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From the NFL to boxing rings, these athletes had it all but threw it away with heinous acts. Join us as we explore the dark side of sports stardom where gold medals gave way to prison cells. Our countdown includes notorious cases like O.J. Simpson, Michael Vick, Oscar Pistorius, and more shocking falls from grace that stunned fans worldwide.
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00:00OJ's football legacy is destroyed. People will never remember or think about what a great
00:06running back he was. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're taking a look at some of the most
00:10horrific crimes by athletes. People want to say things about me that you know they have their
00:15own opinions and they can say what they would like. Michael Vick. In 2007 former Atlanta Falcons
00:22quarterback Michael Vick faced federal charges related to operating a dogfighting ring known
00:27as Bad News Kennels. Bad News Kennels just started us wanting to breed pit bulls with the patches
00:32and the ones that you know look pretty and show dogs and we was going to sell them and
00:39it just went from one aspect to another. It took place on a property he owned in Virginia
00:46and it involved breeding, training, and forcing pit bulls to fight for sport and profit. Court
00:51documents and investigative findings revealed multiple instances of disturbing animal cruelty
00:56including putting underperforming dogs out of commission. Vick pleaded guilty to a conspiracy
01:00charge and served 21 months in federal prison leading to his temporary suspension from the
01:05National Football League. Best thing for me that ever happened to me in my life was me getting
01:11shipped off to Kansas man because other than that I wasn't going to change. Lawrence Taylor.
01:17The Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor has faced multiple legal issues since retiring from
01:22the NFL. My life was on the way down and it was on the way down fast. One of the most severe incidents
01:28occurred in 2010 when he was arrested at a suburban New York hotel. Taylor was charged for forcing
01:33himself onto an underage girl after paying her $300. Prosecutors stated the girl had been brought to
01:38the hotel room by a suspected pimp against her will. Taylor's defense team maintained his innocence
01:42claiming he was unaware of her age. He later pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a sex
02:08worker and received six years of probation. Mike Tyson. In 1992, boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson
02:15was convicted in Indiana in an incident with 18-year-old Miss Black America contestant Desiree
02:20Washington. He completely changed. The look on his face completely changed. Everything about him
02:25completely changed. He changed from a sweet and nice person that I thought he was earlier to just
02:32this animal like a demon or something. In minutes? And in seconds. He had allegedly forced himself on
02:39her in July 1991 when Desiree accompanied Tyson back to his hotel room in Indianapolis. Though
02:44Tyson maintained the encounter was consensual, Desiree testified otherwise, leading to his conviction
02:49after a jury trial. He was sentenced to 10 years with four suspended and served three years before being
02:54released on parole in 1995. He had to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction.
02:58This is always going to be hovering over my head, something I did not do.
03:03Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan
03:04Professional bodybuilders Craig Titus and his wife Kelly Ryan were implicated in a 2005 homicide
03:09case in Las Vegas, Nevada.
03:11From the outside, it looked like they were the perfect power couple. But behind the bleached white
03:16smiles, there were dark secrets that could affect their carefully sculpted reputations.
03:22Did those secrets all blow up in their faces that dark night in the middle of the desert?
03:29The charred body of their personal assistant, Melissa James, was discovered in the trunk of
03:33Ryan's burned-out Jaguar sedan in the desert. Investigators determined the couple fled cross-country
03:38following the death. Prosecutors allege that James was killed following a dispute, with subsequent
03:42efforts to conceal the crime by burning her remains in the vehicle. The couple later accepted plea deals
03:47to avoid a capital murder trial. Titus pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, kidnapping,
03:51and arson, receiving a minimum of 21 years in prison. Ryan pleaded guilty to arson and battery
03:56with a deadly weapon.
03:57Craig got up to 55 years. Kelly cut a plea deal for arson and assault and battery with a deadly weapon.
04:05Esteban de Jesus
04:06Puerto Rican boxing champion Esteban de Jesus, who famously fought Roberto Duran, saw his life
04:12tragically derailed by substance use disorder after his retirement. In November 1980, while under the
04:17influence of illicit substances, De Jesus was involved in a road rage confrontation in San Juan.
04:22The incident escalated when he fatally shot Roberto Cintron Gonzalez, who was driving another vehicle.
04:28Jesus was later tried and convicted of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting and received a life
04:32sentence. Despite his life sentence, he was released in 1989 after being diagnosed with AIDS.
04:37Bruce Kimball
04:37In 1988, two weeks before the U.S. Olympic diving trials, former Olympic silver medalist Bruce Kimball
04:43caused a devastating vehicular homicide incident in Florida.
