Sports Deaths in 2008
Dec. 17: MMA fighter Justin Levens and his wife are found dead in their California condominium in what police believe is an apparent murder-suicide.
Jeff Gross, Getty Images
Sammy Baugh, Dec. 17: Perhaps the greatest Washington Redskin of all time and the last surviving member of the first Pro Football Hall of Fame class dies at the age of 94.
AP
Chris Richardson, Dec. 11: The Harlem Globetrotter, and former standout at UNLV, dies in his sleep. It is believed he died of natural causes.
D. Clarke Evans, NBAE / Getty Images
Billey Joe Johnson, Dec. 8: The High school football star from Alabama dies at a police stop.
Rivals.com
Ted Rogers, Dec. 2: Rogers, the founder of Canada's largest cable company and the owner of the Toronto Blue Jays since 2000, dies in his home at the age of 75.
Adrian Wyld, The Canadian Press / AP
Pit Martin, Dec. 2: The 64-year-old four-time NHL All-Star dies after his snowmobile plunges into an icy lake near his home in Quebec.
Steve Babineau, Getty Images / NHLI
Armand Guidolin, Nov. 24: He was the youngest player to ever play in the NHL and went on to coach Boston and Colorado.
AP
Will Barrow, Nov. 22: The rising lacrosse star was only 22 years old. A cause of death has yet to be released.
Jim Rogash, Getty Images
Bob Jeter, Nov. 20: The NFL cornerback, seen here late in his career with the Bears, started in Super Bowls I and II for the Packers.
NFL
Pete Newell, Nov. 17: The Hall of Fame basketball coach led California to a national championship in 1959 and the United States to Olympic gold in 1960.
Dino Vournas, AP
CNN reports, via the Orange County Sheriff's Department, that Sarah McLean-Levens' mother found their bodies in their Laguna Niguel condominium. The bodies were found in a bedroom and a gun was found at the scene. The Sheriff's Department said homicide investigators are looking into the case as a possible murder-suicide, and there were no signs of a struggle.
A light heavyweight who trained out of Newport Beach, Levens fought twice for the UFC in 2006, losing both fights. He hadn't fought in more than a year and wasn't under contract to any MMA organization. His professional MMA record was 9-8.
UPDATE: Levens was described as "never the same" after the suicide of a close friend and fellow MMA fighter.
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