On This Date in "My Sister Sam" History: Rebecca Schaeffer Was Brutally Murdered

[Brian Damage]

July 18th, 1989 - Rebecca Schaeffer, actress (My Sister Sam), is shot by a fan at 21

[catlover79]

I can't believe its been 21 years now. God bless Rebecca and her loved ones - no one deserves what happened to her. I wonder what her life and career would be like had she lived. Rebecca!

[Marvo301]

I remeber being totally in shock when this happened. I was a regular viewer of "My Sister Sam" and couldn't believe one of the stars of the show was dead. It's hard to believe it's been 21 years already . Rebecca Schaeffer

[TMC]

The murderer's brother bought him the gun even though he knew he was mentally unstable. So should Edward Bardo also been held liable for that in some way?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

The murderer's brother bought him the gun even though he knew he was mentally unstable. So should Edward Bardo also been held liable for that in some way?

Young TV star was brutally murdered in cold-blood by crazed fan at her own apartment

When Robert saw Rebecca in Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, where she had a love scene, his fixation turned "rageful."

"All those rageful feelings. ... 'How dare she? She's mine. ... She's supposed to stay innocent for me.' That gets ... converted into a plan of cold-blooded revenge," Dr. Kris Mohandie, a clinical police and forensic psychologist, said to 20/20. "I’m going to punish you and permanently possess you by taking your life."

In July 1989, Robert attempted to purchase a firearm at a gun store in Tucson and was refused.

Jeff Dunn, a retired police detective from the Los Angeles Police Department, said that the gun store owner detected something was wrong with Robert and began to question him, per 20/20.

According to Jeff, Robert disclosed to the owner that he had a history of mental illness. After that, the gun store owner discerned that Robert is a "prohibited possessor" and is not legally able to buy a firearm. He told Robert he would not sell him the gun. Robert then convinced his brother Edward to purchase a handgun for him

"His brother didn't know what was going on in his mind, that he was fixated on Rebecca Schaeffer," Rhoda said per 20/20. "He just thought, 'Oh, he wants a gun, he'll do some target shooting.' And… told Robert, 'OK, I'll get you the gun, but you can't use it unless I'm with you.'"

Robert subsequently hired a private investigator to obtain Rebecca's home address, and the private investigator got it from the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

In a prison interview shared on 20/20, Robert explained what inspired him to contact a private investigator to find Rebecca. He had read about how a Scottish man, Arthur Jackson, located actress Theresa Saldana in 1982 through a PI. Arthur stalked and stabbed Theresa, which she survived.

Robert took a Greyhound bus from Tucson to Los Angeles, to head to Rebecca's, with a bag and the gun in tow, according to authorities. In his bag, he had a card Rebecca sent him, a photograph of her, and the book The Catcher in the Rye, which Mark David Chapman had when he killed John Lennon in 1980. Robert arrived in Los Angeles around 5 a.m. on July 18, 1989.

That same morning, Rebecca was waiting for the script for The Godfather Part III to be delivered when Robert rang her doorbell. The intercom did not work, so Rebecca went down and opened the door herself. Robert then showed Rebecca the autographed photo he had of her. She politely told Robert she needed to get ready for an interview.

Robert left for a diner to eat before returning to her home. Rebecca answered the door again, and Robert claimed that she said he was wasting her time, and he said that remark set him off.

The former teen model got her start in acting with the soap opera Guiding Light and had her breakout role in the sitcom My Sister Sam. Before her tragic death, she was going to meet Francis Ford Coppola and audition for the role of Mary Corleone in The Godfather: Part III. Rebecca was 21 at the time and was living in Los Angeles. She was also dating director Brad Silberling at the time. Her killing inspired his 2002 film, Moonlight Mile, which is about a man's grief over the murder of his fiancée.

On the day of July 19, 1989, Rebecca was fatally shot by Robert Bardo, a fanatic who stalked her, in her LA apartment. Robert first became fixated on Rebecca when she starred on My Sister Sam.

Robert wrote many fan letters to Rebecca, and her psychologist father, Benson Schaeffer, said they seemed non-threatening and that they appeared to be "just another strange kid who wanted someone to pay attention to him," per the Los Angeles Times.

