WEBVTT - The Dangers of Stalking | Rebecca Schaeffer 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.400 You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:11.160 Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:14.080 are solely those of the individuals participating in the show 0:00:14.400 --> 0:00:17.560 and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:21.280 This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:24.160 for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.200 Hi, everyone, welcome back to Facing Evil from Tenderfoot TV 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:32.520 and iHeartRadio. 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.520 We are your host. I'm a vet GENTI. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:40.040 Lay and I'm Raschia Peccuerero and as always, our text 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.080 and producer Trevor Young is with us. 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.400 Hello, good morning, good afternoon, and good night. 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:46.279 All the things. 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:48.559 I don't know when people are listening to this, so 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:49.600 just had to get all the covered. 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:51.600 I know it could be any time of day, but 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:52.639 they are listening. 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.080 So one thing I wanted to maybe do today just 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.120 before we get going, is talk about some important podcasts 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:01.480 that are out there, you know, some of our contemporaries 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.280 and some of the work they're doing. One show that 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:09.040 is on the Tenderfoot side of things is a new 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.520 true crime show called La Monstra that I think everybody 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:16.280 should be listening to. Matt Graves who is originally from Austin, 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.080 Texas like me. We bonded over this when I talked 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.559 to him once. Is the host of the show. He 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:27.440 moved to Belgium decades ago and got entwined in the 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:31.559 story about a Belgian serial killer named Mark Dutroux. And 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.880 it's a really fascinating story of a number of people 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.640 who were missing and murdered in the eighties and nineties 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:42.639 by Mark Dutroux. So it's going now and for anybody 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:46.759 who hasn't started listening, I couldn't recommend it anymore. It's 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.720 just incredible. So I wanted to throw that out there. 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:53.559 I also want to say that we're making a show 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.240 right now. It's actually the third season of a show 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:58.720 called Thirteen Days of Halloween. It's just a fun little 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:04.720 anthology horror story for October people. So but yeah, are 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.000 are you all listening to anything? Or anything you guys 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:08.680 wanted to talk about? So? 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.919 Well, Number one, I have to tell you Trevor Vanna 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.520 is obsessed with and please tell me Sola Monstra, right, 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:20.959 that's how you pronounce it monstra. So she started down 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:25.760 that rabbit hole because prior to you know, root of 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:28.360 Evil and facing Evil. She hadn't ever really listened to 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.519 true crime, and she realized that because she she was 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:35.680 recently diagnosed with ADHD, that she was listening to music 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.480 when she was working and she wasn't staying focused. But 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.600 when she was listening to Facing Evil, she was like, 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.960 maybe I should try other true crime shows because I 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:45.840 kept sending her all these other shows because I like, 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:48.520 you know, I'll self help and Happy Galucky shows a 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:52.120 lot of the time. And so she started Withla Monstra 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:55.359 and now she's listened to everything that Tenderfoot and iHeart 0:02:55.360 --> 0:03:00.800 have done together, but her favorite thus far is Atlanta Monster. Yeah. 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.560 She just loves really everything you have done, Trevor. 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:04.840 I'll have to hear that, thank you. 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:08.160 I mean, I just have to say that I love 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:10.720 The ten News and I know it is, you know, 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.800 four children, and we are so lucky that, you know, 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:17.320 our producer Tracy Kaplan, you. 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.280 Know, is the head of that show. 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:23.959 And my lovely niece Leilani has you know, been a correspondent. 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:24.520 She's a tenor. 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:25.239 She's a tenor. 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:29.160 But I just love it because it's so informative, yes 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.680 for the kids, but even for us adults. So that's 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:33.799 what I am listening to. 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.560 All right, So with all of that being said, Trevor, 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.600 I would be honored if you take us through today's case. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.360 We're the cast from My Sister Sam. Now one of 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:46.320 us is gone forever. 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.240 Rebecca Schaeffer was only twenty one years old when her 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.640 life was taken by a single shot from a handgun. 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.560 There's a fellow here that's been here are lots of 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:58.280 times who has a large bouquet and about a five 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.240 foot teddy bear, and he's left it with us, and 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:05.000 he wants us to deliver it to Rebecca Shaeffer. Zenka's 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:09.160 testifies that Barto hired him to find Rebecca Shaeffer's birthdate 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:13.200 and home address in May nineteen eighty nine, two months 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:14.120 before the murder. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.159 Rebecca Shaeffer was a twenty one year old model and 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.840 actor who was killed in Los Angeles, California, in nineteen 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.239 eighty nine. She was known for roles in TV shows 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.440 like My Sister Sam and the film Scenes from the 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:32.400 Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. One person who watched her 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.400 developed an obsession with Rebecca. This man attempted to meet 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:40.200 Rebecca multiple times and even hired a private investigator to 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:45.000 find her home address. On January nineteenth, nineteen eighty nine, 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.280 that fan showed up at Rebecca's door. She politely asked 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.800 him to leave, but he showed up again a few 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:54.720 hours later. He pulled out a gun and shot her 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.840 point blank in the doorway, and she died before reaching 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:02.160 the hospital. The stalker was quickly arrested. He was convicted 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.960 of first degree murder and given a life sentence without 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:08.839 the possibility of parole. Rebecca Schaeffer is one of many 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:11.680 women who have faced violence at the hands of a stalker, 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:16.360 and for high profile individuals, stalkers can be particularly dangerous 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:20.919 and difficult to manage. And so who was Rebecca Shaeffer, 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.440 who was the man who murdered her? And what does 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.320 the story tell us about parasocial relationships and how they 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:30.320 often lead to dangerous situations. 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.080 So that's all so much, right, I mean, every case 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:40.080 that we talk about is so much. But when we 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:44.000 first started looking at cases, I knew I wanted to 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:48.040 do Rebecca Shaeffer's case because I remember being such a 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.839 big fan of hers. You know, I was really young 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.760 and the show she was on was all about you know, sisters. 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.160 My sister Sam was one of my favorite shows when 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:59.240 I was a kid. But I couldn't fathom how someone 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:06.680 could just go to her home and shoot and kill her, right, 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.159 And I wanted to know more. And I do remember 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:15.520 initially like knowing all the good things that happened after that, 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.080 and because of that, and that's why I wanted to 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.359 to talk about it. But you know, I was thinking 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:27.520 about stalking and about if that had ever happened to 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:31.719 like me or Evet or you know, thankfully nothing like 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.200 that has ever happened. But anytime you put yourself in 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:39.599 the public eye, you're vulnerable, right, Yeah, And we even have, 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.880 you know, sadly, we have some cyberstockers that we've had 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:44.680 to keep it bay. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.279 Yeah, everything that you said is very true. 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.400 And you know, what we do know is the majority 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:54.920 of stockings that take place in this country, they are 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:58.599 perpetrated by someone that the victim knows. 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:00.839 I mean, you know, like an. 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:04.400 Ex boyfriend or you know, a friend, I mean someone 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.000 that they know, a coworker, yeah, someone that they know. 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.520 But then there are people that are in the public eye, 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:15.080 like Rebecca Schaeffer, and they're stalkers. They usually have no 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:21.760 prior relationship to those that they pray upon, and yet 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.880 they behave right as if they already know them, right, 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:29.960 Like that is someone that they already have a relationship with, 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:31.160 and they don't. 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:35.240 That is they're infatuated with them, right m Yeah, it's 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.960 a real problem, and I think that's that happens with 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:40.800 a lot of celebrities. You know, it happened back then, 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:44.000 it's happening now. I mean, nearly one in three women 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.880 and one in six men have experienced stalking at some 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.239 point in their lifetime. And that's according to the Stocking 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:56.120 Prevention Awareness and Resource Center. And of course that behavior 0:07:56.160 --> 0:08:00.480 can range from harassment to threats to invasion of privacy 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:05.520 two of course more serious crimes like assault or even murder. 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:10.320 Yeah, it seems to be potentially an even more risky 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.120 thing in the age of social media. I think, yes, yeah, 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.160 you know, people who are high profile are now like 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.000 making their lives more accessible and visible through things like 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:22.160 social media, and so I think people have to be 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.040 even more careful now, you know, especially what kind of 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.360 presence they have on Instagram or Facebook or what have you, 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.120 because you know, all of a sudden, you're posting pictures 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:34.199 of your family and your kids and your fans now 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.080 know who your kids are, what inside of your house 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:38.880 looks like, you know, all this kind of stuff. 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:42.440 Yeah, they know your location. You have to be very conscious, 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:46.040 you know, of being on social media and Russia and 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.720 I have this conversation all the time and again with me. 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.600 You know, it's a love hate relationship because of that. 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.520 Like I just don't feel that everybody needs to know, 0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:01.319 you know, you're whereabouts at all times because of situations 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:01.720 like this. 