Celebrity Murder Charges

Victoria Vetri, a former Playboy playmate, was charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting her live-in boyfriend at their California apartment in October. According to a police report, the 66-year-old, whose also went by the name Angela Dorian, shot her boyfriend once in the upper chest during an argument at their Los Angeles apartment. Vetri was featured in a 1967 issue of Playboy Magazine, according to the New York Daily News. She also appeared in numerous TV shows, such as "Star Trek," "Mission Impossible" and "Batman."

Lillo Brancato, who played a bumbling aspiring mobster on "The Sopranos," was cleared of second-degree murder in the 2005 shooting death of an off-duty policeman during a drunken, late-night search for drugs in the Bronx. Brancato rose to fame in the 1993 movie "A Bronx Tale."

A jury found the former "Baretta" star Robert Blake not guilty in the slaying of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, who was shot in a car outside a restaurant where the couple had dined on May 4, 2001, six months after they were married.

Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie, died of a heroin overdose in 1979 after he was accused of killing his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, in New York City in 1978. Vicious is considered by many to be one of the seminal figures of the punk rock era.

Former Food Network chef Juan-Carlos Cruz was arrested in May 2010 after police say he tried to hire two homeless men to kill his wife. Cruz was formerly a pastry chef for Los Angeles' exclusive Hotel Bel-Air. He later landed the show "Calorie Commando" on Food Network, in which he converted fattening recipes to low-calorie versions. Cruz pleaded no contest to one count of solicitation of murder in October.

Christian Brando, the eldest son of famed actor Marlon Brando, spent five years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 1990 for killing his sister's boyfriend, Dag Drollet, at the Brando family's hilltop estate. He said He accidentally shot Drollet as they struggled for a gun during an argument over whether Drollet, 26, had beaten Brando's pregnant half-sister, Cheyenne.

O.J. Simpson was a giant on and off the field. He was the first NFL player to run for 2000 yards in a single season and scored parts in Hollywood films and television endorsement deals - a relative rarity for a black athlete in the 1970s. But O.J. is now most famous for his alleged role in the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

O.J. Simpson was a giant on and off the field. He was the first NFL player to run for 2000 yards in a single season and scored parts in Hollywood films and television endorsement deals - a relative rarity for a black athlete in the 1970s. But O.J. is now most famous for his alleged role in the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson was slashed to death along with a friend, Goldman, outside her condominium in Los Angeles. All eyes turned to O.J., but the football star beat the rap in a globally televised 1995 trial. In 2008, Simpson was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping charges after he led a group of men in the armed robbery of a sports memorabilia dealer, and was sentenced to 33 years in prison and will be eligible for parole in 2017.

Phil Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, who was shot through the mouth in the music producer's mansion in 2003. Spector gained fame decades ago for what became known as the "Wall of Sound" recording technique that changed rock music.

Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl linebacker Ray Lewis cemented his athletic legacy by winning a Super Bowl MVP award, a rare award for a defensive player. But his off-the-field antics have left the player with a darker image. He and two friends were charged with murder & aggravated assault after a post Super Bowl party fight left 2 men dead.

Ray Lewis testifies in an Atlanta court on June 6, 2000, in the murder trial of Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley. Lewis testified that Sweeting showed him how he repeatedly stabbed a man during the fatal street brawl. Murder and assault charges against Lewis were dropped after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice and agreed to testify about what he saw during the brawl.

Chicago Bears All-Pro safety Shaun Gayle reaches in and knocks a pass from the hands of New Orleans Saints wide receiver Greg Scales during a 1991 playoff game. Gayle played with the Bears during two Super Bowls and is a Chicago hero, but he became a suspect in the 2007 murder of his pregnant girlfriend Rhoni Rheuter.

Rhoni Rheuter, shown here in a family photo, was murdered in 2007. After her boyfriend, Shaun Gayle, quickly cooperated with the police, officers turned their attentions to Gayle's real estate agent and friend, Marni Yang, who, police say, became obsessed with Gayle and shot the pregnant Rheuter, killing her and the unborn child. Yang is awaiting trial.

Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth (83) turns as Denver's Darrien Gordon (23) closes in in the first quarter of their NFL pre-season game at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday Aug. 9, 1997. (AP Photo/Rick Havner)

A photo of a Rae Carruth's pregnant girlfriend Cherica Adams was presented during Carruth's murder trial. Adams was hit four times in a 1999 drive-by shooting, but lived long enough to make it to the hospital and finger Carruth as one of her killers. Doctors were able to save her unborn child, Chancellor.

Former boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter addresses a rally in Harrisburg, Pa., in 2002 in support of Steven Crawford, a man Carter believes was wrongfully convicted of murder. Carter was himself released after serving 20 years for the 1966 murder of three people in a N.J. bar. Carter has always maintained his innocence and a 1985 federal appeals court voided his conviction.

Decades ago, people were fascinated with the murder trial of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors until he was charged in 1921 with killing actress Virginia Rappe. Though Arbuckle was unanimously acquitted, his acting career was ruined - but not before an appetite for the legal peccadilloes of celebrities took root. The public appetite for "the sordid details... gave rise to an entire industry of celebrity-obsessed, and celeb-baiting, journalism that persists to this day," author Jerry Stahl wrote in the foreword to his 2004 novel, "I, Fatty," which retells the story from Arbuckle's perspective.