Short and sweet this week, all the news seems to be about a spot of bother in the Ukraine. Anyone care to place a bets on how long Putin will survive? 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Gary Brooker, 76, English singer-songwriter (“A Whiter Shade of Pale“, “Conquistador“) and pianist (Procol Harum), cancer.  
• Jamal Edwards, 31, British entrepreneur, author, and DJ, founder of SB.TV. 
• Stewart Bevan, 73, British actor (Doctor Who, Emmerdale, The Ghoul).  
• The Amazing Johnathan, 63, American magician and stand-up comedian. 
• Mark Lanegan, 57, American musician (Screaming Trees, The Gutter Twins) and singer-songwriter (“Nearly Lost You“). 
• Sylvie Gatrill, 70, British actress (Bread, Brookside), cancer.
• Anna Karen, 85, South African-born English actress (EastEnders, On the Buses, Carry On), house fire.  
• Sally Kellerman, 84, American actress (M*A*S*H, Star Trek, Brewster McCloud), heart failure.   

In Other News

Celebrity news blog Hollywood Unlocked has backtracked on its false report that the Queen had died. Two days after it was publicly announced that Queen Elizabeth II had tested positive for Covid-19, Hollywood Unlocked published a story with the headline: “HU Exclusive: Queen Elizabeth Dead.” The piece read: “Sources close to the Royal Kingdom notified us exclusively that Queen Elizabeth has passed away. She was scheduled to attend the wedding of British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, but was found dead.” While Hollywood Unlocked was widely criticised for the story, founder Jason Lee insisted it was true, claiming: “We don’t post lies and I stand by my sources. However, by Friday a new article was published to the website titled: “Fact Check: 10 Reasons We Believed Queen Elizabeth Was Dead.” In the piece, the author laid out why Hollywood Unlocked and Lee had incorrectly believed the rumours to be true. The article claimed that Lee was directly contacted by a source who had attended Enninful’s wedding and claimed that guests had been told of the monarch’s passing there, prompting “dismay” among the attendees. Lee then allegedly corroborated this report with a source “familiar with the British military”, who claimed that the palace “had been locked down and all the top generals had been summoned to Windsor Castle ‘for an undisclosed reason’”. It is stressed in the article that Hollywood Unlocked had not “intentionally” meant to cause harm to the monarchy. A statement from Lee said: “Although I’ve never been wrong when breaking a story because this involves The Queen this is one time I would want to be. And based on Wednesday’s report from the Palace, I can say my sources got this wrong and I sincerely apologise to The Queen and the Royal Family.”  

Pete Doherty has been forced to cancel his upcoming gigs, after falling ill with a high fever and shortness of breath. The Libertines singer, 42, received ‘immediate treatment’ from medics, after the star tested negative for Covid-19 and that diagnosis was ruled out. A statement released on behalf of the indie icon revealed that the singer has been diagnosed with a respiratory infection and he remains under ‘close observation’ from a doctor. Due to Pete’s health battle, a string of his U.K shows and gigs have been cancelled, as the singer is not able to perform ‘under any circumstance’. Posted to recently-married star’s 137,000 Instagram followers on Thursday, the statement read: “A doctor has been called to assess Peter’s condition tonight after he developed a high fever and shortness of breath. “Thankfully, he has tested negative for COVID-19, but has been diagnosed with a respiratory infection which requires immediate treatment. Unfortunately, he has been advised not to perform tonight under any circumstances, which was not a decision taken lightly, and he remained under close observation with the doctor. Further updates tomorrow afternoon with regard to the weekends show.” Pete had been scheduled to perform at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town on Friday and Saturday. The Babyshambles frontman is due to take the stage at various locations across Europe over the next few months, including gigs in France, Germany and Holland.  

Jeremy Clarkson opened up about a recent car accident he had near his Diddly Squat Farm. The frightening incident happened earlier this week when the presenter was driving to see a friend in a nearby Cotswolds village. He headed out in the morning and recalls feeling as though something was “troubling” him. Writing for the Sunday Times, he said: “I was being tickled by the motoring world’s equivalent of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it tingle in the left arm. You know what it’s like when you walk into a northern pub and everyone’s laughing and joking. But you can just sort of sense that, somewhere in the steamed-up background, Begbie’s getting ready to lob his pint glass over the balcony. And that soon you’ll have a split lip and a snooker cue up your jacksie. It was that feeling.” Jeremy was driving down a long hill in Chipping Norton when he pressed his foot down on the brake pedal. In a heart-stopping moment, Jeremy’s BMW, which he says is “the worst car of them all”, began to skid when the wheels hit a portion of black ice. Detailing the frightening experience, the Clarkson’s Farm star explained: “It was the noise that gave it away first. A sort of shooshing sound, followed by the slow-motion staccato of the car’s antilock braking system fighting a losing battle with a surface that plainly had the characteristics of wet soap in a puddle of Fairy Liquid. In short, I was driving on black ice.” Thankfully, Jeremy managed to steer the car onto a grass verge at the side of the road. He was unharmed but admits he was left shaken by the accident. He continued: “I steered carefully to the side of the road, where there was a grass verge so that two of the tyres would have some kind of adhesion. And then, after stopping and taking stock, I continued with my journey at approximately 1mph.” It comes as the former Top Gear host is filming the second series of his hit Amazon Prime show, Clarkson’s Farm. It will detail the highs and lows of life on the Diddly Squat Farm as well as work on the farm’s shop.

On This Day

• 1900 – The British Labour Party is founded.
• 1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
• 1964 – The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over, must have worked as its still standing!
• 2004 – Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.

Deaths

• 1892 – Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer, founded Louis Vuitton (b. 1821)
• 1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
• 2002 – Spike Milligan, Irish soldier, actor, comedian, and author (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Fred Rogers, American minister and television host (b. 1928)
• 2006 – Linda Smith, English comedian and author (b. 1958)
• 2015 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Kate Mara (39), Timothy Spall (65), Adam Baldwin (60), Noah Emmerich (57), Richard Coyle (50), Bolo Yeung (76), Chase Masterson (59), Bill Duke (79), Rashida Jones (46), Téa Leoni (56), Sean Astin (51), Rose Matafeo (30), Lee Evans (58), Martha Kelly (54), Billy Zane (56), Daniel Kaluuya (33), Edward James Olmos (75), Dennis Waterman (74), Emily Blunt (39), Dakota Fanning (28), Samara Weaving (30), Kelly Macdonald (46), Josh Gad (41), Aziz Ansari (39), Drew Barrymore (47), Jeri Ryan (54), Thomas Jane (53), Kyle MacLachlan (63), James Hong (93), Julie Walters (72), Sheila Hancock (89), Nigel Planer (69), Elliot Page (35), Jennifer Love Hewitt (43), Jordan Peele (43), Sophie Turner (26), Tuppence Middleton (35), Kelsey Grammer (67), Anthony Daniels (76), Charlotte Church (36), and Tyne Daly (76).

