True crime remains one of the most popular genres of recent years. With a seemingly endless supply of true crime fare - from podcasts to documentaries and TV show re-enactments - to satisfy viewers, it appears that its demand won't be dwindling any time soon. Viewers simply love the idea of unpacking a mystery and trying to find out who the real culprit is. Subsequently, numerous celebrities have professed that they, too, are true crime junkies.
When they aren't dazzling us with their lavish lifestyles, celebs enjoy exhibiting their many talents and, for some, among those skills is the enviable ability to help solve real life crimes. There are myriad Reddit true crime threads devoted to fan theories and users attempting to solve cold cases. But in the instances in this list, these celebrities actually did help solve crimes. From grisly murders to corrupt warlords, these criminals were exposed with the help of celebs.
10 Larry David's Sitcom Exonerates An Innocent Man
Larry David is known for generally wreaking havoc into the lives of his friends and family in Curb Your Enthusiasm. But one episode of the show actually had an amazing real life twist. Season 4's "The Car Pool Lane" was filmed during a Dodgers game and one of the men present in the crowd was Juan Catalan, who was accused of murder shortly afterwards. The episode featured footage of Catalan at the game and this led to his exoneration, as he couldn't possibly have committed the murder, which occurred at the same time as the sporting event.
In typical Larry David fashion, he said that the incredible incident is "Maybe something I could impress a date with."
9 David Schwimmer Provides Key Evidence In A New York Stabbing
In 2014, a drunken altercation occurred between 3 men in an apartment block in New York's East Village. This resulted in a young man being stabbed multiple times. Police struggled to figure out exactly what happened that night and who was to blame. At least that was the case until David Schwimmer, who resided in the block, provided police with security camera footage that would prove to be the key piece of evidence in solving the case.
8 Selena Gomez Helps Solve A Cold Case
Through the years, Selena Gomez has certainly evolved as a singer, actress, producer, philanthropist, and now, a crime sleuth. Gomez helped solve the mysterious murder of 17-year-old Kurt Sova, who went missing in Ohio in 1981.
38 years later, the murder case was finally close to a resolution thanks to Gomez and other volunteers. CrimeCon praised Gomez for working "to solve a real cold case".
7 Teri Hatcher Speaks Out So A Child Abuser Can Face Justice
Tragically, Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher was subjected to sexual abuse as a child, starting from the age of 5. The man who abused her was Richard Hayes Stone, her uncle by marriage.
Many years later, in 2002, she discovered that Stone was wanted for the sexual abuse of a young girl, who tragically ended up taking her life at the age of 14. Hatcher could not keep silent anymore and she assisted the police in their investigation, bravely telling them all about the abuse she endured at the hands of Stone. This resulted in Stone's prosecution and he was sentenced to 14 years in prison, where he died in 2008.
6 Prince Philips's Blood Solves A Grisly Russian Murder
The recently departed Prince was so much more than an eccentric royal. In fact, thanks to a blood sample taken from Prince Philip, investigators were able to solve the grisly 1918 murders of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children, who were killed by the Bolsheviks.
However, when the victims' remains were unearthed in 1991, investigators had difficulty verifying the identities of the Tsar's family. But thanks to a blood sample taken from Prince Philip, it was established that the remains were indeed those of the Tsar's wife and children, as Philip was a direct descendant of the Tsarina.
5 A Documentary Film Maker Exposes A Potential Serial Killer
Andrew Jarecki is an award-winning documentary film maker who directed the infamous Catfish. But it was his 2015 HBO series, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, that not only cemented his reputation as an acclaimed film maker, but as a crime investigator. Robert Durst is a businessman who was long suspected of several murders, including that of his ex-wife, Kathie, and his close friend, Susan Berman.
Throughout the documentary, Jarecki interviews Durst and queries him about his involvement in these mysterious deaths and disappearances, but the businessman is adamant that he's innocent. In one of the most shocking twists of any true crime doc, Jarecki discovers a damning piece of evidence connecting Durst to Berman's murder. When confronted with the evidence, Durst is visibly shocked and unable to explain it away, then unknowingly confesses to the murder (and others) when he doesn't realize that his microphone is still on.
4 Ronan Farrow Uncovers Hundreds Of Hollywood Sexual Assaults
When journalist Ronan Farrow interviewed women about their hellish experiences with movie producer Harvey Weinstein, he may have not realized the true extent of what he was about to uncover. The son of actress Mia Farrow and ex-partner Woody Allen, from whom he is estranged, Ronan first spoke to Weinstein's victims in 2017 and the exposé was published in The New Yorker. After reading the investigative piece, dozens of other women came forward detailing their abuse at the hands of the producer. That number is now in the hundreds.
Subsequently, Weinstein was convicted and is currently serving 23 years in prison for his crimes. This also led to the MeToo movement, which saw numerous other powerful figures in Hollywood being exposed as alleged predators.
3 A Grunge Musician Seeks Justice For The Murder Of His Bandmate
As lead singer for The Gits, Mia Zapata was a powerful voice in the early '90s Seattle grunge scene. But her life and career were cut tragically short in 1993 when the 27-year-old was brutally assaulted and murdered. At first, her murder remained a cold case due to lack of DNA evidence.
But her bandmate Steve Moriarty did not give up his hope for justice. As detailed in the Forensic Files episode, "The Day the Music Died", Moriarty became interested in forensics and tried to solve Zapata's murder using the knowledge he had gained. Accordingly, Jesus Mezquia was arrested and charged with Zapata's murder in 2003, following the advancement of DNA analysis. He was found guilty and is currently serving 36 years.
2 Naomi Campbell Exposes A Corrupt President
British supermodel Naomi Campbell is well known for her love of luxury goods, but when she received an anonymous gift of diamonds at a 1997 dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela, her suspicions grew. At the time, she did not know that the man who gifted her these diamonds was in fact then Liberian president Charles Taylor and that the gems were blood diamonds.
Subsequently, she testified at the ex-president's trial at The Hague in 2010, which led to his conviction as a warlord who exchanged diamonds for weapons and ordered his men to assault and murder thousands of civilians. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Without Campbell's testimony, the human rights watchdog Global Witness explained that there would not have been such widespread attention to the very serious issue of blood diamonds.
1 Ashton Kutcher Gives Evidence To Prosecute A Serial Killer
On the night of February 21 2001, Ashton Kutcher was preparing for a dinner date with 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin. But when he arrived 2 hours late at Ellerin's apartment, she didn't answer the door. The actor assumed that she was annoyed at him for being tardy, so he went home. But the following morning, Ellerin was found dead by her roommate, having been stabbed 47 times. Immediately after hearing of his date's death, Kutcher went to the police.
It turned out that Ellerin's murderer was Michael Gargiulo, who was later arrested for attempting to kill another woman in 2008, and was exposed as a serial killer. Kutcher testified about the crimes at the trial, tearful as he gave evidence. Gargiulo was convicted and is potentially facing the death penalty.