True Crime Collection

Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer was born 6th November 1967. She was an American model and actress. 

Rebecca was born to a Jewish family in Eugene, Oregon, the only child of Danna, a writer and instructor at Portland Community College, and Dr. Benson Schaeffer, a child psychologist. She was raised in the Jewish religion in Portland, where she attended Lincoln High School. She initially had aspirations to become a rabbi, but she began modelling during her junior year in high school. She appeared in department store catalogs and television commercials, and as an extra in a television film. In August 1984, her parents allowed her to move to New York City by herself to pursue a modelling career. While working in New York, she attended Professional Children's School. She also had a short term role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. 

In late 1984, Rebecca landed the role of Annie Barnes on ABC's One Life to Live for a stint that lasted 6 months. During this time, she attempted to further her modelling prospects. At 5ft 7inches, she was considered too short for high fashion modelling and struggled to find work. In 1985, she moved to Japan in hopes of finding more modelling jobs, but still encountered difficulty due to her height and weight. She returned to New York City and decided to focus on an acting career. 

In 1986, Rebecca won a small role in Woody Allen's comedy Radio Days, but her performance was ultimately edited from the film; only a brief scene featuring her character remains in the film. She continued modelling and also worked as a waitress. She appeared on the cover of Seventeen magazine, which caught the attention of television producers who were casting for a comedy My Sister Sam starring Pam Dawber. Rebecca won the role of 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. The series was initially a hit, ranking in the top 25, but it was cancelled halfway through its second season in April 1988 due to falling ratings. After My Sister Sam, Rebecca had supporting roles in Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, The End of Innocence, and the television film Out of Time. She also served as a spokesman for the children's charity Thursday's Child. 

On 18th July, 1989, Robert John Bardo, a 19 year old fan, shot and killed Rebecca at her home in West Hollywood. At the time of her death, Robert had been stalking her for 3 years. He had previously been obsessed with child peace activist Samantha Smith, who has been killed in a plane crash in 1985. He then wrote numerous letters to Rebecca, one of which she answered. In 1987, he travelled to Los Angeles hoping to meet with Rebecca on the set of My Sister Sam, but Warner Bros. security turned him away. He returned a month later armed with a knife, but security guards again prevented him from gaining access. He returned to Tucson and lost focus on Rebecca for a while, as his obsession shifted towards pop singers Debbie Gibson, Madonna, and Tiffany Darwish. 

Robert watched Rebecca in the black comedy Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills in 1989, in which she appeared in bed with another actor. He became enraged by the scene, apparently out of jealousy, and decided that Rebecca should be punished for becoming "another Hollywood w***e". Arthur Richard Jackson had stalked and stabbed actress Theresa Saldana in 1982, and Robert learned that Arthur had used a private investigator to obtain Theresa's address. Robert then paid a detective agency in Tucson $250 to find Rebecca's home address in California Department of Motor Vehicles records. His brother helped him get a Ruger GP100 .357 handgun because he was only 19 years old and had mental health issues. 

Robert traveled to Los Angeles a 3rd time and roamed the neighbourhood where Rebecca lived, asking people if she actually lived there. Once he was certain that the address was correct, he rang the doorbell. Rebecca was preparing for an audition for The Godfather Part III and was expecting a script to be delivered, so she answered the door. Robert showed her a letter and autograph that she had previously sent him; after a short conversation, she asked him not to come to her home again. He went to a diner nearby and had breakfast, then returned to her apartment an hour later. She answered the door with "a cold look on her face", Robert later said. He pulled out the handgun and shot her in the chest at point blank range in the doorway of her apartment building. Rebecca was rushed to the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead 30 minutes after her arrival. She was buried at Ahavai Sholom Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. 

Tucson Police Chief Peter Ronstadt arrested Robert the next day after motorists reported a man running through traffic on Interstate 10. He immediately confessed to the murder. Marcia Clark, better known for her role as lead prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case, prosecuted the case against him. Robert was convicted of capital murder in a bench trial and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As a result of this incident, California law regarding the release of personal information through the DMV was changed. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act, which prevents DMV from releasing private addresses, was enacted in 1994. Rebecca's death also helped prompt the 1990 passage of America's first anti-stalking laws. 

At the time of her death, Rebecca was dating director Brad Silberling. Her death influenced his film Moonlight Mile about a man's grief after his fiancée is murdered. Shortly after Rebecca's death, Pam Dawber and her My Sister Sam co-stars Joel Brooks, David Naughton, and Jenny O'Hara filmed a public service announcement for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in her honour.