As  we all prepare for WWIII, or just amuse ourselves at how windy the wind is, there have been a few celebrity deaths. None are war related, nor were they squished by a flying trampoline, but the wind is still rather windy around here, so there is still hope… 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Ivan Reitman, 75, Czechoslovak-born Canadian film director (Ghostbusters, Meatballs, Kindergarten Cop) and producer.  
• Beryl Vertue, 90, English television producer (Men Behaving Badly, Sherlock, Jekyll), founder of Hartswood Films.  
• Jack Smethurst, 89, English actor (Love Thy Neighbour, Man About the House, King Ralph) and comedian.  
• Lindsey Pearlman, 43, American actress (Chicago Justice)
• David Brenner, 59, American film editor (Born on the Fourth of July, Man of Steel, Independence Day), Oscar winner (1990). 
• Jean-Luc Brunel, 75, French model scout, suicide by hanging.

In Other News

The Queen has spoken of feeling frail but remained in good spirits at her first appearance since a Covid scare in the family, and amid another turbulent week for the royals. Standing while using a walking stick, she pointed to her left leg or foot and remarked: “Well, as you can see, I can’t move,” during an official engagement at Windsor Castle. The Queen, 95, appears to have avoided catching Covid, having met the Prince of Wales last week shortly before he was confirmed as having tested positive for the virus. She was pictured greeting the Estonian ambassador who spoke to the monarch via video-link from Buckingham Palace. Also, her majesty received the Spanish ambassador over video-link. It comes after Prince Charles tested positive for Covid last week for the second time, having met the Queen earlier in the week. On Monday, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla tested positive. Prince Charles, 73, and Camilla, 74, have both had two doses of a vaccine plus a booster dose.  

Adele Roberts has spoken out about her ‘shock’ cancer diagnosis and detailed the effects of her surgery to remove the tumour. The Radio 1 DJ, 42, revealed that she had been diagnosed with bowel cancer in an emotional post on October 24th, sharing the news a month after learning she had the disease. In her first live interview since the announcement, the I’m A Celebrity star appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss her diagnosis. She explained: ‘It was a shock. I didn’t realise I could get cancer which I know sounds silly because I know now it can happen to anyone at any age. ‘I’m vegetarian. I’m healthy. I exercise.’ Describing the first warning signs, she said: ‘My digestion started to get a bit funny – after what we ate in the jungle I wasn’t surprised. I noticed when I went to the toilet things like mucus and then blood. I didn’t know whether to call the doctor because of Covid I didn’t want to bother anyone. But it got so consistent that I thought I’d better call up just in case.’ Despite all she’s been through, Adele remains positive and hopeful she’ll be back to her ‘normal self’ by the summer. She said: ‘I feel like I’ve not really taken it on board. I’m just trying to get through each day. The NHS have been awesome.  I’ve been able to get back on Radio One and I’m on chemotherapy. Hopefully by the middle of this year I’ll be back to my normal self.’   

Progress concerning Princess Charlene of Monaco’s ongoing recovery continues to be encouraging. Speaking to the local flying monkeys on Thursday, Prince Albert provided a brief update on his wife, saying, “Princess Charlene is doing much better, and I hope she will be back in the Principality very soon.” The prince’s remark comes three weeks after the most recent palace update, which described her recovery as “continuing in a satisfying and very encouraging way.” That statement, however, also stated her stay in a clinic would “still take several weeks.” Princess Charlene, who celebrated her 44th birthday in January, is currently receiving treatment outside of Monaco after suffering profound “exhaustion, both emotional and physical,” Prince Albert told the flying monkeys in November. After landing in South Africa last May for what was planned as a brief 10-day visit in her home country, complications from a previous ENT procedure grounded her for six months. A series of painful corrective surgeries and a subsequent relapse postponed her return to Monaco until early November to reunite with her husband and their children, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella. Upon her return, however, the princess exhibited signs of both emotional and physical exhaustion and in consultation with her doctors and family members, she decided to seek medical assistance. It was clear “she was unwell and felt uncomfortable” a palace source explains. For numerous reasons, it was determined a facility outside Monaco was preferential. Seeking treatment “elsewhere in Europe” was a solution that the princess already favoured, Albert said. Reports speculate the clinic she chose is located in Switzerland. Albert described Charlene’s decision as a voluntary choice. “She had already made her decision, and we only wanted her to confirm it in front of us. She wanted this. She already knew the best thing to do was to go and have a rest and have a real medically framed treatment,” he told the flying monkeys in November. In December, the palace shared that “it may take a few more months before her health has reached a full recovery.”

On This Day

• 1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
• 1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
• 2003 – During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the Station nightclub ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.

Deaths

• 1936 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879).
• 1992 – Dick York, American actor (b. 1928).
• 1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, founded Lamborghini (b. 1916).
• 2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937).

Most Murderous Murderer of Pakistan

Javed Iqbal Umayr  was a Pakistani serial killer and pederast who confessed to the sexual abuse and murder of 100 young boys, ranging in age from 6 to 16. Iqbal strangled the victims, dismembered the corpses and dissolved them in acid as a way to conceal the evidence. 

Iqbal was the sixth of eight children of his businessman father. He attended Government Islamia College, Railway Road Lahore as an intermediate student. In 1978, while still a student, he started a steel recasting business. Iqbal lived, along with boys, in a villa in Shadbagh which his father had purchased for him. 

In December 1999, Iqbal sent a letter to police and a Lahore newspaper chief news editor Khawar Naeem Hashmi confessing to the rape and murder of 100 runaway boys, all aged between 6 and 16. In the letter, he claimed to have strangled and dismembered the victims, mostly runaways and orphans living on the streets of Lahore, and disposed of their bodies using vats of hydrochloric acid. He then dumped the remains in a local river. 

