20 Famous People Who Died in Prison

20 Famous People Who Died in Prison

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re exploring the most shocking times celebrities passed away in jail or police custody. We won’t be looking at people who became famous due to their crimes. Instead, we’ll focus on those who gained recognition in other areas before their arrests.

Jan Plas

Labeled “the father of kickboxing in the Netherlands,” Plas opened the renowned Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam in 1978, which produced some of the best to grace the sport, such as Rob Kaman, Peter Aerts, and Andre Mannaart. Yet even when he was doing this, there was a darker side to Plas. Involved in organized crime with the group “De Hakkelaar,” the Dutchman committed all sorts of crimes, including kidnapping. In 2008, Plas was arrested for trafficking illegal substances. At the same time, his daughter and son-in-law, who were police officers, were arrested for fraud. In 2010, Plas was reportedly found in his cell after taking his own life.

Emil Hácha

Depending on who you ask, Hácha was either a patriot or a traitor to the former country of Czechoslovakia. Following the Munich Agreement, which allowed Adolf Hitler’s Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia, Hácha became the nation’s president in 1938. In 1939, Hitler gave him a choice: either Hácha allow Germany to occupy Czechoslovakia and keep some autonomy, or their army would brutalize the nation. The president went with the former, turning him into the State President of Bohemia and Moravia as he swore allegiance to Hitler. In 1945, Hácha was arrested by Soviet Union forces and taken to prison. During the arrest, he was said to have been brutally beaten before dying from an unknown cause a few weeks later.

Dudu Topaz

Starting in the 1970s, Topaz became a fixture in Israeli entertainment as a TV host, director, comedian, and many more roles. His popularity turned him into a national icon as he was nicknamed the “ratings king.” However, in 2009, Topaz was arrested for allegations that he was the organizer and financier behind attacks on multiple TV executives, presenters, and agents. Topaz was also accused of possessing illegal substances. Reports soon emerged that the disgraced host confessed to being behind the assaults. A couple of months after his arrest, Topaz attempted to take his own life in prison. However, he survived. A few weeks later, Topaz tried again and passed away.

Lawrence Phillips

If it wasn’t for his personal and legal troubles, Phillips could’ve been a star in the NFL. In 2005, two years after being released from the Canadian football team, the Calgary Stampeders, his legal problems took over his athletic career when Phillips was arrested after trying to drive his car into a group of teenagers. He was found guilty and sentenced to jail. In 2009, the former running back was convicted of assaulting his former partner, earning him a combined sentence of 31 years inside. In 2015, it got worse when Phillips’s cellmate, Damion Soward, was found dead in their cell. Phillips was charged with the murder. However, before the trial, he took his own life in 2016.

Brian Christopher

While he was the son of legendary wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler, Christopher had a legacy of his own at WWE as Grand Master Sexay by being in the beloved tag team of Too Cool, with Scotty 2 Hotty. Sadly, that run ended in 2001 with his release after an arrest for substance trafficking. Christopher then spent years juggling an independent career with occasional WWE appearances. However, in 2018, he was arrested for evading police after being suspected of a DUI. Three weeks later, Christopher took his own life in his cell within Tennessee’s Hardeman County Jail. Lawler issued a lawsuit against the jail for the wrongful death of his son, which was dismissed in 2024.

Jim Gordon

As a highly respected drummer, Gordon was part of the Derek and the Dominos band, which was led by Eric Clapton. On top of that, he was a session drummer who worked with acts including Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, George Harrison, and many, many more. Yet away from music, Gordon was struggling with undiagnosed schizophrenia. His illness led to him hearing voices, which encouraged him to attack his mother in 1983, taking her life. Following his arrest, Gordon was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Regardless, he was sentenced to 16 years to life in jail. While he was up for parole several times, Gordon didn’t appear at the hearings, resulting in parole being denied. In 2023, he passed away from natural causes at Vacaville’s California Medical Facility.

