Dead Pool 25th May 2025

With two death row killers and a supercentenarian in this week’s list, it’s rather surprising that nobody scored! Death row inmates have been listing fairly well of late, might be a good shout for next year.  

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Roger Nichols, 84, American songwriter (“We’ve Only Just Begun“, “Times of Your Life“) and composer.  
• Kathleen Hughes, 96, American actress (It Came from Outer Space, The Glass Web, The Golden Blade). 
• Leslie Dilley, 84, Welsh art director (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alien) and production designer, double Oscar winner, complications from Alzheimer’s disease. 
• Barry Fantoni, 85, British author and cartoonist (Private Eye), heart attack. 
• Mine Kondō, 114, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest living person in Japan (since 2025). 
• Benjamin Ritchie, 45, American convicted murderer, execution by lethal injection. 
• George Wendt, 76, American actor (Cheers, Forever Young, “Bill Swerski’s Superfans“). 
• Billy Williams, 95, English cinematographer (Women in Love, On Golden Pond, Gandhi), Oscar winner. 
• Oscar Franklin Smith, 75, American convicted murderer, execution by lethal injection. 
• Daniel Williams, 39, Metalcore drummer (The Devil Wears Prada) killed in the San Diego Cessna Citation II crash. 
• Alan Yentob, 78, British television executive and presenter.

In Other News

Billy Joel has canceled all upcoming concerts after he was diagnosed with the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), the singer announced on Friday. The condition “has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance”, according to a statement posted to the 76-year-old singer’s official Instagram. “Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritising his health.” The Piano Man singer added: “I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience and thank you for understanding.” Normal pressure hydrocephalus is a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain’s ventricles, leading to difficulty walking, problems with thinking and reasoning and loss of bladder control. It primarily affects people in their 60’s and 70’s and is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Joel’s team added that the 23-time Grammy winner is grateful for the support from fans during this time and looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage.”  

Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday. The discovery was made on Friday after he reported urinary symptoms which led doctors to find a small nodule on his prostate. The cancer is a more aggressive form of the disease and Biden and his family are reviewing treatment options, the statement said. He left office in January as the oldest serving US president in history and questions about his health dogged his first term, leading him to end his run for re-election late in his campaign. In Sunday’s statement, Biden’s office said: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone. While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.” A Gleason score of nine means his illness is classified as “high-grade” and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK. After news broke of his diagnosis, the former president received support from both sides of the aisle. President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he and First Lady Melania Trump were “saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis”. Barack Obama – who served as president with Joe Biden as his deputy – said that he and his wife Michelle were “thinking of the entire Biden family”. 

Feargal Sharkey, the singer and environmental advocate, has confirmed that he received a cancer diagnosis last year. Sharkey said he initially sought medical attention for a sore throat, which led to the diagnosis. He the Flying Monkeys issue was “resolved” a year ago. The water campaigner is now encouraging other men to undergo testing and seek medical advice when needed. “My doctor, being the beautiful, wonderful, awkward, cantankerous old man that he is, went, ‘Oh Feargal, by the way, you’re 65 now, I’m going to run the full battery of tests, ‘” he said. “Two days later, it turns out, I began a journey which led to the diagnosis of prostate cancer.” In 2022, some 50,751 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in England. In a direct appeal to the public, Sharkey urged men to stay informed about their health options. “Now, for one in eight of you, you will be put in the same journey I’ve had, and it’s quite astonishing to think that in this country right now, one in eight men have prostate cancer,” he said. “Most of them don’t even know it. So go and have the blood test and if you’re lucky, you’ll walk away.” Doctors have a range of tests for diagnosing prostate cancer.

On This Day

• 1895 – Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
• 1961 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces, before a special joint session of the U.S. Congress, his goal to initiate a project to put a “man on the Moon” before the end of the decade.
• 1977 – Star Wars is released in US theatres.
• 1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.

Deaths

• 1981 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (b. 1912).
• 1990 – Vic Tayback, American actor (b. 1930).
• 2020 – George Floyd, American man murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (b. 1973).

Last Meals

The oldest inmate on death row had some fiery words for Tennessee’s governor as he was executed for murdering his estranged wife and her teenage sons.

Oscar Franklin Smith, 75, was killed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 1989 murders of Judith Smith and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett.

Smith has always maintained his innocence in the grisly murders, and as he lay strapped to a gurney at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville he claimed the justice system was broken.

He noted that Gov. Bill Lee – who made a last minute decision to stop Smith’s execution in 2022 – ‘has the last word’ on allowing executions to continue.

‘He’s a damned fool if he doesn’t realise we’ve got innocent men at Riverbend waiting to die,’ the 75-year-old said in his three-minute final statement.

‘I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last,’ he said.

Smith could later be heard insisting, ‘I didn’t kill her’ in the moments before visible signs of respiration stopped and he was pronounced dead at 10.47am.

Witnesses to the execution said they saw no obvious sign that the injection had begun after his final statement, but noted that Smith’s speech became laboured as he spoke with his spiritual adviser – who was allowed into the execution chamber under an agreement with state officials.

She was seen performing a  final liturgy, reading from scripture and at one point singing I’ll Fly Away. 

Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting Judith Smith, her 13-year-old son Jason Burnett and 16-year-old son Chad Burnett at their Nashville home shorty before midnight on October 1st, 1989.

Prosecutors argued that the couple were going through a contentious divorce and were fighting over custody of their three-year-old twins.

When the murders occurred, Smith was also facing domestic violence charges for allegedly assaulting his wife.

At his trial, two of Smith’s co-workers testified that he had solicited them to kill Judith, noting that he had a history of threats and violence against her and her boys.

He even told one of  his co-workers that he threatened to kill the boys because he said Judith treated them better than the twin children they shared.

Smith had also taken out insurance policies on all three victims, prosecutors noted.

They also played the audio of the 911 call, in which they said Chad could be heard screaming, ‘Frank, no.’ Franklin is Smith’s middle name, and one that prosecutors said he used regularly. 

But Smith has long denied the murders and allegations of domestic violence and death threats, claiming he, his wife and the boys had spent the day together and later that night, he said he left Judy’s house with their twins, whom he dropped off at his mother’s house while he left for a job in Kentucky.

His claims, however, were refuted by the fact that his car was seen at the victim’s home the night of the crime.

A handprint found at the scene also matched Smith’s left hand – including his two missing fingers.

Smith was ultimately sentenced to death by a Davidson County jury in July 1990. 

However, all we want to know is that for his last meal Smith ordered hot dogs, tater tots, and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

As you may have seen in this issues listings, Smith wan’t the only inmate put to death last week, Benjamin Ritchie was also executed in the same manner. 

For his last meal, the cop killer requested the “Tour of Italy” meal from Olive Garden, which includes fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, and chicken parmigiana. His last words were: “I love my family, my friends, and all the support I’ve gotten. I hope they all find peace.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ian McKellen (86), Mike Myers (62), Octavia Spencer (55), Frank Oz (81), Cillian Murphy (49), Daisy Edgar-Jones (27), Jim Broadbent (76), Alfred Molina (72), John C. Reilly (60), Doug Jones (65), James Cosmo (77), Priscilla Presley (80), Bob Dylan (84), Éric Cantona (59), Richard Ayoade (48),  Joan Collins (92), Melissa McBride (60), Bob Mortimer (66), Maggie Q (46), Ginnifer Goodwin (47), Sean Gunn (51), Fairuza Balk (51), Mr. T (73), Judge Reinhold (68), Noel Fielding (52), Jack Gleeson (33), Cher (79), Louis Theroux (55), Grace Jones (77), and James Fox (86).