Inside Iqbal’s house, police and reporters found bloodstains on the walls and floor, along with the chain with which Iqbal claimed to have strangled his victims and photographs of many of his victims in plastic bags. These items were neatly labelled with handwritten pamphlets. Two vats of acid with partially dissolved human remains were also left in the open for police to find, with a note claiming the bodies in the house have deliberately not been disposed of so that authorities will find them.

Iqbal confessed in his letter that he planned to drown himself in the Ravi River following his crimes but after unsuccessfully dragging the river with nets, police launched the largest manhunt in Pakistan history. Four accomplices, teenage boys who had shared Iqbal’s three-bedroom flat, were arrested in Sohawa. Within days, one of them died in police custody, with a post-mortem suggesting that force had been used against him; allegedly, he jumped from a window.

Iqbal’s motive for committing his murders was his infuriation at a perceived injustice at the hands of Lahore police who had arrested him on charges relating to an act of sodomy against a young runaway boy in the 1990s. No charges were brought in relation to this offence. His mother had “been forced to watch his decline” before suffering a fatal heart attack. He had therefore resolved to make 100 mothers cry for their sons as his mother had been forced to do for him before her death. 

It was a month before Iqbal turned himself in at the offices of the Daily Jang on 30th December 1999. He was subsequently arrested. He stated that he had surrendered to the newspaper because he feared for his life and was concerned that the police would kill him.

Iqbal was sentenced to death; the judge passed sentence saying “You will be strangled to death in front of the parents whose children you killed, your body will then be cut into 100 pieces and put in acid, the same way you killed the children.” The Interior Minister, Moinuddin Haider, contradicted the sentence by stating that Pakistan is a signatory of the Human Rights Commission, so “such punishments are not allowed.”

Iqbal hanged himself in his cell before the execution could be carried out, with another “accomplice” hanged in a nearby cell the same night.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Chelsea Peretti (44), Brenda Blethyn (76), Benedict Wong (52), Anthony Head (68), Rihanna (34), Cindy Crawford (56), Imogen Stubbs (61), Millie Bobby Brown (18), Benicio Del Toro (55), Jeff Daniels (67), Ophelia Lovibond (36), Ray Winstone (65), Leslie Ash (62), John Travolta (68), Molly Ringwald (54), Matt Dillon (58), Cybill Shepherd (72), Greta Scacchi (62), Dr. Dre (57), Yoko Ono (89), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (41), Lou Diamond Phillips (60), Michael Bay (57), Bonnie Wright (31), Dominic Purcell (52), Rory Kinnear (46), Paris Hilton (41), Brenda Fricker (77), Patricia Routledge (93), Ed Sheeran (31), Barry Humphries (88), Alejandro Jodorowsky (93), Michael Jordan (59), Elizabeth Olsen (33), Christopher Eccleston (58), LeVar Burton (65), Ice-T (64), Faran Tahir (59), Agyness Deyn (39), Amanda Holden (51), The Weeknd (32), John McEnroe (63), Alex Borstein (51), Jane Seymour (71), Matt Groening (68), Simon Pegg (52), Andrew Robinson (80), and Teller (74).

A fairly scant week on the deaths front, but I did find an interesting story to share below. I do think it may be time for a Flying Monkey incident. Fly my lovelies, fly! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Douglas Trumbull, 79, American special effects supervisor (2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner) and film director (Silent Running), complications from mesothelioma.  
• Bamber Gascoigne, 87, British television presenter (University Challenge) and author (The Great Moghuls).  
• Ian McDonald, 75, English musician (King Crimson, Foreigner, Steve Hackett).  
• Betty Davis, 77, American funk and soul singer, cancer.  
• Isabel Torres, 52, Spanish actress (Veneno) and television presenter, lung cancer.

In Other News

The Queen’s recent Covid-19 scare has sparked debate over which royals should be allowed to step in for her if she is unable to fulfil her duties. Her Majesty is currently being “monitored” after it was revealed she was in close contact with Prince Charles two days before he tested positive with coronavirus. If the Queen cannot undertake her official duties, there are four potential royals who are Counsellors of State and appointed by Letters Patent who can fill in for her – Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Andrew and Prince Harry. Buckingham Palace refused to confirm whether the 95-year-old monarch had tested positive or negative for Covid, fuelling fears for her health, but palace sources insisted she was not displaying symptoms of the virus. Counsellors of State are appointed from among the following: the monarch’s consort (which was the late Prince Philip) and the four adults over the age of 21 next in succession. These are currently Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Andrew. And since Charles contracted Covid yesterday and William abroad in Dubai, if both the Queen and Charles were too unwell to carry out duties, the role would have fallen to Andrew and Harry. However, Andrew has stepped back permanently from royal life while he fights a civil sexual assault case, while Harry is in the US having also quit as a senior working royal. Andrew and Harry remain in the line of succession, but the fact that Harry is out of the UK living in California could potentially disqualify him from a Counsellor of State role, although he could travel back to London if ever required. Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt tweeted: “With Prince Charles isolating and Prince William abroad, is Prince Andrew limbering up in case he needs to be a Counsellor of State – or can Prince Harry do it, virtually?” But, in the event Counsellors of State were needed, he would only be one of the two required. Charles is understood not to have serious symptoms after testing positive on Thursday.    

Radio 2 presenter Rylan Clark has been rushed to hospital, which forced him to pull out of his BBC show for the second week in a row. It is not yet known why Rylan was taken to hospital, but last week, he told his followers he had the flu. The host, 33, has since revealed he is now back at home after “an extended stay” and will not be on the radio tomorrow. Sharing a picture of his arm fitted with a cannula, the star confirmed that he was “on the mend”.  He wrote: “Finally home after an extended trip to Costa del hospital. Slowly on the mend. “Won’t be on the wireless tomorrow. Resting up. Be back soon.” The former X Factor star usually presents Rylan On Saturday every week between 3-6pm, but his recent health troubles have prompted a bit of a shake-up. Last week, Rylan was also forced to pull out of his stint on the airwaves after coming down with the flu. He told his followers at the time: “Gone and got the flu (not surprised) been in bed for a couple of days. “Have lat tested and not Covid thankfully but won’t be able to go on the wireless tomorrow. Be back soon x.” Rylan recently opened up about his mental health issues following the breakdown of his marriage last year. The star revealed to The Flying Monkeys that he had lost a lot of weight during the ordeal, as he struggled to cope with splitting from his partner Dan Neal, 41, after five years together. During the tell-all interview, he admitted that his weight had plummeted to 9st 13lb and that he “didn’t deal with what happened”. He said: “I got ill and I lost weight, I went down to under ten stone — and I’m six feet four inches, so that’s not good. The honest truth is that it’s been shit,” he confessed. Rylan went on to explain that his family had been “majorly worried” about him and that he never usually “disappears for four months”, in reference to his career break amid the breakdown of his marriage. “One of my biggest regrets of this year was putting my mum through me not being well,” he said. “I needed to get back to me.”   

