John Bardo's Prison Drawings

John Bardo’s family has a history of mental illness, and Bardo himself is diagnosed with manic depression. At 15, Bardo is institutionalized for “emotional problems.” He drops out of high school in the 9th grade and begins work as a janitor at a Jack in Box. On the cusp of manhood and going nowhere, Bardo writes letter after letter to actress Rebecca Schaeffer - “beneath a corona of curls, Schaeffer projects a kid sister's helplessness.” What stalker can resist that shit?!?! In these letters, Bardo details his chaste devotion to the fresh-faced Schaeffer. He quotes John Lennon lyrics, telling her that he is "a sensitive guy." In one passage, he explains: "I'm harmless. You could hurt me.” Bardo kills Schaeffer on her doorstep with a single gunshot to the chest. 

Bardo is found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of 2018, Bardo is serving his life sentence at the Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, California where he spends his days drawing pictures of Schaeffer along with a who's who of pop and movie stars. They sell for $25 to $100.

 

David Rappaport (November 23, 1951 – May 2, 1990)

“David Rappaport was as determined to die as he had been to live.” -L.A. Times, March 9, 1990

English actor, David Rappaport, is the first dwarf to star in his own television series,"The Wizard.” His first bit of success is in the 1979 children’s BBC show “Jigsaw” - alongside Sylvester McCoy who is best known for playing the 7th incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series "Doctor Who" from 1987 to 1989. Rappaport also appears alongside McCoy in the "Secret Policeman's Ball" where McCoy introduces him as: “Not the smallest man in the world, but fucking close.” Rappaport's most popular role is as Randall, the leader of the gang of dwarves in the Terry Gilliam film “Time Bandits” in 1981.

Rappaport struggles with depression. Just before his death, he is cast and begins filming for the darkly comic role of Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode “The Most Toys.” During filming, Rappaport attempts suicide, and the scenes he completed are discarded when actor Saul Rubinek is hurriedly brought in by producers to replace him - Rappaport’s scenes are eventually included on the Season 3 DVD release of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." This isn’t the first time he tries to commit suicide. He tries two weeks before his wedding day in March 1989 - he parked his car on a hidden stretch of road and ran a garden hose from the exhaust pipe to the interior. He passed out, but somebody finds him.

According to the L.A. Times article, "A Life and Death in Hollywood : Acting: David Rappaport was Trapped by his Mind," on May 2, 1990, the day of his son’s 14th birthday, Rappaport slips out of the house and drives to Laurel Canyon Park - a favorite spot of his in the San Fernando Valley. He says hello to people on the path and passes the man and his dog who will later find his body. Deep in the park, Rappaport chooses a bramble-covered spot on the hillside, lays down on his back and stares up at the tree tops. He pulls out a pistol, points it downward at his chest, and shoots himself through the heart.  

His cousin considered, then rejected, theory after theory: "Perhaps his thoughts were telling him--falsely--that the woman he was about to marry might one day leave, unable to love a dwarf who might not always be the toast of Hollywood. Perhaps they told him that despite enormous success, he was still trapped--as trapped as the dwarf he had seen years earlier, caged in an English asylum for mentally retarded children. Or possibly, in the way that mind-records have, they exaggerated recent stops and starts in his career until it seemed that all he had worked for, all he had done to escape invisibility, was gone or going.”

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The Tragic Death of Bebe aka Flipper the Dolphin (1956 - 1997)

It wasn't tragic at all. Bebe the dolphin dies at the ripe old dolphin age of 40. Like most retirees, she dies in Miami, Florida. Bebe's home is the Miami Seaquarium where she is born in 1956 - Atlantic bottlenose dolphins typically live 25 to 35 years. The TV show "Flipper," aires on NBC from 1964 to 1967, with the dolphin playing alongside actors Brian Kelly, Tommy Norden and Luke Halpin. Seven dolphins play Flipper, Bebe is the last one. She passes away on May 1, 1997. A year before her death she gives birth to Echo, her eighth calf. RIP FLIP.

 

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Inger Stevens (October 18, 1934 - April 30, 1970)

Inger Stevens is born in Stockholm, Sweden. As a child, she is often ill. When she is nine, her parents abandon her,  leaving Inger and her sister in the custody of the family maid. At the age of 11, Inger moves to America to live with her father and his new wife in NYC. At age 16, she runs away from home to Kansas City, Missouri, and works in burlesque shows. At 18, she leaves Kansas to return to New York City, where she works as a chorus girl. 

Stevens receives her big break in the Bing Crosby film "Man on Fire." Roles in major films follow, but she achieves her greatest success in the ABC television series "The Farmer's Daughter."  Stevens also appears in episodes of "Bonanza," "Route 66," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," and "The Twilight Zone." Stevens is attempting to revive her television career with the detective drama series "The Most Deadly Game" when she dies.

On the morning of April 30, 1970, Stevens' roommate and companion, Lola McNally, finds her on the kitchen floor of her Hollywood Hills home. According to McNally, when she calls Stevens' name, she opens her eyes, lifts her head, and tries to speak, but is unable to make any sound. McNally tells police that she spoke to Stevens the previous night and saw no sign of trouble. Stevens dies in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. On arrival, medics remove a small bandage from her chin, revealing a small amount of fresh blood oozing from a cut which appeared to have been a few hours old. Famed Los Angeles County Coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi attributes Stevens's death to "acute barbiturate poisoning."

