#7 - Christopher Coleman
In 2011, professional bodyguard Christopher Coleman was brought to trial for murdering his
wife and two sons. The 34-year-old worked as the head of security for high-profile televangelist
Joyce Meyer. He and his family resided in a quaint suburban neighborhood near the city of Waterloo,
Illinois. Their idyllic lives were shattered when Coleman’s wife, Sheri, and two children,
Garett and Gavin, were found dead inside their home. Months prior, Coleman had received threats
against him and his family via an unknown email address. Local police subsequently began regularly
patrolling the Colemans’ residence and the surrounding area to ensure their safety. Coleman
had gone to the gym at around 6 am, on the morning of May the 5th of 2009. After finishing his
workout, he called home, ostensibly to check-in on his family. No one answered the phone, however,
which prompted Coleman to call his neighbor, a policeman named Justin Barlow. The latter was
accompanied by fellow police officer Jason Donjon when he entered the Colemans’ home on the former
bodyguard’s request. The two men discovered that threatening messages had been plastered all over
the interior of the house in blood-red paint. As the search progressed, the officers found
Sheri and the two boys strangled to death in their beds. During the ensuing investigation, the police
discovered several pieces of evidence that pointed to Coleman himself as the triple homicide’s most
promising suspect. The email address that was used to threaten the Colemans, in the months prior to
the incident, had been created on Christopher Coleman’s computer. The graffiti found on the
walls of the house was likewise determined to have been written by Coleman. Perhaps most damning of
all evidence stacked against the celebrity bodyguard was his extramarital affair with
Tara Lintz, a childhood friend of his wife’s. The two reportedly struck up a relationship in
November of 2008. Believing he would be fired from his job if he divorced his wife, Coleman instead
devised a plan to murder his own family in order to marry his mistress without consequence. He
was ultimately given a life sentence without the possibility of parole. In the years following his
conviction, Coleman has constantly maintained his innocence. He attempted to appeal his sentence on
multiple occasions to no avail. #6 - Alexandre Benalla
The top security aide to French President Emmanuel Macron was found guilty of assaulting
two young protestors in an incident that occurred during the 2017 May Day demonstrations in Paris.
A video surfaced from the anti-capitalist protests that depicted Macron’s bodyguard,
Alexandre Benalla, repeatedly striking a young man and grabbing a young woman by the neck while
wearing a police helmet. Benalla was not a member of law enforcement, however, and he’d been given
leave from his post in Macron’s security detail to attend the demonstrations as an observer.
Following the dissemination of the video online, Benalla was fired from President Macron’s staff
and officially charged for beating up the demonstrators. Investigators also found
that the former presidential bodyguard had been illegally carrying a firearm during public outings
with Macron. Bodyguards were only authorized to be armed while stationed at party headquarters.
Prosecutors pursued further charges in connection with Benalla’s consulting business, particularly
operations that entailed traveling to Africa and Israel. The ex-bodyguard reportedly used
fake documents to obtain the passports he later used for his international business trips. For
all of the criminal charges levied against him, Benalla was sentenced to a three-year jail term in
May of 2021. He circumvented actual prison time, however. Two of the three years were suspended,
and he was mandated to wear an electronic bracelet for the third and final year of the sentence.
#5 - Sirul Azhar A former bodyguard
to the Malaysian prime minister was arrested and charged with the murder of a 28-year-old
Mongolian woman who allegedly possessed sensitive information regarding high-level
government officials. Sirul Azhar, aged 43, was on the security detail assigned to Najib Razak,
who served as Malaysia’s sixth prime minister from April of 2009 to May of 2018. When he was still a
police commando, Azhar carried out the murder of Altantuya Shaarribuu, a French-speaking translator
and model believed to have become privy to shady financial dealings involving some of the most
prominent figures within Malaysia’s government. During subsequent court proceedings, it emerged
that Altantuya had told Azhar that she was pregnant just moments before he fatally shot her
in the head, in a jungle clearing outside of Kuala Lumpur. To eliminate evidence of the execution,
the commando detonated military-grade explosives in close proximity to Altantuya’s remains,
leaving nothing but bone fragments behind. Azhar and a second security officer, Azilah Hadri,
were eventually convicted of the crime and sentenced to death in 2009, after a trial that
had lasted 159 days. They were acquitted of all charges in 2013, following a decision by the Court
of Appeals that sparked tremendous controversy among the Malaysian general public. The acquittal
was overturned by the Federal Court in 2015, and Azhar, who’d been living in Queensland,
Australia, with his 15-year-old son, was brought back into custody by Australian authorities.
In the years since Altantuya’s murder, the former prime minister and employer to the two
individuals found guilty has consistently denied any knowledge of or involvement in the crime.
#4 - Abdulaziz al-Faghem General Abdulaziz al-Faghem
had served as the chief bodyguard to multiple members of the Saudi royal court prior to being
gunned down, in September of 2019. Saudi Arabia’s state-run press agency reported that al-Faghem
was killed during a contentious dispute in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. The General was visiting
a friend’s summer home when another acquaintance, Mamdouh bin Mishaal al Ali, arrived unexpectedly.