Rapper Kodak Black was shot in the leg while leaving a party held for Justin Bieber. The musician had been a guest at a Super Bowl weekend party at The Nice Guy, a restaurant in Los Angeles, on Friday night. According to reports by the flying monkeys, Kodak – real name Bill Kapri – was outside the restaurant with fellow rappers Gunna and Lil Baby in the early hours of Saturday morning. A fight broke out within the group, with Black reportedly attempting to punch someone when gunshots were heard by witnesses. “The fight was believed to have started with someone in Kodak Black’s entourage,” a source told the flying monkeys. “After others jumped in, shots were fired… and then all hell broke loose.” Police said that ten shots were fired during the altercations, with four men injured, including Black. One is said to have been shot in the shoulder, one the leg and one the buttocks, a source said, while photos showed a man covered in blood. Two of the men (a 19 and 60-year-old) were taken straight to the hospital from the scene. A 24-year-old (believed to be Black) and another man took themselves to hospital later. Two of the men are yet to be named by local authorities, but they are all said to be in a stable condition. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to the flying monkeys that no arrests had been made. The chief monkey has contacted Black’s representatives for comment. Sadly, Bieber was unscathed and he and his wife Hailey quickly left The Nice Guy after the shots were fired. Other attendees at the event, which had been an afterparty following a show by the “Peaches” singer, included Jeff Bezos, Drake, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Kendall Jenner and Khloe Kardashian. 

On This Day

• 1542 – Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
• 1960 – With the success of a nuclear test codenamed “Gerboise Bleue“, France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.
• 2004 – The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe’s largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star “Lucy” after The Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds“.

Deaths

• 1542 – Catherine Howard, English wife of Henry VIII of England (executed; b. 1521).
• 1883 – Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813).
• 1958 – Christabel Pankhurst, English activist, co-founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (b. 1880).

The Most Kissed Woman in the World

Nobody knows what her name was. We don’t know her age or background. How her life brought her to Paris, and left her drowned in the River Seine. But when her lifeless body was pulled from those murky waters in the late 19th century, the girl known forevermore as L’Inconnue de la Seine (the unknown woman of the Seine) began an amazing new story in death. 

This strange second chapter, a surreal postscript nobody could have ever predicted, ultimately helped save millions of lives, even after her own was cut so tragically short. Or was it? The exact history of what happened to L’Inconnue both before and after her fateful drowning is a matter of some debate – one shrouded in a frayed, fanciful Parisian legend. But what follows is the most commonly told version of a tale that’s now perhaps 150 years old. 

L’Inconnue, who is estimated to have been about 16 years old when she died, may have been a suicide. Nobody knows for sure, but there were no marks on her body, and many concluded she took her own life. After she was pulled out of the Seine, she was transported to the Paris mortuary, and put on public display alongside the bodies of other unknown dead for the purpose of identification. This grisly parade of nameless corpses was a popular diversion in its day. “There is not a single window in Paris that attracts more onlookers than this,” a contemporary account explains. Despite the crowds, however, nobody recognised L’Inconnue, or at least none came forward. But while she may never have been identified by the crowds who attended her corpse, that’s not to say she went unnoticed. 

Even in death her serene appearance turned heads. One of those heads belonged to an attendant at the mortuary, who – so the story goes – was so transfixed by her, he ordered a plaster cast to be made of her face. 

The mask was a hit. Before long, L’Inconnue’s alluring, deathly likeness was reproduced in facsimiles sold in souvenir shops across Paris, then Germany, and the rest of Europe. The mesmerising mask of this unknown dead girl – described by philosopher and author Albert Camus as the “drowned Mona Lisa” – became a coveted cultural icon. 

In time, L’Inconnue’s frozen half-smile rested on mantels and hung in drawing rooms all over the continent. She was positioned in artists’ workshops, gazed upon as a mute, motionless model. But it wasn’t just sketchers and painters who were captivated. Poets and novelists became entranced too. At some point, L’Inconnue turned into a kind of morbid meme for early 20th century writers, who contrived countless dramatic histories for this heartbroken heroine, engulfed by ill fortune and the weight of water. 

“The facts were so scarce that every writer could project what they wanted on to that smooth face,” museum archivist Hélène Pinet told The Flying Monkeys in 2007. “Death in water was a very romantic concept. Death, water, and woman was a tantalising combination.” One critic described her as “the erotic ideal of the period”, the aesthetic template for a “whole generation of German girls who modelled their looks on her”. 

Half a century after this explosion of fame and fascination was lit, L’Inconnue transformed into something else again – with the help of a man who was born decades after she died. 

His name was Asmund Laerdal, and he was a toy manufacturer from Norway. His company had started off in the early 1940s printing children’s books and calendars, before moving on to small toys made out of wood. After the war, Laerdal began to experiment with a new kind of material that had just entered mass production: plastic. Using this soft, malleable substance, he manufactured one of his most famous playthings: the ‘Anne’ doll, which in post-war Norway was acclaimed “toy of the year… with sleeping eyes and natural hair”. She might have been sleeping, but Anne wasn’t L’Inconnue. At least, not yet.

One day, Laerdal’s two-year-old son, Tore, nearly drowned. Had his father not rushed to intervene – pulling the limp boy from the water and forcing the water out of his airways – things would have turned out very differently. So when a group of anaesthesiologists approached Laerdal and told him they needed a doll to demonstrate a newly developed resuscitation technique – a procedure known as CPR – they found an attentive, receptive listener. 

