Dead Pool 4th May 2025

Another successful week, let’s dole out the points! Neil correctly predicted that Steve McMichael would die this year, he also listed him as his Cert, so a whopping 183 points which boost him to the top of the league table.

We can also award 134 points to Abi, Dave, and Lee who listed Inah Canabarro Lucas as either a Cert or a Woman, well done all of you!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

Steve McMichael, 67, American football player (Chicago Bears) and professional wrestler, Super Bowl champion, complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Jane Gardam, 96, English writer (The Queen of the Tambourine, Old Filth, God on the Rocks).
Mike Peters, 66, Welsh rock singer (The Alarm, Big Country) and songwriter (“Sixty Eight Guns”), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Priscilla Pointer, 100, American actress (Carrie, Dallas, Blue Velvet).
Inah Canabarro Lucas, 116, Brazilian supercentenarian, world’s oldest living person.
Ruth Buzzi, 88, American comedienne and actress (Sesame Street, The Berenstain Bears), complications from a stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.
Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, American convicted murderer, execution by lethal injection.
Jill Sobule, 66, American singer-songwriter (“I Kissed a Girl“, “Supermodel“), house fire.

In Other News

The comedian Milton Jones has announced that he is cancelling a planned tour of the UK after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, which will require surgery. The 60-year-old shared the news in a statement on social media where he said that the cancer is “treatable” and he is due for an operation in the coming weeks. However, his recovery period has forced him to cancel a handful of shows across the country. “I’m so sorry about this, but I need to announce the cancellation of several dates from my ongoing Ha!Milton Tour.” He continued: “This difficult decision comes following a recent diagnosis of treatable prostate cancer. I’ll be undergoing surgery soon and will need time afterwards to fully recover.” Jones added: “In addition, the summer dates in Colchester, Bridlington, Stroud, and London will be rescheduled to the Autumn. All dates currently scheduled for the Autumn leg of the tour remain unaffected. Ticket holders for the cancelled shows will be contacted directly by the venue box office. Thanks for your support and respecting my privacy during this time. This decision has not been taken lightly. Trust me, abnormal service will resume as soon as possible and I’m looking forward to being back out on the road again soon – though probably not on a bike!” Jones, best known for his deadpan and often surreal one-liners, began his career in 1996 performing regularly at The Comedy Store in London and Manchester.

Joanna Lumley has reflected on her mortality, predicting that her “time must be coming quite soon”. The Bafta-winning star of the hit sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, who is 78, opened up on the subject of death in a new interview, revealing that several of her “beloved friends are beginning to leave”. “As you near the top of the hill you suddenly think: ‘Gosh, there’s not all that amount of time left. My time must be coming quite soon and I don’t want to have wasted a minute of being on this beautiful planet.” Lumley also urged young people to worry less, telling the Flying Monkeys: “I used to panic when I was young, but as I’ve got older I’ve started literally to live day to day. With age, you work out what matters. I always knew that good stuff would come along when I was older. When I was 18, I longed to be 30. When I was 30, longed to be 50. We mustn’t be led into thinking getting old is bad. Growing old is good.” While sharing “a big message” to younger generations, the actor hinted that social media might be affecting their people skills. “You need time in your head. I’m so afraid we’re going to breed a generation who don’t know the world and don’t know how to talk.” Lumley previously expressed concern over young people’s work ethic, stating her belief that the youth of today want a fast track to success without putting the work in.

Sir David Attenborough has reflected on approaching “the end of his life” while sharing what he believes will save the planet from destruction. The veteran naturalist addressed his mortality in a new documentary, which is set to be released in cinemas on 8th May – his 99th birthday. In the forthcoming film, titled Ocean: With David Attenborough, the former BBC Two controller expressed his sadness with the current state of the world’s ecosystems, but said that he has worked out what Earth’s “most important place” is “after living for nearly a hundred years on this planet”. He said that the key to saving the planet “is not on land, but at sea”, stating: “When I first saw the sea as a young boy, it was thought of as a vast wilderness to be tamed and mastered for the benefit of humanity. Now, as I approach the end of my life, we know the opposite is true.” Attenborough added that the planet “is in such poor health” that he “would find it hard not to lose hope” were it not for the ocean, which he called “the most remarkable discovery of all”. He concluded: “If we save the sea, we save our world. After a lifetime of filming our planet, I’m sure nothing is more important.”

On This Day

1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip) are killed in a plane crash.
1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1998 – A federal judge gives “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London.

Deaths

1984 – Diana Dors, English actress (b. 1931).
2008 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (b. 1918)
2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1933)

Last Meals

Florida has executed Gulf War veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her three children despite a letter from 129 veterans arguing that Hutchinson’s mind was a casualty of war.

The 62-year-old former U.S. Army Ranger was convicted for the 1998 murder of 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, and her three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan.

On the night of September 11th 1998, Hutchinson fought with Flaherty, after which he packed some of his clothes and guns into his truck, and went to a bar, according to court records.

The bartender testified that Hutchinson told him that Flaherty was angry with him, while other witnesses testified that he drove recklessly when he left, according to court documents.

Hutchinson then returned to the Crestview home, “busted down” the front door and shot Flaherty, Amanda and Logan in the head in the master bedroom, a forensic pathologist testified − according to court documents.

The pathologist testified that Hutchinson shot Geoffrey last in both the chest and the head while the child “was able to see the bodies of his mother, sister, and brother,” according to court records.

“The terror suffered in that moment is incomprehensible to this court,” Hutchinson’s trial judge said, according to the Flying Monkeys.

Hutchinson called the police and told a dispatcher: “I just shot my family.” Police arrived to find him spattered with blood and lying in a daze on the garage floor, still holding the phone, according to court documents.

His last meal consisted of salmon, mahi-mahi, asparagus, baked potato and iced tea. He had no last words

The execution took place shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Florida State Prison in Railford using the state’s three-drug protocol involving etomidate, rocuronium bromide and potassium acetate. He was declared dead at 8:14 p.m. ET, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

It marked the fourth execution in Florida this year and the 15th in the nation.

While Hutchinson himself maintained that the murders were committed by home invaders, his defence team pointed to brain damage and trauma suffered by the former U.S. Army Ranger during his service in the Gulf War as reason to stop the execution.

Maria DeLiberato, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives for the Death Penalty and liaison for Hutchinson’s legal team, previously told the Flying Monkeys that experts called Hutchinson’s statements “a delusional belief based on his significant and severe mental illness.”

“Executing a man who was physically and psychologically shattered by war − a man who never got the treatment or understanding he needed and deserved − is not justice,” the group said in a statement following the execution.

Meanwhile 129 veterans representing every branch of the military wrote to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling Hutchinson “one of us” and urging the governor to stop the execution.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Will Arnett (55), Rob Brydon (60), Frankie Valli (91), Sandi Toksvig (67), Rachel Zegler (24), Christina Hendricks (50), Pom Klementieff (39), Dwayne Johnson (53), Matt Berry (51), Christine Baranski (73), Ellie Kemper (45), David Suchet (79), Joe Wilkinson (50), Lily Allen (40), David Beckham (50), Julie Benz (53), Jamie Dornan (43), Joanna Lumley (79), Ana de Armas (37), Gal Gadot (40), Kirsten Dunst (43), Sam Heughan (45), Daniel Day-Lewis (68), Michelle Pfeiffer (67), Uma Thurman (55), Kate Mulgrew (70), Anita Dobson (76), Jerry Seinfeld (71), Willie Nelson (92), Jessica Alba (44), Penélope Cruz (51), Mary McDonnell (73), Ann-Margret (84), and Jay Leno (75).