Tag archive: Lachesis

PF RIP cover

Aster-Obit:  Pope Francis

At 7:35 AM CEST on Monday, 21 April 2025, Pope Francis passed away, apparently from a stroke, in his apartment at the St Martha House in Vatican City.  The notoriously down-to-earth pontiff eschewed the luxurious papal penthouse in the Apostolic Palace, preferring the humbler surroundings of the Vatican’s adjacent guest house.  Francis had recently battled bilateral pneumonia and other respiratory complaints during a weeks-long hospital stay, but returned to the Vatican a month ago, where he resumed some of his papal duties.  On the day before his death, Francis went out to greet the Easter Sunday crowds in St Peter’s Square, also meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, so, although he was still in ill health, his passing just hours later was unexpected. 

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Asteroid Sleuth:  The Case of the Train Track Tragedy

Shortly after 6 PM EDT on Thursday, 3 April 2025, a father and his two adult sons were struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Bristol, PA.  Christopher Cramp, 56, and David Cramp, 31, were apparently on the scene attempting to remove Thomas Cramp, 24, from the tracks before the arrival of the oncoming train.  Thomas Cramp reportedly suffered from mental health issues and was suicidal, though no specifics of the circumstances surrounding the incident have emerged.  Police have ruled the death of Thomas Cramp a suicide, and that of his elder brother and father as accidents.

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Aster-Obit:  Richard Chamberlain

Veteran actor and ‘60s teen idol heartthrob Richard Chamberlain passed away on 29 March 2025, just two days shy of his 91st birthday.  Dubbed “King of the Mini-Series” in the 1980s, Chamberlain made a big splash on TV and film as a dashing leading man, but experienced internal conflict in having to conceal his homosexuality to preserve his swashbuckling image.  Chamberlain first made his mark in the 1961 TV series “Dr. Kildare,” garnering legions of female fans, and went on to a successful movie career, starring in the 1970s “The Three Musketeers” franchise, among other action films.

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Aster-Obit:  George Foreman

On March 21, 2025, former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman passed away peacefully at a Houston, Texas hospital, surrounded by family and friends.  No cause of death has been released.  Foreman dominated professional boxing in the 1970s; claiming the championship from the then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973, he held the tile for just a year before his loss to Muhammad Ali in “The Rumble in the Jungle.”  Foreman retired three years later, but made a brief comeback in 1994, becoming the oldest world heavyweight champion after defeating Michael Moorer.  In later life, Foreman became a household name for his endorsement and promotion of the eponymous “George Foreman Grill,” a small double-sided cooking appliance.  He is also remembered for his eccentric habit of naming each of his five sons after himself, merely adding regnal numbers to distinguish them.

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Aster-Obit:  Gene Hackman

On Wednesday, 26 February, 2025, Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead at their Santa Fe, New Mexico home, following a wellness check by authorities.  Also deceased was a German Shepherd, one of several dogs owned by the couple.  Foul play was initially ruled out, but evidence at the scene was inconclusive, and police now classify the deaths as “suspicious.”  Search warrants were issued for the property to resolve the cause of death, which could extend to accident or suicide, but reporting indicates that the couple may have been dead for some time before discovery.

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Asteroid Sleuth:  The Case of the Deadly Dessert

A family holiday party in Tores, Brazil on December 23, 2024, turned fatal, resulting in the deaths of three members, and the hospitalization of three others, from arsenic poisoning.  Dead are sisters Maida da Silva, 58, and Neuza Silva Dos Anjos, 65; and Neuza’s daughter Tatiana, 43; a third sister, Zeli Silva, 60, Maida’s husband Jefferson, and Tatiana’s son Matheus, 10, were hospitalized with severe injuries but survived.

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