With these researchers – including, most notably, the  Austrian physician Peter Safar, who had helped pioneer the CPR method – Laerdal embarked upon a history-making project: making a life-sized mannequin that people could use to practise life-saving techniques. For a toymaker accustomed to manufacturing miniature cars and play-dolls, it was a challenge to make a realistic, functional mannequin; one that could reliably demonstrate the physical complexities of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Aside from the technical issues, what kind of face would he give to this giant doll? That’s when Laerdal recalled a strange, enigmatic half-smile. A serene mask he’d seen hanging on the wall at his in-laws’ house. It was, of course, L’Inconnue.

Laerdal kept the name of his Anne doll, but gave the new mannequin L’Inconnue’s face, along with a body of full sized adult dimensions – including a collapsible chest for practising compressions, and open lips to simulate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. 

Laerdal felt it was important that the mannequin should be a female, suspecting that men in the 1960s would be reluctant to practise CPR on a male doll’s lips. The mannequin was given the name Resusci Anne (Rescue Anne); in America, she was known as CPR Annie.

Since she became available in the 1960s, Resusci Anne hasn’t been the only CPR mannequin on the market, but she is considered the first and most successful ‘patient simulator’ ever – responsible for helping hundreds of millions of people learn the basics of how to save a life with CPR. That incredible number, amassed over almost 60 years of live-giving mouth to mouth, is why Resusci Anne is often said to have the most-kissed face of anyone in history.

Today, the Laerdal company estimates that two million lives have been saved by CPR. Ironically, most of these rescues were the eventual result of people kneeling down and coming face to face with the replica of an unknown dead girl from Paris – a Jane Doe who perished long before the technique could ever have saved her. 

With time, the resuscitation replica became famous herself – separately from L’Inconnue and the bygone trends of late 19th century Paris. 

The lyric “Annie, are you OK?” from the Michael Jackson song “Smooth Criminal” actually stems from American CPR training, in which students practise speaking to their unresponsive plastic patient, CPR Annie. Today, however, many doubt that the flawless features of L’Inconnue’s mask could have ever come from a drowned girl – with skeptics suggesting that the face of a corpse, especially one retrieved from a river, would be misshapen, bloated, or scarred. Some say the mask we know may have instead been taken of a live model posing for a moulder – a beautiful face who later became somehow swept up in another girl’s legend.

L’Inconnue’s remains are thought to have been disposed of in an unmarked pauper’s grave, and police records from the era make no mention of this mysterious girl.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Neal McDonough (56), Mena Suvari (43), Sophia Lillis (20), Tony Dalton (47), Stockard Channing (78), Kim Novak (89), Christina Ricci (42), Josh Brolin (54), Michael Ironside (72), Arsenio Hall (66), Taylor Lautner (30), Natalie Dormer (40), Jennifer Aniston (53), Damian Lewis (51), Thomas Turgoose (30), Sheryl Crow (60), Stephanie Beatriz (41), Chloë Grace Moretz (25), Elizabeth Banks (48), Keeley Hawes (46), Laura Dern (55), Robert Wagner (92), Philip Glenister (59), Holly Willoughby (41), Rose Leslie (35), Tom Hiddleston (41), Michael B. Jordan (35), Ciarán Hinds (69), Joe Pesci (79), Amber Valletta (48), Mia Farrow (77), Mary Steenburgen (69), Seth Green (48), Nick Nolte (81), John Williams (90), James Spader (62), Deborah Ann Woll (37), Eddie Izzard (60), Ashton Kutcher (44), and Chris Rock (57).

Here we go again! No points this week, but loads to read. So make a nice cup of tea and sit back and let the flying monkeys massage your feet. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Howard Hesseman, 81, American actor (WKRP in Cincinnati, This Is Spinal Tap, Head of the Class), complications from colon surgery.  
• Leonard Fenton, 95, English actor (EastEnders).  
• Robert Wall, 82, American martial artist and actor (Enter the Dragon, Game of Death, Hero and the Terror).   
• Cheslie Kryst, 30, American television presenter (Extra) and beauty queen (Miss USA 2019), suicide by jumping. 
• Brian Augustyn, 67, American comic book editor and writer (The Flash, Gotham by Gaslight, Imperial Guard), stroke. 
• Moses J. Moseley, 31, American actor (The Walking Dead, Queen of the South, Watchmen). 
• Popcorn Deelites, 23, American racehorse and animal actor (Seabiscuit), colic. 

In Other News

Simon Cowell has said that he’ll “definitely wear a helmet” in the future after crashing his e-bike for the second time in 18 months. The former X Factor judge broke his arm on the 24th January after suffering an accident near his home in west London. Witnesses said that Cowell hadn’t been wearing a helmet and had “blood pouring from his face”. Speaking to the flying monkeys, the music mogul said that he was doing “OK” and “feeling much better” after the accident. “It happened just round the corner,” he said. “I’m a bit of a nutter. I’ll definitely wear a helmet next time.” Cowell was said to have been driving the e-bike at a speed of about 20mph when the accident occurred, with the 62-year-old then being rushed to a nearby hospital with a broken arm, badly bruised cheek and possible concussion. He was discharged the same day and photographed with his arm in a yellow cast. In August 2020, Cowell broke his back while testing out his new £10,000 e-bike in the courtyard of his Malibu home. Speaking about the incident at the time and after he was forced to undergo surgery, Cowell said: “Some good advice… If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time.”   

1000Lb Sisters star Tammy Slaton was left fighting for her life in a coma after a terrifying health scare. The 35-year-old fronts the TLC series with sister Amy, offering viewers a front-row seat into their weight loss journey as well as an intimate look at their personal lives. Her struggles have been documented in the past, with viewers left shocked at her decision to leave a food addiction rehab early in previous episodes. However, things took a scary turn in the latest instalment, when she was rushed to hospital shortly after arriving at another weight loss facility. Her family got a concerning phone call that she had ‘quit breathing’ before being rushed for emergency treatment. ‘They’re just telling us that her lungs have given up, and like her body is shutting down,’ sister Amanda told the cameras. ‘So at this point, we’re facing making funeral arrangements for my little sister. ‘I’m just sitting here thinking, “Oh my god.” She’s been in such a bad place for so long. She waited too long. And now that she has the courage to step out and get the help that she needs, now this.’ Tammy’s brother, Chris, explained that doctors weren’t sure whether she would ‘make it through the next hours’, with her loved ones gathering by her bedside. She was placed into a medically induced coma at the hospital, with doctors also putting her on a ventilator. Thankfully she woke up, with doctors later giving her a tracheotomy. Amy broke down over her recovery, adding: ‘She’s okay. She’s still alive. She has her life.’ The star spent three weeks in hospital before returning to the rehab centre to continue her weight loss efforts. According to Chris, she is already doing well with her transformation, and is already down 115lbs after spending a month at the facility. He proudly added: ‘I’m overjoyed that’s she’s ready to get on this train and start rolling down the tracks.’ 

