title: Robert Berdella

text: Both Berdella's career and side-business gradually flourished, and by the mid-1970s he began working as a senior cook at several renowned Kansas City restaurants, also joining a local chefs' association and helping establish a training program for aspiring chefs at a local community college. Simultaneously, as his own business began to burgeon, he began to devote more of his attention to his own business as opposed to his work as a chef. By 1981 he had established several contractual agreements with both national and international contacts for his own antiques business. He viewed this business as his full-time job and later ceased working as a chef.


title: Robert Berdella

text: In 1982, Berdella began renting his own booth at the Westport Flea Market. This store was named Bob's Bazaar Bizarre, and primarily sold and traded primitive art, jewelry, and antiques. Although occasionally making a generous monthly profit, the income he typically generated via this business was often not sufficient to maintain his daily expenses and to make ends meet. As a result, Berdella would occasionally steal or scavenge for items to sell at his booth or take lodgers at his home as a means of gaining additional income.


title: Robert Berdella

text: At his work premises, Berdella became acquainted with a fellow merchant named Paul Howell, who operated a booth adjacent to his own. Soon, Berdella became acquainted with Paul Howell's younger son, Jerry. Initially, Jerry Howell and his friends scathed and taunted Berdella over his overt homosexuality, although according to Berdella, Jerry Howell later confided in him that he and his friends occasionally earned money as male prostitutes.


title: Robert Berdella

text: By the early 1980s, Paul Howell had relocated his business to a store close to the intersection of 39th and Main Street. His family had also moved into an apartment above the shop. Berdella remained a casual friend of the family, also offering his assistance if Jerry encountered any minor scrapes with the law. By the summer of 1984, Jerry Howell had turned 19.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella is believed to have killed his first victim on July 5, 1984. His first known victim was 19-year-old Jerry Howell. Berdella had promised to drive the youth to attend a dancing contest in Merriam. According to Berdella, he plied Howell with alcohol, Valium and acepromazine both in his car and at his house until the youth became unconscious. He then injected Howell with a heavy tranquilizer before binding the youth to his bed.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Howell was restrained to Berdella's bed for a period of approximately 28 hours. Throughout this period of captivity, Berdella repeatedly drugged, tortured, raped and violated him with foreign objects, repeatedly ignoring Howell's intermittent questioning as to why he was being treated in this manner, and pleas to be freed before, according to Berdella, Jerry "either asphyxiated on [his own] vomit, or the combination of the gag and the medicines were too strong for him to be able to catch breath".


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella would later state that he briefly attempted to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation upon Howell after he had died before dragging his body to the basement. He then suspended Howell's body above a large cooking pot and made several incisions to the youth's inner elbows and jugular vein, before leaving the body suspended in this position overnight to allow the blood to drain from his corpse. The following day, he dismembered Howell's body using a chainsaw and boning knives, before wrapping the sections in newspaper and trash bags. These bags were later placed inside larger trash bags which Berdella placed outside for a garbage crew to collect and take to a landfill.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Later questioned by officers investigating Howell's disappearance, Berdella claimed to have driven the youth to Merriam as promised, and that the two had parted company close to Howell's intended destination. Berdella further claimed he had not seen him since.


title: Robert Berdella

text: As would be the case with all Berdella's murders, he kept a detailed log in which he documented each act of sexual and physical torture inflicted upon his victim. Berdella would recall thatlike the subsequent victims he would hold captiveHowell had repeatedly pleaded for his ongoing abuse and torture to cease throughout the period of his capture, although Berdella would either ignore these pleas, taunt his victim, or threaten him. He would remain adamant to investigators that this would be not for his enjoyment, but what he termed his "physical and mental satisfaction".


title: Robert Berdella

text: On April 10, 1985, an itinerant former lodger, 20-year-old Robert Sheldon, arrived on Berdella's doorstep, asking if he could again stay at his house for a short period of time. According to Berdella, although Sheldon was responsible in paying rent, he considered him "an inconvenience" and, although he was not physically attracted to this victim, chose to drug and hold him captive on April 12 when he returned home from work to find Sheldon intoxicated in his home. Berdella was adamant he held no firm malice toward Sheldon, but saw him as an individual upon whom he could "express some of the anger and frustration that I had toward other people on".


title: Robert Berdella

text: Sheldon was drugged with sedatives and held captive in the second floor bedroom for three days, enduring forms of torture such as the swabbing of drain cleaner in his left eye, the insertion of needles beneath his fingertips, the binding of his wrists with piano wire with the intention of permanently damaging the nerves in his hands, and filling his ears with caulking to reduce his hearing capacity.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Three days after Berdella had begun holding Sheldon captive, on April15, a workman came to perform some scheduled work on the roof of his home, leading Berdella to choose to fatally suffocate Sheldon by placing a sack over his head, which he then tightened with a piece of rope. He later dissected Sheldon's body in the third floor bathroom.


title: Robert Berdella

text: The following June, Berdella found Mark Wallace (whom he vaguely knew via Wallace having previously helped him with yard work) hiding in his tool shed to seek shelter from a severe thunderstorm. As had been the case with Robert Sheldon, Berdella invited him inside his house, and, noting Wallace's acute state of tenseness and depression, volunteered to inject him with chlorpromazine with the explanation this would "calm down and relax" him. Wallace willingly accepted the offer and, 30 minutes later, Berdella decided to render him captive.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Wallace was carried to the second floor bedroom where he endured almost a day of captivity and torture including the application of alligator clips to his nipples to facilitate electrical shocks to his body at any point at which Wallace began regressing into a state of unconsciousness. According to Berdella, one hour after his "experimenting" with hypodermic needles by inserting them into various muscles upon his victim's back, Mark Wallace died through a combination of "the drugs, the gag, and the lack of oxygen". He noted this victim's time of death as being 7:00 p.m. on June 23.


title: Robert Berdella

text: On September 26, 1985, Berdella answered a phone call from an acquaintance named James Ferris, who asked to stay at Berdella's home for a short time. Berdella accepted with the specific intention of kidnapping Ferris, whom he arranged to meet at a bar that evening. Despite the brutality to which he had subjected his first three victims, Berdella claimed that Ferris was the first victim upon whom he intentionally inflicted torture. He also informed investigators there were occasions during his final three victims' periods of captivity when he ceased making additions to his abuse logs because he assumed the victim would not "be able to make it much longer".


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella brought Ferris home and drugged him with crushed tranquilizers he had concealed in a meal, then tied him to his bed before torturing him almost constantly for approximately 27hours. The torture included repeated administering of 7,700-volt electrical shocks to the shoulder and testicles for up to five minutes in each instance, and acupuncture via hypodermic needles to the neck and genitals. Ferris gradually became delirious, but Berdella continued his physical and sexual assaults until he noted in his log that Ferris was "Unable to sit up more than ". The next entry read "Very delayed breathing", and finally, Berdella noted that Ferris died with a slang term he had used in his career as a chef, "86", which Berdella later explained "meant anything from 'Throw it out' to 'Stop the project.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Todd Stoops was a 23-year-old drug addict and sometime prostitute who, alongside his wife, had twice lived briefly at Berdella's house in 1984. After Stoops and his wife moved out of Berdella's home the second time, Berdella did not see him again until a chance encounter at KansasCity's Liberty Memorial Park on June 17, 1986. Berdella invited him to his house with an offer of lunch, with an added incentive of sex as Stoops stated he needed $13 to purchase drugs (the equivalent of about $33 )


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella would later stress to investigators he had been extremely physically attracted to Stoops, and this victim was held captive for two weeks before he died, with him gradually increasing his captive's terror to make him a cooperative and incapacitated sex slave. Berdella used electrical shocks through Stoops's closed eyes in an attempt to blind him and injected drain cleaner into his larynx to try to silence his screaming.


title: Robert Berdella

text: During the second week of his capture, Stoops asked Berdella for a soft drink and sandwich. When Berdella refused, Stoops burst into tears. On June 27, he ruptured Stoops's anal wall with his fist, causing bleeding and discharge. Towards the end of Stoops's captivity, he tried to feed his captive ice cream and soup, although Stoops "wasn't able to keep anything down". By the final day of his captivity, Stoops was so weak Berdella later stated he had been unable "to breathe in a sitting position". On July 1, 1986, Stoops died; a forensic pathologist later testified that the ruptured anal wall caused septic shock which proved fatal.


title: Robert Berdella

text: In the spring of 1987, Berdella became friendly with a 20-year-old named Larry Wayne Pearson. This casual friendship began when Pearson entered his shop and explained to Berdella that, as a child, he had held an interest in both witchcraft and wizardry. Shortly thereafter, Pearson temporarily lodged with Berdella, and willingly performed chores around his home as a means of paying rent. According to Berdella, he did not initially intend to capture this individual, but formed the plan to do so on June 23 when, having bailed Pearson out of jail, the young man began jokingly referring to his practice of robbing gay men in Wichita.


title: Robert Berdella

text: That evening, Berdella ensured Pearson became intoxicated before injecting him with chlorpromazine and moving him down to his basement, where he bound Pearson's hands above his head, then linked the rope he had used for this purpose to a brick column, before injecting Pearson's larynx with drain cleaner. He then brought an electrical transformer to the basement.


title: Robert Berdella

text: According to Berdella, Pearson was by far the most cooperative of his six murder victims. On the fifth day of his captivity, having by this stage endured torture such as the repeated administration of electrical shocks with the transformer, and the breaking of several hand bones with an iron rod to render him submissive, Berdella deduced Pearson had earned his trust as to his continued cooperation in his sexual and physical abuse. As a form of reward, Pearson was moved to the second floor, with Berdella first informing Pearson that if he continued to cooperate, he would not continue to inflict as much pain upon him as he had done so while he had been held captive in the basement. Throughout the latter part of his six weeks of captivity, Pearson trained himself to sleep without moving, in order that he did not antagonize Berdella and thus invite further torture or being returned to the basement.