04:46Sporting a t-shirt that said,
04:48Diving, 25-year-old Bruce David Kimball of Ann Arbor, Michigan, walked out of the Hillsborough County
04:53jail on bond. He's charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter.
04:57Driving drunk with a blood alcohol level significantly above the legal limit, Kimball drove his vehicle
05:02at high speed into a group of teenagers and gathered in a parking lot. The collision resulted in the
05:06passing of two boys and severely injured several others. Kimball later pleaded guilty to two counts
05:11of vehicular homicide. He received a 17-year prison sentence but was released after serving less
05:16than five years.
05:17I'm glad it's over. We've been through a lot and we just want to try to work on our lives now.
05:24The judge permanently revoked his diving privileges as part of the sentence conditions.
05:28Robert Rozier
05:28Former NFL defensive end Robert Rozier became a central figure in a series of organized killings
05:34after joining the Nation of Yahweh, a religious group in the 1980s.
05:37He is 33-year-old Robert Rozier, also known as Noriah Israel. He is a member of the Yahweh sect.
05:44Rozier sought to join the group's secretive brotherhood and participated in deaths orchestrated
05:48by the organization's leader. Rozier personally confessed to killing at least four people in
05:53Florida in 1986. These murders were often carried out against random individuals and sometimes
05:57involved disturbing acts such as cutting off body parts to prove one's loyalty to the group's leader.
06:02Rozier's confessions led to him receiving a reduced 22-year sentence.
06:06Robert Rozier was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to the secondary murders of
06:12four people.
06:13Ray Carruth
06:13Ray Carruth, the wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit
06:18murder in 2001, stemming from the 1999 shooting of his girlfriend Cherica Adams, who was eight months
06:23pregnant with his child.
06:35Prosecutors successfully argued that Carruth orchestrated the drive-by shooting in Charlotte,
06:39North Carolina, because Adams refused to terminate the pregnancy. While Adams died nearly a month later
06:44from her injuries, their infant son Chancellor Lee Adams survived via emergency c-section. Carruth was
06:49acquitted of first-degree murder but convicted of conspiracy, serving almost 19 years in prison
06:54before his release in 2018.
06:56Wearing a full smile behind the barbed wire fence, Ray Carruth's walk to freedom was short and simple,
07:03unlike the days leading up to his conviction.
07:05Eddie Johnson
07:06Notorious for his off-court behavior, the former Atlanta Hawkins player Eddie Johnson
07:11faced multiple criminal charges throughout his lifetime, including burglary, battery, and
07:15substance possession. This resulted in the athlete spending multiple occasions in prison prior to
07:20the heinous crime, which came to be most associated with him. In 2008, Johnson was sentenced to prison
07:25in Florida following a conviction for the sexual battery of an underage girl. The convictions came
07:30with a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. He passed from an undisclosed
07:34illness while serving his life sentence in 2020.
07:36Sally McNeil
07:37It seemed like a perfect marriage of two competitive bodybuilders, but behind closed doors,
07:43steroids made things volatile.
07:44On Valentine's Day in 1995, professional female bodybuilder Sally McNeil fatally shot her husband,
07:50Ray, and called the police to confess. The couple had met eight years earlier at a bodybuilding
07:54program in the U.S. Marines, but Ray was reportedly violent and unfaithful to McNeil. On the night of the
07:59shooting, McNeil claimed she had acted in self-defense, stating that Ray tried to strangle her when she
08:03confronted him about his infidelity. However, the prosecution successfully argued that the
08:12shooting was premeditated, based on the trajectory of the bullets and the blood splatter evidence.
08:16Consequently, McNeil was convicted of second-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to 19 years to life.
08:21Despite multiple appeals, she remained in prison until 2020 when she was granted parole.
08:25They say she blasted her husband with a shotgun, then went to the bedroom to reload,
08:30and then returned to shoot him a second time in the face.
08:33Mark Rogowski
08:34A former professional skateboarder and now convicted killer may be on his way to being a free man
08:40after spending more than 30 years in prison.
08:42Mark Rogowski was only 14 when he began his professional skateboarding career in 1980,
08:47and it quickly took off.
08:48He won national championships and secured several endorsement deals, earning thousands of dollars
08:52every month. His rapid fall from grace began when he broke up with his long-term girlfriend,
08:56Brandy McLean, and turned to alcohol to cope. Angry and jealous of McLean's new relationship,
09:01Rogowski directed his rage towards her best friend, Jessica Bergsten.
09:04The prosecutor said Rogowski abducted Bergsten from her apartment in Pacific Beach
09:08and hauled her off to his condo in Carlsbad.
09:11In March 1991, Rogowski invited Bergsten to his house, where he sexually assaulted and murdered her.