Tom Parker, 33, called for his fans to “light a candle and say a prayer” for him on Wednesday. The Wanted singer explained to his 267,000 followers on Instagram how the date, 2nd February 2022, was “a powerful day to manifest” and heal. Tom – who was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2020 – went on to share an affirmation that included the line: “May my body return to health and completely free from dis-ease.” The dad-of-two uploaded a sweet snap of himself and wife Kelsey Hardwick to accompany the positive post on social media. “Calling all my amazing followers,” Tom began in the caption on Wednesday. “I would love for you all to get involved tonight and light a candle and say a prayer for me.” He continued: “It’s a new moon and supreme number 02.02.22 it’s a powerful day to manifest with the universe. “So let’s all heal together.” The Dead Pool favourite – who has a daughter Aurelia, two, and son Bodhi, 11 months – was initially told he had a grade four glioblastoma and was given a life expectancy of 12 to 18 months. Thankfully, after six rounds of chemotherapy and 30 radiotherapy sessions, the star’s condition has improved and he and his family have a positive outlook about things.  

A woman who made international headlines when she announced she was expecting octuplets has died aged 56 after developing cancer. Mandy Allwood first announced she was expecting eight children, aged 31, with her then partner Paul Hudson after taking fertility drugs in 1996. But the six boys and two girls, who were born over three days and three nights, tragically did not survive. First reported by The Scum, Ms Allwood will be laid to rest in a service funded by her local council, known as a pauper’s funeral, with no mourners present. Her friend Mark Beard, 58, said: “She had been struggling with cancer for a while and had an operation before Christmas but told us recently that it had come back. I don’t know what sort of cancer it was.” Mr Beard, the landlord of the Yard of Ale pub in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, told the flying monkeys that Ms Allwood would pop in two times a week, and said she was “loved” by the locals. He said about a dozen of her friends would “raise a glass” in her memory after her family declined to attend her cremation. Her close family did not comment but confirmed to the monkeys that they would not be attending. Ms Allwood went on to have three other children but never recovered from the loss of her octo-babies. She would go on to appear on Oprah and have lunch with Princess Diana, and eventually sued disgraced publicist Max Clifford for secretly profiteering from her story. She struggled with depression, and she lost custody of her three surviving children and became estranged from her family. 

Musical theatre star Andrew Lloyd Webber said agony and lack of sleep had almost led to him overdosing on painkillers as he opened up about his health woes in his memoir Unmasked. The 73-year-old composer explained that his prostate cancer battle had left him impotent. Llyod Webber, who is best known for a number of musicals that include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Starlight Express and The Phantom of the Opera, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009. Addressing the details of his health concerns, the composer spoke out in an unearthed admission. The dad-of-five said the treatment left him impotent before he was given the all-clear from the disease in 2010. According to the flying monkeys, in his memoir, Unmasked, Andrew said: “I did think of suicide. It was so painful and I couldn’t sleep. “You have all those ridiculous painkillers and none of them work and you just think, ‘I shall take the whole lot of them.’” However, his wife of 30 years, Madeleine Gurdon, provided a ray of light through dark times, however. “When I met Madeleine, it was almost like getting my life back; a door has been unlocked back into a world that I’d perhaps missed in the previous years – people outside the theatre. “There is a world outside the Tony Awards and I think that’s what Madeleine brings to me.”

On This Day

• 1843 – The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City). 
• 1918 – British women over the age of 30 who meet minimum property qualifications, get the right to vote when Representation of the People Act 1918 is passed by Parliament. 
• 1951 – The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.  
• 1952 – Elizabeth II becomes Queen of the United Kingdom and her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth upon the death of her father, George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.  
• 1958 – Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers are killed in the Munich air disaster.  
• 1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit. 
• 1988 – Michael Jordan makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo.

Deaths

• 1685 – Charles II of England (b. 1630). 
• 1783 – Capability Brown, English gardener and architect (b. 1716). 
• 1865 – Isabella Beeton, Author of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (b. 1836). 
• 1918 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and illustrator (b. 1862). 
• 1952 – George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895). 
• 1958 – Victims of the Munich air disaster. 
• 1986 – Dandy Nichols, English actress (b. 1907). 
• 1993 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1943). 
• 1994 – Jack Kirby, American author and illustrator (b. 1917). 
• 1998 – Falco, Austrian pop-rock musician (b. 1957). 
• 2011 – Gary Moore, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1952). 

Choo Choo! 

On February 6th 1951, a Pennsylvania Railroad train derailed on a temporary wooden trestle in Woodbridge, New Jersey, killing 85 passengers. It remains New Jersey’s deadliest train wreck, the deadliest U.S. derailment since 1918, and the deadliest peacetime rail disaster in the United States. 

At around 5 p.m Pennsylvania Railroad Train No. 733 left Exchange Place in Jersey City. An express train to Bay Head via the North Jersey Coast Line, No. 733 was crowded that day due to a labor strike on the nearby Jersey Central Railroad. It carried over 1,000 passengers in 11 cars drawn by PRR K4 4-6-2 steam locomotive No. 2445.

That afternoon, rail traffic through Woodbridge was being diverted onto a temporary wooden trestle and a shoofly near Fulton Street, allowing labourers building the New Jersey Turnpike to work on the main line. A notice had gone out to train engineers in late January: after 1:01 p.m. on February 6th, they were to proceed through Woodbridge not at the normal 60 mph but at 25 mph.

Before Train No. 733 left Jersey City, conductor John Bishop reminded engineer Joseph Fitzsimmons about the speed restriction. It was not the railroad’s practice to install warning lights in such cases, and Fitzsimmons failed to slow the train as it approached Woodbridge. Bishop, alarmed at the train’s speed, tried to pull the emergency cord, but the crush of passengers made it impossible.

