True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

Back in the day, everyone thought that Susan Cabot had the world at her feet and she actually did at one point. Blessed with stunning looks and a natural ability to not only sing, dance and act, she was also a gifted artist who illustrated children's books. It seemed that whatever she had the thought of doing, she was always able to make it a success. When she later retired from acting she found a new talent for fixing up vintage cars and reselling them. As well as being good at making money, she was careful on what she spent it on and invested in real estate and in the years before her death, her talents with investing would prove to be a great help to her especially when her mental illness was taking it's toll. 

Susan had been through a lot in life, pretty much from the day she was born. She came into the world on the 9th of July 1927 and her home life wasn't the best and that's putting it politely. Her father walked out when she was a young child and this devastated her mother (who was already quite a fragile person as it was) to the point that she had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalised. Instead of her mother having some time to rest so that she could get on with her life, it appeared that her mother had no signs of getting better and had to remain in psychiatric care. With nobody to look after her, Susan ended up being shifted from foster home to foster home, never knowing what was happening, always confused and frightened. She had endured so much in her early years and was a victim of sexual and emotional abuse, she was desperate to get out of foster care. 

She ended up rushing into a marriage at a young age as a way to escape. Things did start to look bright when she decided to really pursue her acting passion and her dream came true, she had made it! She appeared in iconic western movies such as Tomahawk and Gunsmoke. She found herself being typecast as a western movie actress and at first she didn't mind it but it began to annoy her as time went on. She wanted to try different roles, really stretch out her abilities as an actress, she had a great love for the theatre and decided to go back on stage where she could play a variety of different roles. 

She ended up getting divorced from her first husband but she didn't stay single for long. In an interesting and shocking twist to Susan's story, it turned out that the CIA wanted her to sleep with King Hussein of Jordan whilst he was in America. She later said that she had no intention of sleeping with him but she attended the party that he happened to be holding anyway. She said when she met him she fell for his charm and so it began, a seven year affair which resulted in her only son being born, Timothy Scott Roman. 

Apparently the CIA were well aware of the seven year relationship/affair and the fact that they had gone on to have a child together. The pair never married but the King gave her regular maintenance money for Timothy. Soon the relationship fizzled out and she met her second husband but this relationship didn't last long either sadly. She decided that she wanted to retire from Hollywood for good after years of going back and forth. Her final movie was called 'The Wasp Woman' which was a horror film. 

As the years rolled on, Susan's mental health difficulties were beginning to show, because of her traumatic childhood she had post traumatic stress disorder which she had been trying to manage for decades. Her home was a mess with mouldy food and clutter everywhere. She was able to get by financially thanks to her hobby of restoring and reselling vintage cars. She had also been smart with her money in the past by getting involved in real estate. So on one hand she was able to carry on providing for herself but on the other hand, she was completely falling apart psychologically and becoming more and more paranoid. Her son Timothy was now 22 and living with his mother. He had been going through some things himself physically and mentally. Things could get quite tense between Timothy and Susan at times and even though the wider public don't know what exactly went on behind closed doors, those who were close to Timothy appear to have a lot of sympathy for him which came across as a surprise when I was doing my research into this story due to what was to eventually happen. 

Susan's journey in life had been a very difficult one but there were some amazing moments, she achieved so much with her acting career and her talent but her life was to be sadly cut short at the age of just 59. Apparently on the 10th of December 1986, Susan woke up in her bedroom and began screaming and shouting. When Timothy tried to calm her down it was no good, she kept screaming and asking for her mother. As Timothy got on to the phone to call for help, Susan suddenly charged at him with a weightlifting bar and a scalpel. In the middle of this mayhem, Timothy was able to grab the bar from Susan and for whatever reason decided to bludgeon Susan over the head with it repeatedly. His lawyers later argued that his actions were a result of the medications he was on for his dwarfism, CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) and he had problems with his pituitary gland. 

