he has already formed an intent to kill as a result of premeditation and deliberation it's been thought out he has decided to do it he's bought a gun for the purpose he's bought a bus ticket he's taken the bus he's come over there he's loaded the gun prior to the first visit he's ready to kill he has considered the reasons for against it and having done so he has decided to kill [Music] november 6 1967 dana and benson schaefer welcomed their daughter rebecca lucille into the world an only child rebecca was adored by her parents her father benson was a child psychologist and mother dana was employed at portland community college growing up in oregon in a religious jewish family rebecca initially thought about becoming a rabbi combining her faith and her love for other people she loved the outdoor life especially horse riding and this is something her and her father bonded even more over as she moved into her junior year rebecca started modelling and acting in amateur dramatic clubs her big smile and striking brown eyes shone through in her photo shoots and her future career in front of the camera was starting to form she appeared in adverts for department store catalogues as well as tv commercials but she soon decided it was time for a change she spoke to her parents about fulfilling a career as a full-time model and they agreed aged 16 she took a big leap she moved across the country alone to the city of dreams new york with its bright lights big atmosphere and social buzz new york was where many a hopeful performer would go in a bid to further their careers although her parents were understandably nervous rebecca said to her father do you remember what you said to me dad sometimes you have to choose between adventure and regret although the city was big and overwhelming sixteen-year-old rebecca was more than a match for it within the first week of living there she saw a strange man pacing in the subway with a sharpened screwdriver a terrified young woman was sat in front of her and rebecca hurried over pretending to know the girl and said it's so great to see you let's go get a coffee and pulled her up the stairs as she settled into her new life in the big apple she began attending the professional children's school the elite professional children's school educates children who work in the entertainment industry and boasted stars such as carrie fisher and christopher walken as part of their prestigious alumni it wasn't long before her perseverance and hard work paid off in 1984 she got her first big break she booked a six-month recurring role in the abc soap opera one life to live playing annie barnes after this she landed a small role in radio days the famous woody allen comedy sadly her performance was edited from the film and only a brief scene which features her remains despite her early success as a model she soon found herself coming up against the tough expectations of the fashion industry she stood at five foot seven and many agencies considered her to be too short to model for high fashion she struggled to find further work so she decided to leave new york in 1985 she made another ambitious move this time to japan to try and add more to her modelling portfolio but once again her height and weight were considered a problem after this she decided to return to new york and focus solely on her acting dreams undeterred she started working as a waitress to support herself in between acting jobs and carried on auditioning wherever and whenever she could she was sharing an apartment with five of the people and just as her phone line got cut off as she could no longer pay the bills she booked a big role she had recently shot for the popular 17 magazine which caught the attention of tv producers they were casting for the comedy my sister sam starring pam dauber who had become a household name thanks to the hit show mork and mindy rebecca auditioned and won the role of the feisty and funny patty russell a teenager who makes the journey to live with her sister sam after the death of their parents her life changed instantly and she flew to los angeles to start filming the cbs show hi i'm penny russell this is my sister sam i just moved in we haven't lived together since we were kids i was raised by our aunt and uncle yeah things sure have changed i used to dress her i can't wear this out in public this makes up for the haircut you gave me when i was three starts like a knock at the door anywhere [Music] her parents couldn't be prouder of her move to hollywood and were a little more relieved now she was living closer to them as well as her grandfather who was living nearby in west hollywood the pilot of my sister sam aired in october 1986 and had a great time slot in between two already very popular shows she and co-star pam immediately hit it off and pam took 18 year old rebecca under her wing eventually moving her into her house rebecca was bright and bubbly and immediately popular with audiences she became the spokesperson for thursday's child an organization that helps children and teenagers with various issues including eating disorders abuse and suicide appearing on various chat shows magazine covers and even hosting the thanksgiving parade for cbs pandorba could see rebecca's life as a new and young celebrity was rapidly changing pam often gave her