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Isley

Charlie Sheen leaves the Pitkin County Courthouse with his attorney, Richard Cummins, in Aspen, Colo. on Monday.

AP PHOTO

Bass player of Isley Brothers dies at 56

CHICAGO (AP) — Marvin Isley, the bass player who helped give R&B powerhouse the Isley Brothers their distinctive sound, has died at a Chicago hospital. He was 56.

Isley died Sunday morning at an inpatient hospice at Weiss Memorial Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Catherine Gianaro. She could not confirm a cause of death.

Isley stopped performing in 1996 after suffering complications from diabetes that included a stroke, high blood pressure, the loss of both legs and use of his left hand.

He joined his brothers’ band in 1973. By that time, the Isley Brothers had established themselves with hits like 1959’s “Shout,” which sold more than 1 million records. Isley splintered off to form Isley-Jasper-Isley in the 1980s and returned to the Isley Brothers in the 1990s. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and their career has spanned six decades.

At one point there were five Isley brothers in the group, including Marvin. Today, only Ronald Isley is touring full time after a three-year stint in federal prison for tax evasion.

The group’s hits included “Twist and Shout,” later recorded by The Beatles, “Love The One You’re With,” and the Grammy-winning 1969 smash, “It’s Your Thing.”

Sheen plea deal includes theater work

DENVER (AP) — Charlie Sheen could work at a Colorado theater company by day and spend his nights in jail under a deal reached with prosecutors that calls for him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in his domestic abuse case, an attorney said Monday.

In exchange, prosecutors would drop criminal mischief and felony menacing charges stemming from an argument Sheen had with his wife on Christmas Day at an Aspen home where they were on vacation.

The deal calls for Sheen to serve a 30-day sentence and three months probation, said Yale Galanter, an attorney for Brooke Mueller Sheen.

A judge must still approve the agreement. A hearing set for Monday was continued until July 12.

Sheen was at the courthouse with his lawyer Richard Cummins, but neither offered any comments after the proceedings.

Lawyers met privately at the courthouse, with prosecutors asking a judge for more time to work out the deal. Pitkin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin didn’t provide further details.

Deceased porn actor had the urge to kill

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A porn actor who plunged off a cliff to his death as officers tried to arrest him on murder and attempted murder charges was aiming to kill or hurt as many people as possible when he went on a sword-wielding rampage last week at an adult film company’s production facility, a police detective said Monday.

Stephen Clancy Hill was “hell-bent” on taking lives and was indiscriminate about his victims, police detective Joel Price said.

Hill plunged to his death Saturday after SWAT officers trapped him on a hillside cliff overlooking the San Fernando Valley.

Price said officers believe Hill jumped rather than fell after they tried to take him into custody following a nine-hour standoff. Police said the actor, armed with the sword he used in the June 1 attack, had repeatedly threatened suicide.

News video shows Hill, still holding the sword, tumbling off the cliff after sliding to its edge from a seated position.