After murdering his mother, whether it was intentional or a moment of losing control after years of abuse, whatever the real story is, we may never know but he chose to lie to the police and tried to hide the murder weapon. He made up a story that someone wearing a mask had killed his mother. It didn't take long for the truth to be revealed and Timothy was arrested and charged with his mother's murder. He was held in custody until trial where he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Due to the fact that there was no evidence of premeditation they couldn't prove that the murder was deliberate and planned. They also had evidence of both Timothy and his mother's mental state, Susan had actually been under the care of a psychologist at the time of her death but her psychologist was struggling to deal with her. Apparently the psychologist later revealed that the sessions with Susan were incredibly draining because she had gone through so much trauma in her life and because of her behaviour during those sessions. All of these things were taken into consideration when deciding a verdict. 

Timothy was let go after spending nearly three years in prison and was ordered to attend regular counselling and put on three years probation. After being released, Timothy turned his hand to art and like his mother he was naturally creative and talented. He was a very popular person and had many friends, a  lot of people had good things to say about him. As well as inheriting his mother's creative genes he sadly inherited her family's history of psychiatric disorders too. He struggled a lot with physical and psychological issues and sadly passed away at the age of 38 from complications related to CJD. On his online tribute pages there are numerous messages of support for Timothy and people saying how much they missed him. There were comments about how nice and kind he was as a person. Someone also said that they wished the world had known the real him and that he had been through so much. 

We may never know the full story of the relationship between Susan and her son but both were dealt a very hard card in life and it's so sad, both were very talented people and very popular. This story wasn't so black and white, there were obviously a lot of factors to take into consideration especially with the fact that Timothy had a brain disorder as well as emotional problems. I also wonder as well as having the post traumatic stress disorder if Susan had some form of dementia?, having reacted the way she did and Timothy mentioned that during shouting for her mother, Susan failed to recognise her own son. I'm just speculating about the dementia but I guess we will never know. It's such a heartbreaking story but both Susan and Timothy will continue to be remembered with fondness as online tributes from around the world have demonstrated. 

If you are a huge fan of R&B, Stephanie's beautiful face will not be unfamiliar to you, a woman of many talents she seemed to be popping up everywhere at one point and had worked with everyone from Mariah Carey to Usher to Beyonce. She wasn't just a pretty face and was known for being an incredible dancer who went on to be a highly successful Choreographer who everyone wanted to work with and of course her glittering acting and modelling career seemed to be going from strength to strength. 

If you have happened to watch any videos of Stephanie's dancing, you will notice that even in her rehearsals for shows, she had such an incredible and natural flow to her moves (I studied dancing professionally myself for many years and know what goes into it and could recognise the incredible ability she had as well as the powerful drive, passion, discipline and focus she had in spades) and no matter if she was in a group dancing, your eyes automatically fixed on her, not to sound creepy but her dancing was utterly captivating. It was no surprise that she was so sought after and she was in that fortunate position that a lot of doors were opened to her due to her incredible talent. 

She wasn't short on male admirers either and as fun as this may have been at times, it was also a hindrance as boyfriends would often be controlling or jealous due to how successful she was. She married an up and coming rapper by the name of Earl Hayes (I'm not really sure whether to call him 'an up and coming rapper' due to the fact that yes he had a lot of celebrity friends, attended showbiz parties with Stephanie etc but his career wasn't taking off as it should have done if you know what I mean, he just didn't have that special something) and as is the usual story, things in the beginning were great but trouble was soon bubbling under the surface. 

When you have two people in a relationship who are involved in the same industry, especially if one is hugely successful but the other is still struggling for their big break, teething problems are bound to happen if you don't have a secure, trusting relationship. With Stephanie continuing to work with big names, being a successful actress who'd starred in the Twilight Saga and had just been told that her series 'Hit The Floor' was doing so well that VH1 gave the go-ahead for a third season, tensions began to build especially as nothing seemed to be happening with Earl's career. 

The company that Earl kept was quite questionable also (not meaning to sound judgemental), he was close friends with controversial boxer Floyd Mayweather who was (not to sound too Mary Whitehouse about it) no stranger to lifting his hand towards women shall we say. In fact Floyd had a well known long history of domestic violence. So Floyd at one point tried to help Earl out with his music career by signing him to his own label but for whatever reason nothing ever came of that so Earl was just kind of floating in the wind next to his successful wife and more drama was to come. 