advice on how to navigate the celebrity world pam herself had issues with stalking and obsessive fans in the past and said she and the team told rebecca you're on a hit show we're gonna go on this show for a while you never put your real name on your mailbox rebecca never put your real name on your mailbox in 1987 while shooting my sister sam the security at warner brothers studios phoned rebecca's team and asked if she knew a man that had come to meet her nineteen-year-old robert john bardo had turned up to the set carrying roses and a huge teddy bear and claimed he knew the actress and wanted to see her rebecca confirmed she didn't know him and they did not allow him entry robert said he was frustrated as he couldn't understand why rebecca would turn him away a month later robert returned to warner brothers this time extremely agitated and carrying a knife security were now aware of who he was and again stopped him from getting in he was taken into the security office and was told he needed to stop as the obsession he had for the actress was going too far the head of security was concerned and informed the production company about what had happened rebecca continued on with her life in various filming projects although my sister sam initially was a success with viewers it was sadly cancelled in 1988 halfway through the second season leaving many episodes unaired the show had changed its time slot and this impacted it massively rebecca was disappointed but continued to throw herself into auditioning she was then cast in a string of roles including scenes from the class struggle in beverly hills the end of innocence and the television film out of time [Music] july 18 1989 21 year old rebecca was now living in a west hollywood apartment as well as her career going from strength to strength her personal life was in a great place too she met 23 year old tv and film director brad silberling on a blind date at ucla film school and brad said the chemistry was instant brad silberling went on to direct many successful tv shows and films including lemony snickets a series of unfortunate events and city of angels and the talented young duo had had talks of moving in together on july 18th rebecca was prepping for a big audition for the godfather part 3 and was waiting for the script to be delivered to her door when she heard the doorbell ring she quickly answered but it wasn't the script delivery she was hoping for stood in front of her was robert john bardo it was the same man who had appeared twice at warner brothers studios and he was clutching a letter and autograph she had once sent to him robert john bardo was born in january 1970 the youngest of seven children he had a troubled childhood after being abused by a sibling he was placed in foster care when he spoke about committing suicide and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 15 he was briefly institutionalized to treat emotional problems and dropped out of school shortly after robert was only 19 years old and had developed a dangerous obsession with rebecca schaefer prior to his fixation with her he was infatuated with a child peace activist samantha smith who was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1985 when she passed away his attention turned to rebecca he started writing numerous letters to her after seeing her on a commercial for my sister sam one of his letters she replied to telling him it was one of the nicest letters she had ever got what started as him being a fan of the character patty quickly turned into a fixation with the actress rebecca he watched and taped every episode of my sister sam and bought every magazine he could find with her in his room quickly became almost a shrine to the actress he traveled by bus to los angeles in 1987 hoping to meet her on the set of my sister sam but failing to get past security twice he returned to tucson and briefly lost interest with the actress his obsession shifted towards artists debbie gibson madonna and tiffany darwish in 1989 robert watched rebecca in the comedy scenes from the class struggle in beverly hills in one scene she appeared in bed with a male actor robert became so enraged and jealous by the scene he decided that she needed to be punished for becoming in his words another hollywood [ __ ] the teenage robert wrote a disturbing letter to his sister saying if he couldn't have rebecca then he wouldn't allow anyone else to part of the letter read i have an obsession with the unattainable and i have to eliminate something i cannot attain after trying and failing to get rebecca's address through her agent robert came across an article in people magazine which gave him a new idea arthur richard jackson had stalked and stabbed actress teresa saldana in 1982 and through the article in people magazine robert learned that arthur had used a private investigator to obtain her address fortunately teresa saldana survived the frightening attack and went on to found the victims for victims organization she also participated in lobbying for the 1990 anti-stalking law and the 1994 driver's privacy protection act robert decided to use the same method as arthur jackson and paid a detective agency 250 to find rebecca's address using dmv records his brother helped him get hold of a gun after robert himself was refused due to