These celebs crossed paths with some seriously twisted individuals. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re exploring shocking connections or encounters, even tangential, that celebs have had with infamous killers.
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00:00And I looked at him carefully as he was passing and my cousin said,
00:04that must be Charlie.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're exploring shocking connections or encounters,
00:10even tangential, that celebs have had with infamous killers.
00:14There is an interesting thing about all this.
00:17I might be willing to forgive them.
00:20And that's because God forgives us.
00:23Sean Penn.
00:24In the 1980s, actor Sean Penn was regularly drawing the attention of the police.
00:29He infamously had numerous attacks against the paparazzi.
00:32You know, in a lot of jails and stuff.
00:37I think I read that Richard Ramirez, the serial killer,
00:40took a liking to you and was writing you letters or something.
00:43He wrote me one.
00:44In 1987, Penn was sentenced to 60 days in the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles,
00:49California for violating parole after attacking a film extra.
00:53While there, Penn met Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night Stalker,
00:58who was awaiting trial after being suspected of taking the lives of over 15 people.
01:03It's a stabilizing force in my life.
01:06It gives me a reason to be an excuse to rationalize.
01:14After getting approval from officials to approach Penn for an autograph,
01:17Ramirez sent a support letter to the actor with disturbing imagery.
01:21I get this thing from him and it says,
01:24Hey Sean, stay tough and hit him again.
01:26Richard Ramirez, 666, with a pentagram rendition of the devil.
01:31Penn responded by stating that he had no camaraderie with him as a fellow inmate
01:36and hoped he'd get the death penalty.
01:38Rosalyn Carter
01:39Politicians meet all sorts of people at events,
01:41especially when the individual has been publicly celebrated for their commitment to a cause.
01:46Gacy was active in local politics and once had his photo taken with then First Lady Rosalyn Carter.
01:52This guy didn't have horns on him.
01:54He, you know, he didn't walk around with a sign that he's a mass murderer.
01:56But usually, particularly with higher ups in government,
02:00the Secret Service will vet guests.
02:02However, they royally messed up in 1978.
02:05After being appointed the director of Chicago's annual Polish Constitution Day Parade
02:09and supporting Democrat events,
02:11John Wayne Gacy met with First Lady Rosalyn Carter.
02:14Gacy was best known for working part-time as a clown
02:17and was suspected of taking over 33 lives.
02:20I was astounded.
02:22This is a hard-driving, very hard-working individual.
02:26This is a guy who appeared to have the social norms
02:32and the social values of the average middle American right down to the ground.
02:37At the event, the killer wore a special pin to show he was cleared to meet Carter,
02:41even getting a photograph with her that she autographed.
02:44Around seven months later, Gacy was arrested for his crimes.
02:48On March the 13th, 1980, John Wayne Gacy was found guilty
02:53and sentenced to serve 12 death sentences and 21 natural life sentences.
02:58Travis Holman
03:00Typically, when people gush about their other half on social media for Valentine's Day,
03:04it's a bit sickly but sweet.
03:06Well, in 2021, Stephanie Holman of The Real Housewives of Dallas
03:10casually dropped shocking info about her husband Travis.
03:13She mentioned her husband had been babysat by the I-5 killer Randall Woodfield,
03:17the former Green Bay Packers draftee who was convicted of one murder
03:20but suspected to be involved with 44 slayings.
03:23By this time, Woodfield was known as the I-5 killer
03:26for his horrific spree of West Coast murders.
03:29Police believe the number could be in the 40s.
03:32Travis' mom and stepdad were friends with the Portland State University football team coach,
03:37who sent football players, including Woodfield, to look after their kids.
03:40Another famous face peripherally connected to Woodfield is the iconic Dick Van Dyke.
03:45The actor's son Chris was the Marion County District Attorney
03:48and prosecuted the killer for his crimes.
04:04Chris Farley was a comedy legend.
04:15After making his name on Saturday Night Live and various iconic films,
04:19he sadly lost his life in 1997.
04:22In 2021, his brother, comedic actor John Farley,
04:26was on the podcast Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade
04:29to talk about his sibling.
04:31There, he detailed their strange and unsettling upbringing.
04:34Their childhood home was next to Lake Mendota in Wisconsin.
04:38We lived on Lake Mendota, which I believe Otis Redding is still down there, hanging out.
04:43Nearby sits Mendota Mental Health Institute.
04:46This facility is best known for housing Ed Gein after his conviction for two murders
04:51and suspicion of taking several more lives.
04:53To make it creepier, the lights and sirens when a patient escaped would wake the family up.
04:58So there's always someone escaping and they don't say who?
05:01Yeah, no, they have no clue who it is.