Stephanie and Earl had an up and down marriage with insecurities and infidelity and one of the huge issues that really rocked the marriage was Stephanie's past affair with the successful R&B singer, Trey Songz. Infidelity with anyone outside of your marriage is one thing but to have an affair with a guy who calls himself 'Mr Steal Your Girl' as well as declaring that 'I invented sex' and was known for being an over-the-top ladies man who slept with loads of female fans and bragged about his sexual skills, it was just a nightmare. I watched a performance that Trey Songz did and I agree that he is a very handsome chap and talented but there was women going crazy in the audience for him. There's a regular slot in his show where he selects a woman from the audience to come up on stage and they get to touch his sweaty body and he puts his necklace on them, the other women in the audience scream and boo with jealousy if he kisses the selected woman on stage. I don't know who loves Trey Songz more, himself or the women in the audience.

 Anyway, I ventured off there but you get the picture, Earl maybe felt that he didn't match up to Mr 'Steal Your Girl' and was obviously feeling self-conscious and just couldn't shake that off. Now at that point in their marriage they should've called it a day because this obviously ate away at him for a long time so when rumours came back around that there was the possibility that Stephanie had rekindled her affair with Trey Songs, Earl saw nothing but red. 

On the 8th of December 2014, Earl was on a FaceTime call with his close friend Floyd Mayweather and they were discussing Trey Songz and Stephanie. Earl was in a heated mood and whatever these rumours were about Trey and Stephanie, they really set him off. Without finding out the real circumstances or having any proof to anything, Earl stewed more and more on the details and started to declare that he was going to kill his wife. Floyd begged him not to do anything crazy and to take a breath and relax but there was no talking to Earl, he'd made his mind up, he was blind with rage and nothing was going to stop him. 

The exact details of what happened next is unclear but what we do know is that Earl left the FaceTime app on and Floyd was still there online and shouting for Earl to come back and to stop. To this day Floyd will not go into details but has said that he was a witness to what happened, the majority of it overheard on the FaceTime app. 

Neighbours heard gun shots and screaming coming from the couple's apartment and when the police arrived they got into the home where Earl had locked himself in the bedroom. The police tried to gain access and ordered him to come out and the next thing anyone heard was two final gunshots. Earl had taken his own life after murdering Stephanie. 

When the news broke, everyone was in shock and a lot of people in the music industry who had worked with Stephanie were heartbroken. Earl even had tributes made to him about what a great guy he apparently was. Someone made a stupid comment that Earl was not a violent man, well I don't know what they consider violence because it is clear that this man had anger issues and he murdered his wife, he pulled the trigger and ended her life over some rumours which might not have been true. It was clear that he could fly into a rage and even the likes of Floyd Mayweather couldn't talk sense into him or calm him down. 

Stephanie was just 30 years old when she was killed and never had the chance to have children or go on to continue her success. Earl was 34. 

Stephanie, who was originally from Canada was taken back home to be laid to rest at Valley View Memorial Gardens in Surrey. 

Earl was buried in Inglewood cemetery in LA. His inscription (which I find to be in somewhat poor taste, but that's just my opinion) on his memorial stone says ''This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased''.  Of all the things to have placed on the grave of a murderer, that was decided to be the appropriate quote in his family's eyes. I find it to be disrespectful to Stephanie in my honest opinion. I understand that some parental bonds with their children can never be broken and that some levels of love are unconditional but you do come across a lot of denial when someone who certain people believed to have been this angelic person suddenly commits an act of violence. They'll make excuses and say that the person was never angry and that their lives were great. Nobody knows what went on behind the doors of their apartment leading up to that horrific moment when he chose to murder his wife. All I can say is that this man had a history of an uncontrolled temper and how quick it was all done, the discussion with Floyd beforehand about what he was going to do. It sounds in my opinion based on my research that this was a situation that had been building for a long time and instead of ending the marriage, Earl didn't want to let go because of the status and in his own warped way he loved her but couldn't control her. It was his own insecurities and jealously that caused his paranoia and actions. There was a severe lack of trust in that marriage and the fact that rumours could have caused the ending of two lives is unbelievable but it sadly happened and whatever the real story about the rumours, Stephanie did not deserve to lose her life. 

