10 Infamous Celebrity Murders That Remain Unsolved
Of all the celebrity deaths that have ever occurred, there are still some that remain unsolved, despite some of those murders being in very public places. Here are 10 infamous celebrity murders that remain unsolved.
10. Notorious B.I.G.
Well-known 90s rapper Christopher George Wallace, more commonly know as the Notorious B.I.G., or Biggie Smalls, was born on May 21st, 1972, in Brooklyn, New York. Biggie became a leading star for the East Coast and brought competition against the West Coast scene during a hip hop feud. On September 7th, 1996, Biggie's former friend, Tupac Shakur, was murdered in a drive-by shooting, which affected Biggie in a way, making him increasingly paranoid that he might be next. In the early hours of March 9th, 1997, 16 days before the release of what would be his biggest album, Life After Death, Biggie was leaving an after-party with his entourage and had stopped at a red light when someone pulled up alongside them and opened fire, hitting him four times. The shooter was described as a black male with a blue shirt and a bow tie but was never actually caught. Biggie died just hours later in the hospital, his killer never found and the case unsolved.
9. William Desmond Taylor
On the morning of February 2nd, 1922, 49-year-old actor and director, William Desmond Taylor, was found dead in his bungalow in West Lake, Los Angeles. The victim of multiple gunshot wounds to the back, Taylor's murder was nearly impossible to solve, especially after the initial investigation was bungled so badly that most of the physical evidence was destroyed or simply vanished. Upon finding the actor dead, a man presenting himself to be a doctor was allowed to examine Taylor's body and declared that he died of a stomach hemorrhage. Soon after, investigators discovered he'd been shot but that the doctor had vanished and never was identified. Witnesses claimed that they saw a man with dark hair fleeing the scene shortly after the murder. But to this day, the nearly century-old crime remains a cold case with no solid leads or suspects, motives, or even where the gun that shot Taylor is.
8. Jack Nance
Best known for his acting roles under Director David Lynch in Eraserhead and Twin Peaks, Jack Nance lost his life at 53 years old in what can only be described as suspicious circumstances. On the morning of December 30th, 1996, Nance was found dead on the bathroom of his South Pasadena, California, apartment by his friend Leo Bulgarini. The official cause of death was ruled as a subdural hematoma, or a traumatic brain injury, but it was established that Nance was alone in his home. On December 29th, the previous day, a bruised-up Nance met with Bulgarini and another friend named Catherine Case for lunch and claimed he'd been beaten up by a young man outside of Winchell's Donuts store earlier that morning. But, authorities investigating the incident found no evidence of the altercation whatsoever. The actual cause of Jack Nance's death may never be known and remains unsolved to this day.
7. Jill Dando
Born on November 9th, 1961, in Somerset, England, Jill Dando was an award-winning journalist and television personality known for hosting the show Crime Watch and being named the 1997 BBC Personality of the Year. Around 11:32 a.m. on April 26th, 1999, Dando was about to enter her house in Fulham, London, when an assailant grabbed her from behind, forced her to the ground, and shot her in the head as if executing her. She died instantly and though the murder took place in broad daylight, her killer was never caught. A neighbor witnessed the shooter leaving the property and described him as a six-foot-tall white man around 40 years old, but he still had never been identified. Some claim the 37-year-old newswoman was targeted by Serbian or Yugoslav groups or was killed over a conviction that was the result of her news reports. Sadly, the case has more questions than answers, even to this day.
6. Natalie Wood
Best known for her roles in A Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story, Natalie Wood was found dead off the coast of Catalina Island on the morning of November 29th, 1981. She was recovered 1.6 kilometers from the Splendour, an 18-meter yacht that she'd been on the night before with her husband, Robert Wagner, and fellow actor, Christopher Walken. It was determined that the actress had drowned sometime in the night, and an inflatable dinghy was found nearby that authorities believed she'd taken from the boat. Wagner later confessed that he'd been fighting with his wife the evening before over her relationship with Walken. But Wood's death was ruled as an accidental drowning. Friends revealed that she had a fear of water, especially dark water, and questioned why'd she leave the yacht at night. Wood's death certificate was changed in 2011 to say drowning and other undetermined factors, factors which many of us may likely never know.