The group became embroiled in an argument that turned violent when al Ali brandished a gun and
opened fire. Saudi law enforcement converged at the scene and surrounded the house in which the
gunman had barricaded himself. A gunfight broke out and al Ali was killed, but not before five
security officers suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds of their own. General al-Faghem passed
away from his injuries later that day while being treated at the hospital. The sitting Saudi
monarch, King Salman, urged regional intelligence authorities to gather information that might help
explain the attack that had taken the life of his top bodyguard. Following al-Faghem’s death,
speculation arose as to whether the shooting was actually a targeted attack by the disgruntled
Saudi Crown Prince. The editor-in-chief of the Arab Times reported that a hidden coup
had begun to emerge from within the royal court, and al-Faghem was caught in the crossfire of the
alleged power struggle between King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. It was also
reported that al-Faghem was killed because he possessed information about the infamous death
of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi. #3 - Pascal Duvier
After celebrity bodyguard Pascal Duvier allowed Kim Kardashian to be robbed at gunpoint
while she was under his watch, he was let go from his position on the influencer’s security
team and subsequently faced a $6.1 million lawsuit from her insurer. In October of 2016,
Kardashian and her sisters, Kourtney and Kendall, were in France attending the semiannual Paris
Fashion Week. They were accompanied on the trip by Duvier, who’d long served as a bodyguard for the
famous family. Kardashian was alone at the private apartment in which they were staying when she was
accosted by five armed robbers disguised as police officers. The incident took place while her two
sisters were at a nightclub under Duvier’s supervision. Kardashian was bound and gagged,
and subsequently locked in the bathroom. The thieves absconded with $10 million worth of
jewelry. Duvier came under heavy fire following the robbery. Many questioned why he’d allowed
Kardashian to be left without any protection at the apartment while he was out with her sisters.
Some even proposed that there was a grander plot in which he’d conspired with the robbers,
but such speculations remain unproven. The multi-millionaire’s insurer,
American International Group, ultimately took legal action against the experienced bodyguard.
They sued Duvier and his company, Protect Security, for negligence. Although the $6.1
million suit was eventually settled outside of court, Duvier parted ways with the Kardashians
just a month after the incident in Paris. He continued to work with well-known celebrities even
after his termination and, in July of 2021, was seen escorting singer Adam Levine around Miami.
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#2 - The Assassination of Indira Gandhi On October the 31st of 1984, Indian Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi was shot and killed inside her New Delhi residence. The assassination was carried
out by Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, as a form of revolt against the Prime
Minister’s anti-Sikh actions and policies. The bodyguards had made the decision to eliminate the
woman they’d sworn to protect following a military operation launched by the Indian government
against Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the leader of the orthodox Sikh religion. The week-long military
action was codenamed Operation Blue Star and its primary objective was to remove Bhindranwale
and his followers from the holy Golden Temple of the Harmandir Sahib. Loss of life was experienced
on both sides of the violent conflict and the Sikh holy shrine was damaged during the fighting.
Gandhi and the rest of her government received widespread backlash as a result of Operation Blue
Star. The Intelligence Bureau removed the Sikhs that were assigned to serve as Gandhi’s personal
bodyguards for fear of a potential assassination attempt. In an effort to improve her anti-Sikh
image, however, the Prime Minister reinstated her Sikh bodyguards, including the two men who would
eventually execute her. On the morning of her death, Gandhi was scheduled to be interviewed
by British actor Peter Ustinov for a documentary but, as she walked through the grounds of the
Prime Minister’s estate, she was fatally shot by Satwant Singh and Beant Singh as they stood watch
at a wicket gate. Beant was captured and killed by border police officers later that day, while
Satwant was arrested by Gandhi’s other bodyguards. He was eventually hanged in 1989, along with
a co-conspirator in the assassination plot. #1 – Leopold McLean
In November of 2010, veteran New York City policeman Leopold McLean, aged 49, fired
multiple shots at his girlfriend’s former lover and was consequently sent to prison. In addition
to his service within the ranks of the NYPD, McLean also worked as the personal bodyguard to
former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Prior to the incident that would result in his 7-year
prison term, McLean had driven Mayor Bloomberg’s daughter, Georgina, back home after she’d attended
a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. That same night, McLean then went to visit his
girlfriend, Assia Winfield, who lived in Jamaica, Queens. Upon arriving at Winfield’s residence,
the policeman reportedly found LePaul Gammons, the woman’s ex-boyfriend,
standing outside with a knife in his grasp. By being present at the house, Gammons was in
violation of a restraining order that Winfield had against him. McLean brandished his service weapon
and shot Gammons twice in the back as he ran away. Winfield and McLean then contacted the authorities
and told them of Gammons’ attempt to enter her home while armed with a knife. They neglected to
report the fact that McLean had shot the man during the ensuing altercation. The officer,
who’d spent 19 years on the force, was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder once the
truth was uncovered. The situation caused him to miss out on getting his pension, which would’ve
taken effect only 2 months after the time of his arrest. During McLean’s criminal trial,
Winfield revealed that she’d been in contact with Gammons throughout the course of her relationship
with the officer. The woman also admitted to visiting Gammons in jail and accepting two cars
he’d offered to her daughter, in spite of the fact that she’d filed multiple complaints against him.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather serve as one of the Queen’s Guards in front of
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