Celebrities Tragically Killed By Their Partners
The following references domestic violence, suicide, and sexual assault.
In August 1969, Sharon Tate's murder sent shockwaves around the world. The actor, who was pregnant at the time, was brutally stabbed to death alongside four others by members of a cult led by Charles Manson. "People were convinced that the rich and famous of the community were in peril," writer and producer Dominick Dunne reflected in his book "The Way We Lived Then," recalling the paranoia that spread throughout the wealthy Hollywood denizens who lived near the house shared by Tate and her husband Roman Polanski. "Children were sent out of town. Guards were hired. Steve McQueen packed a gun when he went to Jay Sebring's funeral."
Dominick Dunne's own family suffered a terrible tragedy some decades later when his daughter was killed by her significant other. Homicides involving an intimate partner have been called a rising epidemic in the United States across all demographics, regardless of how rich and famous the victim might be. Sadly, the following celebrities were killed by a romantic partner.
Dominique Dunne
"Poltergeist" star Dominique Dunne had left her sous-chef boyfriend John Thomas Sweeney and was filming the mini-series "V" at the time of her death.
Sweeney, who had been physically abusive during their relationship, came to her West Hollywood home on October 30, 1982. The actor told her friends over the phone that she spotted him outside, observing: "Oh God, it's Sweeney. Let me get him off the phone." The pair then got into an argument on the driveway while her friend David Packer stayed inside, although Packer called the police after he heard screaming from Dunne and rushed out to see her on the ground. "Man, I blew it. I killed her," Sweeney told police officers on the scene. "I didn't think I choked her that hard, but I don't know, I just kept on choking her. I just lost my temper and blew it again." She fell into a coma and died five days later on November 4, 1982. She was only 22.
After a controversial trial, Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. Her family took issue with Sweeney's relatively light sentence, since he only ended up spending three and a half years in prison, and told reporters that Dunne had been living in fear of her violent ex-boyfriend during her last weeks. After getting out of jail, Sweeney changed his name and tried to distance himself from Dunne's death.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Phil Hartman
Fans of comedy legend Phil Hartman were devastated in May 1998 when the star was shot by his wife Brynn Omdahl, who then turned the gun on herself. He was 49 years old at the time and had been married to Omdahl for over a decade. At the time of the murder-suicide, there was cocaine, alcohol, and Zoloft in Omdahl's system, according to CNN. Their two children, who were orphaned in the tragedy, were both in the house when their parents died.
Fellow actor and friend of the family Rita Wilson told Entertainment Weekly that those who knew the pair were shell-shocked by this news. "The thing that freaks everyone out is that this was not them," she said. "He was a great dad, she was a really good mom. This is so uncharacteristic of how they were together."
In the wake of his passing, "NewsRadio" honored Hartman's memory in the Season 5 premiere. As Stephen Root recalled in Entertainment Weekly, "[I]t was pretty tearful to shoot, but it was cathartic that we did something within the fictional structure that was real, because we really hurt that he was no longer there. ... The rest of that season, we would have a cardboard cutout of him just peeking around the corner, almost on every show."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Dorothy Stratten
In early 1980, Dorothy Stratten was named Playmate of the Year. Some months later, she was murdered. The model and actor was 20 years old.
Dorothy's husband, Paul Snider, had been a pimp who scouted her as a teenager in Vancouver and sent her photo to Playboy. By the time of her death, however, she had moved on from him both professionally and romantically. Dorothy was starring in films like "They All Laughed" and dating the director Peter Bogdanovich, whereas Snider's own prospects were going nowhere. When they started going through divorce settlements, things took a horrific turn.
On August 14, Dorothy went around to her estranged husband's house to discuss the terms of their separation. His roommates found them both dead that evening: Snider sexually assaulted Dorothy, killed her with a 12-gauge shotgun and then shot himself. Bogdanovich, who later married Dorothy's sister Louise Stratten,chose a quotation from Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" for the inscription on the late model's headstone.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Maurizio Gucci
On March 27, 1995, fashion heir Maurizio Gucci was shot and killed by a hitman. Almost two years later, the hired murder was traced back to his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani. The following trial uncovered her connection to the killer, Benedetto Ceraulo, who she met through a professional psychic. Her motive was also discovered: he had left Reggiani for a younger woman and cut her out of the Gucci brand. "Maurizio always loved me," she later told People. "But he changed completely." In 1995, he was planning to marry his girlfriend and Reggiani was furious that she would only be receiving $860,000 a year in alimony, per AP News.
