The Gossip Rag: Celebrity life, photos, gossip, and news

In a bizarre real-crime story, two teens used a skull as a bong in Humble, Texas:

Police this week learned of the sickening incident while investigating an unrelated credit card theft allegedly pulled off by the three defendants, each of whom was arrested Wednesday and charged with abusing a corpse, a misdemeanor. Kevin Jones (left) and Matthew Gonzalez, both 17, posed for the mug shots you’ll find above. Court records identify the third grave desecrator as Matthew Rule, 16. The May 7 probable cause affidavit, filed in Harris County District Court, does not indicate why the teens dug up the body of Willie Simms, a child who reportedly died in the 1920s.

Here is a transcription of the probable cause document:

PROBABLE CAUSE

YOUR AFFIANT, JIM ADKINS IS A PEACE OFFICER WITH THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT. AFFIANT HAS REASON TO BELIEVE AND DOES BELIEVE MATTHEW RULE, MATTHEW GONZALEZ AND KEVIN JONES HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS DEFENDANTS, WHO COMMITTED THE MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE OF ABUSE OF A CORPSE AT 600 PM 1960 EAST IN HUMBLE, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS.

AFFIANT BASES HIS BELIEF ON THE FOLLOWING:

ON OR ABOUT THE DATE OF MARCH 15, 2008 IN THE INCORPORATED CITY LIMITS OF HUMBLE, HARRIS COUNTY TEXAS, THE LISTED DEFENDANTS DUG UP A GRAVE SITE AND KNOCKED THE HEAD STONE DOWN OF THE DECEASED TO THE GROUND IN AN ATTEMPT TO DECAPATE [sic] A CORPSE. DEFENDANT, WITHOUT LEGAL AUTHORITY, KNOWINGLY DISTURBED A HUMAN CORPSE, NAMELY THE CORPSE OF WILLIE SIMMS.

For those not familiar with the latest police-shooting scandal to rock New York, Sean Bell, a 23 year old black male, was shot to death a year ago by five plainclothes police officers after leaving his bachelor party at a strip club in Jamaica, Queens. Sean Bell was unarmed as police shot over 50 bullets into the car, where he was killed, and two of his friends–Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield–seriously injured. The scandal now is around three of the five detectives involved in the shooting, who were indicted by a grand jury and found not guilty.

Sean Bell, his fiancee Nicole Paultre, and their daughter

The incident is interesting, for the following facts:

• Bell had been arrested once for a firearms possession
• Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield were arrested at least once for illegal firearm possession
• Sean Bell, according to a toxicology report, was drunk at the time of the shooting
• One of Bell’s friends was heard to say “yo, get my gun” as they left the club
• Sean Bell ran into an unmarked police minivan before the shooting
• Officer Michael Oliver fired thirty one times
• The three police officers, Gescard Isnora, Michael Oliver, and Marc Cooper, waived the right to Jury trial

After the shooting, Michael Bloomberg said “it sounds to me like excessive force was used.” Ice Cube noted that “this is just another example that the justice system in America views a black life as worthless,” while rapper Chamillionaire said:

I’m sure a lot of people are as disappointed with this verdict as I am. It scares me to know what type of power is given to people who are supposed to be protecting us from harm. It seems like they are all just protecting themselves. The verdict sends a terrible message to people across the nation who already don’t have faith in the law or our justice system. It will be hard for people to see this as anything other than a case of police protection.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called the verdict an “abortion of justice.” And while the police of New York city are getting more violent as time goes on–in the name of anti-terrorism, of course–a combination of perceived threat and noncooperation by the deceased are all that is to blame here. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, if you don’t follow a police officer’s precise orders, he has every right to shoot and kill you. That’s something that has to change.

Heath Ledger was found dead on January 22, 2008 at 3:31 PM by a masseuse in Mary-Kate Olsen’s New York City apartment. The masseuse had an appointment for Apartment 5A with Mr. Ledger, but no one answered a knock on his bedroom door. They opened the the bedroom and found Heath Ledger unconscious and unresponsive. The police said foul play was not suspected, but pills were found near the body. Heath Ledger was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived and was announced dead at the scene.

Heath Ledger’s body is being flown back to Perth, Australia to be buried. Lindsay Lohan is quoted as saying, “I loved him.”

Luciano Pavarotti (10/12/1935 – 9/6/2007) was this century’s most famous tenor. One of the Three Tenors, the opera singer perished from pancreatic cancer. According to Wikipedia, Pavarotti relapsed in 2007:

On Thursday, August 9, 2007, he was hospitalized for observation in his hometown of Modena, in Northern Italy, hospital officials there said. Hospital spokesman Alberto Greco declined to give the reason the 71-year-old tenor was hospitalized, but local daily Il Resto del Carlino reported that it was pneumonia. On August 21, it was announced that he was being treated in the cancer ward, given tests related to his pancreatic cancer, and would not be released for another few days

The 100 million or more albums sold during his lifetime will continue playing around the world as his musical legacy, which will be difficult to replace.