title: Robert Berdella

text: After six weeks of captivity, Pearson deeply bit into Berdella's penis before screaming he could not continue to tolerate his ongoing poor treatment. In response, Berdella killed Pearson by first bludgeoning him into unconsciousness with a tree limb, then suffocating him with a bag and ligature, before driving to the hospital to receive treatment for his wound. Pearson's body was later dismembered in the basement, and his head initially stored in a plastic bag inside Berdella's freezer before being buried in the backyard.


title: Robert Berdella

text: At 1:00 a.m. on March 29, 1988, Berdella abducted his last victim, a 22-year-old male prostitute named Christopher Bryson, whom he lured to his house upon the promise of payment for sex. At Berdella's home, Bryson was knocked unconscious with an iron bar, then bound to Berdella's bed, where he was subjected to similar methods of abuse and torture endured by previous victims, although in Bryson's case, Berdella repeatedly swabbed his eyes with ammonia, before exclaiming to him: "The only things you need to think about are you, me, and this house."


title: Robert Berdella

text: After several days, Berdella explained to Bryson he had begun to "trust" his captive, and that although he was willing to discuss aspects of the abuse and torture he was receiving, there would be no negotiations pertaining to his sexual abuse. Berdella finished this discussion with a stern warning: "I've gotten this far with other people before, and they're dead now, because of mistakes they made."


title: Robert Berdella

text: By the third day of his capture, Bryson had earned sufficient trust from Berdella to persuade him to establish a daily regime of tying his hands in front of him after his sexual abuse rather than above his head and to the bed upon the excuse that Berdella's doing so was restricting the circulation to his arms; he had also persuaded Berdella to leave a television on within the room, with the remote control placed between his legs whenever Berdella was out of the room. However, he would later state to investigators that he had thought almost constantly about escaping. The following day, he managed to break free of his restraints by burning through them using a book of matches Berdella had inadvertently left in the room and within his reach when he had left the house to go to his place of work.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Bryson then managed to escape from the house by jumping from a second floor window, wearing nothing besides a dog collar around his neck, breaking a bone in his foot in the process; he then ran toward a meter reader walking across the other side of the street, shouting for this individual to call the police. This individual led Bryson to the house he had been approaching, whereupon the occupants promptly called the police, who arrived minutes later.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Questioned at the scene by four officers, Bryson initially claimed he had been hitchhiking when abducted by Berdella, who had kidnapped, raped, and tortured him for four days before he escaped by jumping from a window on the second floor of the property. Furthermore, this individual had kept him bound to a bed on the second floor of the house throughout much of the time he had been held against his will, repeatedly sodomizing him, drugging him, and injecting his throat with drain cleaner to diminish his ability to speak loudly. As Bryson spoke, the officers also noted that in addition to the dog collar and broken foot, Bryson had red, swollen eyes, and visible scars and welts across his entire body. Two officers were told to maintain a discreet surveillance of the property, as Bryson was driven to the Menorah Medical Center, accompanied by a third officer, for treatment as the fourth officer radioed the Kansas City Police Department to request a formal search warrant of the property be drafted.


title: Robert Berdella

text: During later questioning at the Kansas City Police Department, Bryson divulged that his captor had shown him Polaroid images of men who appeared to be deceased, and that he was told that he would never leave the property and that if he became a nuisance or threat, he would either be subjected to greater levels of torture than what he had already endured, or simply killed.


title: Robert Berdella

text: On the afternoon of Bryson's escape, Berdella was arrested on charges pertaining to the sexual assault of Christopher Bryson. He declined to allow officers inside his home, and the search warrant earlier requested was drafted to search his property. Corroborating Bryson's claims of having been restrained and tortured in a second floor bedroom, investigators discovered the bedroom on the second floor was found to have burnt ropes attached to the posts at the foot of the bed. Also in the room was an electrical transformer, plugged into a wall, and with wires leading to the bed. A metal tray containing syringes, small bottles apparently containing prescription drugs, swabs, and eye drops were also close to the bed. Also found in the room were a long iron pipe, various lengths of rope, and leather belts. Investigators also noted that posts on the bed had been extensively worn, suggesting that restraints had earlier been tied to these posts, and that the individual or individuals had struggled to free themselves.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Searching the house and grounds of 4315 Charlotte Street, investigators uncovered a human skull inside a closet on the second floor of his property, and a partially decomposed human head in the backyard. The search also uncovered several human vertebrae scarred by both hacksaw and knife marks stowed in a hallway, and several human teeth stowed in two envelopes. Both a hacksaw and a miter saw were discovered in the basement of the property, and a chainsaw was also found to be soiled with bloodstains, flesh, and pubic hairs. Luminol tests revealed that the floor of Berdella's basement, and two plastic trash barrels, were extensively bloodstained.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Three hundred and thirty four Polaroid pictures and 34 snapshot prints of various male individuals were also found within Berdella's house; these pictures showed Christopher Bryson and several other men both in life and in death, and many of the images had been taken as the subjects had been tortured. The search also uncovered numerous restraints and sexual devices; pornographic literature; hypodermic needles; and a book on narcotics. Officers also discovered a stenographer's pad containing the detailed torture logs he had maintained for each victim above a chest of drawers, several newspaper clippings from "The Kansas City Star" regarding a missing young man named Jerry Howell, and both a wallet and a driving license belonging to a missing person named James Ferris was discovered in a closet on the second floor of the property.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Before the search of Berdella's property had concluded, the Kansas City Police Department assembled a special task force of 11 detectives and one sergeant to focus exclusively on Berdella's case. This task force extensively researched Berdella's history, discovering that he was a well-known individual among Kansas City's male hustlers, having earned a reputation for preying on transient young men. Several of these male prostitutes were also reluctant to accept him as a client both because of his penchant for drugging, injecting, and torturing his sexual partners and acquaintances, and also because he had long been considered a suspect in the disappearance of the two men whose personal possessions had been found in his house (Jerry Howell and James Ferris).


title: Robert Berdella

text: Missing person reports had been filed in relation to both these men, and Berdella had been extensively questioned in relation to both of these disappearances. In both instances, he had denied having anything to do with the individual's disappearance. Despite being considered a prime suspect in both cases, and being placed under surveillance, police had been unable to find any solid evidence linking him to either man's disappearance, and in both instances, after giving his initial statement to police, Berdella had indignantly refused to talk further without a lawyer present. He would later have his lawyer threaten to file harassment accusations against police unless their questioning and surveillance of him ceased.


title: Robert Berdella

text: James Ferris's wife identified him in several instant photos found at Berdella's property, some taken after her husband's death. Paul Howell formally identified one picture of a young man hanging upside down in Berdella's basement as depicting his son. Several other Polaroid images depicted as-yet unidentified young men, and several detectives were assigned the task of identifying each individual depicted to determine if he was alive or dead, and if alive, the circumstances surrounding his depiction. As several of these images depicted a section of the body of the individual who had taken the photograph, on April 13, Berdella was ordered to pose nude for a series of photographs in order that portions of his body could be photographed in the precise angle depicted within these images for comparison with the original Polaroid images.


title: Robert Berdella

text: As numerous male names had been found scrawled upon various stenographer's pads at Berdella's address, the detectives began attempting to trace each individual. One of these individuals traced, a young man named Freddie Kellogg, was able to state to detectives he and several other young men had intermittently lodged with Berdella since the early 1980s, and that Berdella had been in the habit of plying his lodgers with drugstypically intravenouslybefore engaging in sex with them regardless of whether they consented or not.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Kellogg also stated Berdella had expressly stated that a condition of his lodging with him was for Kellogg to persuade young men whom Berdella found attractive to attend parties at Charlotte Street in order that Berdella could drug them. Should Berdella ever discover any of these individuals was a police informant, he would use this knowledge as a tool in which he could blackmail the individual to his own advantage. In spite of this condition of his living with Berdella, Kellogg further stated that numerous male prostitutes and addicts had been reluctant to engage in any form of contact with Berdella because of rumors regarding his links to the 1984 disappearance of Jerry Howell.


title: Robert Berdella

text: In addition to these disclosures, Kellogg was able to name three of the individuals depicted in the Polaroids as being Todd Stoops, Robert Sheldon, and Larry Wayne Pearson. These investigators would shortly discover Berdella had paid a $30 fee to secure a bond for Pearson in June 1987 (), and that no further records existed to indicate Pearson was still alive. Nonetheless, investigators did discover that, in August 1987, Berdella had filed an assault report from a hospital room in which he alleged a man named "Larry Person" had deeply bitten his penis during oral sex, causing a serious laceration. An interview with Robert Sheldon's employers at a Kansas City manufacturing plant had confirmed the young man had been a reliable employee of theirs, but that he had suddenly ceased attending work in April 1985.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Shortly after the search of 4315 Charlotte Street had concluded, Berdella was informed of the discoveries at his property. The same afternoon he was ordered to pose for the series of nude photographs for comparison with the Polaroid images he had taken, investigators attempted to conduct their first formal investigation with him, although Berdella simply invoked his right to silence in this setting. (Investigators later sought to obtain handwriting samples from Berdella in an effort to prove he had written the notes found within the various stenographer's pads discovered at his house; he refused to cooperate and was sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court.)


title: Robert Berdella

text: Initially, Berdella was formally charged with one count of felonious restraint, one count of assault, and seven counts of forcible sodomy, as investigators continued their investigations into the discoveries at his property. He was assigned a temporary public defender as his legal representative, and held in protective custody in a Jackson County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail (the equivalent of approximately $1,119,500 ).


