Tougher than Cougtek

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Mark "Chopper" Read died. Basically from Hepatitis C contracted while in prison, possibly from a blood-stained razor.

They made a film about him, called "Chopper". He was a serious psychopath, claiming to have been involved in 19 murders. No-one seems to have disputed this, probably because the dead cam't give evidence.

He found it profitable to kidnap and torture drug dealers and other criminals, cutting off their toes and using a blowtorch to extract money.

While in prison, he was ambushed and stabbed by members of his own gang in a sneak attack when they felt that his plan to cripple every other inmate in the entire division and win the gang war in one fell swoop was going too far.

Incredibly, he was never convicted of murder, despite spending about 30 of his 58 years in jail. He famously escaped one 'caught-in-the-act' with a successful self-defense plea, while another time, he was convicted of grievous bodily harm after luring a guy into his car and shooting him in the chest (the guy lived, but later disappeared without trace). It is widely assumed that he was able to help police with other significant inquiries and that led to his early release.

Later in life, he rehabilitated himself and became a successful crime author, and even a children's author (although that caused an uproar) with "Hooky the Cripple". He survived a late attempt on his life by fleeing into a panel beating shop and belting his attacker with a metal pipe.

By all accounts he was an incredibly scary guy in person (he deliberately had his ears cut off in prison). A seriously damaged childhood (ward of the state) as you might expect. Yet still a human being with something to contribute. It occurs to me that his real-life persona was reasonably close to some comic book characters.
 

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Forgot to include that he refused a liver transplant because he felt he didn't deserve it (while others could benefit instead). It's part of the complexity of this rather 'colorful' character.
 

Mercutio

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Not everyone who goes to jail is an irredeemable scumbag and that man sounds like he had quite a life no matter what we might say about how he chose to live it.
 
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