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.520 So you know, I will say, you know, for me 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.880 of course personally, like yes, I am very open on 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.520 social media. But Mom gave us a really good tip 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.600 years ago, especially when Facebook first started. She was like, 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.959 you know, baby, just always, you know, post your location 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.280 after you've left, you know. I mean, and I've had 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:24.640 especially like right after I was on the Biggest Loser 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:26.720 and Facebook was just kind of starting, I happened to 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.079 check in somewhere and a fan you know, showed up 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.320 at Red Robin where I was having a burger and 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.000 like just wanted a photo. But like what if that 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:39.840 would have been someone like Rebecca's stalker? You know, Like 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.520 I'm trying to balance it, especially being a mom and 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:47.320 having a family and all the things and my sister Evet, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:50.760 And I know, Trevor, you're you're much more private too, 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.320 like you both teach me. Well, I'm doing my best 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:58.360 to be open yet still you know, share and still 0:09:58.400 --> 0:09:59.360 be protected as well. 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.280 But let's get back to Rebecca. I mean, we know 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.120 she was so very young, and she was twenty one 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:07.640 years old, right, Trevor. 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.440 Yeah, I mean, she, much like Dominique Dunn, was very 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:13.760 much at the beginning of her career. Dominique Dounn was 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:17.400 another actor in Hollywood who we talked about a couple 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:21.840 episodes ago, and you know, like Dominique, she had just 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.080 started to make a name for herself on TV. Primarily 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.240 I already mentioned the show My Sister Sam, which y'all 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.000 had mentioned as well, which she was actually on with 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.600 Pam Dauber, and that show ran for two seasons before 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.560 it was canceled in nineteen eighty eight. Did either of 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:38.440 you watch the show? 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.679 I was heartbroken when it was canceled. Oh my god, 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:42.480 I was obsessed. 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.800 Yeah, we totally watched this show and it was so 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.760 cool because you know, it was filmed as if it 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.160 was in San Francisco, you know, so to see the 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:53.480 cable cars and all that before I'd ever come to 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:55.920 San Francisco. Was like, you just loved it in the 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.040 chemistry that they had, you know, between the two sisters. 0:10:59.040 --> 0:10:59.800 It's like Russia. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:05.000 We always of course, of course, yeah, but I was. 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.720 I was actually really really sad when it was canceled. 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:10.800 And I think it's because, if I remember correctly, it's 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.400 because it moved to a different night, you know what 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.560 I mean, Like it had a really bad, you know spot, 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:18.400 and it was up against the facts of life, like 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.400 you know, everybody loves the facts of life, so it 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:23.280 was kind of dead in the water when it moved 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.040 to a different night. But yeah, I and I just 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:29.280 loved the chemistry between yeah, the two women on and 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.920 off screen, and you know, we'll get into that more 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:37.880 because Pam, Pam loved Rebecca. Yeah, yeah, and so funny too, 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:40.559 like of course, you know watching my sister Sam, like I, 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:42.840 I of course love that show. But I had no 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:47.040 idea that Rebecca spent a bunch of time in Oregon, 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.720 where my wife and I live, and she was actually 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:55.400 born in Eugene, Oregon, near University of Oregon Go Ducks. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.120 The Schaeffer family was Jewish, and as a child, Rebecca 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.280 considered become a rabbi when she grew up, before she 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:06.880 became the famous actress that she became. She began modeling 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:10.080 in her junior year of high school and was even 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.320 featured in print ads and was also an extra in 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:17.679 TV and film. And Eugene, Oregon is really close to Portland, Oregon, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.720 and Portland is the bigger city, so she ended up 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:25.840 actually getting an agent in Portland, and that is where 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:29.760 she got the acting and modeling bug, so she was 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:35.640 working consistently, and so with her parents' permission, she ended 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:41.440 up moving to New York to pursue her career. So 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.360 she landed a small role on one of my favorite 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.760 soaproppers of all time on ABC one, Life to Live. 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.520 And she ended up really just more so focusing on 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:55.560 her acting rather than her modeling because she was only 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.520 five seven, So she modeled a little bit in Japan. 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.640 But then once she you know, came back to the States, 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:05.720 she realized that New York probably wasn't the best fit 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:09.840 for her, at least for modeling, but for acting is 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.480 where she knew that was her sweet spot. 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.720 Yeah, totally, and she definitely, you know had the drive, 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.760 you know what, you absolutely have to have in this business. 