji was battling several mental and physical health issues. In 2011, a year after reuniting
05:24with X-Japan for a gig, Taiji was arrested in Saipan after attempting to break a window on an
05:29airplane as his manager fought to stop him. However, a couple of days later, the guitarist was found
05:33unresponsive after attempting to take his life in jail. While he was rushed to the hospital,
05:37Taiji passed away shortly after.
05:40Jean Dupont. With a long lineage and a historic family and its incredible wealth, Dupont used his
05:45fortune to fund his passion for sports, especially wrestling, setting up the Foxcatcher farm to train
05:50the next generation of U.S. wrestling stars. Friends described Dupont as an eccentric millionaire
05:55with an avid interest in Olympic sports. The team featured Olympic gold medalists Mark Schultz,
06:00Dave Schultz, and Kurt Angle, who either competed for Dupont's team or coached them. However, in 1996,
06:05Dupont's increasingly erratic behavior became deadly when he fatally shot Dave. The multimillionaire
06:11then locked himself in his mansion before negotiating his surrender to the police days
06:14later.
06:15He was sentenced to 13 to 30 years in jail. In 2010, while housed in Pennsylvania State
06:25Correctional Institution, Laurel Highlands, Dupont passed away from a lung disease.
06:30Spade Cooley. After an iconic career as a Western swing musician, big band leader, and TV host,
06:35Cooley retired from music in 1960, getting his legacy set with a star on the Hollywood Walk of
06:40Fame. After a year of alleged increasing abuse from Cooley toward his wife, Ella Mae Cooley,
06:44she asked for a divorce. In 1961, Cooley murdered his wife, Ella Mae, at their home. He was sentenced
06:50to life in jail. In ill health and supported by Hollywood, including then-California government
06:55Ronald Reagan, Cooley was granted parole in 1970. However, before that took effect, he was granted
07:00furlough to perform a benefit concert in Oakland, California in 1969. While backstage, Cooley suffered
07:05a fatal heart attack. Johnny J. Alongside being a rapper in his own right, Johnny Jackson was a
07:11record producer, primarily with Death Row Records, which saw him working with the iconic Tupac on
07:15several albums. On top of that, he also collaborated with many other famous acts like Thug Life,
07:27Busy Bone, and Mark Wahlberg. Even after Tupac's death, Johnny helped produce multiple posthumous
07:32works by the rapper, while focusing on up-and-coming acts. In 2008, Johnny was arrested
07:45for a DUI in Los Angeles, California. Several months later, while reportedly serving a three-year
07:50sentence for his crime at LA's Twin Towers Correctional Facility, Johnny seemingly jumped
07:54from a high level of the prison, ending his life. Alexei Navalny
07:58For years, Navalny was Vladimir Putin's biggest rival in Russia, calling the president's political
08:02group United Russia a party of crooks and thieves.
08:05After being found guilty of controversial cases of fraud in 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok
08:22nerve agent. After going abroad for treatment and returning to Russia, he was arrested for
08:26apparently breaking his parole terms. Over the next couple of years, Navalny was found guilty of
08:30additional crimes, earning him a combined 30 and a half years in jail. In 2023, he vanished from the
08:35public eye, eventually being located in an Arctic Circle corrective colony. However, a couple of months
08:40later, in 2024, the authorities reported Navalny's passing due to natural causes, which has been
08:45disputed by his supporters. I want Putin and his whole entourage, his friends and his government to
08:51know that they will be held responsible for everything they've done to our country, to my
08:57family and to my husband. And this day will come very soon. Bernie Madoff. As the founder of financial
09:04firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, Madoff's success attracted wealthy clients, including
09:09celebrities, to invest in the company's stock brokerage or asset management branches. This allowed
09:14Madoff to carve out a name for himself as a generous philanthropist, donating large sums of money to
09:18good causes. However, his business's growth seemed too good to be true, and it was. Tonight, as much
09:24as $50 billion is gone, vanished. From Madoff clients around the world, including celebrities like
09:31Steven Spielberg, Kevin Bacon, and Elie Wiesel. With an estimated value of $65 billion, Madoff had created
09:38the largest Ponzi scheme in history. After confessing his scheme to his sons, they contacted the
09:43authorities. In 2009, after pleading guilty, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail. In 2021, he
09:49passed away inside North Carolina's federal medical center, Butner, from natural causes.
