Love and blood: celebrities brutally murdered by their own fans

These stars did not expect that danger could come from their fans, but in vain …

This is perhaps the most famous case of a celebrity being killed by his own fan. It looks especially wild because it seemed that the ex-Beatle simply could not have enemies – he became a symbol of pacifism, philanthropy and the call for world peace.

Lennon was also favorable to those around him and never refused autographs from fans. So it was on his fateful day – December 8, 1980. At the gate of Lennon’s house, a 25-year-old Mark Chapman approached the musician and asked him to sign a memento. Lennon agreed, and as he was about to turn and enter the house, Chapman shot him four times in the back. John died on the way to the hospital. The killer’s motive for the crime was a desire to become famous, Chapman was also later diagnosed with a mental illness, but it was accepted that he was sane and aware of his actions at the time of the murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2020, he was denied parole for the eleventh time.

In 2010, Chapman said she had a list of assassination candidates that included Elizabeth Taylor and Paul McCartney, but chose Lennon “out of convenience”. In addition, the killer said that he hated Lennon’s main hit – the song Imagine, after which, in his opinion, the idol became a “communist and a hypocrite”.

In 2016, an obsessed fan murdered 22-year-old rising star Christina Grimmie. The girl took third place in the TV show “Voice” and made a great career in show business. On June 10, Christina was holding a book signing in Orlando when 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl shot her three times.

In love with the singer, he arrived from his home in Florida in a taxi with two pistols and a hunting knife specifically to commit the crime. Brother Grimmie, who was present at the event, grabbed the killer, but shot himself. A few hours after the assassination attempt, Grimmie died.

On the morning of July 15, 1997, legendary designer Gianni Versace, then 50, was returning to his Miami mansion after going to a coffee shop when serial killer Andrew Cunanan shot him twice in the back of the head.

According to Vanity Fair, the 27-year-old perpetrator claimed to have met Versace back in 1990 and boasted that they were friends. However, it later turned out that all the claims were false and Andrew was simply obsessed with the fashion designer.

Versace became the latest victim of Cunanan, who has already killed at least four.

Cunanan committed suicide on his houseboat in Miami when he realized he was surrounded by police.

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Mexican-American singer Selena was very popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She became the first major Latin American celebrity to break into the mainstream music industry, her songs topped the charts and won Grammy Awards, and Selena herself was recognized as a style icon.

Among her admirers was a certain Yolanda Saldivar. Her passion for Selena’s work bordered on obsession. Yolanda tried her best to get closer to the idol and succeeded. She ran the singer’s fan club, befriended her, and then became the manager of Selena’s boutiques (the star also made clothes).

However, soon a conflict arose between them – Yolanda’s money fraud was revealed. On March 31, 1995, Saldívar lured Selena to a hotel room, an argument broke out between them, resulting in Yolanda shooting Selena in the back, killing her instantly. Saldivar was soon sentenced to life imprisonment.

Although the sitcom “My Sister Sam” lasted only two years, that time was long enough for actress Rebecca Schaeffer to become the main star of the show. The prospect of conquering Hollywood also opened up before her – Rebecca was currently trying out for a role in the film The Godfather III, but her rise to world fame came to an abrupt end on July 18, 1989.

On this day, a 21-year-old girl was shot dead in the doorway of her home by obsessed suitor Robert John Bardot, who had been stalking her for three years.

He hired a private investigator to get her address through the California Department of Motor Vehicles. And one day he showed up on her doorstep with a gun in his hand. During a prison interview, Bardot revealed that Schaeffer’s last words were “Why? … Why?”.

The crazed fan was eventually sentenced to life in prison, and the high-profile case led to the passage of the Driver Protection Act, which makes it a crime to obtain or disclose personal information from the California Department of Motor Vehicle Records.

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