TV One is planting its flag in the docu-series land of TV broadcasts. It's already home to popular docu-series like Unsung, Life After and Find Our Missing; and now it's adding Celebrity Crime Files to that lineup – a new original investigative series premiering Monday, October 15 (10 pm ET), that will delve into what it calls some of the most controversial crimes of our generation – specifically, the rise and fall of the entertainment, sports and literary world's most prominent and promising figures including Rae Carruth, Marvin Gaye, Jam Master Jay, Bison Dele aka Brian Williams, Merlin Santana, Donald Goines and Peter Tosh.
The full details via press release from TV One:
TV ONE ADDS NEW TITLE TO SUCCESSFUL DOCU-SERIES LINE UP WHEN "CELEBRITY CRIME FILES" PREMIERES MONDAY, OCTOBER 15 AT 10:00 PM ET
October 2, 2012, Silver Spring, MD – Leveraging the success of original docu-series Unsung and Life After, TV One launches Celebrity Crime Files, a new original investigative series premiering Monday, October 15 (10 pm ET). Delving into some of the most controversial crimes of our generation, Celebrity Crime Files explores the rise and fall of the entertainment, sports and literary world's most prominent and promising figures including Marvin Gaye, Jam Master Jay and Peter Tosh.
Celebrity Crime Files first season explores the real story behind crimes involving:
· Rae Carruth – the former NFL player conspired to murder his pregnant girlfriend and make the murder look like a random act of violence. What Carruth didn't expect, was that she would survive long enough to dial 911.
· LaLa Brown – the up-and-coming star in the Hip Hop community had just found success as the lead singer on the Lyfe Jennings song "S.E.X." when she was murdered along with her boyfriend in a Milwaukee recording studio.
· Marvin Gaye – the international superstar, with a plethora of #1 hits and sold-out tours was murdered after getting involved in an argument between his parents. The perpetrator: His father, who shot Gaye with the pistol that Marvin had given as a gift months before.
· Jam Master Jay – the Run-DMC DJ was working in his music studio when he was shot and killed. Surprisingly, though many of his friends were in the studio that night and heard the crime occur, no one actually witnessed the shooting or saw the assailants enter and leave the building.
· Bison Dele aka Brian Williams – the NBA star traded fame and fortune for a nomadic life at sea with his girlfriend. But when his brother, Miles Dabord, came aboard, a fight broke out between the men that ended in tragedy: Dele, his girlfriend, and the boat's captain were never seen again.
· Merlin Santana – a promising actor and rapper with stints on the Cosby Show and The Steve Harvey Show under his belt, the 26-year-old was fatally shot while sitting in a parked car in Los Angeles, soon after a young girl falsely accused him of rape.
· Donald Goines – one of the most successful African-American writers of urban fiction books, was shot to death along with his wife in Detroit with a speculated but unknown motive.
· Peter Tosh – the Jamaican reggae musician was held captive and tortured by a three-man gang in his own home before receiving a fatal shot to the head.
"With the popularity of our reality documentary programming that includes Unsung and Life After, our fascination with the lives of celebrities runs deep," explains Toni Judkins, TV One executive vice president of original programming and production. "Celebrity Crime Files gets to the heart of today's most shocking celebrity offenses and gives our audience a chance to better know both the victim and the accused."
The series is produced for TV One by K2 Pictures. Executive producer for the series is Robert Katz, co-Executive producer is Victoria McGinnis and executive in charge of production for K2 is Philip Hack. Executive in charge of production for TV One is Robyn Greene Arrington.