title: Robert Berdella

text: In late April, the skull found inside Berdella's closet was identified via dental X-rays obtained via subpoena from the University of Kansas Medical Center as that of Robert Sheldon. The same day a dental identification was made upon Sheldon's skull, two men separately phoned the Kansas City Police Department to state one of seven unidentified young men depicted in a photographic array released to the media on April 27 was a former high school acquaintance of theirs named Mark Wallace. When a detective contacted Wallace's sister, she stated her brother had been missing since mid-1985. Shortly thereafter, investigators discovered that photograph "D" released to the media in this same array was one Larry Wayne Pearson. As Pearson had once been a ward of the court in Wichita, his dental records were discovered and compared with the skull found in Berdella's backyard.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella would be formally charged with the murder by dismemberment of Larry Wayne Pearson in July after the head discovered in his backyard was formally identified as Pearson's on May 12. Prosecutors had gathered sufficient circumstantial evidence to accompany the physical evidence retrieved.


title: Robert Berdella

text: On July 22, 1988, a grand jury formally indicted Berdella for the murder of Larry Wayne Pearson. The following month, he was arraigned and pleaded guilty in the 4th Circuit of the Jackson County Court before Judge Alvin C. Randall to the first-degree murder of Larry Pearson. The plea was entered following a late-morning recess in the arraignment hearing into this particular murder, and came as a surprise to both the judge, and prosecuting attorneys. The prosecution team assigned to the case accepted the plea, with assistant prosecutor Pat Hall later explaining this decision as being "in the best interest of our client, the people of the state of Missouri".


title: Robert Berdella

text: Following the submission and acceptance of this plea, the judge insisted that Berdella confess under oath as to Pearson's death. In response to questioning by his attorneys, Berdella stated: "I put a plastic bag over his head, and tied it with rope and allowed him to suffocate." When asked if he performed this act deliberately, and with malice aforethought, Berdella simply stated, "Yes." He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Upon being sentenced, Berdella was transferred to the Missouri State Penitentiary, to commence his life sentence. He would later be temporarily placed in protective custody at the Potosi Correctional Center, due to concerns for his safety.


title: Robert Berdella

text: A second guilty plea submitted before the Jackson County Court on August 24 earned Berdella a further life term without parole for one charge of forcible sodomy against Christopher Bryson (six counts of sodomy and one charge of assault being dropped as part of a plea bargain); he would also receive a further term of seven years pertaining to one count of felonious restraint against Bryson on this date.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Despite initially pleading not guilty to the remaining five murder charges on September 13, 1988, with the agreement of his two defense attorneys, Berdella ultimately conducted a plea bargain with the prosecutors to avoid the death penalty in these remaining charges. In this plea bargain, Berdella agreed to confess in graphic detail as to whom he had killed, what indignities he had subjected each victim, how he had killed each victim, and what he had done with their bodies. These confessions were given to prosecutors between December 13 and 15, 1988. In return for his cooperation, the prosecution agreed not to seek the death penalty at a formal hearing scheduled for 9a.m. on December 19.


title: Robert Berdella

text: On December 19, 1988, Berdella formally waived his rights to be tried for any of the outstanding murder charges, upon the understanding he was to be convicted of one further count of first-degree murder (that of Robert Sheldon), and four counts of second-degree murder. He formally pleaded guilty to each of these charges before Judge Robert Meyers in the Jackson County Circuit Court. Members of the public were prohibited from attending this hearing, with only family members of his victims and news reporters permitted access to the proceedings. In response to these guilty pleas, Judge Meyers imposed five further concurrent life sentences, with an additional condition barring any future prospect of parole in the sole case of first-degree murder to which he pleaded guilty.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella provided testimony to prosecutors between December 13 and 15, after he changed his plea and sought approval of their agreement not to seek the death penalty against him if he fully confessed. In this testimony, Berdella claimed the movie he had first seen in 1965, "The Collector", had left a major impression on him. Following the senses of shock and disgust he claimed to have initially experienced after killing his first victim, the movie had resurfaced in his memory and subsequently became a motivating psychological force in the actions he exhibited against his victims in his subsequent murders. His victims, he stated to investigators, had lost any degree of humanity in his eyes once he had chosen to render them captive.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella confessed that many of the abbreviated entries within his torture logs were simply shorthand terms for methods of abuse he had inflicted upon his victims, whereas others would describe either their reactions to these ongoing acts of abuse and torture, or his initial observations upon viewing them when he entered the room where he had kept them restrained. The entry reading "CP", for example, referred to the chlorpromazine he had injected into his victims to assist in his restraining them, whereas entries reading "DC" referred to swabbing their eyes with drain cleaner or the injection of the substance into their vocal cords.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Entries reading "EK" or "EKG" referred to torture administered to his captives with electrical shocks, whereas several other entries contained the anatomical location where Berdella administered the abuse or torture to his victims. For example, at one point in relation to victim James Ferris, Berdella had written an entry reading: "2 1/2 ket nk + shoulder" to indicate he had injected 2.2 cubic centimeters of ketamine into his victim's neck and shoulder. Other entries such as "gag loose, no resist in retie" or "very delayed breathing, snoring" were more self-explanatory. Investigators consulted a specialist in toxicology in their investigation into Berdella following his arrest. This individual had stated that, judging by the notes he had written about victim Robert Sheldon, the accumulation of chlorpromazine injected into this victim had been toxic.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Furthermore, Berdella confessed to having alternately buried the two victims' heads in his backyard, adding that he retrieved and cleaned the first skullthat of Robert Sheldonat the time he buried victim Larry Pearson's head in the same hole. Sheldon's skull was that which he placed inside a closet on the second floor of his property, in an area of the household Berdella referred to as "my gallery area." Berdella removed the teeth from this skull and stowed them inside envelopes in the same room. He further claimed to have intended to retrieve Pearson's skull once sufficient time had elapsed for it to skeletonize, although he was adamant there had been no rational or sinister reason for his doing so. In addition, he vehemently denied media rumors that he had been engaged in any form of satanism, or that he had sold sections of his victims' bodies at his flea market booth.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella was able to name all of his victims to investigators. Although one victim (Mark Wallace) had been seized by opportunity when he had discovered him seeking shelter from a severe thunderstorm in his tool shed, his other five victims had been captured after he had unsuccessfully tried to steer them away from their general lifestyles, and had thus simply become frustrated at the failure of his efforts. On each victim's capture, Berdella described in graphic detail the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse to which he had subjected each victim, and which he had recorded within his torture logs. He tersely explained his successive actions to investigators on December 14 with the statement that he was "capturing them first, and what developed, developed." Nonetheless, he did claim that he had tried to prevent any of his victims from developing any form of malnutrition or infection by occasionally administering antibiotics, or nutrients intravenously as his abuse and torture escalated.


title: Robert Berdella

text: The methods of torture exhibited against his victims had included the administration of high-voltage electrical shocks, starvation, the application of alkali-based detergents to their throats, vocal cords, or eyes, and the bludgeoning of their hands with the intention of rendering these body parts unusable. One other method of torture was the insertion of needles beneath their fingernails. Furthermore, Berdella confessed that the level of abuse he inflicted had increased with each successive victim, and he had viewed the Polaroid images he had taken of his victims as being a "trophy or record of the event".


title: Robert Berdella

text: Although police extensively searched for the remains of Berdella's victims throughout their initial investigation into his crimes, the confession Berdella provided to investigators in the autumn of 1988 confirmed the dismembered bodies of all six of his victims had been stowed in trash bags and subsequently taken to a landfill. Consequently, their bodies were never recovered.


title: Robert Berdella

text: In the years following his 1988 convictions and incarceration, Berdella granted an interview to the Missouri-based television station "KCPT", and corresponded with numerous individuals. To all concerned, he attempted to restore his image as a "sensitive citizen" who had simply "made mistakes" in committing his crimes. He further claimed he had been demonized unfairly by the media before, during, and after his arraignments and plea bargains, and that police ineptitude had resulted in his being allowed to remain at liberty following his first murder.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella also lodged several complaints with prison officials regarding prison conditions. He also wrote several letters to a local minister claiming that prison officials knew of his high blood pressure, yet were not providing him with his prescribed heart medication.


title: Robert Berdella

text: In 1992, Berdella contacted the counselor whom he had met when first incarcerated, Rev. Roger Coleman. He informed Coleman of his distress due to staff at the Missouri State Penitentiary withholding his heart medication.


title: Robert Berdella

text: At 2:00 p.m. on October 8, 1992, Berdella complained to prison staff of severe heart pains, and was taken from his cell to the prison infirmary. Medical staff determined his heart was unstable and called an ambulance. Berdella was taken to a hospital in Columbia, Missouri, where he was pronounced dead from a heart attack at 3:55 p.m. He was 43 years old.


title: Robert Berdella

text: Shortly after, the judge at his trial, Alvin Randall, was informed of Berdella's death. In response, Randall sarcastically remarked: "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."


title: Robert Berdella

text: According to published reports, although Berdella had a depressive personality disorder, he was also a diagnosed sexual sadist who gained extreme sexual excitation from the humiliation, pain, and torture to which he had subjected his victims. Moreover, despite his claims to media individuals whom he had contacted in the years of his incarceration, he never expressed any degree of remorse for his actions and tersely referred to his victims as "play toys" in an interview he granted shortly before his death.


title: Robert Berdella

text: In November 1988, auctions of Berdella's vast collection of artifacts and furniture confiscated from his home and business were held on four separate dates, with the intention that all proceeds raised at the auctions to be used to pay his mounting legal fees within then-ongoing legal proceedings. The auction attracted considerable national interest; attracting telephone bids from across the United States. Although many items sold for less than the expected price, by the end of the first day's auctioneering alone, more than $60,000 had been raised for this purpose ().


title: Robert Berdella

text: Berdella's house was purchased by a local businessman for an undisclosed sum in December 1988. The property was later demolished.


