Plot Synopsis

Utilizing archival material, interviews and narration, CELEBRITY CRIME FILES examines the most controversial cases in recent history that involved a celebrity. Not only does the series seek the real story by unveiling the truth and unearthing the facts, but it also presents competing theories that test the status quo. Each 60-minute episode focuses on the case of one celebrity, including: NFL player Rae Carruth, who shot Cherica Adams, one of his girlfriends, trying to make the murder look like a random act of violence -- all because she was pregnant and he was suffering from financial distress after losing a child support battle and a string of bad investments; up-and-coming hip-hop star LaLa Brown, the lead singer on the Lyfe Jennings song "S.E.X," who was murdered along with her boyfriend in a Milwaukee recording studio -- and the case is still unsolved; international superstar Marvin Gaye, whose father shot him after he moved in with his parents to isolate himself from the pressures of stardom -- but groupies and drug dealers still visited, increasing tension in their father-son relationship; Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay, who was shot and killed in a Queens music studio by an unknown assailant -- and the crime remains unsolved even though many of his friends were in the studio that night; pro basketball player Bison Dele (aka Brian Williams), who left the NBA for a nomadic life at sea with his girlfriend, which ended with him, his girlfriend and the boat captain missing after his brother, Miles Dabord, came aboard; promising actor and rapper Merlin Santana, who was fatally shot six times while sitting in a parked car in Los Angeles; pulp crime novelist Donald Goines, considered the father of contemporary street literature, who was shot and killed in 1974; and Peter Tosh, reggae solo artist and core member of The Wailers with Bob Marley, who was killed by three ex-cons who invaded his home, tried to extort money, and brutally tortured him.

CELEBRITY CRIME FILES returned for its second season on Monday, August 5, 2013 at 9pm ET/PT. The Season 2 opener featured Bumpy Johnson, Harlem's own Godfather, whose power, money and charisma made him a bona-fide celebrity.

The third season premiered on Monday, September 8, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT on TV One, with Ice-T joining the show as narrator for the new season. The season opener chronicled the life of Chris Lighty -- a giant in the entertainment world helming the careers of superstars like 50 Cent, P. Diddy, Mariah Carey and many more -- whose death was ruled a suicide by police, but friends and family say he was the victim of foul play. Subsequent Season 3 episodes documented the lives of: Stephanie St. Clair, New York City's beloved badass boss and first female kingpin in the 1920s; black men and women elected to lead, but consumed by greed, including Jesse Jackson Jr., Ray Nagin and William Jefferson; NFL players, like Sam Hurd and Darryl Henley, who were put behind bars for their involvement in illegal drugs; victims of hate crimes, such as the recent deaths of James Byrd and Michael Donald in Texas and Alabama, which shocked the nation; championship boxers, like Trevor Berbick, Riddick Bowe and Henry Tillman, who spent time in prison; people who died fighting for civil right and social justice, like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers; Shakir 'Shake' Stewart, who rose to become Executive Vice President of rap powerhouse label Def Jam Records and who later committed suicide, shocking his peers; Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, founders of the Black Panther Party; and Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, who, as a powerful member of The Crips, spread massive bloodshed and terror throughout South Central Los Angeles and was put to death via lethal injection in 2005.
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Season 4 of CELEBRITY CRIME FILES debuted on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 10pm ET/PT on TV One. In the season opener, "Drug Rich," a notorious Atlanta-based organization known as the Drug Rich Gang was involved in a spree of robberies that targeted local celebrities. This installment uncovers how law enforcement handles the violent home invasions and celebrity heists to their shocking methods.