09:16He later admitted this crime to his spiritual advisor, who convinced him to confess to the police.
09:20Rogowski pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and sexual assault,
09:23receiving a sentence of 31 years to life.
09:26Well, that's right. After Mark Rogowski was granted parole last year for a second time,
09:30Governor Newsom once again reversed the state parole board's decision to release him.
09:35Evangelos Gusis
09:36The gangland war exploded into the public arena back in June 2003,
09:42when Carl Williams ordered the murder of Jason Moran from the notorious Moran crime family.
09:48In the late 1980s and early 90s, Evangelos Gusis made a name for himself as a boxer and kickboxer,
09:54winning the World Middleweight Championships in kickboxing. At the same time, Gusis worked as a
09:58nightclub bouncer and became involved in Australia's criminal underworld. This association led him to
10:02become entangled in the Melbourne gangland killings, particularly the murders of Louis Kane and
10:07Louis Moran.
10:08Louis Moran, the patriarch of the Moran crime family, was shot dead.
10:13Kane was fatally shot in May 2004 after a meeting with Gusis and another associate. Despite claiming self-defense,
10:18Gusis was convicted and sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in prison. He was later tried and found guilty for the March 2004
10:24murder of Moran, who was ambushed by masked gunmen. This led to him being sentenced to life.
10:29The notoriety,
10:30the drugs, the gangland stuff, your life, has it all been worth it?
10:35Mine.
10:36Jovan Belcher.
10:37And, uh, is he breathing?
10:39He's still breathing, but barely. Please hurry. I don't know how many times he's got, uh, they were arguing.
10:45Jovan Belcher was a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, who was beginning to gain traction in his professional
10:50football career. Belcher lived with his girlfriend, Cassandra Perkins, and his mother, who was helping them care for their
10:55young daughter. Belcher and Perkins had a rocky relationship, filled with constant fights and arguments.
10:59On December 1st, 2012, during one of such arguments, Belcher shot and killed Perkins in front of his
11:04mother. ABC News has learned that he regularly visited gun ranges and had several weapons in his
11:10home. He then drove to the Chiefs' practice facility, where he took his own life, despite pleas from the
11:14general manager and coaches. After his death, it was discovered that Belcher suffered from chronic
11:19traumatic encephalopathy, leading his mother to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Chiefs.
11:24But police say the 25-year-old then drove to Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium, thanked his coaches for
11:29believing in him, and shot himself as they watched in horror.
11:33Eric Naposki
11:34Guilty of first-degree murder, a former football player has been convicted of killing his lover's
11:39boyfriend in his Newport Beach home.
11:40In December 1994, millionaire investor Bill McLaughlin was shot and killed in his Newport
11:45Beach, California home. At the time, McLaughlin was living with his girlfriend, Annette Johnston,
11:50after divorcing his first wife of 24 years. Unbeknownst to McLaughlin, Johnston was secretly
11:54involved with Eric Naposki, a professional football player who had played in the NFL and
11:58the World League of American Football.
12:00I said, Dad, I don't really like her. I think she's with you for your money.
12:04The murder remained unsolved until 2009, when authorities arrested and charged Naposki
12:08and Johnston. They claimed that Johnston, who stood to collect $2.5 million from McLaughlin's
12:13life insurance and savings, had orchestrated the murder and enlisted Naposki to carry it out.
12:17Although they both maintained their innocence, Naposki and Johnston were convicted of first-degree
12:21murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. A California jury convicted former NFL linebacker
12:26Eric Naposki last July for a murder he says he did not commit.
12:31Bertle Fox. Three days later, he visited Laoka at her mother's design shop.
12:38Only Bertle knows what happened next. Bertle Fox was born on the Caribbean island of St.
12:43Kitts and moved to London as a toddler. In his teenage years, Fox began bodybuilding and
12:47quickly became a powerhouse, winning nearly every possible contest and earning the nickname
12:51Brutal Bertle. That name took on a darker meaning in September 1997, when he fatally shot two women
12:56in St. Kitts and Nevis. Laoka's family also wanted the relationship to end. Her mother,
13:01Violet, intervened. The victims were Violet Brown and her daughter, Laoka, who was Fox's former
13:07fiancé. While Fox claimed the shooting was accidental, his best friend testified otherwise.
13:11He was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging, which was later commuted to life imprisonment.
13:15After serving 25 years, Fox was pardoned by the Governor General of St. Kitts and Nevis and released
13:20in 2022. He had to do something. He felt like if he couldn't have her, then why should anyone have her?