title: Robert Berdella

text: By the time of Berdella's April 1988 arrest, he had abducted, tortured, and murdered at least six young men (although the Kansas City Police Department suspect Berdella of involvement in two other disappearances). In addition, despite the fact that more than 20 different men were depicted in postures suggesting unconsciousness or death within the 334 Polaroid images and 34 snapshot prints seized from 4315 Charlotte Street following his arrest, Berdella was adamant that the six individuals identified as victims and that he had confessed to killing were the only ones that he killed.


title: Technology company

text: A technology company (or tech company) is an electronics-based technological company, including, for example, business relating to digital electronics, software, and internet-related services, such as e-commerce services.


title: Technology company

text: According to "Fortune", , the ten largest technology companies by revenue are: Apple Inc., Samsung, Foxconn, Alphabet Inc., Microsoft, Huawei, Dell Technologies, Hitachi, IBM, and Sony. Amazon has higher revenue than Apple, but is classified by "Fortune" in the retail sector. The most profitable listed in 2020 are Apple Inc., Microsoft, Alphabet Inc., Intel, Meta Platforms, Samsung, and Tencent.


title: Technology company

text: Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc. (owner of Google), Meta Platforms (owner of Facebook), Microsoft, and Amazon.com, Inc. are often referred to as the Big Five multinational technology companies based in the United States. These five technology companies dominate major functions, e-commerce channels, and information of the entire Internet ecosystem. As of 2017, the Big Five had a combined valuation of over $3.3 trillion and make up more than 40 percent of the value of the Nasdaq-100 index.


title: Technology company

text: Many large tech companies have a reputation for innovation, spending large sums of money annually on research and development. According to PwC's 2017 Global Innovation 1000 ranking, tech companies made up nine of the 20 most innovative companies in the world, with the top R&D spender (as measured by expenditure) being Amazon, followed by Alphabet Inc., and then Intel.


title: Technology company

text: As a result of numerous influential tech companies and tech startups opening offices in proximity to one another, a number of technology districts have developed in various areas across the globe. These include: Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Wadi in Israel, Silicon Docks in Dublin, Silicon Hills in Austin, Tech City in London; Digital Media City in Seoul, Zhongguancun in Beijing, Cyberjaya in Malaysia and Cyberabad in Hyderabad.


title: Finn Jones

text: Finn Jones (born Terence Jones; 24 March 1988) is an English actor known for his roles as Loras Tyrell in the HBO series "Game of Thrones" (2011–2016) and Danny Rand / Iron Fist in the Netflix television shows "Iron Fist" (2017–2018), "The Defenders" (2017), and "Luke Cage" (2018), which are set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


title: Finn Jones

text: Jones trained at the Arts Educational Schools on a three-year acting course. Prior to this he was a Sixth Form student at Hayes School in Bromley.


title: Finn Jones

text: In October 2009, Jones played Jamie, a young man who found love with Hannah Ashworth in the second series of "Hollyoaks Later". Later, he returned to the "Hollyoaks" village to tie in with Emma Rigby's (Hannah Ashworth) departure in February 2010.


title: Finn Jones

text: In January 2010, Jones appeared in the 11th series of "Doctors". On 1 and 8 April 2010, he appeared in two episodes of "The Bill" playing Commander Lisa Kennedy's (played by Julie Graham) son Mark Kennedy, who was accused of murder. In the same month he finished filming for a new online drama called "The Curfew" commissioned by Channel 4 and produced by BAFTA award-winning company LittleLoud Productions.


title: Finn Jones

text: Jones also played Santiago Jones in the "Doctor Who" spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures" in the story "Death of the Doctor" alongside Katy Manning as former "Doctor Who" companion Jo Grant and Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.


title: Finn Jones

text: On 19 June 2010, it was announced that Jones would be appearing in "Game of Thrones", the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel series, as Ser Loras Tyrell. He also had a small role in the 2012 horror film "".


title: Finn Jones

text: In 2014, he starred in two films, "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Last Showing". It was reported in February 2016, that Jones was cast as Danny Rand / Iron Fist for the Marvel Television/Netflix series, "Iron Fist", set within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. In March 2016, Marvel officially confirmed that Jones was cast as Danny Rand. Jones reprised the role in "The Defenders" and the second season of "Luke Cage" and "Iron Fist".


title: Finn Jones

text: In 2019, it was announced that Jones would join the second season of the Peabody Award-winning series "Dickinson" on Apple TV+, playing Samuel Bowles.


title: Finn Jones

text: Jones' birth name is Terence "Terry" Jones. He changed it to avoid confusion with Terry Jones, a member of Monty Python.