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:24.400 And apparently, you know, everybody said that she was a 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.320 spitfire and you could just look at her and tell that, 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.400 you know, she just you know, when they say that, 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:33.839 you you have it. Like she definitely had it. And 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:36.440 she was really, you know, serious about her work. So 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:40.040 like you said, she wasn't modeling, you know, or doing 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.520 as much modeling as she would like to do because 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.640 of her height. So she was off, you know, to 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:50.520 LA to get serious and become a serious actress. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.080 Yeah, and I'm not sure if she was in LA 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.520 or New York when she was cast in the Woody 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.360 Allen film, but she was cast in a small role 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.839 in the Woody Allen movie Rado Days, but sadly, her 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.720 part was mostly left on the cutting room floor. So 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:06.320 she kind of thought that was going to be her 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:10.640 big break, but it wasn't. But interestingly enough, her big 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:14.520 break came from being on the cover of seventeen magazine. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.160 And I had this magazine. I looked at it. I 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:21.440 remember seeing her bright, shining smile and her curls and 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:26.520 her dimples. And TV producers saw her on that cover 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:29.200 and they ended up you know, going through a whole 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.920 casting and auditioning process. But that is how Rebecca Schaeffer 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:35.840 was cast on the show. We keep talking about my 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:39.760 sister Sam, and Pam Dabber played her sister, and you 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:41.600 might remember Pam from. 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.680 Work and Mindy as Mindy, And apparently Rebecca and Pam 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:50.920 became really close in real life. They were almost like 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:54.400 real life sisters, you know, in that chemistry, like you 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:55.520 can't make that up. 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:00.520 So the show was incredibly successful, you know, we have 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.440 said so much today. We both Vet and I watched 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.320 the show, absolutely loved it. But sadly, after two seasons, 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:12.960 my sister Sam ended up getting canceled and Rebecca ended 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:15.560 up appearing in a few more you know, movies, and 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:18.440 I think she did some more TV movies and I 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.120 think one film, but by this time she had already 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:25.160 moved out of Pam's house and into an apartment in 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.120 the Fairfax neighborhood in LA. 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.240 And just to back up a little and talk about 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.880 the stalker in this case, it was while Rebecca was 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:37.480 doing My Sister Sam that she started to receive fan 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:41.560 letters from a man named John Bardo. And he was 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.240 a teenager himself, a couple of years younger than she was. 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.320 He certainly wasn't her only fan, but she responded to him, 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.680 writing that his letter was quote the most beautiful that 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.760 she had ever received. And on this letter she drew 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.960 a peace sign a heart and signed it quote with 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:01.480 love from Rebecca. So the day Bardo received this letter, 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.000 he wrote in his diary, quote, when I think of her, 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:08.200 I would like to become famous to impress her end quote. 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.440 Little did she know she was writing to the person 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:15.200 who would one day stock and kill her. 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.120 Yes, but we need to take a break, so we 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.160 will talk more about that after we get back. 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.440 So to catch you up. Rebecca Schaeffer was a teenager 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:32.160 at the time while she was co starring in the 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:35.280 popular TV show My Sister Sam, and that's when she 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:39.640 began receiving fan letters from John Bardow. But who was 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:40.480 John Bardow? 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:45.640 Well? Bardo was born in nineteen seventy in Edwards, California, 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.480 and he was the youngest of seven children. He allegedly 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:53.680 had a somewhat troubled childhood and he was diagnosed with 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:57.600 bipolar disorder at a very young age. He was institutionalized 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:01.920 at age fifteen to treat some suppose emotional problems, and 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:03.960 he ended up dropping out of high school not long 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.480 after that point. So he was just a young teenager 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.000 himself when he began to stalk a different girl named 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:15.239 Samantha Smith, who was a well known peace activist. So 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:18.000 Bardo went as far as taking a bus to Maine, 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:21.679 where Smith lived, and he continued to stalk her until 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:26.480 she tragically died in a plane crash in nineteen eighty five. Wow. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.879 But the following year, in nineteen eighty six, John Bardo 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:33.800 found somebody new he was watching My Sister Sam and 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:38.000 quickly developed an obsession with Rebecca on screen. He built 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.439 a shrine to her in his bedroom, supposedly, and started 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.440 to obsessively write letters to her. Wow. 