After her death, black actor Ike Jones claims that he is secretly married to Stevens since 1961. Some doubt this due to the lack of a marriage license, the maintaining of separate homes and the filing of tax documents as single people. However, at the time Stevens' estate is being settled, the actress's brother, Carl O. Stensland, confirms in court that his sister had hidden her marriage to Jones "out of fear for her career." Los Angeles Superior Court rules in Jones's favor and makes him administrator of Steven's estate.

Only one photo exists of the two attending a banquet together in 1968. 

 

Dominique Dunne (November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982)

On October 30, 1982, actress Dominique Dunne - daughter to crime writer Dominick Dunne, sister to actor Griffin Dunne, and niece to writer/God Joan Didion - is strangled by her ex-boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney, in the driveway of her West Hollywood home and goes into a coma. She never regains consciousness and dies five days later. In a controversial court case, Sweeney is convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Dunne's death and serves three and a half years in prison. Dunne is 22 years old when she dies. Her killer roams free to this day under an alias.

Check out Dunne's story in Dead in Hollywood: Stalked (Issue #7).   

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John Bardo's 'Exit'

John Bardo shoots 23-year-old actress, Rebecca Schaeffer, at point-blank range when she opens the door to her apartment building . Bardo escapes down an alley, throwing his bloody yellow shirt on the roof of a dry cleaners. He then tosses a red paperback copy of the novel, "The Catcher in the Rye,” on the roof of a rehabilitation center - the same book John Lennon’s assassin, Mark David Chapman, carries to the scene of his horrific crime. 

The following video is of the same route Bardo used to escape. He evades police until the following day when he is finally captured in Tucson, AZ. 

Rebecca Schaeffer (120 N. Sweetzer Ave. #4 - West Hollywood, CA)

Rebecca Schaeffer isn’t prepared for the buzzer to ring. She's getting ready for a meeting with director Francis Ford Coppola in hopes of being cast in “The Godfather III” - a role that ultimately goes to his daughter, director Sophia Coppola (Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation). The intercom to her building doesn’t work, so Schaeffer exits her apartment in a bathrobe and descends the flight of stairs leading to the glass front door. She opens the door and talks to her stalker, John Bardo, politely, but says that she is really busy and to please leave her alone. Bardo walks away, seething. He can’t believe she would talk to fans like that. He sits down at a nearby diner, Jan’s - now a Chipotle - and orders onion rings and slice of cheesecake. He returns to Schaeffer’s building an hour later. Still in her bathrobe, Schaeffer answers the door again. This time she says that he’s wasting her time and to please leave her alone. Bardo responds by saying, “I forgot to give you this.” He pulls a gun out of a plastic bag and shoots Schaeffer at point-blank range in the chest.

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Rebecca Schaeffer (November 6, 1967 – July 18, 1989)

Rebecca Schaeffer is born in Eugene, Oregon, the only child to Danna and Benson Schaeffer. She has aspirations of becoming a rabbi but begins modeling during her junior year at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon. In 1984, at the age of 16, Schaeffer’s parents give her permission to move to New York City by herself to pursue a modeling career. Shortly after arriving, she lands the role of Annie Barnes on the ABC soap “One Life to Live.” “One Life to Live” is my mom’s favorite soap and I watch almost every episode with her from the age of 5 until I moved to L.A. on my own at the age of 17. I remember Schaeffer on the soap, but I had no idea of what horrors await the both of us. For me, the horror is the death of my mother. For Schaeffer, it was her own death at the hands of stalker Robert “John” Bardo. 

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Rebecca Schaeffer (120 N. Sweetzer Ave. #4 - West Hollywood, CA)

On the morning of July 18, 1989, John Bardo wanders around actress, Rebecca Schaeffer’s, neighborhood, wearing  a yellow shirt - soon to be splattered in the Schaeffer's blood. He flashes neighbors Schaeffer’s glossy headshot in hopes that they might point him in her direction. He approaches Schaeffer’s building at 10:15AM and buzzes unit #4 - Schaeffer’s name is listed on the callbox. The callbox remains the same today, but in place of names are apartment numbers. Schaeffer isn’t prepared for the buzzer to ring. She's getting ready for a meeting with Francis Ford Coppola - she hopes to be cast in “The Godfather III” - a role ultimately going to his daughter, director Sophia Coppola (Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation). The intercom doesn’t work, so Schaeffer exits her apartment in a bathrobe and descends the flight of stairs leading to the glass front door. She opens the door and talks to Bardo politely, but says that she is really busy and to please leave her alone. Bardo walks away, seething. He can’t believe she would talk to fans like that. He sits down at a nearby diner, Jan’s - now a Chipotle - and orders onion rings and slice of cheesecake. He returns to Schaeffer’s building an hour later. Still in her bathrobe, Schaeffer answers the door again. This time she says that he’s wasting her time and to please leave her alone. Bardo responds by saying, “I forgot to give you this.” He pulls a gun out of a plastic bag and shoots Schaeffer at point-blank range in the chest. She is pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. 

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