title: Finn Jones

text: In December 2015, Jones assisted Oxfam campaigners in raising money for their appeal to support Syrian refugees, by singing carols at a shopping centre in Islington. He appeared alongside Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Labour Party, and later voiced his support for Corbyn in a post on Instagram.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: On September 18, 1970, American musician Jimi Hendrix died in London at the age of 27. One of the 1960s' most influential guitarists, he was described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: For some days prior to his death, Hendrix had been in poor health, in part from fatigue caused by overwork, a chronic lack of sleep, and an assumed influenza-related illness. Insecurities about his personal relationships, as well as disillusionment with the music industry, had also contributed to his frustration. Although the details of his final hours and death are disputed, Hendrix spent much of his last day alive with Monika Dannemann. In the morning hours of September18, Dannemann found Hendrix unresponsive in her apartment at the Samarkand Hotel, 22Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill. She called for an ambulance at 11:18 a.m., and Hendrix was taken to St Mary Abbots Hospital, where an attempt was made to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at 12:45 p.m.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: The post-mortem examination concluded that Hendrix aspirated his own vomit and died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates. At the inquest, the coroner, finding no evidence of suicide, and lacking sufficient evidence of the circumstances, recorded an open verdict. Dannemann stated that Hendrix had taken nine of her prescribed Vesparax sleeping tablets, 18 times the recommended dosage.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: On October 1, 1970, Hendrix was interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Renton, Washington. In 1992, his former girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham, asked British authorities to reopen the investigation into Hendrix's death. A subsequent inquiry by Scotland Yard proved inconclusive, and in 1993 they decided against proceeding with an investigation.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: During the week before his death, he was dealing with two pending lawsuits: one a paternity case, and the other a recording contract dispute that was due to be heard by a UK High Court the following week. He was also troubled with wanting to leave his manager, Michael Jeffery. Hendrix was fatigued and suffering from poor health, owing in part to severe exhaustion caused by overworking, a chronic lack of sleep, and a persistent illness assumed to be influenza-related. Lacking trusting personal relationships, his insecurities about the future and disillusionment with the music industry contributed to his frustration.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: On September 11, 1970, Hendrix gave his final interview in his suite at the Cumberland Hotel in London, where he talked with Keith Altham, a journalist for "Record Mirror". During the interview, Hendrix confirmed reports that Billy Cox, the bass player in his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was leaving. Cox, who had been suffering from severe exhaustion and was exhibiting symptoms of paranoia, mutually agreed with Hendrix that they should suspend their plans to collaborate musically. When Altham asked Hendrix: "Do you feel any kind of compulsion to prove yourself as King Guitar", Hendrix replied: "No, I don't even let that bother me. Because they say a lot of things about people that, if they let it bother them, they wouldn't even be around today ... King Guitar now? Wow, that's a bit heavy." Altham also suggested that Hendrix invented psychedelic music, to which he laughed and replied: "A mad scientist approach ... I don't consider [my music] the invention of psychedelic, it's just asking a lot of questions."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: The following day, Hendrix received a phone call from one of his girlfriends, Devon Wilson, who had become jealous after hearing rumors that he was dating another woman, Kirsten Nefer. Nefer recalled: "I heard Jimi talk to Devon ... she was mad ... she went into fits ... Jimi said 'Devon, get off my back. Hendrix was scheduled to perform in Rotterdam on September 13, but the show, along with three others, was cancelled because of Cox's incapacitation. During the evening of September 13, Nefer visited Hendrix at the Cumberland. After informing him that she would have to go back to work that evening, he convinced her to phone her boss, actor George Lazenby, and ask for the night off. Lazenby became angry and shouted over the phone to Nefer: "You're nothing but a fucking groupie", which Hendrix overheard. The exchange upset him, and he told Nefer: "Don't you ever go out to that guy again". Nefer explained to him that she had spent six months working on a film with Lazenby and that she did not want to quit her job; Hendrix eventually agreed. Nefer spent the night with him and left in the morning.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Hendrix spent most of the early afternoon and evening of September 14 discussing his career plans with the record producer Alan Douglas. In the early morning hours of September 15, he went to London's Heathrow Airport with Douglas, who was returning to New York. Hendrix's confidante Sharon Lawrence was in London, and spoke with him that day. Lawrence commented: "Jimi tracked me down, detailing his pressures and discussing the 'so-called friends'. He was jittery and angry." According to Lawrence, Hendrix told her: "I can't sleep. I can't focus to write any songs." Later that afternoon, his girlfriend Monika Dannemann arrived at the Cumberland. She and Hendrix then drove to her apartment in the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: During the afternoon of September 15, Hendrix was asked by his friend Eric Burdon, formerly of the Animals, if he wanted to participate in a jam session at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with Burdon's newly formed band, War. Hendrix accepted, but when he arrived at the club that evening, he was not allowed to play owing to his apparently drug-related disorientation. Burdon commented: "Jimi came down and was well out of it. He ... was wobbling too much to play, so I told him to come back the following night." Hendrix returned the next night and presented a healthier appearance. The crowd was enthusiastic and impressed by his performance despite his uncharacteristically subdued guitar playing when he sat in with War on "Tobacco Road" and "Mother Earth". This was the last time Hendrix played guitar in public.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Although the details of Hendrix's last day and death are unclear and widely disputed, he had spent much of September 17 in London with Monika Dannemann. He awoke late that morning at Dannemann's apartment in the Samarkand Hotel. By around 2:00p.m., he was sitting in a garden area outside the apartment enjoying some tea while she took photographs of him holding his favorite Fender Stratocaster guitar that he called "Black Beauty". In the opinion of author Tony Brown, "Jimi doesn't look particularly healthy in these photographs: his face seems a little puffy and on only a few of the pictures does he attempt to smile."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: According to Dannemann, by 3:00p.m. they had left the apartment to use a bank. They continued on to Kensington Market, where Hendrix signed an autograph for a young boy, purchased a leather jacket, and ordered some shoes. He also briefly spoke with his ex-girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, inviting her to visit him at his hotel that evening at 8:00p.m.; she declined the invitation because of prior engagements, and later admitted that she had "regretted it ever since". Hendrix and Dannemann then went to a Chelsea antiques market, where Hendrix purchased more clothing. After another stop to buy writing paper, which he used to compose his final lyrics, Dannemann and Hendrix drove to his suite at the Cumberland Hotel, meeting Devon Wilson as she walked down King's Road. Hendrix asked Dannemann to stop the car so that he could get out and talk with Wilson, who invited Hendrix to a party that evening. Dannemann became jealous, giving Wilson a cold stare during the brief meeting. Later, Phillip Harvey invited Dannemann and Hendrix to tea; they accepted. Prior to their arrival at Harvey's, they briefly stopped by the Cumberland.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: While at the hotel, Hendrix made several telephone calls. Dannemann said he phoned his lawyer Henry Steingarten, asking him to find a way out of his contract with his manager Mike Jeffery, and producer Eddie Kramer, for whom Hendrix left a voice message. Mitch Mitchell said that he called Hendrix at the Cumberland on September 17, after having been asked to do so by tour manager Gerry Stickells, who had spoken to Hendrix just minutes earlier. Mitchell said that during the phone conversation Hendrix agreed to join him around midnight at the Speakeasy Club for a previously arranged jam session, which included Sly Stone.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: After stopping at the Cumberland, Hendrix and Dannemann accompanied Harvey to his apartment, arriving around 5:30 p.m. Hendrix and Dannemann smoked hashish and drank tea and wine with Harvey and two of his female companions while discussing their individual careers. Sometime around 10:00p.m., Dannemann, apparently feeling left out of the conversation and jealous of the attention Hendrix was giving Harvey's female friends, became visibly upset and stormed out of the flat. Hendrix followed her, and an argument ensued between them during which Dannemann reportedly shouted: "you fucking pig". Harvey, concerned that their yelling would draw unwanted attention from the police, asked them to quiet down.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Harvey, who had remained silent about the incident out of respect for his English nobleman father, Arthur Vere Harvey, gave an affidavit after his father's death in 1994. In his statement, he claims to have been mildly concerned for Hendrix's safety, worried that Dannemann might "resort to serious physical violence". According to Harvey, Dannemann "verbally assaulted [Hendrix] in the most offensive possible way". Approximately 30 minutes later, Hendrix re-entered the flat and apologized for the outburst before leaving with Dannemann at 10:40 p.m.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Dannemann said she then prepared a meal for them at her apartment around 11:00p.m. and shared a bottle of wine with Hendrix. Sometime after returning to the apartment, Hendrix took a bath, then wrote a poem titled "The Story of Life". He also called former producer/co-manager Chas Chandler and left a message on the answering machine, "I need help bad, man."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: At approximately 1:45 a.m. on Friday, September 18, Dannemann drove Hendrix to the party Wilson had invited him to earlier that day, which was hosted by Hendrix's acquaintance and business associate, Pete Kameron. At the party, Hendrix complained to Kameron about business problems, ate some food, and took at least one amphetamine tablet. Approximately 30 minutes later, Dannemann rang the flat's intercom asking for Hendrix. Another guest, Stella Douglas, asked her to return later. According to guest Angie Burdon, the estranged wife of Eric Burdon of the Animals, when Dannemann came back around 15 minutes later, Douglas used an assertive approach with her to the point of being impolite. Undeterred, Dannemann demanded to speak with Hendrix. Burdon recalled: "[Hendrix] got angry because [Dannemann] wouldn't leave him alone." According to Burdon, other guests at the party shouted out the windows at Dannemann, asking her to leave. Hendrix eventually yielded and spoke with Dannemann before unexpectedly leaving the party around 3:00a.m.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Dannemann, the only eyewitness to Hendrix's final hours, said that sometime after 3:00a.m., she prepared two tuna fish sandwiches for them after arriving back at her basement apartment. Around 4:00a.m., Hendrix, struggling with insomnia after having consumed amphetamines hours earlier, asked her for sleeping tablets. She later said she refused his request hoping he would fall asleep naturally. Dannemann said she surreptitiously took a sleeping tablet sometime around 6:00a.m., with Hendrix still awake. She awoke sometime between 10:0010:20 a.m. to find him sleeping normally in bed next to her. She said she then left to purchase cigarettes, and when she returned around 11:00a.m., found him in bed breathing, although unconscious and unresponsive. She telephoned for an ambulance at 11:18 a.m. and one arrived at 11:27 a.m.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: When ambulance crew members Reg Jones and John Saua arrived at the Samarkand, the door to the flat was wide open, the gas fire was on, the curtains were drawn, and the apartment was dark. The crew called out several times, but after receiving no response, they entered and found Hendrix alone in bed. Dannemann was nowhere to be found. According to Jones: "Well, we had to get the police, we only had [Hendrix] and an empty flat, so John ran up and radioed, and got the aspirator ... It was horrific. He was covered in vomit. There was tons of it all over the pillow—black and brown it was. His airway was completely blocked all the way down ... We felt his pulse ... [shone] a light in his eyes. But there was no response at all." At 11:30 a.m., police officers Ian Smith and Tom Keene responded to a call for police assistance from the ambulance control centre. Jones commented: "Once the police arrived, which seemed like no time at all, we got [Hendrix] off to hospital as quick as we could."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: The ambulance crew left the hotel at approximately 11:35 a.m. to take Hendrix to St Mary Abbots Hospital and they arrived at 11:45 a.m. Medical registrar Martin Seifert stated: "Jimi was rushed into the [resuscitation] room. He was put on a monitor, but it [ECG trace] was flat. I pounded his heart [CPR] a couple of times, but there was no point, he was dead". According to Seifert, the attempt to resuscitate Hendrix lasted "just a few minutes". The surgical registrar, John Bannister, commented: "He was cold and he was blue. He had all the parameters of someone who had been dead for some time. We worked on him for about half an hour without any response at all." Bannister pronounced Hendrix dead at 12:45 p.m., on Friday, September18, 1970; he was 27 years old. He later stated: "On admission he was obviously dead. He had no pulse, no heartbeat, and the attempt to resuscitate him was merely a formality."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: During the morning of September 18, Eric Burdon arrived at the Samarkand sometime before the ambulance crew and found that Hendrix was already dead. Burdon immediately became concerned that police would find drugs at the apartment, and as he was collecting incriminating evidence, he found the poem that Hendrix had written hours earlier, "The Story of Life". Burdon, who said he had previously discussed suicide and death with Hendrix, assumed the poem was a suicide note. Under this assumption, he made comments to the press regarding his belief that Hendrix had committed suicide that he has since recanted: "I made false statements ... I simply didn't understand what the situation was. I misread the note ... I thought it was a goodbye". Dannemann said Hendrix told her: "I want you to keep this [poem] forever [and] I don't want you to forget anything that is written. It's a story about you and me".


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Soon after Bannister pronounced Hendrix dead, a hospital spokesperson told the press: "We don't know where, how, or why he died, but he died of an overdose." By that evening, many newspapers in London and New York had printed sensationalized headlines that exploited the death-from-overdose account. Hendrix's public relations manager, Les Perrin, granted an interview on Dutch radio soon after the hospital announcement. He commented: "Well, all I know is that Mr. Hendrix's body was taken to St. Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, at 11:45 this morning, and he was certified to be dead on arrival." At 2:00p.m., BBC Radio 1 reported: "Jimi Hendrix, regarded by millions as one of the most talented and original performers in modern rock music, is dead." That evening, "The New York Times" described him as "a genius black musician, a guitarist, singer and composer of brilliantly dramatic power. He spoke in gestures as big as he could imagine and create."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: On September 19, Dannemann spoke with a journalist for the German tabloid "Bild". During the interview, published on September 24, Dannemann stated: "I loved him, and Jimi loved me ... We were already engaged ... I would then have designed the sleeves for his records ... He could not sleep. So I gave him the tablets." On September 20, a reporter from "The Daily Telegraph" interviewed Dannemann's brother, Klaus-Peter Dannemann, who stated: "[Monika] telephoned me on [September 19] and told me that [Hendrix] took nine sleeping tablets. She said that Jimi had told her that he wanted to sleep for a day and a half before he went to America. She told me that he did not intend to kill himself."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: To determine the cause of death, the coroner, Gavin Thurston, ordered a post-mortem examination on Hendrix's body, which was performed on September 21, by Professor Robert Donald Teare, a forensic pathologist. Teare reported that Hendrix was "well nourished and muscular", and he identified a quarter-inch scar on Hendrix's left wrist. He said that there were "no stigmata of [intravenous] drug addiction. Once these marks are there [in the skin], they never go away. In this case, there were no marks at all." Although Teare observed that the right side of Hendrix's heart was widely dilated, he found no evidence of valvular heart disease. He discovered a partially collapsed left lung and 400 ml of fluid in Hendrix's chest. Both lungs were congested, and vomit was found in the smaller bronchi. According to Teare, Hendrix's stomach "contained a medium-sized partially digested meal in which rice could be distinguished." Teare concluded that Hendrix's kidneys were healthy, and his liver was congested. His "bladder was half full of clear urine." He stated that Hendrix's blood alcohol content was 100 mg per 100 ml, "enough to fail a breathalyzer test ... the equivalent of about four pints of beer." Teare reported that analysis of Hendrix's blood "revealed a mixture of barbiturates consistent with those from Vesparax", and he estimated that drug concentrations translated to ingestion of 1.8 grams of barbiturate, 20 mg of amphetamine, and 20 mg of cannabis. Teare gave the cause of death as: "Inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication." He did not attempt to determine Hendrix's time of death.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Thurston began an inquest on September 23, and on September 28 he concluded that Hendrix had aspirated his own vomit and died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates. Citing "insufficient evidence of [the] circumstances", he recorded an open verdict. He commented: "The cause of death was clearly inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication, but there is no evidence as to intention to commit suicide ... If the question of intention cannot be answered, then it is proper to find the cause of death and leave it an open verdict." Dannemann later stated that Hendrix had taken nine of her prescribed Vesparax sleeping tablets. Intended to be taken in half-tablet doses, nine tablets of the powerful sedative amounted to 18 times the recommended amount.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: After Hendrix's body had been embalmed by Desmond Henley, it was flown to Seattle, Washington, on September 29. After a service at Dunlap Baptist Church on October 1, he was interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Renton, Washington, the location of his mother's gravesite. Hendrix's family and friends traveled in 24 limousines. More than two hundred people attended the funeral, including several notable musicians such as the original Experience members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, as well as Miles Davis, John Hammond and Johnny Winter.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Tony Brown, author of "Jimi Hendrix: The Final Days" (1997), had been in regular contact with Dannemann from 1980 until her death in 1996. He visited with her on multiple occasions and spoke with her numerous times over the phone. Soon after contacting her, Brown came to the conclusion that her account of the events of Hendrix's final days "would change from one call to the next." In the days following Hendrix's death, she gave two significantly different accounts of the morning of September 18.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: At approximately 4:00p.m. on September 18, Dannemann told Police Sergeant John Shaw: "We went to sleep about 7:00a.m. When I woke up at eleven his face was covered in vomit, and he was breathing noisily. I sent for an ambulance, and he was taken to hospital. I also noticed that ten of my sleeping tablets were missing." In a statement given to P. Weyell of the coroner's office on September 24, she said:


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: I made a sandwich and we talked until about 7:00a.m. He then said that he wanted to go to sleep. He took some tablets, and we went to bed. I woke up about 11:00a.m., and saw that Jimi's face was covered in vomit. I tried to wake him but could not. I called an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital in Kensington ... Prior to going with him to the hospital, I checked my supply of Vesparax sleeping tablets and found that nine of them were missing.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: In Dannemann's initial statements, she said she awoke at 11a.m. on September 18. During the inquest she stated that she awoke at 10:20 a.m., and left to purchase cigarettes, something she had previously failed to mention. In 1971, she wrote a manuscript in which she said she awoke at 10a.m. In 1975, during an interview with author Caesar Glebbeek, Dannemann stated that she awoke at 9a.m. According to Burdon, Dannemann phoned him as "the first light of dawn was coming through the window." Stickells said he received a phone call regarding a problem with Hendrix "between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m." Mitchell said he waited for Hendrix at the Speakeasy Club until they closed at 4a.m., and a couple of hours after his hour and a half drive home, he received a phone call from Stickells, who told him Hendrix had died. In her statements to the police and coroner's office, Dannemann never mentioned telephoning Burdon.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: Although Dannemann claimed that Hendrix was alive when placed in the ambulance at approximately 11:30 a.m. and that she rode with him on the way to the hospital, the ambulance crew later denied she was there. Statements from the paramedics who responded to the call support that they found Hendrix alone in the flat when they arrived at 11:27 a.m., fully clothed and apparently already dead. Jones later commented: "[When] we arrived at the flat, the door was flung wide open, nobody about, just the body on the bed." Saua stated: "There was just me and the casualty and Reg the driver. Nobody else." Burdon stated: "[Dannemann] didn't leave in the ambulance; she was with me". According to Jones, Hendrix's bowels and bladder had released some of their contents prior to the ambulance crew's arrival at the Samarkand. Saua stated that the vomit was dry when they arrived, making use of their aspirator ineffective. Saua commented: "When we moved [Hendrix], the gases were gurgling, you get that when someone has died". According to police officer Smith: "The ambulance men were there, but Jimi was dead ... There was really nothing they could do for him." Smith also disputes Dannemann's claim that she was there with Hendrix at the flat and in the ambulance:


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: No, I remember quite clearly the doors shutting on the crew and Jimi ... there was no one about. If she had been in the flat, they would never have called us to come ... But because no one was there, he was dead, and circumstances were a little odd, suspicious, they radioed ... us in. It wasn't until later in the day that I found out that it was Jimi Hendrix.


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: In 1992, after having conducted an extensive review of the events of September 18, 1970, the London Ambulance Service issued an official statement: "There was no one else, except the deceased, at the flat when they arrived; nor did anyone else accompany them in the ambulance to St. Mary Abbotts Hospital."


title: Death of Jimi Hendrix

text: In 1992, having arranged for a private investigation of Hendrix's death, Etchingham supplied the results of the effort to UK authorities and requested they reopen the coroner's inquest. After a several-month inquiry by Scotland Yard, during which every interested party to the events was interviewed, officials were confident the request would be granted. The investigation eventually proved inconclusive in 1993, when Attorney General Sir Nicholas Lyell decided that proceeding with the investigation would not serve the public, owing in part to the excessive time that had passed since Hendrix's death.


title: Damion Lee

text: Damion Lee (born October 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for three years at Drexel University and transferred to Louisville for his final year of eligibility. Lee won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2022.


title: Damion Lee

text: Lee graduated from Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, Maryland, where in his final season he was a Second-Team Baltimore Sun All-Metro and a First-Team All-Baltimore Catholic League selection. Lee attended prep school at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Connecticut, where he averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists per game during the 2010–11 season. Lee was a First Team All-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council selection, leading his team to a 30–7 record and the National Prep School Championship.


title: Damion Lee

text: In his freshman season as a member of the 2011–12 Drexel Dragons men's basketball team, Lee started at point guard. During that season, he averaged 12 points and 4.4 rebounds. After the impressive start to his college career, he was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Year. He was also named to the CAA All-Tournament team after averaging more than 15 points in Drexel's three tournament games. In the CAA championship game, the Dragons (25–5) lost to Virginia Commonwealth University, 59–56. VCU was a Final Four team the previous year, and the majority of projections had both teams making the NCAA tournament. However, a disappointing Selection Sunday saw the Dragons not invited to the NCAA Tournament and instead accepting an automatic bid to the 2012 National Invitation Tournament as the CAA regular season champion and #3 seed. The Dragons defeated the University of Central Florida and Northern Iowa, before falling to the University of Massachusetts in the regional final.


title: Damion Lee

text: The following season, Lee was named to the Second-Team All-CAA after leading Drexel in scoring and finishing third in the CAA averaging 17.1 points per game. He was also second in the CAA in free throw percentage (82.9%), and fourth in three-pointers per game (2.3). In a game against Old Dominion, Lee recorded a career-high 34 points.


title: Damion Lee

text: In his third season at Drexel, after being selected to the Preseason CAA All-Conference First Team, Lee suffered a torn ACL in a game against Arizona. This caused him to sit out the entire season and redshirt his junior year.


title: Damion Lee

text: Before his redshirt junior season at Drexel, Lee was named to the Preseason CAA All-Conference First Team for the second year in a row. He also was named to the Charleston Classic All-Tournament team. On February 21, 2015, during a game against Northeastern, Lee suffered a fractured right hand which prematurely ended his season. Lee averaged 21.4 points per game during the season, ranking fourth in the nation and first in the CAA. His free throw percentage of 88.7% ranked 14th in the nation and second in the CAA. He also averaged 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 27 games. Furthermore, Lee also led the team in steals per game (1.5), field goal percentage (43.8%), and three-point percentage (38.5%%). At the conclusion of the regular season, Lee was one vote shy of winning CAA Player of the Year, losing to Senior William and Mary guard Marcus Thornton. However, Lee did win awards in CAA All-Conference First Team, CAA All-Defensive Team, and CAA All-Academic Team.


title: Damion Lee

text: On March 30, 2015, Lee announced that he would be transferring out of Drexel University for his fifth and final collegiate season. He was considered to be the top transfer in college basketball by ESPN.


title: Damion Lee

text: On April 23, 2015, Lee announced he would play his final collegiate season at Louisville under head coach Rick Pitino. Other schools Lee was considering included Arizona, Gonzaga, Marquette, and Maryland. Lee said after the move, "The U of L community itself was unreal. I don't think there's any other city or college basketball town like it." By mid-season in December 2015, he was Louisville's top point scorer. He was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for the Naismith Trophy on February 11, 2016. On Senior Night, Lee passed the 2,000-point mark. With 10 games remaining in the season, Louisville ranked as the 13th best team in the country announced a self-imposed postseason ban for the 2015–16 season amid an ongoing NCAA investigation involving recruits between 2010 and 2014. They finished the regular season as the #16 ranked team with a 23–8 record, and did not play in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament because of the ban.


title: Damion Lee

text: After going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, Lee joined the Miami Heat for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On September 26, 2016, he signed with the Boston Celtics. He was later waived by the Celtics on October 20 after appearing in two preseason games. On October 31, he was acquired by the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Celtics. On January 10, 2017, he was waived by the Red Claws after suffering a season-ending injury. In 16 games, he averaged 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 34 minutes.


title: Damion Lee

text: On March 13, 2018, Lee signed a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks. On March 23, the Atlanta Hawks signed Lee to a second 10-day contract. On April 2, the Atlanta Hawks signed Lee for the remainder of the season.


title: Damion Lee

text: On July 14, 2018, Lee signed a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors, which would lead him to return to the Santa Cruz Warriors.