The train was traveling faster than 50 mph when it reached the curve approaching the trestle, according to a subsequent inquiry. At 5:43 p.m., the tracks shifted under the massive locomotive, and eight of the train’s eleven passenger cars derailed. The first two cars fell on their sides. The third and fourth cars crashed into each other as they hurtled down a 26-foot-high embankment. It was in these two cars that most of the 85 deaths occurred. The fifth and sixth cars were left hanging in mid-air over a street that glistened from rain. Some passengers may have jumped to their deaths, believing they would land in water. The accident occurred in a heavily populated area, so help soon arrived. Neighbours opened their houses and businesses to those in need. The critically injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

Although Fitzsimmons initially claimed that he had been traveling at only 25 mph, the inquiry estimated that the train’s speed was between 50 and 60 mph. The report concluded that the wreck was caused by “excessive speed on a curve of a temporary track”. Fitzsimmons continued working for the railroad, but never operated a train again.

Near the derailment site, the victims are memorialised by a pair of historical markers, installed by New Jersey Transit in 2002 and by Woodbridge Township in 2013.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Alice Eve (40), Kevin Whately (71), Mike Farrell (83), Jennifer Jason Leigh (60), Michael Sheen (53), Charlotte Rampling (76), Christopher Guest (74), Tony Jaa (46), Cristiano Ronaldo (37), Gabrielle Anwar (52), Natalie Imbruglia (47), Alice Cooper (74), Jim Jefferies (45), Isla Fisher (46), Bridget Regan (40), Warwick Davis (52), Morgan Fairchild (72), Gemma Arterton (36), Brent Spiner (73), David Jason (82), Shakira (45), Michael C. Hall (51), Harry Styles (28), Sherilyn Fenn (57), Lisa Marie Presley (54), Minnie Driver (52), Jonathan Banks (75), Portia de Rossi (49), Justin Timberlake (41), and Dexter Fletcher (56).

Another week passes us by, a few more celebrities die. Maybe we should have got the supercentenarian, maybe we should have got Barry Cryer, but there’s no point crying over spilt milk. Onwards we go!  

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Thierry Mugler, 73, French fashion designer.  
• Antônia da Santa Cruz, 116, Brazilian supercentenarian, last known surviving person born in 1905.  
• Gert Schutte, 82, Dutch politician, MP (1981–2001).  
• Ozzie, 60, African-born American western lowland gorilla, oldest male gorilla in captivity. 
• Barry Cryer, 86, English comedian (I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue) and screenwriter (Doctor in the House).  
• Morgan Stevens, 70, American actor (Fame, A Year in the Life, Melrose Place). (body discovered on this date) 
• Matthew Reeves, 44, American murderer, execution by lethal injection.  
• Jo Kendall, 83, British actress (Emmerdale), comedian (I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again) and writer. 
• Pete Smith, 63, New Zealand actor (The Quiet Earth, The Piano, Once Were Warriors), kidney disease.  

In Other News

Dame Judi Dench has revealed she suffered a fall at home which left her immobile for 30 minutes. The acting legend, 87, admitted that keeping her independence is becoming ‘very difficult’ as she grows older as she detailed her recent scare. Dame Judi, who is currently starring in Oscar-tipped film Belfast, revealed the frightening moment she tripped at home and was unable to get up, having to call out to her pet parrot for help as nobody was around. ‘I tripped over the carpet, and there was nobody in the house and I was lying on the ground unable to get up for half an hour,’ she said. Despite the distressing situation, Dame Judi kept her humour, as she recalled her pet parrot kept asking her: ‘What are you doing? What are you doing?’ ‘This is when you need a very convenient parrot who would phone somebody,’ she joked, ‘but she didn’t.’ The Belfast star lives alone, although her partner David Mills, 77, and daughter Finty Williams live nearby. Thankfully, the beloved actress recovered and was able to pull herself up after half an hour. Despite the scare, Dame Judi is adamant she is not willing to install a panic alarm in her home as she wants to keep her independence – but admits it is ‘very, very difficult’. The veteran actress has appeared in everything from the James Bond Franchise to heart-breaking biopic Philomena, but has recently admitted there are some roles she would be unable to take up at her age. Dame Judi last week appeared on The One Show alongside Belfast co-star Ciarán Hinds, where she was asked if she would consider taking on the role of Doctor Who. However, to fans’ disappointment, the actress admitted she ‘might have to pass on that one’. ‘I’d have to get someone to do the stunts for me, that wouldn’t be any good, would it! I’m not up to that, I’m afraid,’ she admitted. But while she might not be travelling through time and space in the Tardis any time soon, Dame Judi has proved time and again that she’s still young at heart – having made multiple viral appearances with her grandson, Sam, on TikTok, which is more than your friendly Dead Pool Master can do, even with the help of the flying monkeys!  

If, like me, you feel that the human race needs a bit of a cull, thankfully Putin is of the same mind, you might want to listen to Uri Geller. The self-proclaimed psychic has urged NASA to prepare for a mass alien landing on Earth!!! Earlier in the week, scientists spotted an extraordinary object blasting giant bursts of energy in a way they have never seen before. Natasha Hurley-Walker, from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, called the “mystery” object “completely unexpected.” “It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there’s nothing known in the sky that does that,” she said, adding: “It’s really quite close to us — about 4,000 light years away. It’s in our galactic backyard.’’ Astronomers theorised that it could have been the remnant of a massive star that had exploded. But now, legendary spoon bender Geller has offered his ideology that an imminent alien invasion is near. Taking to Instagram, the illusionist said: “A team mapping radio waves in the universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour and it’s unlike anything astronomers have seen before. No doubt in my mind that this is connected to alien intelligence way way superior than ours. Start deciphering their messages! They are preparing us for a mass landing soon! The characteristics of the mystery object seemed to have matched something known as an ultra-long period magnetar. Such object has never been seen before. “It’s a type of slowly spinning neutron star that has been predicted to exist theoretically,” Dr Hurley-Walker explained. “But nobody expected to directly detect one like this because we didn’t expect them to be so bright. Somehow it’s converting magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything we’ve seen before.” But, if you believe what Uri Geller says, we better get ready for a points windfall, as everyone is going to die!!!! 

