We’re starting our new true crime theme: when celebrity fandom turns to murder. Rebecca Schaeffer was a 21-year-old actress whose career was just starting to take off. On the morning of her murder, she was anxiously waiting for a messenger to deliver the script for the highly anticipated third and final Godfather movie which she would be auditioning for later that afternoon. She opened her apartment door to be met not with a messenger, but a troubled fan named Robert John Bardo. Rebecca’s death would send shockwaves through Hollywood and force law enforcement to finally take stalking seriously.

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/when-celebrity-worship-turns-deadly-1.1129874

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3960781/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9977013/

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https://allthatsinteresting.com/robert-john-bardo

https://abcnews.go.com/US/schaeffer-rebeccas-star-sister-sam-devastated-murder/story?id=62284160

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-08/rebecca-schaeffer-hollywood-murder-that-changed-america

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a27116831/rebecca-schaeffer-murder/

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/07/the-hollywood-murder-that-made-states-take-stalking-seriously/

https://www.etonline.com/rebecca-schaeffers-murder-how-actress-death-changed-hollywood-and-inspired-anti-stalking-laws

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-22-me-114-story.html

https://www.eonline.com/news/1057267/the-still-terrifying-details-of-the-murder-of-rebecca-schaeffer-a-star-on-the-rise-and-an-obsession-turned-deadly

https://www.10minutemurder.com/blog/robert-the-celebrity-stalker/

https://www.stalkingawareness.org/contact/