title: Damion Lee

text: On July 31, 2019, the Golden State Warriors re-signed with Lee on another two-way contract. On October 28, Lee recorded a double-double with a career-high 23 points, 11 rebounds and two assists in a 134–123 road victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 25, Lee got his second double-double of the season with 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in a 116–104 win against the Houston Rockets. Lee picked up ample playing time due to a litany of injuries that befell the Warriors' roster (including a hand fracture in November that cost Lee 14 games) and burned through the 45-day allotment with the NBA team on his two-way contract. On January 15, 2020, the Golden State Warriors signed Lee to a multi-year contract.


title: Damion Lee

text: On December 27, 2020, Lee put up 12 points, alongside a game-winning three-pointer, in a 129–128 win over the Chicago Bulls.


title: Damion Lee

text: On July 7, 2022, Lee signed with the Phoenix Suns. On October 19, 2022, Lee made his Suns debut, putting up 11 points, two rebounds, two assists, and an off-balance, game-winning baseline jumper in a 107–105 win over the Dallas Mavericks.


title: Damion Lee

text: On February 22, 2018, Lee was added to the United States national team for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.


title: Damion Lee

text: Lee earned a degree in general humanities and social science at Drexel and majored in special education, with a concentration in assistive technology at Louisville.


title: Damion Lee

text: Lee is married to Sydel Curry-Lee, who is the daughter of Dell Curry and younger sister of his former teammate Stephen Curry as well as Seth Curry. The couple's wedding was held on September 1, 2018. They have a son, Daxon Wardell-Xavier Lee, born on November 26, 2021.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Mark Tuan (born Mark Yien Tuan (; ), on September 4, 1993), known mononymously as Mark, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and model. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Got7.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Born as Mark Yien Tuan in Los Angeles, California, he spent a number of years in Paraguay and Brazil before eventually returning to California, where he grew up. He is Taiwanese, and has two older sisters and one younger brother. He took violin and piano lessons in elementary school, and moved to guitar in junior high school.


title: Mark Tuan

text: He attended Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California. In 2010, while with his friends at school, he caught the attention of a JYP Entertainment scout, who invited him to the auditions. Tuan had no desire to pursue a musical career but was encouraged by his friends and family who told him it was a good opportunity and thus, he gave it a try. He subsequently passed the audition and dropped out of school, which he attended until grade 10. He moved to South Korea in August 2010, where he learned acrobatics for one year, and martial arts for two years. Learning to sing, rap and dance, and performing on a stage as a trainee, inspired him to pursue the idol life and to become a singer.


title: Mark Tuan

text: In 2012, Tuan made a cameo in the first episode of "Dream High 2" as a backup dancer alongside JB and Jinyoung, who later became members of Got7 with him.


title: Mark Tuan

text: He appeared in the fourth episode of Mnet's 2013 reality-survival program "WIN: Who is Next", which presented iKon and Winner members, who at the time were still trainees under YG Entertainment. It also featured future fellow Got7 member's Jackson Wang, BamBam and Yugyeom.


title: Mark Tuan

text: On January 16, 2014, Tuan debuted as a part of K-pop boy group Got7, with the EP "Got It?". Since his debut, Tuan has expressed his goals in working harder to become a singer-songwriter and making his own music. Tuan officially began writing rap and lyrics for Got7 songs since the "Just Right" EP, with the track "Back To Me". He contributed heavily to "", participating in the rap and lyric making in five out of thirteen songs, including "My Home" and "Let Me". With Got7's third studio album "", Tuan released his first Korean solo song "OMW" featuring fellow member Jackson Wang; an accompanying music video was published on September 13, 2018. As of December 2021, Tuan is credited as songwriter on twenty songs and on eight as a co-composer.


title: Mark Tuan

text: On February 10, 2018, Tuan, along with fellow member BamBam, held the "Project Blur" fan meeting in Thailand at MCC Hall The Mall Ngamwongwan, whose tickets sold out in a minute.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Tuan has shown a keen interest in the fashion industry with launching his career as a model on magazines across South Korea, China and Thailand. Since early 2017, he has appeared on "Dazed Korea", "Ceci Korea", "Grazia", "Oh! Boy", "Arena Homme+", "1st Look", "Chicteen", "Sudsapda", "Stream", "Yoho", "Firebible", "Jstyle", "Beijing Youth Weekly", "Nylon", "Ele", "Allure", "Cosmo", "The Star", "Shinyouth", "K-Media", "Vogue Korea", "GQ Thailand", "Sweetdonut", "Ginger", "Starbox Young", "Size", "Vogue Thailand", "Unnamedideal", "Juz! Entertainment", "Madame Figaro Mode", etc. Tuan became the cover of the 200th issue of the Korean charitable magazine "The Big Issue", which provides support for the homeless, in March 2019. He has also released two limited edition apparel collections with Represent in 2018 and 2019 under XCIII referring to his birth year, helping in the creation and designing of each piece. The second collection, XCIII Evolution, sold 40,446 items, and all the profits proceeded to charity. After attending Milan Fashion Week 2019 for Ermenegildo Zegna with "GQ Thailand" and his collaboration with Represent, Tuan has expressed the desire to create his own brand. Tuan made his first US magazine cover in November 2020 for "Lined"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Changes issue.


title: Mark Tuan

text: In the spring of 2019, he joined Jus2 in their 'Focus' Premiere Showcase in Asia, acting as the MC for Macau (April 7), Taipei (April 14) and Singapore (May 4) stops.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Tuan's increasing presence in the Chinese market began in 2018 with attending photoshoots, events and interviews. In January 2019, the variety show "Change Your Life" () marked Tuan's first television appearance in mainland China. On April 11, 2019, Tuan attended the Weibo Starlight Awards in Hong Kong and won the Hot Star Award.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Tuan held his first ever set of fan meetings in China, titled "On Your Mark" from 2019 to 2020. On July 20, 2019, he held the first of his solo fan meeting in Nanjing, China which sold out all 3,000 seats. It was reported that the tickets for the event sold out within the first minute. The event also saw the signing of his first photobook, "Mark Yixia", which had been earlier released on June 30. He then went on to a September 14 fan meeting in Chengdu, China the same year. As both the shows were well received by local fans, they were followed by an additional and final stop in Shanghai, China on January 11, 2020. On the day of the last fan meeting, he released his first Chinese single, "Outta My Head", officially debuting as a solo artist. His second single, titled "Never Told You" (从未对你说过), was released as a charity single on White Day. "Never Told You" was released in collaboration with the China Children's Charity Relief Foundation, and their partnership also saw the sale of a sweater in collaboration with ETET to help children in Heqing County in Yunnan Province.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Promoting in four countries (China, South Korea, Japan and Thailand), he has had many endorsement deals across China, and Vivo in Thailand alongside group member BamBam. This includes becoming the brand ambassador in China for Davines in April 2019 and Mentholatum on May 27, 2020 for Mentholatum Acnes, having previously endorsed Mentholatum's Lip Tiara in December 2019, which was restocked multiple times due to the high demand. In August 2020, Tuan became the brand ambassador for China Unicom, a large telecommunications operator in China.


title: Mark Tuan

text: From June 15 until August 28, 2020, Tuan appeared on eight episodes of Huya Super Idol League Season 10 as "Gamer Mark".


title: Mark Tuan

text: In January 2021, Tuan, along with the other six members of Got7, chose not to renew his contract with JYP Entertainment. Following his departure, Tuan opened a YouTube channel which shortly gained over a million subscribers before he had posted any content to it.


title: Mark Tuan

text: The opening of Tuan's company Mark Tuan Studio in Beijing, China was announced on February 7 with focus on his solo Chinese activities and promotions. Meanwhile, he also set up a new label, DNA Records, together with his friends. On February 12, he released the single "One in a Million" in collaboration with Sanjoy Deb. An animated music video, which Tuan was also an executive producer of, was then released on his YouTube channel on Valentine's Day. He also served as the executive producer of Got7's "Encore" music video released on February 20.


title: Mark Tuan

text: A third apparel collection in collaboration with Represent, named XC3, went on sale on March 17. On April 29, Tuan signed with Creative Artists Agency. On June 2, he became the ambassador for Sisley's Black Rose Skin Infusion Cream. The same month, Tuan made the cover of "L'Officiel Philippines" alongside Winnie Harlow. On June 16, Tuan collaborated with Anessa for a limited edition Artist Box, becoming the first artist to do so.


title: Mark Tuan

text: In the second half of the year, he sang "Never Gonna Come Down" with Bibi for the movie "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings". He attended Paris Fashion Week for Rick Owens, Raf Simons, Lanvin and Balenciaga in September.


title: Mark Tuan

text: On November 12, 2021, Tuan released the digital single "Last Breath". He subsequently released other songs in 2022, namely "My Life" on January 21, "Lonely" on March 24, and "Save Me" on April 7.


title: Mark Tuan

text: On July 1, 2022, Tuan released the digital single "IMYSM". The song was the fifth and last single extracted from his first studio album "The Other Side", which was published on August 26, 2022 together with the music video of title track "Far Away". The singer is credited both for songwriting and composition across every song of the 20-track record, showcasing both his singing and rapping abilities.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Growing up in the US and coming from a Taiwanese family, Tuan can speak both English and Mandarin Chinese, as well as having learned Korean and Japanese.


title: Mark Tuan

text: In December 2018, Tuan suffered from a leg injury while practicing martial arts tricks for the JYP Nation stage on 2018 KBS Song Festival and could not perform at the event or at later schedules including the fifth anniversary fan meeting for Got7, therefore he stayed seated for most of the concert.


