Cats Falck, a Swedish TV reporter and her friend died in a car that fell into the water in a suburb of Stockholm. It was later found that this was a murder committed by Stasi, East German Secret police.
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Jon-Erik Hexum (5 November 1957 – 18 October 1984) was an American actor and model.
Hexum is most famous not because of any of his roles but rather the bizarre nature of his death. Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun loaded with blanks on the set of the CBS series Cover Up, a program about a pair of fashion photographers/models who were actually secret agents. Hexum, who played a weapons expert, was said to constantly be playing with the guns as if they were toys and once angered Jennifer O'Neill so much that she chastised him on-set for his carelessness.
On October 12, 1984, after finishing a scene in which he fired several blank rounds from a .44 Magnum revolver, Hexum jokingly put the gun up to his temple and sarcastically said,
"Let's see if I've got one for me."
Hexum apparently did not realize that blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gun powder into the shell, and that this wadding is propelled out of the barrel of the gun with enough force to cause severe injury or death if the weapon is fired at point-blank range. Although the paper wadding in the blank that Hexum discharged did not penetrate his head[2], it struck him in the temple with enough force to propel a quarter-sized piece of his skull into his brain.
According to a crew member on the set: "Jon smiled and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang and a bright flash, then black smoke. Jon screamed in agony, then looked kind of amazed as he slumped back onto the bed with blood streaming from a severe head wound. It was horrible."
Hexum's assistant ran to him and wrapped his head in a towel. An ambulance was called, but before it could arrive, Hexum slipped into a coma, prompting crew members to carry him to one of the studio's station wagons and drive him to Beverly Hills Medical Center. Hexum went into surgery as his family and girlfriend, actress Elizabeth Daily, were notified of his condition. Initially he was listed as being in "serious" condition, but after five hours of surgery, doctors changed the condition to "critical." Hexum was given a feeding tube and respirator, and lingered for six days before doctors pronounced him brain dead. With his mother's permission, Hexum was flown to Las Vegas and taken off life support so that his organs could be donated.
Following his death, Hexum was dissected, his heart being given to a dying escort service owner. His eyes were also removed, although there is dispute as to whether they were given to a little girl, or a 66 year old man suffering from cataracts. Hexum's body was then flown back to California, where it was cremated.
The same month that Hexum died, an issue of Playgirl magazine came out, featuring a photo shoot that Hexum had done shortly before his demise.
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Karel Soucek, born in Czechoslovakia, died January 20, 1985 in Houston, Texas, was a Canadian professional stuntperson. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario.
On July 3, 1984, his bright, red, nine-foot barrel bearing the words, "The Last of Niagara's Daredevils". was rolled into the Niagara river 1000 feet above the cataract. In seconds, it was swept over the brink. Shortly after, Soucek emerged safe but bleeding. Soucek was fined $500 for performing the stunt without a license.
Having tasted success, he decided to build a museum at Niagara Falls, Ontario in which to display his stunting paraphernalia. He convinced a corporation to finance a barrel drop of 180 feet from the top of the Houston Astrodome into a tank of water to pay for his project.
Before the drop, a reporter asked if he believed in an after life. He replied, "There is no heaven or hell; there is no God. It's all a myth. You're born, you live, one day you die and that's it."
On January 19, 1985, as Soucek was enclosed in his barrel, 180 feet above the floor of the Astrodome, the barrel was released prematurely. Unexpectedly, it began spinning as it fell toward the floor. Instead of landing in the center of the tank of water, his barrel hit the rim. Soucek, severely injured, died the next day. Evel Knievel, the well-known stuntperson, called it the most dangerous stunt he had ever seen and said he had tried to persuade Soucek to cancel it, to no avail.
He is buried at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada cemetery.
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