Robert John Bardo

Robert John Bardo (Born January 2,1970), is an American serving life in prison without parole for the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989, whom he had stalked for several years beforehand. Having previously stalked Samantha Smith before her death in 1985 in a plane crash, Bardo turned his attention to Schaeffer in 1986; among his methods were attempts to gain access to the set of the TV series "My Sister Sam", in which Schaeffer was then starring. Ultimately, he obtained her home address via a detective agency, which in turn had obtained it from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. He confronted her at her home, supposedly for having starred in a sex scene in the film "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills" and thus having lost her innocence. Triggered by what he considered to be rude behavior toward him, he shot her, resulting in her death. The prosecutor for the state was Marcia Clark, who later became famous as a lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial, though she made her name in the legal profession with her aggressive and intelligent prosecution of Bardo.

Bardo grew up in Tucson, Arizona, the youngest of seven children and the son of a former Air Force officer. Partly as a result of his actions and his means of obtaining Schaeffer's address, California passed a law prohibiting the DMV from releasing home addresses. [ [http://www.eonline.com/Features/Specials/Stalkers/stalk2b.html E! Online ] ]

Bardo was housed in a maximum-security unit for inmates with sensitive needs, including former gang members, notorious prisoners, and those convicted of sex crimes.

On July 27, 2007, Bardo, aged 37, was stabbed 11 times on his way to breakfast in the maximum-security unit at Mule Creek State Prison in Amador County, California. Two inmate-made weapons were found at the scene. He was treated at the University of California, Davis Medical Center and returned to prison, officials said. The suspect in the attack is another convict serving 82-years-to-life for second-degree murder. [ [http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070728/D8QLK8UG0.html iExcite ] ] [citeweb |title=Killer of actress stabbed in prison |date=July 28, 2007 |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/2007-07-28-2301673642_x.htm |accessdate=2008-02-25]

References

External links

* [http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/shaeffer/shaeffer.htm Morbidly Hollywood: The Stalking Death that Changed the Law]
* [http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/verdicts/bardo.html Court Case - California vs. Bardo]
* [http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070728/D8QLK8UG0.html AP - Killer of Actress Stabbed in Prison]