‘My Sister Sam’ Star, Rebecca Schaeffer’s Gruesome Murder Happened 35 Years Ago
On July 18, 1989, at the age of 21, the horrific murder of My Sister Sam actress Rebecca Schaeffer occurred. She died at the hands of a stalker named Robert John Bardo. Schaeffer played Patricia “Patti” Russell, a teenager who moves from Oregon to San Francisco to live with her 29-year-old sister Samantha (“Sam”) after the death of their parents, in the CBS comedy My Sister Sam from 1986 -1988; prior to that, she was also a regular cast member of One Life to Live. After My Sister Sam was canceled, she appeared in several films, including the comedy Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, a role that enraged Bardo to the point of tracking her down and killing her for “becoming another Hollywood whore” (because of a scene where she was in bed with another actor).
Cinecom Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Bardo had already been obsessed with Schaeffer for years, sending her many letters and eventually losing interest in her prior to this film, which put her back in his sights. This time, he tracked down the young actress’s address using a private detective. Once he knew where she lived, he drove to her house from Tucson, where he was living at the time. Schaeffer had been expecting a script of The Godfather, Part III, and made the life-altering decision to answer the door that fateful day, not knowing this rabid fan would be behind it instead of the assistant with the script — one that could have changed her life in a tremendously different direction. As the story goes, after Bardo told her he was a big fan, she wished him well and he left. Then he returned an hour later and shot her. The police picked up Bardo in Arizona the next day, when he was allegedly spotted alongside a freeway yelling, “I killed Rebecca Schaeffer!”
Wikipedia/California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Authorities reported that Bardo had been carrying a copy of the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger — the same book carried by Mark David Chapman in 1980 when he gunned down John Lennon. (Which really begs the question: Why does this coming-of-age novel about a troubled teenager inspire such homicidal outrage? Perhaps people are really missing the point of this book.) At the trial, his lawyer attempted to prove that Bardo was schizophrenic and not in control of his actions in order to get him acquitted. However, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Everett Collection
Marcia Clark, who would later become quite well-known for being the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder case, prosecuted the case against him. As a result of this horrible loss and a widespread push for change, a year later, California passed the first anti-stalking law, which made it a felony to “cause another, or their family, to be in reasonable fear for their safety.” Now, every state has a similar law in place to hopefully prevent future crimes of this nature. This story was the subject of a 2019 Investigation Discovery episode of the docuseries The 1980s: The Deadliest Decade titled “The Copycat Killer.”
Hollywood's Nastiest Feuds
November 2017
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