5. Peter Ivers
Though he never quite reached mainstream success, musician Peter Ivers seemed to be friends with every big player in the entertainment industry. That is until his untimely death. The 36-year-old songwriter and television host was found bludgeoned to death in his Los Angeles loft apartment on March 3rd, 1983. Authorities were certain that a hammer had been used as the murder weapon, but little else could be determined as police utterly failed to contain the scene. Unbelievably, officers allowed several of Ivers' friends to access the apartment just hours after the musician's body was found and even permitted Director David Jove to leave with the bloody sheets off Peter's bed. Investigators couldn't determine who the killer was with dozens of fresh fingerprints and hair samples. With hundreds of potential suspects and a contaminated crime scene, it's understandable why this horrible murder is still, to this day, unsolved.
4. Tupac Shakur
On September 7th, 1996, around 11:15 p.m., 25-year-old hip hop artist Tupac Shakur was shot four times while riding in the passenger seat of friend Suge Knight's car in Las Vegas, Nevada. Witnesses claim a white Cadillac pulled up alongside their vehicle while stopped at a red light, rolled down their window, and opened fire, hitting Tupac twice in the chest, once in the arm, and once in the thigh. He died in hospital of his injuries just six days later. It's been speculated that the shooting was retaliation for an altercation between Tupac and Compton, California, gang member, Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson, that took place earlier that night during a boxing match. However, there was never any sufficient evidence, and Shakur's own entourage refused to give statements to authorities. One officer even tried asking the rapper who shot him before he passed out but only got cursed at instead. The case has never been officially solved.
3. Princess Diana
On August 31st, 1997, a car accident in Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France, took the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, along with her companion, Dodi Fayed, and driver, Henri Paul. Although the crash was officially ruled as an accident caused by Paul being inebriated and speeding, a number of people believe that the Princess was, in fact, murdered. In fact, many of them claim that the UK's Royal Family are the ones behind it. The conspiracy theory is that they wished to stop Diana from marrying and starting a family with Fayed, who was a Muslim billionaire. Adding fuel to the conspiracy fire was the fact that the first person who apparently reached to Diana after the crash was a doctor who claimed she seemed unharmed before she suddenly went into cardiac arrest, and the fact that the Royal Family refused to come back from their summer home after hearing of her death. A new investigation has been launched to try to get to the bottom of this tragedy, but, sadly, it remains unsolved.
2. Bob Crane
On June 29th, 1978, the body of 49-year-old actor and director, Bob Crane, was discovered in his Scottsdale, Arizona, apartment by Victoria Ann Berry, his co-star and friend, after Crane failed to show up to a lunch meeting with her. Crane, who starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan on the CBS television series Hogan's Heroes for six seasons, was found bludgeoned to death with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck. Sadly, local law enforcement were ill-equipped to handle an investigation of that magnitude at the time as the Scottsdale Police Department had no homicide division. Their main suspect was John Henry Carpenter, who helped Crane film a number of his sexual conquests. But there were several holes in the case, including that the murder weapon was never found. Authorities believed the object used to beat Crane to death was a camera tripod, though it and the culprit behind his killing were never found.
1. Marilyn Monroe
As one of the most famous women of her era, and possibly the biggest sex symbol of the 1950s, Norma Jean Mortenson, better known by the name Marilyn Monroe, should have been living an exciting and happy life. But sadly, that life was cut short on August 5th, 1962, when the 36-year-old starlet was found dead in her Brentwood, Los Angeles, home. Discovered naked in her bed with a bottle of pills next to her and a phone in her hand, Monroe's death was quickly ruled a suicide with investigators citing her recent hospitalization due to psychiatric issues. However, many still to this day believe Monroe was murdered, with some blaming the CIA, while others blame Robert Kennedy, who allegedly wanted to silence her about an affair the two were having. For proof, theorists point to how she was found, as her housekeeper sensed something was wrong and ran to check on her. But we may never know the truth.