09:54And the remorse he claimed in every message is suspect as well. At his 2009 sentencing,
09:59Madoff turned to his victims. I'm sorry, he said. I know that doesn't help you. It didn't. And neither
10:06does Bernie Madoff's death. Lloyd Avery II. Bursting into the acting scene with the classic 1991 film,
10:12Boys in the Hood, Avery was slowly but surely making a name for himself in the industry as
10:16he appeared in several productions. However, in 2001, that all evaporated when he was sentenced
10:22to life in jail after killing two people. While imprisoned in California's Pelican Bay State
10:27Prison, Avery's cellmate was Kevin Roby, reportedly a Satanist, who had received a life sentence due to
10:32assaulting and murdering his sister. Avery, who was a devout Christian, attempted to persuade Roby to
10:36convert to his religion. According to Roby, this caused him to snap and kill Avery in 2005.
10:41Lou Perlman. At one point, Perlman was one of the most successful managers in the music industry.
10:45Yeah, this is exciting. I mean, not to mention, okay, there's a tinkle to the cash register,
10:50no question about it. Unbelievable. So what'd you do? I said, I think I can do that. I think I can put
10:56a group like that together. After all, he founded the Backstreet Boys and went on to form a company
11:00that looked after acts such as O-Town, Aaron Carter, and NSYNC. However, when the Backstreet Boys
11:04filed a lawsuit against Perlman for cheating them out of money while he made millions,
11:08his reputation came tumbling down. It was discovered that Perlman was running a Ponzi scheme,
11:12causing investors to lose upwards of $95 million. In 2007, after going on the run,
11:17he was located in Indonesia and arrested, earning him a 25-year sentence the following year.
11:22It was perfect until Perlman was caught and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009
11:28for masterminding the massive scheme. In 2016, he passed away from natural causes while imprisoned
11:34at Florida's Federal Correctional Institution, Miami.
11:37John McAfee. Founding one of the first antivirus software programs to be available to the public,
11:42McAfee created a company in his name until he resigned from it in 1994.
11:45What's it like being Don McAfee?
11:48Uh, well, I doubt that you would want to walk in my shoes for more than 24 hours.
11:54From there, he became known for criticizing his former company and getting involved in politics.
11:58However, his fame was eclipsed by his controversies, which included being accused of murder.
12:02Yet, what got McAfee in trouble in the U.S. was tax evasion.
12:06In 2020, after claiming for over a year that he'd been on the run,
12:08the computer programmer was arrested in Spain. After nearly a year in a Spanish jail,
12:13in 2021, McAfee's extradition to the U.S. was granted.
12:16Within hours of the announcement, he reportedly took his own life.
12:19He faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
12:21He was 75, and a wild ride of a life it was.
12:26Max Clifford. If you were a celebrity who found themselves in a scandal,
12:29especially in the U.K., Clifford was the person you'd turn to.
12:31Britain's best-known PR man.
12:34Over the years, Max Clifford was the go-to publicist for a string of celebrities,
12:39becoming a famous name himself in the process.
12:42Nicknamed the King of Spin, the publicist worked with many big names,
12:45including Simon Cowell, O.J. Simpson, and Muhammad Ali.
12:48In 2012, after the fallout of the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal,
12:51Operation U-Tree arrested Clifford for assault allegations.
12:55In 2014, after being found guilty of multiple charges,
12:57he was sentenced to 80 years in jail.
12:59Thanks to his victims, the man who made a living out of exposing secrets
13:02has now been exposed himself.
13:05In 2017, after collapsing from a heart attack in his cell,
13:08Clifford passed away in the hospital days later.
13:10Shortly before his demise, he'd successfully challenged his right
13:13to contest his conviction in the Court of Appeal.
