Who Died on ‘Deadliest Catch’?

Who died on Deadliest Catch? The Discovery Channel show that follows crews on crabbing vessels lets you know in the title that it’s a high-risk career. The fisherman working off the coast of Alaska in the frigid Bering Sea face peril off and on their boats.

In the close to 20 years of its run, there have been many deaths associated with the show and crew members that died while at work. Take a look.

Most Recent Deaths from Deadliest Catch – Todd Kochutin & Nick McGlashan

The most recent crew member to perish from Deadliest Catch is Todd Kochutin who passed away at age 30. He was relatively new to the series and hadn’t been seen a lot. Kochutin worked on the Patricia Lee and was from Anchorage, Alaska.

He was reportedly struck by a falling 800 Lb crab pot and died on board after being in intense pain. Todd Kochutin died on February 26, 2021. Fellow crew member Landon said, “I can’t keep losing friends”. Kochutin had prior lost his parents and two siblings.

Just a few months prior, a fan favorite fisherman died. Just a day and a half before filming, they told the crew that Nick McGlashan died. He featured on Deadliest Catch for seven years from 2013-2020.

Nick was a seventh-generation fisherman from Akutan, Alaska. He worked on the Summer Bay. He was living in Florida but visiting Nashville, Tennessee when he died. The coroner’s report revealed a fatal mix of fentanyl, cocaine, and meth.

Nick McGlashan died on December 27, 2020, of an overdose at age 34. He’d been on 80 episodes of the Discovery show. After a friend found him unresponsive in his hotel room, EMTs were called but were unable to revive him.

Two Drug-Related Deaths for Discovery Crew Members

Mahlon Reyes was last seen on Deadliest Catch in 2015. He worked as a deckhand on the Summer Bay, Cape Caution and Seabrooke vessels. He’d been off the boat and back home in Whitefish, Montana recovering from an injury to his Achilles tendon.

Family times. Laughing, crying and remembering our brother Mahlon Reyes of the Summer Bay. pic.twitter.com/TSSER8T6cJ

— Nick McGlashan (@NickMcglashan) July 31, 2020

Reportedly, Reyes planned to go back to crabbing once his leg was better. But then, on July 25, 2020, he suffered a heart attack after an overdose of cocaine.

Two days later, his family took the Deadliest Catch star off life support after they were told he had irreversible brain damage due to a lack of oxygen. His wife said Mahlon put up an “amazing fight” and was “the strongest guy”

Mahlon Reyes died shortly after life support was removed on July 27, 2020. He was just 38. You can see above the heartfelt tribute from Nick McGlashan, who would also be dead within six months of the above Tweet.

Another death with a drug tie is that of Captain Blake Painter, the youngest skipper on Deadliest Catch. He featured in both seasons two and three. Painter helmed the Maverick while on the Discovery series.

He was found dead in his Astoria, Oregon home on May 25, 2018. Blake Painter was popped for a DUI a few months prior and police busted him with heroin. A few months later he was dead.

A TMZ report said police found drugs with his body — and it was allegedly meth and prescription painkillers. Blake Painter died on May 25, 2018, a decade after leaving the show.

Double Tragedies with Deadliest Catch Spinoff

In 2016, Discovery spawned the spinoff Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove, featuring Oregon crabbers chasing Dungeness crab off the Pacific Northwest coast. One of the boats featured, Eagle III, was devastated.

The Eagle III headed out to fish and after a full day of work, headed into Coos Bay. They faced 30 mph wind and 10 ft waves. And one of them toppled the ship. Josh Paulus (31), Danny Matlock (37), and Blaine Steinmetz (52) all died on January 19, 2016.

Only Captain Glenn Burkhow survived and swam back to shore. Steinmetz’s body washed up on the jetty and Paulus’ on the beach. They never recovered Matlock’s body.

Then, tragedy struck the community again. The vessel Sara Jo went out to retrieve the Eagle’s crab pots so the dead crew member’s families could have the funds.

But that ship lost power, capsized and all three of its crew members went into the drink. One of them, Raymundo Cardoso, died that day. The spinoff didn’t survive either, lasting just one season.

Murder-Suicide – Deadliest Catch Tragedy

Two people linked to Deadliest Catch passed away in 2015. First was Joe McMahon, who served as an associate producer on nine episodes of the show. McMahon’s death came at the hand of a man he’d known since childhood.

That night, Joe McMahon spent time with Brandon Rafiepour and another friend. Later, Brandon gunned down Joe outside his mother’s home. Then, he turned the gun on himself.

The victim’s father, Tom McMahon, said, “It’s hard to comprehend how someone who grew up with Joe… could murder my son.” Joe McMahon died at age 24 on July 24, 2015.

A month later, Tony Lara also died. He was the ex-captain of the Cornelia Marie who featured on six episodes of Deadliest Catch. Tony was visiting Sturgis, South Dakota for a motorcycle rally at the time of his death.

Tony passes at age 50 on August 8. 2015. He reportedly died of a heart attack in his sleep with no foul play suspected. Then, there’s a four-year gap between Lara’s death and another from the Discovery show.

Captain Phil Harris Dead

Captain Phil Harris was a beloved part of the series. For six years, he allowed an embedded film crew on board the Cornelia Marie, the ship he co-owned and worked.

In 2008, Harris toppled from his bunk and later suffered a pulmonary embolism that sent him off the ship for a time. He returned a year later, raring to go on Deadliest Catch.

Then on January 29, 2010, Captain Harris was unloading crab on his vessel when he suffered a massive stroke. Doctors put him into an induced coma to let his brain swelling decrease.

He was getting better but then on February 9, 2010, Phil Harris died of an intracranial bleed. A few months later, his last episode which showed his death, aired on July 20, 2010. There was also a special tribute episode to Harris.

One last death from the show came a year after Phil Harris passed away. Justin Tennison appeared on Deadliest Catch as a deckhand on Time Bandit. His death wasn’t on the boat but off and under strange circumstances.

Tennison died in a hotel room in Homer, Alaska at age 33. A coworker stopped to check after not hearing from him and found him unresponsive on February 22, 2011.

The coroner ruled that Tennison died from complications of sleep apnea. One of the other Time Bandit crew members said, “we will miss him terribly”.

That’s who died on Deadliest Catch.