Oftentimes, athletes are seen as heroes and role models for children and teens all over the world. And for the most part, this is a good thing as athletes are an example of what true hard work, dedication and perseverance can get you. However, there are some athletes out there who have committed the ultimate crime and are obviously not very good people at all. Here are five different athletes that were murderers and shouldn’t be anyone’s role model.
1. Rae Carruth
(source: the rooster.com)
Rae Carruth is a former NFL reciever with the Carolina Panthers. In November 1999, a woman Carruth was casually dating was shot four times, and later died on December 14th 1999. She was pregnant at the time of the shooting, but doctors were able to save the baby thankfully. Carruth immediately fled after her death, but was found in a trunk of a car a day later. He was eventually charged with murder as he had set up her murder and was an active participant in it, in the fact that he was the car that stopped in front of the victim that allowed the gunman to shoot her while her car was stopped.
2. Anthony Smith
(source: ktla.com)
Anthony Smith is a former Oakland Raiders defensive end and is an awful person. This is because Smith was charged with four separate counts of murder. It was reported that he was responsible for murders that ranged in year from 1999-2008. He was also charged with numerous other charges such as torture and kidnapping on top of the killings. Smith was reported to be very prone to severe paranoia and violent outbursts, which was likely behind the crimes. Even when dealing with detectives following his initial arrest, Smith was very combative and full of denial throughout his interview. This is a strange case because there doesn’t seem to be a reason as to why he killed those people outside of his mental illness.
3. Lawrence Phillips
(source: dailymail.co.uk)
Lawrence Phillips is a former RB in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams and Miami Dolphins. He was a troubled individual throughout his NFL career and has been in prison since 2008 for various assaults and other violent charges against multiple victims. But, in mid-April 2015, things got even worse as it was reported that Lawrence Phillips was responsible for the murder of his cell mate in prison and then later committed suicide in prison after being found guilty of his cellmate’s murder.
4. Oscar Pistorius
(source: abcnews.go.com)
Oscar Pistorius is a former Olympic athlete with the South American track team. He also had both of his legs amputated under the knee and is the first disabled athlete to compete in the Olympics. His life changed forever on Valentine’s Day 2013, when Pistorious fatally shot and killed his girlfriend and was charged with her murder. He told authorities that he thought she for an intruder, much to the doubt of a large portion of the population. He was found eventually guilty of culpable homicide and is currently serving time under house arrest and has more trials upcoming in 2016.
5. Chris Benoit
(source: sports.vice.com)
Chris Benoit was a professional wrestler with the WWE for years and years. Over a three day period in June of 2007, it was ruled that Benoit had killed both his wife and his own 7 year old son, before committing suicide. Police entered Benoit’s home on a “welfare check” because of the large number of appointments that Benoit missed and calls he didn’t answer. They found all three dead and were able to decipher that Benoit committed suicide after killing the others. There are many potential reasons as to why he committed these despicable acts that range from “roid rage” to brain damage to depression.
