How Rebecca Schaeffer's Tragic Murder Led to the Nation's First-Ever Anti-Stalking Law

From Good Housekeeping

In 1989, model-turned-actress Rebecca Schaeffer was killed in cold blood by a man many described as an “deranged fan” named Robert John Bardo.

On April 12, 20/20 is releasing a new two-hour documentary called "Your Biggest Fan" about Schaeffer, just months before the 30th anniversary of her untimely death. With interviews from her family, former costars, and the deputy district attorney in the trial, Marcia Clark, ABC is unveiling the impact Schaeffer's death had on the nation.

Who was Rebecca Schaeffer?

Schaeffer was born on November 6, 1967 in Oregon, and was the only child of Benson and Danna Schaeffer. She developed a passion for drama at an early age and was later approached to try modeling. Just a couple of years after starting as a teen model, she moved to New York City to pursue a full-fledged career in entertainment.

She initially scored a role on the soap opera One Life to Live, among other opportunities, but her big break came when she landed the role of Patti on the sitcom My Sister Sam. The TV show brought her back to her home coast, and she moved to California in 1986.

My Sister Sam aired 44 episodes between 1986 and 1988, and Schaeffer's fan base grew exponentially. During that time, she was the covergirl for Seventeen’s March 1987 issue, and she went on to star in several movies.

Just as she was preparing for a potentially life-changing role in The Godfather III, a stranger knocked on her door to introduce himself.

The day of Rebecca Schaeffer's murder:

The 21-year-old actress answered a knock at her West Hollywood home on July 18, 1989. A 19-year-old fan named Robert John Bardo, who had hired a private investigator to find Schaeffer's address, was at the other side of the door. He arrived carrying a card she had sent him, her photo, and a copy of The Catcher in the Rye, according to ABC News. The book was the same one Mark David Chapman was carrying when he murdered John Lennon in 1980.

Schaeffer reportedly greeted Bardo, smiled, and told him, "Please take care." But he wasn’t satisfied. Bardo returned an hour later to her doorstep, and this time, he pointed a .357 magnum pistol at her chest and shot her directly in the heart.

"She was just screaming," he told psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz. "She was going: 'Why, why?’ … I was still fumbling around, thinking I should blow my head off and fall on her.”

Bardo fled the scene and was later found running down the freeway in Tucson, Arizona yelling, "I killed Rebecca Schaeffer," according to ABC News.

Why did Robert kill Rebecca?

Bardo began stalking Schaeffer years earlier, and reportedly tried to gain access to the set of My Sister Sam, but was turned away by security. He also had an infatuation with pop singers Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. But he ultimately decided to murder Schaeffer after seeing her love scene in Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hill.

"All those rageful feelings. ... 'How dare she? She's mine. ... She's supposed to stay innocent for me," was Bardo's thinking, according to Dr. Kris Mohandie, a clinical police and forensic psychologist. "'I’m going to punish you and permanently possess you by taking your life.’"

Even more chilling was Bardo's admission that he was inspired by a 1982 People magazine article about a man named Arthur Jackson, who went to Raging Bull actress Theresa Saldana's home to kill her. Saldana survived her attack (she died of complications from pneumonia in 2016), and Jackson received the maximum sentence at the time of 12 years in prison.

Where is Robert now?

Bardo was arrested the day after he murdered Schaeffer.

During his trial, Bardo’s lawyer argued that he was suffering from a mental condition. His brother and sister testified and said that their sibling dropped out of high school to undergo treatment for his mental health. It was then revealed that Bardo couldn’t purchase the murder weapon because of his history of mental illness, but convinced his brother to get a gun for him.

Then-deputy district attorney Marcia Clark, who later became a household name during the O.J. Simpson trial, argued that Bardo was obsessed, not insane. In 1991, he was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Bardo continues to serve his life sentence in Avenal State Prison in central California. He also suffered serious injuries in 2007, when a fellow inmate stabbed him 11 times at Mule Creek State Prison.

How Rebecca's murder made a lasting impact:

In 1990, a year after Rebecca's death, California passed the U.S.’s first-ever anti-stalking law, which “makes it a felony to cause another, or their family, to be in reasonable fear for their safety and carries a state prison sentence.” As of 2019, this law is recognized in all 50 states.

20/20’s “Your Biggest Fan” airs on ABC Friday, April 12 at 9 p.m. EST.

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