I had to include the incredible Berry Berenson because I feel that a lot of people don't know who she is and the horrific circumstances of her death. I'm sure her lovely face will pop into your mind when I say the words...'Anthony Perkins's wife'. Yes, Berry was married to Anthony for decades and the couple had two very talented sons together, OZ went on to become a highly respected actor and director and Elvis went on to become a musician and songwriter. 

Berry was a multi-talented woman and it's no surprise that the amazing combination of talent that both Berry and Anthony had would continue through their children. As well as being a successful model when she was younger, Berry enjoyed a great career as an actress and photographer. 

Berry had been married to Anthony from 1973 right through to his tragic death from AIDS in 1992. It's well known now that Anthony was gay but he tried to keep his personal life private and his marriage to Berry was a very loving one. It can be difficult for some people to imagine a marriage that has a few factors missing but when I think of Berry and Anthony, I think of the incredible bond and eternal friendship that rock legend Freddie Mercury had with his beloved Mary Austin. It was clear for all to see how deeply Anthony and Berry loved each other. There's also so many beautiful pictures online of their little family and it's so heartwarming. 

So, sadly Berry had become a widow in 1992 and had to bring up their two sons the best way that she could and what a wonderful job that she did. 

On the 11th of September 2001, I don't need to tell you the exact events of that day because that date alone is just enough to being back all of those heartbreaking memories but on that morning, sadly Berry was on one of the planes that had been hijacked. She was returning home from a vacation and had been on Flight 11 which was flown into the North Tower. 

Utterly heartbreaking to have lost Berry on that day as well as so many thousands of other beautiful people. That horrible day is never forgotten and at the official September 11th memorial Berry's name is included on the panel N-76 at the North Pool. 

The tragic story of what happened to talented 90's actor, Merlin Santana is one that could make your blood boil. If you're a child of the 90's you will know that Merlin was pretty much a staple of iconic 90's comedies, he was everywhere and everyone liked him. He had roles in The Cosby Show, Under One Roof , The Steve Harvey Show, Moesha...the list goes on, he certainly worked hard back then and became a popular household name. 

With a promising career already blossoming, it was exciting to see what was going to happen next for this talented young man but his promising life was cut short and when I will tell you the details of what happened to him you will be just as sickened as I was when I first discovered this. 

Merlin was great friends with the iconic child actor Brandon Adams, the name might not ring a bell to you but when I say ''the kid who played young Michael Jackson in the Bad video'' I'm sure you will instantly know who I'm talking about. Brandon didn't just appear in the Bad video, he was also in Moonwalker as well as many other things. Both Merlin and Brandon were 90's icons and had a great friendship which should have been able to have continued to be enjoyed but sadly tragedy was just around the corner, meaningless tragedy. 

On the 9th of November 2002, Merlin and Brandon had been visiting a friend in the Crenshaw District in Los Angeles, (an area that has been known for it's violence) and were sitting in a car when out of nowhere someone fired a bullet through the headrest of where Merlin was sitting, killing him instantly. It turned out that (with the help of two accomplices) a 19 year old by the name of Damien Andre Gates was the one who pulled the trigger on the orders of his manipulative lying girlfriend. 

Apparently this girl Monique King, who was 15 at the time, had told Damien and his friend that Merlin had tried to sexually assault her which was completely false, Merlin and Monique had never met before. Damien was furious and planned to shoot Merlin with the help of Monique and his friend. After they carried out the senseless murder they fled the scene. Eventually they were caught and Damien was convicted of first-degree murder and the attempted murder of Brandon Adams. He was given three life sentences plus 70 years in prison, his accomplice Brandon Bynes was given 23 years. He was 23 at the time and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. The girlfriend who set the whole thing up based on lies, was tried as an adult and found guilty of second-degree murder. She was ordered to spend 10 years in a juvenile facility. The court took into consideration that Monique King who was just 15 at the time had what was described as 'a miserable childhood' and her lawyers hoped that her time spent locked up would help her psychologically. It's unclear what she hoped to achieve by the despicable thing that she did and why target Merlin? Whatever her reasons, there is no justifiable reason. It's is a heartbreaking loss of such a talented young man who was only 26 at the time of his death. 