being too young and disclosing mental health problems on a form he had to fill out at the gun shop for a third and final time robert travelled to los angeles and stayed in the neighborhood where rebecca lived showing people pictures of her and asking neighbours if she actually lived there once he was certain that her address was correct on the morning of july 18 he rang her doorbell just after 10 am this encounter clearly unnerved rebecca she politely shook his hand and was pleasant to him but asked him never to come to her home again robert was shocked and went to a nearby diner to have some food before returning to her apartment an hour later he claimed he did this as he had forgotten to give her a cassette tape according to robert himself she answered the door again but had a cold look on her face robert said she had this kid voice sounded like a little brat or something said i was wasting her time wasting her time no matter what i thought that was a very callous thing to say to a fan without warning he pulled out a gun and shot her in the heart at point-blank range according to robert she fell to the floor of her doorway screaming why why robert bardo fled the scene and shortly after rebecca's neighbor who had heard the shot and the blood-curdling scream rushed to the doorway he felt no pulse and phone 9-1-1 she was swiftly taken to cedars-sinai medical center but there was nothing they could do and tragically 21 year old rebecca schaefer was pronounced dead just 30 minutes after arriving the following day in tucson several motorists phoned police to report a man running through traffic on interstate 10. it was robert bardo he told officers he was devastated by the death of rebecca schaefer and was acting out because of it an incredibly suspicious thing to say police faxed an image of robert over to the la detectives who confirmed this was the man they were looking for after hearing about the murder of rebecca on the news robert's sister told police about the letter he had written to her he was promptly arrested and extradited to california he confessed immediately to what he had done he was charged with first-degree murder and prosecutor marsha clark would take on the trial two years later marsha became most well known for being part of the prosecution team on the o. j simpson trial in 1995 defending nicole brown simpson and ron goldman in robert's case she pushed hard for what is known as a bench trial this means that the outcome would be decided by a judge rather than a jury robert bardo agreed to this in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table steve galindo a veteran public defender was in charge of robert's defence team judge dino fulgoni presided and he was reported to be one of the top legal experts on psychiatric evidence in the state of california despite his confession robert still pled not guilty his defence team argued he could not have premeditated the murder due to his mental health issues something marsha was keen to disprove you tell me approximately how many contacts you had with the defendant pertaining to locating rebecca schaefer about 10.
during the course of your conversations with mr bardo over the 10 contacts you indicated you had was there ever any indication to you that he was violent or posed any menace or threat to yourself or the party he was trying to locate none did you become aware at some point that your brother was interested in the actress starring in my sister sam yes i did and about a month before the murder occurred did the defendant tell you that he had in fact hired a private detective to find rebecca schaefer i believe he did had he ever indicated to you a desire to take the gun to los angeles on previous occasions he gave some indications that i inferred suggested that so i mean in a roundabout way as he did uh yes a man came up to me and stopped me and showed me a picture and asked me if i knew this girl if i'd seen this girl in the neighborhood and do you see that man in court today yes i do could you please point them out right over there do you recall uh your brother showing you a publicity photo a black and white publicity photo of an actress yes and do you recall who that was i didn't know the name at the time but it was rebecca schaefer wiedrich then tells of a letter bardo gave her less than three weeks before the murder what did you feel upon reading this letter i i felt that he was upset about something and that he was gonna do harm to himself and the the hint at the bottom had uh dates like on a on a tombstone yes you're referring to the bottom of the letter where it says it has it's encased in two lines between the two lines it says hint colon arrow 1967-19 yes but robert bartow was not born in 1967 rebecca schaefer was wiedric remembers the night she found out the real meaning of the letter i started screaming it just was hysterical [Music] the defense team called psychiatrist dr dietz to the stand and he claimed that robert may have schizophrenia and that is what may have led him to commit the crime by january of 84 robert bartow had become particularly interested in and had observed to be odd by a teacher and a special class he was in for gifted students that teacher being a mrs morris he had a tremendous attraction to mrs morris and saw her as a friend as someone special