Lionel Tate Update
Friday March 3, 2006
Lionel Tate pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of a pizza delivery man. This violation of his parole can cost him up to 30 years in jail.
In 1999, the then 12 year old Tate killed 6 year old Tiffany Eunick. He claimed that he was only imitating moves he had seen while watching professional wrestling. After being found guilty for killing the young girl, he became the youngest person in U.S. history to be sentenced to life in prison. The decision was later overruled but he has had multiple runs in with the law since being released from prison.
This item caused major problems for both the WCW and the WWF. Some media outlets nicknamed this trial the wrestling murder. Court TV broadcast the trial when it happened. At one point, Tate's defense wanted to call Sting, Hulk Hogan, and The Rock to the stand.
The notoriety from this case gave several media watch dog groups a new target. The Parents Television Council in particular was ruthless in their assertion that the WWF caused children to kill each other. One of the members of their board was U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman. The PTC acted in ways that caused the WWF to lose sponsors due to their false reports. The PTC was forced to apologize and retract their statements that blamed the WWF for killing children and pay the WWF $3.5 million.
In 1999, the then 12 year old Tate killed 6 year old Tiffany Eunick. He claimed that he was only imitating moves he had seen while watching professional wrestling. After being found guilty for killing the young girl, he became the youngest person in U.S. history to be sentenced to life in prison. The decision was later overruled but he has had multiple runs in with the law since being released from prison.
This item caused major problems for both the WCW and the WWF. Some media outlets nicknamed this trial the wrestling murder. Court TV broadcast the trial when it happened. At one point, Tate's defense wanted to call Sting, Hulk Hogan, and The Rock to the stand.
The notoriety from this case gave several media watch dog groups a new target. The Parents Television Council in particular was ruthless in their assertion that the WWF caused children to kill each other. One of the members of their board was U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman. The PTC acted in ways that caused the WWF to lose sponsors due to their false reports. The PTC was forced to apologize and retract their statements that blamed the WWF for killing children and pay the WWF $3.5 million.
Comments
No comments yet. Leave a Comment