Only Fools and Horses actor Patrick Murray, who is best known for playing Mickey Pearce, revealed he was told he wouldn’t make it to Christmas after  being diagnosed with cancer. The 65-year-old shared news of his devastating illness earlier this week. Patrick explained the first primary diagnosis was “actually a lot worse than what it was, it showed up a lot of red flags that I had a tumour on my liver and three metastatics – which is cancer of the blood. “I was told it looks like I wouldn’t make Christmas, but the PET scan did show there was a tumour in my lung so I had that removed in October. They caught it early and right now I’m on chemo to make sure it doesn’t come back. If I left it a couple of months later, I could have been in real trouble. I probably wouldn’t be here now.” After opening up about his illness this week, Patrick tweeted: “Naturally I wanted to keep my own health problems private, but failing to fully endorse this ad would be selfish. Thanks to my ultra-scan I have a fighting chance. It showed my organs needed further investigation and tumours were spotted. This led to a PET scan which covers a much larger area. To my wonderful surprise these lesions were not cancerous but the scan did find an early-stage cancerous tumour in my lung. This has since been removed.” The star concluded: “A lot of people put these symptoms down to age and the discomfort to simply having a weak stomach. Please don’t ignore it if it persists. As for me, and thanks to the NHS, I can now see the same beautiful horizon as you.” Patrick appeared in a total of 20 episodes of Only Fool And Horses.  Since the show finished in 2003, Patrick has landed roles in big-screen productions, including The Firm and Curse Of The Pink Panther. After a couple more years of acting, Patrick eventually retired and became a taxi driver in Kent.

On This Day

• 1607 – An estimated 200 square miles along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths.
• 1649 – Charles I of England is executed in Whitehall, London.
• 1661 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.
• 1835 – In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself.
• 1945 – World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with German refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, killing approximately 9,500 people.
• 1969 – The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
• 1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Sunday: British paratroopers open fire on anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 people; another person later dies of injuries sustained.
• 1982 – Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called “Elk Cloner”.

Deaths

• 1649 – Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland (b. 1600).
• 1948 – Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement (b. 1869).
• 1948 – Orville Wright, American pilot, co-founded the Wright Company (b. 1871).
• 1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian-German engineer, founded Porsche (b. 1875).
• 2019 – Dick Miller, American actor (b. 1928).

Last Meals

Matthew Reeves was an American man convicted of capital murder in Alabama and sentenced to death row. His case and execution generated controversy due to claims he was intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution With an IQ score in the 60’s, he certainly wasn’t the smartest bee in the hive. 

On November 27th 1996, Reeves and his friends planned to rob a drug dealer. Reeves’ car broke down in Selma, Alabama, and Willie Johnson Jr., who had a pickup truck, offered to tow their car to Reeves’ house. Reeves rode in the bed of the truck, but when they arrived at the house, Reeves stuck a shotgun through the cab window and shot Johnson and stole his money. At a party that evening, Reeves “pretended to pump a shotgun and jerk his body around mocking the way Johnson had died.” Johnson’s body was found inside his truck on Thanksgiving morning.

Reeves was arrested at a house a few hours after the murder. Two accomplices also involved in the crime, one of whom was his brother, were arrested a few days later. Both accomplices pointed the finger at Reeves and claimed he had been the shooter. 

Reeves was sentenced to death on July 20th 1998. Reeves’ brother and co-defendant, Julius Reeves, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. A third defendant, Brenda Scuttles, was also sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Reeves’ lawyers argued that his trial lawyers provided ineffective assistance of counsel and “should have done more to try to show he is intellectually disabled.”. They claimed that because of this Reeves should not face the death sentence. On July 2nd 2021, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that had vacated Reeves’ death sentence. The court decided in a 6–3 opinion, with the conservative majority reversing the circuit court. The Supreme Court stated that the Alabama state court had “correctly rejected claims that Matthew Reeves had ineffective counsel at trial because they did not hire a neuropsychologist to present evidence he is intellectually disabled.” 

Days before his execution, Reeves wrote a poem that hinted towards his thinking before his death. In his poem, shared on Twitter by Lee Hedgepeth, a digital reporter, Reeves continued, “Generations of a lot of sons of mothers, struggling will be victims of murders, fighting day by day to never be the victim to this killing machine. U want me dead but don’t know why, my color, my past, someone word, can u picture me being innocent, or did you just stereotype me,” before he concluded: “This system is not full proof, just think if you on protect the project houses, trailor park, shot gun houses, and brick houses, u too will be defending ur self, one day can equate to a sentence of eternal sleep.” 

Reeves’ lawyers had earlier argued that he’s intellectually disabled and the state should have made him understand the execution methods as well as help him in choosing a new execution method involving nitrogen. But when prosecution and defense experts carried a test on Reeves for intellectual disability, they reportedly found his IQ in the high 60s or low 70s. Last month, a federal court stated that state officials were “on notice that Reeves had IQ scores in the high 60s or low 70s, subaverage intellectual functioning, and had been found to be functionally illiterate…” 

A lot of people reacted online after his execution and also after the release of his poem. A user tweeted, “I thought he couldn’t read or write or understand anything. That’s the argument why he shouldn’t be accountable for robbery and murder, right?” The second one said, “Again can’t be a simpleton if he can write poetry.” “Matthew Reeves shot a man in the neck for $360 in cold  blood and then celebrated what he had done at a party the same night while still covered in his victim’s blood,” the third user added. 

Reeves was executed by lethal injection on January 27th 2022, at the age of 44. He refused a last meal and was pronounced dead at 9:24 p.m. and had no last words. Some of Johnson’s family members attended the execution and released a statement that said “After 26 years justice has finally been served. Our family can now have some closure.”

Last Week’s Birthdays

Olivia Colman (48), Christian Bale (48), Gene Hackman (92), Vanessa Redgrave (85), Phil Collins (71), Heather Graham (52), Katharine Ross (82), Tom Selleck (77), Marc Singer (74), Oprah Winfrey (68 ), Adam Lambert (40), Will Poulter (29), Tom Hopper (37), Ariel Winter (24), Elijah Wood (41), Alan Alda (86), Frank Darabont (63), Patton Oswalt (53), James Cromwell (82), Bridget Fonda (58), Alan Cumming (57), Frank Miller (65), Scott Glenn (83), Deep Roy (73), Ellen DeGeneres (64), Matthew Lillard (52), Kristen Schaal (44), Mischa Barton (36), Nastassja Kinski (61), Tatyana Ali (43), Adrian Edmondson (65), and Neil Diamond (81).