Being a sports star can be murder. It can apparently also drive you to commit murder. Which athletes have been convicted of murder? Here are the eight most bloodthirsty pro-athletes who have been convicted of murder for reasons as silly as a traffic dispute all the way to murdering underworld crime bosses... which would be an awesome job title, minus the whole murder thing... It's kinda shocking that there were more than eight murderous athletes, but I kept the list for now to the most interesting sports star killers.
Pro athletes should have enough money to hire hit men if they must kill, you know? And if you are getting paid boo koo bucks to be a pro athlete, WTF are you so angry about anyhow? But these jocks aren't the brightest bulbs in professional athletics, as evidenced by their stories below. Be on the lookout for a sequel if this list of murderous athletes is a hit.
9 Pro Athletes Convicted of Murder,
Esteban de Jesús
Esteban De Jesús was a lightweight champion boxer who turned professional in 1969 and gained fame for being the first person to beat Roberto Duran as a professional. He reigned as the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion from May 8, 1976 until 21 January 21, 1978.
After ending his boxing career with 57 wins (32 by knock-out) and 5 losses, De Jesús was convicted of murdering a 17-year-old boy after a traffic dispute over Thanksgiving weekend, 1981. So if you're ever around a boxing event and you see a parking spot, please be polite and let anyone who wants it to have it, especially if they look like they may be on coke (which De Jesús was).
While in prison, De Jesús became a star baseball player for the Puerto Rico penal system and a born-again Christian, probably because it just kinda made sense given his name. He later later became a preacher.
While in prison, De Jesús contracted HIV and was sequentiality pardoned by the then governor and was released from prison one month before dying at his home from AIDS...and it allll started with a traffic dispute.
De Jesus died at 37. Click here for the full story on him and why you should never eff with a guy bigger than you in traffic.
Leslie Hylton
Leslie Hylton was a West-Indian and Jamaican cricket player and known for the Test matches he played in the 1930's.
He was convicted and hanged for the murder of his wife, Lurlene, in 1955. Hylton claimed he was trying to shoot himself, but missed and shot her instead. A likely story, which is apparently what the jurors thought as well.
Mark Rogowski
Mark "Gator" Rogowski was a professional skateboarder in the 1980's and early 1990s who achieved a sense of fame and status, until the early '90s when skateboarding moved from the vert-style, which he was accustomed to, to street-style, which had the same kind of effect that Bob Dylan going from Folk to Rock had.
This waning of popularity and the changing of his name to "Gator," Mark Anthony (saying that his father was never a real part of his life) are seen as the triggers to his eventful downfall, marked most notably by a conversion to strict born-again Evangelicalism after a dangerous drunken accident in Germany.
During this time, Rogowski also broke-up with his long-term girlfriend, at which point he began to obsessively stalk her and her new boyfriends... aaaand then some crazy(er) s**t started happening.
On March 21, 1991, Rogowski spent the day with old-friend Jessica Bergsten who was later reported missing. Her body was eventually found in the Californian desert, although a proper identification was impossible due to the decomposed state of her body. Rogowski later pled guilty to beating Bergsten with a 'Club,' raping her, and stuffing her body in a bag and smothering her with his hand to eventually stop her breathing.
Rogowski was sentenced to 31 years in prison and is first eligible for parole this year, so any ladies out there reading this should definitely watch their online dating habits like a hawk. And clearly, anyone thinking of becoming a born-again should think twice (Gator and De Jesús twice), unless, you know, they like going to jail for murder.
www.nndb.com/people/273/000093991/
Rae Carruth
Rae Carruth, ( Click Here for more gory details on Carruth) whose head is shaped like he wears a Halloween Coneheads bald cap (but we ASSURE you, this is his real head) former first-round draft pick for the Carolina Panthers, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder against his lady Cherica Adams, who was shot four times in a drive-by shooting.
Adams, who was pregnant with Carruth's child at the time, later died at the hospital, however the baby (named Chancellor Lee Adams) survived after being delivered by cesarean section.
After the shooting, Carruth posted his $3 million bail and was allowed out under the condition that if either his child or Adams's died, that he would turn himself in (seriously, who made that deal?). After Adams's passing, Carruth became a fugitive and was justly let-go from the Panthers and was later found hiding in a car trunk in Tennessee surrounded by candy bars, jars of his own pee, and shame.