title: Mark Tuan

text: Tuan provides support and donations through his work, such as charity donations through his clothing line collaborations and his second single, "Never Told You". In February 2020, he donated towards the purchase of ventilators for the COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, China. On May 31, Tuan donated $7,000 to the George Floyd Memorial Fund and the Black Lives Matter movement in light of events in the US. In November, he donated $1,500 to the victims of Typhoon Ulysses. In April 2021, Tuan donated $30,000 to Stop AAPI Hate.


title: Mark Tuan

text: All song credits, under Mark (10010921), are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.


title: Highball

text: A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver (a.k.a. vodka and orange), fernet con coca, Tom Collins, and rum and Coke (a.k.a. "Cuba libre"). A highball is typically served over ice in a large straight-sided highball glass or Collins glass.


title: Highball

text: Highballs are popular in Japan, often made with Japanese whisky as a haibōru (ハイボール), or mixed with shōchū as a chūhai (チューハイ). Various mixers can be specified by suffixing with -hai (〜ハイ), as in oolong highball (ウーロンハイ, ūron-hai).


title: Highball

text: The name may refer to the practice of serving drinks in tall glasses, on the dining cars of trains powered by steam locomotives, where the engine would get up to speed and the ball that showed boiler pressure was at its high level, known as "highballing". Alternatively, the name may have come from early railroad signals with raised globes meaning "clear track ahead".


title: Highball

text: Initially, the most common highball was made with Scotch whisky and carbonated water, known simply as a 'Scotch and soda'.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. "PWI" is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The magazine is the longest published English language wrestling magazine still in production. "PWI" publishes bi-monthly issues and annual special issues such as their "Almanac and Book of Facts". The magazine recognizes various world championships as legitimate, similar to "The Ring" in boxing.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: "PWI" is often referred to as an "Apter Mag", named after its long-time photographer Bill Apter, a term used for wrestling magazines that keep kayfabe. In recent years, the "PWI" has moved away from reporting on storylines as actual news and mixed in editorial comments on the behind-the-scenes workings.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: Since 1991, "PWI" has been publishing its annual "Top 500 Wrestlers" listing the top male wrestlers in the world. In 2008, they added an annual "Top 50 Female Wrestlers" list, which was later expanded and renamed to the "Top 100 Female Wrestlers" list in 2018. In 2020, they added an annual "Top 50 Tag Teams" listing the top tag teams in the world.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: The first issue of "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" was released in 1979. The magazine soon became known for not breaking kayfabe in its articles as it traditionally treated all "angles", or storylines, as real. However, in more recent years the magazine has taken an editorial approach between kayfabe and "shoot" writing, differentiating between on-screen feuds and controversies behind the scenes. "PWI" is not limited to covering only prominent professional wrestling promotions, as it also covers multiple independent promotions in the United States. "PWI" also publishes other special issues, which include: "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts" since 1996, "Women of Wrestling" and a weekly newsletter entitled "PWI Weekly" from 1989 to 2000. It was eventually acquired by Golden Boy Enterprises.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: "PWI" has given out annual awards and recognitions since its inception. These awards had previously been given out by another "Victory Sports Magazine" property, "Sports Review Wrestling". "PWI" has also given out monthly rankings for the big promotions, some select independents, and overall rankings in singles and tag teams. Additionally, readers are given the ability to vote for the winners of the year-end awards with ballots being included in special year-end issues. A special "PWI" Awards magazine is issued annually, which reveals winners and the number of votes counted. The following is a list of categories in which "PWI" has issued awards.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: Although many wrestling organizations promote their lead title as a World Heavyweight Championship, "PWI" has only recognized a few top versions as valid World titles at any one time. With regard to the NWA World Heavyweight championship, "PWI" has generally recognized the lineage retrospectively traced by the NWA from its 1948 formation back to George Hackenschmidt in 1905. "PWI" has also recognized any tag team title corresponding to a recognized World title as a World Tag Team Championship.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: Until March 1991, "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" and its sister publications steadfastly referred to WCW as "the NWA" despite WCW having increasingly phased out the latter name in the preceding months. In Spring 1991, the family of magazines adopted a new policy of referring to the current promotion and its champions as WCW and the promotion's pre-1991 past as the NWA. The magazine also announced it would refer to the overall history of the World title as the "NWA/WCW World Championship" (and likewise with other WCW championships).


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: Subsequently, after Ric Flair left WCW and was stripped of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in July 1991, "PWI" and its sister publications nonetheless continued to recognize the WCW title as held by Lex Luger, Sting, Vader and Ron Simmons as the rightful continuation of the historic NWA World Heavyweight Championship. When Masa Chono won an NWA World title tournament in Japan in August 1992, "PWI" and its sister publications only recognized Chono's title as the "NWA Championship" and rejected it as a World title or as a continuation of the historic NWA World title.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: In 1983, "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" withdrew world title recognition from the WWF, citing how champion Bob Backlund was not facing contenders from outside the WWF territory and was only facing rulebreakers. This coincided with the WWF's withdrawal from the NWA in summer 1983. PWI reinstated world title recognition in 1985 on account of the WWF's massive mainstream media profile.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: The AWA was stripped of world title recognition in January 1991 when the promotion was in its final months. By this time, the AWA World Heavyweight Championship was vacant and would remain so until the promotion's closure in August that year. ECW was finally granted world title status in 1999 only for the promotion to close two years later.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: As of August 8, 2021, "PWI" recognizes the WWE Championship, WWE Universal Championship, AEW World Championship, Impact World Championship, ROH World Championship, MLW World Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Heavyweight Championship from the United States, the AAA Mega Championship and CMLL World Heavyweight Championship from Mexico, as well as the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, World of Stardom Championship and GHC Heavyweight Championship from Japan. "PWI" also recognizes the independent wrestling titles IWTV Independent Wrestling World Championship and Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Championship.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: According to the latest "PWI" almanac, "PWI" also recognizes select world title reigns from May 4, 1905 – January 28, 1946, before the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in July 1948.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: "PWI" has published the list of the top 500 professional wrestlers each year since 1991 in an annual special edition magazine, the "PWI 500". "PWI" writers choose the position of the wrestler following a designated evaluation period starting from mid-June; anything a wrestler accomplished before or after that period is not considered. They follow a criterion that includes win–loss record, championships won, quality of competition, major feuds, prominence within a wrestler's promotion(s), and overall wrestling ability. , Jushin Thunder Liger has appeared in the most editions of the "PWI 500", with 29 appearances. In 1993, Miss Texas (Jacqueline Moore) was the first woman to be ranked in the list at No. 249. Since 2008 men and women have their separate lists, but some female wrestlers are still occasionally listed in the "PWI 500".


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: "PWI" has published a list of the top female professional wrestlers each year since 2008 in a special edition magazine, the "Women's 100" (formerly known as "Female 50"). As with the list of male professional wrestlers, "PWI" writers choose the position of the wrestler following a designated evaluation period starting from mid-June; anything a wrestler accomplished before or after that period is not considered. In 2018, after ten years of the list including 50 wrestlers, it was expanded to 100 and renamed from "Female 50" to "Women's 100" and expanded to 150 in 2021.


title: Pro Wrestling Illustrated

text: "PWI" published a list of the top tag team in 2020. "PWI" writers choose the position of the wrestler following a designated evaluation period starting from October; a minimum of 10 matches or 4 months as a tag team is required. The ranking included both male and female tag teams.


title: Adam Vinatieri

text: Adam Matthew Vinatieri (born December 28, 1972) is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 24 seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Considered one of the greatest kickers of all time, he is the NFL's all-time leading scorer at 2,673 points. He also holds the NFL records for field goals made (599), postseason points (238), and overtime field goals made (12).


title: Adam Vinatieri

text: Vinatieri joined the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 1996, where he played for 10 seasons, and was a member of the Colts for 14 seasons. A four-time Super Bowl winner—three with the Patriots and one with the Colts—he has the most Super Bowl wins for a kicker. He is also the only player to score 1,000 points for two different franchises. Retiring in 2021 after a year in free agency, Vinatieri was the last active player whose career began in the 1990s.


title: Adam Vinatieri

text: Celebrated for his kicking accuracy and success under pressure, Vinatieri completed several of the most crucial field goals in NFL history. During the 2001–02 NFL playoffs, he converted the game-tying and winning kicks of New England's AFC Divisional Playoff game in blizzard conditions and the game-winning kick in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXXVI, earning the Patriots their first championship. He would again convert a final-second kick to win Super Bowl XXXVIII, establishing himself as a key contributor of the Patriots' dynasty. In 2019, Vinatieri was named to the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.


title: Adam Vinatieri

text: Vinatieri was born in Yankton, South Dakota on December 28, 1972, the second of Judy M. (Goeken) and Paul Vinatieri's four children. His great-great-grandfather was Italian, and his other ancestry includes German and English. His younger brother Beau was a placekicker at Black Hills State University before graduating in 2003.


title: Adam Vinatieri

text: When Vinatieri was five years old, his family moved to Rapid City, South Dakota. As a child, he struggled to read and enrolled in classes for children with learning disabilities. Vinatieri attended Central High School in Rapid City and was a letterman in football, wrestling, basketball, soccer, and track. In football, he earned first-team All-State honors as a senior. He graduated from Central High School in 1991. Before starting as a kicker, Vinatieri was a quarterback and middle linebacker. When asked in 2005, several years into his NFL career, why he no longer played one of those positions once he reached college, he replied, "I'm 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, and unfortunately the linebackers aren't that small, and neither are the quarterbacks."


title: Adam Vinatieri

text: Vinatieri received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, but was only there for two weeks before deciding to return home, where he then enrolled at South Dakota State University. He was a four-year letterman there as a placekicker and punter and he finished his collegiate career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 185 career points as well as being awarded first-team all-conference honors in each of his seasons.


title: Adam Vinatieri

text: Vinatieri spent the summer of 1996 training to compete professionally. He received a tryout for the World League of American Football (later rebranded as NFL Europe), and earned a roster position with the Amsterdam Admirals as a placekicker and punter.