Merlin is buried in Saint Raymond's Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. 

You many not be aware of who Johnny Wactor was if you're not a fan of General Hospital but Johnny was a talented actor who was beginning to make waves but had fallen on some hard times as is often the case in Hollywood. His career troubles began when certain members of the industry were having a strike. Johnny had just finished his contract with the bosses of General Hospital and they had no upcoming plans for his character so they let him go and with the strike, Johnny struggled to find acting roles. 

Never too shy of a day's work, Johnny decided that he would keep going to auditions and in the meantime, to make ends meet he would take a job as a bartender in a nightclub in downtown LA. 

Johnny's story as an actor in LA is not a rare one, Billy Connolly once said that in the majority of bars, cafes and restaurants in LA you will find actors and actresses in between roles just trying to pay their bills in dreams of the big time one day. Johnny was a passionate actor but was not big headed he had a habit of looking out for others and was a great friend to many. He did struggle with some drinking problems when times got hard during his career but at the time leading up to his death he was feeling more positive about the future and planned a career in the industry behind the scenes as a producer or writer. Sadly his dreams and plans were not to be realised because of a heartless event. 

It was May the 25th 2024 when Johnny had just finished his usual shift at the nightclub and being his usual self (being concerned for others) he walked his female co-worker to her car, Johnny did this with the majority of his friends to ensure their safety. On the way to her car he noticed that three men were messing about with his car and trying to steal a catalytic converter, there was a confrontation and one of the men pulled out a gun, Johnny shielded his friend as they fired the bullet and it caught him. His friend was in shock and asked him if he was ok to which he replied ''Nope, been shot'' and he fell back on to her. The three degenerates fled the scene and an ambulance was called but it was too late, Johnny had died whilst protecting his friend. 

The police were able to find the perpetrators and it turned out that they were part of a gang. On the 15th of August four men were arrested, two were charged with murder and the two were charged with lesser charges but it was some sort of comfort to the family and friends of Johnny as least to have had these monsters caught for what they did. This horrific incident only happened in 2024 so there will be more details available in due course and I will update if I find out anything. 

After Johnny's heartbreaking death, many paid tribute to him and shared their sadness for what could have been. It was also revealed that Johnny had been struggling financially a lot before he died and had not had an acting job in three years. 

Such a tragic loss of a wonderful person over nothing. 

Johnny was cremated and his remains were given to his family. His family also set up a foundation in his name 'Johnny's Mile Foundation'. 

Another talented actor who's life was taken too soon for the most nonsensical of reasons was Eddie Hassell. Just 30 years old when he was murdered, he had been a popular child star who was making a break into more adult roles. He was well known for his role as 'Clay' in 'The Kids Are All Right'. 

As well as being a talented actor, Eddie was a passionate adventurer who was all about skateboarding, doing his own stunts, hiking, climbing you name it, he enjoyed taking risks and living his life to the full. He would have been great in action movies had he been given the chance but sadly his life was taken at the young age of 30. 

The exact details of Eddie's murder are patchy but all we know is that his death occurred due to a carjacking in which 18 year old D'Jon Antone had shot Eddie in the stomach. Eddie sadly died of his injuries and D'Jon was quickly caught and charged with murder, there are no updates as of yet but like with Johnny's case, I will update with any news that becomes available. I suppose we have to take some comfort in knowing these evil people have been caught before someone else comes to any harm.

Eddie was cremated and his ashes were given to his family. He is remembered fondly by so many people and it's yet another senseless tragedy that should never have happened. 

If you've made it this far, thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to read my work. It was a lot to get through, this two part series, I covered 12 cases in the space of two weeks and it was a LOT of work but I hope that you found it all informative and remember fondly all of the people I have written about in this series. 

RIP Susan, Timothy, Stephanie, Berry, Anthony, All those who lost their lives on 9/11, Merlin, Johnny and Eddie. You will never be forgotten. 

Thank you again for checking out my latest post, I hope to see you elsewhere on my socials. If you enjoy my weekly content, please consider donating towards my work here. Until next time, please stay safe x