05:04There's someone has escaped.
05:05Ed Gein could have been.
05:07He was a little older, but...
05:08Peter Lorre
05:09Known as one of the best actors to never be nominated for an Oscar,
05:13Peter Lorre is a legend in the film industry with his work in horror movies and Casablanca.
05:17But when you first came to Casablanca, I thought you thought what?
05:22What right do I have to think?
05:24In 1964, Lorre sadly passed away.
05:27In 1977, his daughter, Katherine Lorre Baker,
05:31was approached by what appeared to be two police officers,
05:34but who turned out to actually be the Hillside Stranglers,
05:37Kenneth Alessio Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr.
05:46The duo was eventually caught in 1979 and took a combined 12 lives together.
05:52Bianchi and Buono planned to make Baker another victim.
05:55However, she had an ID and a photograph with her father.
05:59Since the two were fans of Lorre and were concerned with taking a high-profile life
06:02with the media attention, they let Baker go.
06:16Alan Alda
06:17The TV show To Tell the Truth had a fun concept.
06:20A celebrity panel had to determine which of the guests
06:22is the central character with an unusual fact about them.
06:33However, in 1972, one episode later became well-known for all the wrong reasons.
06:40The panel contained multi-Emmy award-winning actor Alan Alda,
06:44alongside Gene Rayburn, Kitty Carlisle and Peggy Cass.
06:47They had to determine which guest was Edward Edwards,
06:50who was then famous for being a convicted armed robber who turned his life around.
07:03However, Edwards hadn't actually reformed.
07:09Five years later, he began his five-person killing spree that got him convicted in 2009.
07:15However, it's speculated Edwards could have taken over 15 lives.
07:19We'll never know for certain, since he passed away in jail in 2011.
07:32Kelsey Grammer
07:36Making his name on Frasier and Cheers, Kelsey Grammer is one of the greatest
07:40comedic actors to grace the screen.
07:48He seemingly had it all together, yet his past is doused in tragedy.
07:52In 1975, his teenage sister Karen Grammer was waiting at a restaurant
07:56in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for her boyfriend's shift to finish.
08:00But after robbing a store and believing she could be a witness,
08:04a group of men led by Freddie Glenn kidnapped Karen and attacked her before Glenn took her life.
08:09In 1976, he was sentenced for taking three lives and being involved in the deaths of up to five.
08:34Grammer has spoken at Glenn's various parole meetings.
08:37While he forgives his sister's killer, the actor doesn't believe he should be free.
08:52Ashton Kutcher
08:53In 2001, Ashton Kutcher was carving out a name for himself as an actor.
08:58As well as his professional life going well,
09:05so was his romantic life as he was dating Ashley Ellerin.
09:09However, when Kutcher arrived at her Hollywood, California home to pick her up for a date,
09:13she didn't answer the door.
09:15Sadly, Ellerin had been killed at her home by Michael Gargiulo.
09:22Known as the Hollywood Ripper, Gargiulo is believed to have had up to ten victims,
09:26with one surviving.
09:28As well as helping police establish the time of Ellerin's murder,
09:32Kutcher also spoke at Gargiulo's trial in 2019.
09:35The killer was found guilty of two slayings and was handed the death penalty.
09:52Woody Harrelson
09:54With multiple Oscar nominations and an Emmy to his name,
09:57Woody Harrelson has led a very successful acting career.
10:10But before the starry heights of Hollywood came calling, his life was very different.
10:14In 1968, Harrelson's father Charles left his family.
10:18For 12 years, Harrelson had no idea what happened to him
10:22until his father was arrested for the murder of Judge John H. Wood Jr.
10:32Charles had become a contract killer and had already been convicted of another murder
10:36and was released before this infamous case.
10:39Charles received two life sentences for taking Wood's life and died in 2007.
10:48It's rumored he took dozens of lives.
10:51Although numerous claims have been unproven.
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11:09Bryan Cranston
11:11Long before Breaking Bad turned him into a household name,
11:14in 1968, Bryan Cranston and a cousin visited Spahn Ranch in California,
11:19which was sometimes used for filming movies and horse riding.
11:29While doing the latter, the young Cranston witnessed notorious cult leader Charles Manson,
11:34who lived there for a time as Manson rode a horse.
11:45Another actor who met Manson was Danny Trejo.
11:48In 1961, while incarcerated at Los Angeles County Jail,
11:52Manson used hypnotism on the future actor.
11:54Another connection involves the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson.
11:58Wilson stumbled into a friendship and music collaboration with Manson,
12:01which ended shortly before Manson led his cult to kill several people.
12:18What other connections did we miss? Let us know in the comments.
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12:48Thanks for watching!