Robert's obsession intensified as he traveled to California in the summer of 1987 to try and see Rebecca at the Warner Bros. studio, but was turned away by the security guard, according to Rhonda Saunders, formerly with the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, per ABC News' 20/20 special. He was carrying a teddy bear and flowers.

When Robert saw Rebecca in Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, where she had a love scene, his fixation turned "rageful."

"All those rageful feelings. ... 'How dare she? She's mine. ... She's supposed to stay innocent for me.' That gets ... converted into a plan of cold-blooded revenge," Dr. Kris Mohandie, a clinical police and forensic psychologist, said to 20/20. "I’m going to punish you and permanently possess you by taking your life."

In July 1989, Robert attempted to purchase a firearm at a gun store in Tucson and was refused.

Jeff Dunn, a retired police detective from the Los Angeles Police Department, said that the gun store owner detected something was wrong with Robert and began to question him, per 20/20.

According to Jeff, Robert disclosed to the owner that he had a history of mental illness. After that, the gun store owner discerned that Robert is a "prohibited possessor" and is not legally able to buy a firearm. He told Robert he would not sell him the gun. Robert then convinced his brother Edward to purchase a handgun for him

"His brother didn't know what was going on in his mind, that he was fixated on Rebecca Schaeffer," Rhoda said per 20/20. "He just thought, 'Oh, he wants a gun, he'll do some target shooting.' And… told Robert, 'OK, I'll get you the gun, but you can't use it unless I'm with you.'"

Robert subsequently hired a private investigator to obtain Rebecca's home address, and the private investigator got it from the state Department of Motor Vehicles

In a prison interview shared on 20/20, Robert explained what inspired him to contact a private investigator to find Rebecca. He had read about how a Scottish man, Arthur Jackson, located actress Theresa Saldana in 1982 through a PI. Arthur stalked and stabbed Theresa, which she survived.

Robert took a Greyhound bus from Tucson to Los Angeles, to head to Rebecca's, with a bag and the gun in tow, according to authorities. In his bag, he had a card Rebecca sent him, a photograph of her, and the book The Catcher in the Rye, which Mark David Chapman had when he killed John Lennon in 1980. Robert arrived in Los Angeles around 5 a.m. on July 18, 1989.

That same morning, Rebecca was waiting for the script for The Godfather Part III to be delivered when Robert rang her doorbell. The intercom did not work, so Rebecca went down and opened the door herself. Robert then showed Rebecca the autographed photo he had of her. She politely told Robert she needed to get ready for an interview.

Robert left for a diner to eat before returning to her home. Rebecca answered the door again, and Robert claimed that she said he was wasting her time, and he said that remark set him off.

Robert said to Rebecca shortly after, "I forgot to give you something," and took out his gun, shooting her point-blank in the chest. Robert ran away from the crime scene. He later told a psychiatrist that Rebecca had repeatedly asked him. "Why? Why?" as she was dying.

A neighbor had heard the gun being fired and Rebecca's cries and immediately called an ambulance. Rebecca was rushed to the hospital and was later pronounced dead.

According to police, a day after Robert shot Rebecca, he was spotted running down the freeway in Tucson, yelling, "I killed Rebecca Schaeffer."

"We secured him right away. Did a little, quick patdown and search on him, found a picture of Rebecca Schaeffer in his shirt pocket," said Paul Hallums, the Tucson officer who arrested Bardo, per 20/20. "He was disheveled-looking. His clothes were dirty. His hair was a mess. It looked like he hadn't slept all night. We started putting two and two together."

"Robert Bardo was a troubled young man..... There was a history of a troubled childhood. He had threatened neighbors and schoolmates," said Jeff said about Robert.

Robert was brought back to California, where he went on trial for Rebecca's murder. He was found guilty of first-degree murder by a judge, as he had waived his right to a jury trial in exchange for the death penalty being ruled out in his 1991 trial, per the Los Angeles Times. Robert was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December 1991.

Rebecca's murder led to California passing the first anti-stalking law in 1990, which is presently in all 50 states. Her death also influenced the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, which was enacted in 1994. The federal law prohibits the DMV from releasing a driver's personal information, such as addresses.