Unsolved murders/assassinations

The thread about the Baptist "Hall of Shame" and MLK made me, a former cop, think about the unnatural deaths of some celebrities and how their investigations have gone.(Much of my info has come from a retired Columbus, OH police captain, who taught several of our seminars, and who is now deceased.I jotted down much of the info he gave, and I cannot verify its veracity, except to say this captain had no reason to lie.)

Marilyn Monroe...First, I dismiss as ridiculous the rumor the Kennedys had her whacked. Second, Joe Di Maggio says she was quite mentally stable at the time of her death; she was financially secure for a normal lifetime, and had just landed a serious acting role, something she'd sought for years...and she & Joe were considering re-marriage. He, and several others believe she became confused about the dosage of a barbiturate she used occasionally as a sleep aid. Most other people close to her insist she had shown no signs of depression nor suicidal tendencies.

SONNY LISTON...After his second loss to Ali, he was on a comeback trail, having been temporarily derailed by a KO loss to Leotis Martin. However, in his last fight, he'd beaten rising contender Chuck Wepner easily. But on December 30, 1970, he was found dead in bed by his wife, who'd gone to visit her parents for Christmas.

There was no known marital conflict, and his wife is above suspicion. Also, traces of morphine & codeine were found in his blood, & a small amount of pot was found in the home.

He also had a needle mark in his left arm. Now, Liston was known to have had a lifelong aversion to needles, and to dope, although he was known to occasionally get wasted on alcohol. Also, he was left-handed, which makes it strange that he had a track in his left arm. Also, no paraphernalia was found, making it extra-strange that he would shoot himself up and take time to dispose of his 'fit. Given the quick effect of IV drugs, it's not something dopers ordinarily do, and someone as Liston was, not a regular user, woulda gone down within seconds of shooting up. However, there was no signs of illegal or forced entry into the home, and no sign that anyone else had been there, except for those above.

I believe Liston was too black for that era and too-much disliked by the police to have received proper justice.(He had beaten up more than one cop during his stormy younger days.) He had lotsa enemies, the "Mob" and the Nation of Islam among them, but neither of them have been known to murder someone in this manner. I believe he was murdered.

GEORGE REEVES...The first TV "Superman", was alleged by the Hollywood gossip rags to have shot himself because he couldn't find work, having been typecast as Superman. However, this simply wasn't true. George had had a long movie career in Westerns & WW2 films, and with substantial royalties coming in from the immensely-popular Superman TV show's syndication broadcasts, he had no financial probs. Moreover, he had just signed to make one final Superman series with a substantial "signing bonus" and large pay raise. Also, several more movie roles were forthcoming.

Reeves was known as a "party animal", and on the last evening of his life, he had thrown a small party at his home. And it was well-known that Reeves had had an affair with Toni Mannix, wife of power movie exec George Mannix. She refused to "let go" after George broke off the affair, "bugging" him whenever she could.

George and new girlfriend Lorrie Lemmon(No relation to Jack} had had a volatile but nonviolent relationship, but love seemed to triumph over hate, and they had a wedding which woulda taken place 3 days after his death. On that day, they had argued mildly, with George consuming a quantity of booze. At the party that eve, they had argued some more, with George finally saying he was going upstairs to sleep it off.(His blood alcohol was found to have been .027, which can be a lethal level for some people, and certainly highly-intoxicating to anyone.)

About a half-hour later, the guests heard a single shot upstairs, and found George dead from a shot to the right temple, fired from a 9-mm German Luger. The bullet had passed through his head and was lodged near the ceiling, in the wall. George was naked, with his feet still on the floor, and the shell casing was found UNDER his body on the bed! There were NO powder marks on his head, and NO residue on his hands. The gun was clean of prints, and Reeves had NOT been wearing any gloves! And by all indications, he had died instantly.

Two more bullets from the same gun were later found in the floor, but everyone present had heard only one shot, and Lemmon said she'd accidentally fired them days earlier while "fooling" with the gun...and that she'd had no experience with firearms. And her hands, as well as every other guest's at the party, checked free of powder residue. Now just HOW did the shell casing, from a Luger which ejects the shell casings directly to the right, end up UNDER Reeves? And why were there NO powder marks on his head, when one of the characteristics of a Luger is to leave powder marks from at least two feet away?

There were no signs that anyone but George and Lemmon had been in his bedroom recently, and she had not been there that day. There were no guests not noticed by all the others. There had been no "strange" cars parked on or near the property.

But George was NOT depressed. He was NOT known for doing stupid things when drunk. He was NOT broke. He was NOT unemployed. He was NOT alone in the world. He had NEVER mentioned suicide to anyone. Could either of the Mannixes shot him or hired a hitman? Could Lorrie Lemmon, who knew of George's gun & where he kept it, have "snuck" from the party briefly & shot him? The others said she wasn't exactly sober herself, and drunk amateur criminals aren't known to be very adept at concealing crimes. And both Mannixes were quite well-known...but Toni knew her way around George's home.

After 46 years, it's doubtful if even modern forensics could sort it out, as almost all the evidence is long-gone, including George's body, which was cremated 3 years after his death.(His mother had delayed the cremation till his death could be more thoroughly investigated.)

These are but three examples. Anyone knowing of others, please post, and if I can, I'll contribute. But please, no JFK, MLK, or Jimmy Hoffa posts, as these have been so thoroughly covered in other forums and boards.

Suggestions:

Huey Long

Malcolm X

Judge Crater