13:15However, in 2019, Clifford's sentence was upheld.
13:18Aaron Hernandez.
13:19The New England Patriots had high hopes for tight end Hernandez,
13:22granting him a massive contract extension worth $39.6 million in 2012.
13:27In his three years in the National Football League,
13:29Aaron Hernandez has established himself as one of the game's best tight ends.
13:34Just as he'd been for Tim Tebow at the University of Florida,
13:37he became a key target for Tom Brady.
13:40A year later, that was destroyed when he was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd,
13:43causing the Patriots to release Hernandez.
13:45In 2015, the disgraced NFL star was found guilty, earning him life imprisonment.
13:50He was also indicted in 2014 for the murders of Daniel De Abreu and Zafiro Furtado.
13:54In 2017, he was acquitted of the double murder.
13:57Days later, Hernandez took his own life at Massachusetts' Sousa Baranowski Correctional Center.
14:02A study later found Hernandez had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
14:06Following his death, his conviction for Odin's murder was under appeal.
14:09In 2019, the original conviction was reinstated.
14:12It's important to note, while the conviction will stand now,
14:15the court record will say the conviction was never affirmed or reversed
14:18because the defendant died while the appeal was pending.
14:21Phil Spector, best known for pioneering the wall-of-sound recording technique,
14:25Spector was one of the most famous record producers in the music industry.
14:29He worked with many legendary talents, including The Beatles, The Ramones, and Ike and Tina Turner.
14:33Yet all that glory was wiped away in 2003.
14:35He appeared eccentric, troubled, lonely, a man mired in his own darkness.
14:40That year, actor Lana Clarkson was found fatally shot at Spector's home in Alhambra, California.
14:45The producer was accused of doing this after Clarkson rejected his advances.
14:49Spector claimed she accidentally did it to herself.
14:52In 2007, one of the most televised trials in history ended in a mistrial.
14:56After his second trial in 2009, Spector was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 19 years to life.
15:01In 2021, after contracting COVID-19, he passed away.
15:04But after one mistrial, Spector was convicted in 2009 of second-degree murder.
15:10His legacy will forever be that of a convicted murderer who happened to write songs.
15:15Ian Watkins
15:16Lead singer of the Welsh rock band Lost Prophets, Watkins was a hero to many.
15:24Yet behind the scenes, he was a monster.
15:26In 2012, while being investigated for illegal substance allegations, police found evidence of him possessing indecent images of minors.
15:33This snowballed into the discovery that Watkins had been planning with fans to assault their children.
15:37After pleading guilty to several charges in 2013, Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in jail, resulting in Lost Prophets disbanding.
15:45Due to his celebrity and crimes, Watkins was targeted by his other prisoners.
15:49In 2025, while residing in England's HM prison Wakefield, Watkins was fatally stabbed by fellow inmates.
15:54The former Lost Prophets singer, who was convicted in 2013, was attacked in Wakefield prison this morning.
16:01Two convicted criminals were charged with Watkins' murder and are set to face trial for it in 2026.
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16:22Jeffrey Epstein
16:23With an army of celebrity, political, and royal friends, Epstein was one of the most powerful financiers in the world.
16:28You know, he was a figure of mystery, in that all people really knew about him was he had kind of out of nowhere, known to be unconventional.
16:40People thought he was very good looking.
16:43Yet even that couldn't keep him safe forever.
16:45In 2019, Epstein, who'd previously been convicted for offenses against minors, was arrested and charged for further crimes involving minors.
16:52Allegations soon emerged that he'd led an abuse network that involved some of his famous friends.
16:56Yet a month after his arrest, Epstein seemingly took his own life in his cell at New York City's Metropolitan Correctional Center.
17:02With Epstein dead, the charges against him were dismissed, denying justice to his many victims.
17:09However, due to CCTV issues and other suspicious activity by jail staff, there are allegations that Epstein was murdered, which has been rejected by the authorities.
17:17What other famous person who passed away in prison or police custody did we miss in the video?
17:21Let us know in the comments.
17:36Let us know in the comments.
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