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:49.080 In June nineteen eighty seven, he attempted to meet Rebecca 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.800 by showing up at the Warner Brothers studio where My 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.800 Sister Sam was being filmed, and the studio's chief of 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.760 security said that that he just thought that this guy 0:17:59.880 --> 0:18:04.479 was love struck, adding that Bardo had actually called the 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:10.560 studio multiple times, and he also said that when he 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:16.080 was there, he was terribly like insistent upon being let 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:19.640 into the studio and every you know, every other word 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.679 that he was saying was Rebecca. This Rebecca that, So 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.639 to me, that is a red flag. If I was 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.680 the security guard, I'm just saying I would have told 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:32.119 her people, right, told her manager, told someone that, you know, 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:34.880 this guy is there's something askew here. 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:39.040 So I was actually watching an entire documentary on Rebecca 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.320 and her life in her case, and her manager was 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.919 with Rebecca on set when John Bardo was at the 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.840 gate at the Warner Brothers lot, and they did call 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.720 over to set and talked to the manager, not to Rebecca, 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:56.000 and the manager just dismissed it like, oh, not a 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:57.879 big deal, like sorry, we don't have time for that 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:00.280 fan today, and they didn't even think about it again. 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.080 So to them, it wasn't a cause for concern. But 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.800 for me and I think we can all three agree, 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:10.200 like these are all major red flags, right. 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.040 Yeah, I would definitely have to agree. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.880 You know, they just thought he was just a fan, right, 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:20.520 a love struck fan, and ultimately, you know, they deemed 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:24.119 him harmless and he was just escorted off of the premises. 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.920 Right. Well, a few years later, that might have been 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.919 different if this was happening in a different time period, 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.680 because in nineteen ninety four, the Violence Against Women Act 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:38.840 was passed, and since then, every single state has passed 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:43.000 laws making this sort of stalking a crime, but back 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:46.600 in nineteen eighty nine, there was no such law in existence. 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.240 Sadly it is, it is so sad. 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:51.080 Yeah. 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:56.080 Anyway, after this particular incident, John Barto returns to Tucson, 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.000 where he lives in Arizona, and once he was there, 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.800 he kind of got distracted and he ended up fanning 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:07.960 out over Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and Madonna. So he was 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:12.000 in a pop star phase as opposed to focusing on Rebecca, right, 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:14.480 I mean, it was it was a sign of the times. 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:19.399 But it was later discovered that Bardo had been carrying 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:22.439 a knife in his bag when he was trying to 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:24.280 reach Rebecca at the studio back. 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:27.960 In LA That's just crazy. But can't you imagine though, 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:30.760 if he would have gotten on and he's he's got this, you. 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:31.120 Know what I mean? 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:32.960 Yeah, And at the time, I don't know if they 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.080 would have patted him down or even done a metal 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:36.359 detector or anything like that. 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:37.560 Right, yeah. 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:41.640 Well, anyway, his new obsessions with you know, the pop 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:44.920 stars didn't last very long, and in nineteen eighty nine, 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:47.080 I think this was a really big trigger for him. 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:50.479 He watched Rebecca's latest film at the time, and it 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:53.679 was a movie called Scenes from a Class Struggle in 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:58.639 Beverly Hills, and it's very different from her past work, 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.960 and it's let's just say, it's truly a film for adults. 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:07.320 It's not for a teenage mind. And it's this farcical, dark, 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:11.560 upside downstairs comedy about rich people and their staff in 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:15.639 Los Angeles hooking up with one another. So Bardo I 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:19.000 think he was very triggered, and he hated the fact 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.840 that there is one scene in particular where Rebecca's character 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:26.320 has sex with someone. Okay, so he's held on to 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.439 this idea that Rebecca is this innocent girl like her 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.840 character and she's like not having sex, right, and he 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:37.639 says that she's now become quote one more of the 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.760 bitches of Hollywood end quote. He was so upset and 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:45.879 so enraged that he even drew a diagram of Rebecca's 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:49.920 body and marks spots where he planned to shoot her. 0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:52.679 And he even asked his older brother to buy him 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:57.119 a gun, and his brother helped him buy a gun. 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.720 So now John Bardo has a weapon and he just 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:05.239 needs to locate Rebecca Schaeffer, and so he goes to 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:08.919 the links of hiring a private investigator to retrieve her 0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:12.040 personal address, and he's able to do that pretty easily. 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:15.720 He goes to the California Department of Motor Vehicles and 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:17.480 at the time, all you had to do was pay 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.359 four dollars for that information and basically anybody could get it. 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:20.760 Wow. 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:23.080 And so Bardow knows how to do all this, how 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:25.359 to hire the investigator and find out where she lives, 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:27.679 because he's right up on it and apparently it's not 0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:31.080 a huge secret. So back in nineteen eighty two, there 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:34.480