as the only one who had been nice to him he was noted to have been exceeding the usual bounds of student teacher propriety he also wrote that when he listens to the radio he is possessed by it over the prosecution's objection the defense played a song from the rock group u2's joshua tree album until this point in the trial the defendant had remained composed in the courtroom but once the song exit was played he sang and strummed to the music [Music] told me after describing the meaning of those lyrics that the first effort he made to find that is to visit rebecca shaffer had been toward the end of may or early june 1987 and he said that he was even thinking of hurting her at that time because she sounded arrogant in tv guide but he wanted to see her before she was a big star marto tells of the chilling moment when he approaches rebecca schaefer's doorway isn't it true that even in a clinical setting a psychiatrist may unwittingly plant a suggestion for a symptom simply by routine admitting procedures such as do you hear voices do you have visual hallucinations do you see things that sort of thing isn't that true yes it is you cannot say that when he approached her door the first time that he was operating under a command hallucination can you no and you cannot say that when he left her door the first time he was operating under a command hallucination can you no and you cannot say that when he returned the second time he was operating under a command hallucination can you and you cannot say that when he shot her he was operating under a command hallucination either can you no i can't and i didn't marcia clark hoped to prove that he did in fact plan the killing over several months it was not a normal 13 year old nor with the notion that he was not a normal 19 year old a normal person doesn't stalk and murder a celebrity he's never met where is the evidence of delusion that the defendant deluded himself into believing that maybe someday rebecca might be his friend well then haven't we all been guilty of being delusional at some point in our lives robert was carrying a copy of the catcher in the rye when he shot rebecca which he threw onto the roof of a building as he ran away he insisted that it was purely coincidental even though it emulated mark david chapman who had also been carrying a copy with him when he shot and killed john lennon it came out that during the 18 months before he killed rebecca he had been arrested three times and charged with domestic violence and disorderly conduct his neighbors also said that he had exhibited unwarranted threatening behaviour towards them judge fulgoni agreed with the prosecution i think it is very clear that this is a killing by lying in weight i find that dr dietz's opinion is flawed it is biased i'm not saying that the defendant is a normal person the defendant is not a normal person the defendant has some kind of a mental disorder or problem and i'll even give him the benefit of the doubt and consider him to have some kind or degree of schizophrenia but the doctor himself admitted that schizophrenics can premeditate that they can lie in weight and they can intend to kill did he intend to kill obviously he intended to kill but all that gives rides to a naked intent to kill a second-degree murder what about first degree murder did he premeditate and deliberate obviously he premeditated and deliberated it's my job to make a determination as to how serious this defendant's mental condition is how it affects him and more importantly how it affected him on the day of the killing you have a man who's been planning and premeditating to kill someone he goes to her door and the encounter is pleasant what he wants now after thinking about it for a half hour to an hour is another pleasant encounter he goes there and the encounter is not pleasant he has already formed an intent to kill as a result of premeditation and deliberation it's been thought out he has decided to do it he's bought a gun for the purpose he's bought a bus ticket he's taken the bus he's come over there he's loaded the gun prior to the first visit he's ready to kill he has considered the reasons for against it and having done so he has decided to kill marcia clarke's hard work paid off and in october 1991 robert john bardo was found guilty of the murder of rebecca schaefer the time has come to make a decision i find the defendant guilty of first degree murder both as premeditated and lying in weight [Music] on december 20th 1991 he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole a year after the murder robert gave an interview in which he said i was a fan of hers and i may have carried it too far but a lot of things have appeared in the press to make me out to be a monster if i had one wish where if it was ever to come true it would be for rebecca schaefer to be alive today rebecca was buried in portland oregon and her service was attended by over 300 people her death influenced her boyfriend at the time brad silberling to write and direct the film moonlight mile about a man's journey with grief after his fiancee is murdered as a consequence of robert obtaining rebecca's address as well as arthur jackson getting teresa saldana's details through the use of private detectives the u. s congress passed the driver's privacy protection act in 1994.