13:30Chris Benoit. Well, the wrestling world in shock today. Former champion Chris Benoit found dead in
13:35his Atlanta home along with his wife and young son. This Canadian wrestler achieved worldwide fame in
13:40WWE, winning 30 championships in various international wrestling tournaments. By 2007, Benoit was already a
13:47two-time world champion and was poised to win a third championship on the night of June 24th.
13:51However, he failed to show up for the match. When authorities entered his home the next day for a
13:55welfare check, they found the bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel.
14:00But go back real quickly if you can for this text message. It's got to be at least very alarming or very
14:05strange for them to say you need to go to this house and check it out. Over the prior three days,
14:09Benoit murdered Nancy and Daniel, placed Bibles beside their bodies, and then took his own life.
14:14An autopsy later revealed that Benoit suffered from severe chronic traumatic
14:18encephalopathy and had misused steroids and alcohol, which could all have contributed to
14:22his unimaginable actions. In reality, WWE superstar Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel
14:31are dead. Hiroshi Ogawa. Financial struggles are common, but they can sometimes push people to
14:37take disastrous actions. Take Hiroshi Ogawa, a former professional baseball pitcher for the
14:42lot Marines in Japan. Ogawa left the sport in 2002 and began working at an industrial waste disposal
14:47firm. Not long after, he went bankrupt and decided to seek financial help from his boss.
14:51When he visited his boss's home, he encountered the housekeeper, 67-year-old Kazuko Nishiuchi,
14:56whom he reportedly asked for a loan. Nishiuchi denied this request, causing Ogawa to physically
15:01attack her, leaving her unconscious. He then stole money from the house and disposed of the
15:05housekeeper's body in a nearby pond. Ogawa was ultimately found guilty of murder and sentenced to
15:09life imprisonment in September 2005. Oscar Pistorius. In 2012, South African sprinter Oscar
15:22Pistorius made history as the first double-leg amputee to compete in the Olympics. Before this
15:26momentous achievement, he had already won several Paralympic gold medals, becoming both an inspirational
15:31and influential figure in sports. But things took a tragic turn in 2013 when he was charged with the
15:36murder of his girlfriend, Reva Steenkamp, at his home.
15:39This legal saga has lasted nearly five years now, but this morning it took just minutes for a judge
15:46to more than double the jail sentence for Oscar Pistorius.
15:49Pistorius never denied shooting Steenkamp, but he claimed to have mistaken her for an intruder.
15:54Initially, he was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to five years in prison. However,
15:58on appeal, this conviction was upgraded to murder, and his sentence was increased to 13 years and
16:02five months. After serving over eight years, Pistorius was granted parole in 2024.
16:07They managed to spirit him away from the prison near Pretoria without being seen. He is now
16:12believed to be at home at his uncle's house in a wealthy suburb of Pretoria.
16:17Aaron Hernandez.
16:18Hands that caught so many touchdown passes in handcuffs today as he was led into court,
16:24charged with the brutal murder of his friend, Odin Lloyd.
16:27Aaron Hernandez was a fierce NFL tight end who played three seasons with the New England Patriots.
16:32He seemed destined for a long, successful career, but that all changed in 2013.
16:36In June of that year, the body of Odin Lloyd was discovered at an industrial park near Hernandez's
16:41home. Lloyd had met up with Hernandez the day before his death, and they had driven around together.
16:45You were with him just hours before he was murdered.
16:48Yeah.
16:49What'd you guys do?
16:50Uh, hang out. It was a typical Sunday.
16:51Hernandez became the prime suspect and was soon arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
16:55Less than two hours after his arrest, the Patriots released him from his contract.
16:59Hernandez was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
17:03In 2017, while still appealing his conviction, he took his own life in his prison cell.
17:07We do move on tonight and to new reporting here this evening after a former Patriot star
17:11was discovered dead in his cell.
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17:29O.J. Simpson
17:30Former NFL star and actor O.J. Simpson was charged with the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole
17:36Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.
17:39The subsequent criminal trial became highly publicized globally, concluding with his controversial
17:44acquittal in 1995. He was later found civilly liable for the wrongful deaths in 1997.
17:49For the anguished families of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, this was justice.
17:55Our family is grateful for a verdict of responsibility, which is all we ever wanted. And we have it. Thank God.
18:07Over a decade later, Simpson faced a separate criminal case in 2007 for armed robbery and
18:12kidnapping in Las Vegas. After he and several men forcibly retrieved sports memorabilia he claimed
18:17was his own. He was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to 33 years in prison, serving 9 years before being
18:23granted parole in 2017.
18:25In the end, at least publicly, O.J. Simpson felt content about his place in the world.
18:31Those were some of the most horrific crimes athletes have ever committed.
18:34Was their sentence just, or do you disagree? Tell us in the comments section.
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