Rebecca Schaeffer's murder is one of the most bone-chilling in Hollywood, because it stems from the one thing many celebrities still deal with today: stalkers. After making a name for herself as an actress with roles in TV shows like My Sister Sam and films like The End of Innocence, the 21-year-old gained the attention of obsessed fan Robert John Bardo. Robert wrote numerous letters to the actress, one of which was answered by a member of her staff. He also traveled from his native Tucson to LA and tried to meet Rebecca on the set of My Sister Sam a few times but was turned away by security. After watching the film Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, in which Rebecca is in bed with a man in a scene, Robert became enraged and decided she should pay for becoming "another Hollywood whore."
On July 18, 1989, Robert traveled to LA one last time after obtaining Rebecca's home address from a private investigator. He then rang her doorbell and she answered the door. After a short conversation, Rebecca asked Robert not to come back to her home again. He then left and had breakfast at a nearby diner but returned an hour later and rang her doorbell again. She answered and he pulled out a gun from a brown paper bag and shot her in the chest at point-blank range. A neighbor called police, and 30 minutes after being rushed to the hospital, Rebecca was pronounced dead. Robert was arrested the following day after people reported a man roaming through traffic. Robert was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