Taiji Sawada

Better known by only his first name, Taiji became a star with the legendary rock band X Japan. Even after leaving the group in 1992, the bassist would go on to work with several other bands, such as Loudness, as well as his own projects. Yet, according to his partner, Tomomi Akatsuka, Taiji was battling several mental and physical health issues. In 2011, a year after reuniting with X Japan for a gig, Taiji was arrested in Saipan after attempting to break a window on an airplane as his manager fought to stop him. However, a couple of days later, the guitarist was found unresponsive after attempting to take his life in jail. While he was rushed to the hospital, Taiji passed away shortly after.

John du Pont

With a long lineage in a historic family and its incredible wealth, du Pont used his fortune to fund his passion for sports, especially wrestling, setting up the Foxcatcher Farm to train the next generation of US wrestling stars. The team featured Olympic gold medalists Mark Schultz, Dave Schultz, and Kurt Angle, who either competed for du Pont’s team or coached them. However, in 1996, du Pont’s increasingly erratic behavior became deadly when he fatally shot Dave. The multimillionaire then locked himself in his mansion before negotiating his surrender to the police days later. He was sentenced to 13 to 30 years in jail. In 2010, while housed in Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution – Laurel Highlands, du Pont passed away from a lung disease.

Spade Cooley

After an iconic career as a Western swing musician, big band leader, and TV host, Cooley retired from music in 1960, getting his legacy set with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After a year of alleged increasing abuse from Cooley towards his wife, Ella Mae Cooley, she asked for a divorce. In 1961, Cooley murdered his wife, Ella Mae, at their home. He was sentenced to life in jail. In ill health and supported by Hollywood, including then-California Governor Ronald Reagan, Cooley was granted parole in 1970. However, before that took effect, he was granted furlough to perform a benefit concert in Oakland, California, in 1969. While backstage, Cooley suffered a fatal heart attack.

Johnny “J”

Alongside being a rapper in his own right, Johnny Jackson was a record producer, primarily with Death Row Records, which saw him working with the iconic 2Pac on several albums. On top of that, he also collaborated with many other famous acts, like Thug Life, Bizzy Bone, and Mark Wahlberg. Even after 2Pac’s death, Johnny helped produce multiple posthumous works by the rapper, while focusing on up-and-coming acts. In 2008, Johnny was arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles, California. Several months later, while reportedly serving a three-year sentence for his crime at L.A.’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility, Johnny seemingly jumped from a high level of the prison, ending his life.

Alexei Navalny

For years, Navalny was Vladimir Putin's biggest rival in Russia, calling the President’s political group, United Russia, a “party of crooks and thieves.” After being found guilty of controversial cases of fraud, in 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. After going abroad for treatment and returning to Russia, he was arrested for apparently breaking his parole terms. Over the next couple of years, Navalny was found guilty of additional crimes, earning him a combined 30-and-a-half years in jail. In 2023, he vanished from the public eye, eventually being located in an Arctic Circle corrective colony. However, a couple of months later, in 2024, the authorities reported Navalny’s passing due to natural causes, which has been disputed by his supporters.

Bernie Madoff

As the founder of financial firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, Madoff’s success attracted wealthy clients, including celebrities, to invest in the company's stock brokerage or asset management branches. This allowed Madoff to carve out a name for himself as a generous philanthropist, donating large sums of money to good causes. However, his business’s growth seemed too good to be true. And it was. With an estimated value of $65 billion, Madoff had created the largest Ponzi scheme in history. After confessing his scheme to his sons, they contacted the authorities. In 2009, after pleading guilty, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail. In 2021, he passed away inside North Carolina’s Federal Medical Center, Butner, from natural causes.

Lloyd Avery II

Bursting into the acting scene with the classic 1991 film, “Boyz n the Hood,” Avery was slowly but surely making a name for himself in the industry as he appeared in several productions. However, in 2001, that all evaporated when he was sentenced to life in jail after killing two people. While imprisoned in California’s Pelican Bay State Prison, Avery’s cellmate was Kevin Roby, reportedly a Satanist, who had received a life sentence due to assaulting and murdering his sister. Avery, who was a devout Christian, attempted to persuade Roby to convert to his religion. According to Roby, this caused him to snap and kill Avery in 2005.