Reggiani was eventually convicted and given a sentence of 29 years in prison. When she was offered an opportunity to leave early on a work-release program in 2011, the former socialite declined, as La Stampa reported, stating: "I've never worked in my life, I won't start now." Although she has claimed that she is an innocent woman, Reggiani made headlines after her release from prison when the press asked her why she didn't buy a gun and shoot her ex-husband herself. "My eyesight is not so good," she replied, per The Guardian. "I didn't want to miss."
Maurizio's fate inspired the star-studded 2019 film "House of Gucci." Per The New York Times, the family denounced the movie entirely, stating that it made them appear to be "hooligans, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them."
Stephanie Moseley
Actor and dancer Stephanie Moseley, who was known for cheerleading comedy "Hellcats" and VH1 dance drama "Hit the Floor," was shot by her husband, rapper Earl Hayes, on December 8, 2014. As The Wrap reported, LAPD and a SWAT team were called to an apartment building after gunshots were heard. The couple was found dead inside. Hayes, who had been a business associate of boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., died by suicide. 50 Cent later claimed that Mayweather had been directly involved in the couple's split and Moseley's murder. "Tell everybody why you was on FaceTime when he killed Stephanie and himself. Because he was confronting you about f***ing his wife," he wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post in July 2018.
Following Moseley's death, stars like Rihanna, Ashley Tisdale, and Jennifer Lopez expressed their heartbreak. Eva Marcille, who was a close friend, told ET, "Stephanie was an absolute angel. She really was, to everybody she's ever met."
"We are incredibly saddened to hear the news of the passing of Stephanie Moseley," VH1 declared in a statement to The Wrap at the time, paying tribute to her as a member of the "Hit The Floor" family and sending their condolences to her loved ones. "She was just a huge light for us — a wonderful person," one executive producer told ET, insisting that Mosely should be remembered for how she lived her life rather than her tragic death.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Reeva Steenkamp
Reeva Steenkamp was a young woman with a promising future in 2013. The South African model and law graduate had started making TV appearances on shows like "Tropika Island of Treasure" and "Baking Made Easy" after years of modeling for nationwide campaigns. Then she was shot dead by her boyfriend, the Paralympian Oscar Pistorius.
The pair had started dating in November 2012, as he later told the court, when they made their debut at a sporting awards event. At his Pretoria home on Valentine's Day the next year, Pistorius fatally shot her three times through the locked door of their bathroom. When he tried to find help after the shooting, a doctor who lived nearby declared that she was dead. The Paralympian insisted that he had mistaken Steenkamp for a home invader and pleaded not guilty, per CBC News, but the case brought outrage from the South African public who had previously considered the double amputee a hero.
Although he was initially convicted of manslaughter and given a five-year sentence in 2014, an appeals court later found him guilty of murder in 2015 and his sentence was readjusted to six years and then 13 years, per the AP, after the court considered factors like his failure to fire a warning shot and the number of shots he fired. Her parents were reportedly relieved, as a representative stated: "They feel there has been justice for Reeva. She can now rest in peace."
April Jace
Although April Jace was known for being the wife of actor Michael Jace, who played a police officer on the FX series "The Shield," she was also an impressive track and field athlete who had found success in her own right. She was one of the fastest female sprinters in the US at her level, ranking number five in the country in 2011 and taking home a gold medal at the World Championship finals that year.
But April was tragically murdered in 2014 by her husband after ten years together. Police told the Los Angeles Times that they were called out to the couple's Hyde Park home after neighbors heard gunshots and that the actor quickly confessed to murdering his wife. According to ABC7, April's mother testified that her son-in-law texted her right after the murder on May 19, bluntly telling her: "Come to the house. I shot April." The court was also told that the couple's sons were present at the scene of the crime and that Michael had taunted April by shooting her in the legs. As per CNN, Michael was ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Her family told the AP that "April was a vibrant, beautiful woman and an incredibly dedicated mother," adding that her death was "a senseless act of domestic violence."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Marie Trintignant
Marie Trintignant was a beloved part of French film royalty as the daughter of legendary actor Jean-Louis Trintignant and director slash writer Nadine Marquand. She built her own career as an actor, working steadily throughout her decades-long career.
But tragically that career was halted in 2003 when Marie Trintignant died of a cerebral edema, days after being beaten severely by singer Bertrand Cantat. She had been seeing Cantat after splitting from her husband and he was reportedly jealous over the fact that Marie was still in touch with her ex. He flew into a violent rage one night when they were traveling in Lithuania with her family and physically abused her until she fell into a coma, although the singer insisted that she had accidentally hit her head against the wall, per The New York Times.
After an autopsy proved that Cantat was lying, he went on trial and was eventually convicted of Marie's murder. He stayed in prison for four years before receiving an early release, however, despite the calls of domestic abuse activists. After he was released, the singer married another woman who accused him of domestic violence. As reported by the Telegraph, she committed suicide in 2010.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).