Kind of says a lot about the Panthers when you can hide one of them in a trunk. You shouldn't be able to fit one of these guys in a pick-up, let alone a trunk.
Carruth (DOC #0712822) was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison and his projected release date is October 22, 2018.
( Source )
Robert Rozier
Robert Rozier, former member of the St. Louis Cardinals (for which he only played six games after being released on suspicion of drugs... "suspicion"... wow, THOSE were the days) later became a member of "The Brotherhood" cult led by Yahweh ben Yahweh in Miami during the 1980s.
The cult, comprised of members from an off-shoot of black supremacists from the Black Hebrew Israelite religion, believed that God is black, that true Jews are black and that whites are the 'devil.' You know, your typical peaceful religion.
Oh, except for the part where to prove one's worthiness to the cult, each member had to kill a 'white devil,' and provide proof.
Ever the overachiever, Rozier confessed to killing seven white people and was arrested and charged on October 31, 1986.
Rozier was sentenced to 22 years, but only served ten after agreeing to testify against Yahweh and was later put in the witness protection program.
However, in 1999, he was arrested in Canada (how embarrassing) for attempting to pass a bad check and was again arrested under the 'third strike' law, being sentenced to 25 years to life. Because when you're trying to stay "off the grid" the best currency to use is the one with your name, number, and address on it.
www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/classics/yahweh_cult/12.html
Hiroshi Ogawa
A former Lotte Marines baseball pitcher, Hiroshi Ogawa was sentenced to life in prison in September 2005 after stealing 1.75 million Yen from the chairman of an industrial waste company that he used to work for, as well as the murder of the chairman's housekeeper. Being in debt, Ogawa went inside the chairman's house and demanded that the housekeeper allow him to "borrow" the money. When she refused, he pushed her, knocking her unconscious, stole the money, and drove her to a pond, where he dumped her to drown. Lesson learned here, folks. Always lend the money.
Evangelos Goussis
Evangelos Goussis, an ex-Australian boxer and kick-boxer, is currently employed as a lawn mower... at the maximum security Acacia unit at Barwon Prison.
While his career was at its height, Goussis was the Kickboxing World Association middleweight champion and was a boxing contender for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, though he didn't qualify. But still, that's a pretty good gig.
In 2004, Goussis was convicted and tried for two murders in Melbourne during the Melbourne gangland killings, in which he shot both Lewis Cain and Lew Moran in the head. Goussis claimed it was self defense with the Cain trial, saying Cain shot at him first, but the gun jammed. However, he shot Moran point blank in the back of the head (no claiming self defense there!). He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of a 30-year non parole period. It was probably all worth it though, right?
Aaron Hernandez
April 15, 2015: Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, 25, was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was first charged with killing his fiancé's sister's boyfriend, Odin Lloyd, 27, in 2013. According to the prosecution, Hernandez and two other men picked up Lloyd at his home, drove him to a secluded industrial park, and shot him six times. They never presented a possible motive for the murder, nor did they find a murder weapon or any witnesses, yet they were still able to convince a jury that Hernandez had orchestrated the killing. Security video from his home showed Hernandez holding a gun just a few minutes after Lloyd was killed.
The two men with Hernandez at the time, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, were also charged and will be tried separately. Hernandez's lawyers claimed he was but a witness to the crime. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Read more:
CNN, ESPN, People
Bertil Fox
The Arnold Schwarzenegger of St. Kitt, one of the easternmost islands in the Caribbean, Bertil Fox was a champion body builder, winning every major contest outside the IFBB in London before relocating to Los Angeles and finally, St. Kitt.
In September 1997, Fox was tried and convicted of killing former girlfriend, Leyoca Browne and her mother, Violet inside of Violet's clothing shop in St. Kitt. Fox pleaded that it was an accidental shooting when he struggled over his pistol with Violet. However, Fox's best friend Edmund Tross testified saying, "He said he had shot Leyoca and her mother. He said Leyoca's mother was pushing him out the door. At that point he pulled out the gun and started shooting." Tross admitted that Fox never said anything about the shooting being in self defense, and the seamstress who testified also incriminated Fox. He was sentenced to life in prison without bail.