Lou Pearlman

At one point, Pearlman was one of the most successful managers in the music industry. After all, he founded the Backstreet Boys and went on to form a company that looked after acts such as O-Town, Aaron Carter, and NSYNC. However, when the Backstreet Boys filed a lawsuit against Pearlman for cheating them out of money while he made millions, his reputation came tumbling down. It was discovered that Pearlman was running a Ponzi scheme, causing investors to lose upwards of $95 million. In 2007, after going on the run, he was located in Indonesia and arrested, earning him a 25-year sentence the following year. In 2016, he passed away from natural causes while imprisoned at Florida’s Federal Correctional Institution, Miami.

John McAfee

Founding one of the first anti-virus software programs to be available to the public, McAfee created a company in his name until he resigned from it in 1994. From there, he became known for criticizing his former company and getting involved in politics. However, his fame was eclipsed by his controversies, which included being accused of murder. Yet what got McAfee in trouble in the US was tax evasion. In 2020, after claiming for over a year that he’d been on the run, the computer programmer was arrested in Spain. After nearly a year in a Spanish jail, in 2021, McAfee’s extradition to the US was granted. Within hours of the announcement, he reportedly took his own life.

Max Clifford

If you were a celebrity who found themselves in a scandal, especially in the U.K., Clifford was the person you’d turn to. Nicknamed the “king of spin,” the publicist worked with many big names, including Simon Cowell, O. J. Simpson, and Muhammad Ali. In 2012, after the fallout of the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal, Operation Yewtree arrested Clifford for assault allegations. In 2014, after being found guilty of multiple charges, he was sentenced to eight years in jail. In 2017, after collapsing from a heart attack in his cell, Clifford passed away in the hospital days later. Shortly before his demise, he'd successfully challenged his right to contest his conviction in the Court of Appeal. However, in 2019, Clifford’s sentence was upheld.

Aaron Hernandez

The New England Patriots had high hopes for tight end Hernandez, granting him a massive contract extension worth $39.6 million in 2012. A year later, that was destroyed when he was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd, causing the Patriots to release Hernandez. In 2015, the disgraced NFL star was found guilty, earning him life imprisonment. He was also indicted in 2014 for the murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. In 2017, he was acquitted of the double murder. Days later, Hernandez took his own life at Massachusetts’s Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. A study later found Hernandez had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Following his death, his conviction for Odin’s murder was under appeal. In 2019, the original conviction was reinstated.

Phil Spector

Best known for pioneering the Wall of Sound recording technique, Spector was one of the most famous record producers in the music industry. He worked with many legendary talents, including the Beatles, the Ramones, and Ike & Tina Turner. Yet all that glory was wiped away in 2003. That year, actor Lana Clarkson was found fatally shot at Spector’s home in Alhambra, California. The producer was accused of doing this after Clarkson rejected his advances. Spector claimed she accidentally did it to herself. In 2007, one of the most televised trials in history ended in a mistrial. After a second trial in 2009, Spector was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 19 years to life. In 2021, after contracting COVID-19, he passed away.

Ian Watkins

Lead singer of the Welsh rock band Lostprophets, Watkins was a hero to many. Yet behind the scenes, he was a monster. In 2012, while being investigated for illegal substance allegations, police found evidence of him possessing indecent images of minors. This snowballed into the discovery that Watkins had been planning with fans to assault their children. After pleading guilty to several charges, in 2013, Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in jail, resulting in Lostprophets' disbanding. Due to his celebrity and crimes, Watkins was targeted by his other prisoners. In 2025, while residing in England’s HM Prison Wakefield, Watkins was fatally stabbed by fellow inmates. Two convicted criminals were charged with Watkins’s murder and are set to face trial for it in 2026.

Jeffrey Epstein

With an army of celebrity, political, and royal friends, Epstein was one of the most powerful financiers in the world. Yet even that couldn’t keep him safe forever. In 2019, Epstein, who’d previously been convicted for offences against minors, was arrested and charged for further crimes involving minors. Allegations soon emerged that he’d led an abuse network that involved some of his famous friends. Yet a month after his arrest, Epstein seemingly took his own life in his cell at New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center. As such, the charges against him were dismissed. However, due to CCTV issues and other suspicious activity by jail staff, there are allegations that Epstein was murdered, which has been rejected by the authorities.

What other famous person who passed away in prison or police custody did we miss in the video? Let us know in the comments.