Rebecca Schaeffer's Murder: Inside the Hollywood Tragedy That Inspired Anti-Stalking Laws

The murder of Rebecca Schaeffer triggered sweeping changes across Hollywood in 1989, after it was discovered how the 21-year-old 'My Sister Sam' actress found herself face to face with a stalker-turned-killer in her final moments. ET looks back at the infamous true crime story and the shocking details revealed during the trial of Robert Bardo, sharing never-before-seen interviews and uncovering rare footage captured inside the courtroom. Before Marcia Clark became a household name from O.J. Simpson's legal saga, Los Angeles County's former Deputy District Attorney was the prosecutor assigned to oversee justice for Schaeffer's murder. As she explained to ET, the ensuing police investigation revealed how Bardo obtained Schaeffer's unlisted address through the DMV, a service that quickly became restricted thanks in part to the lobbying efforts of her sitcom co-star, Pam Dawber. In the wake of Schaeffer’s death, California passed the first anti-stalking legislation that’s now present in all 50 states. In 2016, YouTube singer Christina Grimmie's murder by an obsessed fan drew multiple parallels to the aftermath of Schaeffer's death, with both of their stories raising awareness of the dangers that come with living in the public eye.

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