Robert John Bardo

Robert John Bardo is an assassin who stalked and murdered American actress Rebecca Schaeffer.

History
Bardo was born on January 2, 1970 to a Japanese mother and alcoholic U.S. Air Force non-commissioned officer, along with six older siblings. Bardo and his family grew up in a classic military fashion, moving frequently until the family finally settled in Tucson, Arizona, when Bardo was thirteen.

Bardo was abused by at least one of his siblings constantly. He was temporarily placed in a foster home after he threatened suicide and institutionalized when he was 15. He was diagnosed as severely emotionally handicapped, and his family was deemed pathological and dysfunctional. After he was released, he soon quit high school.

Despite having earned straight A's, as a dropout the only job he could get was a janitor at Jack in the Box. His attention focused on young actress Rebecca Schaeffer, who had modeled and appeared on the soap opera One Life to Live, but her real break came as Pam Dawber's younger sister on the TV sitcom My Sister Sam.

Bardo became obsessed with her in 1986. Although some actresses caught his attention, Schaeffer was his primary interest. He sent fan mail, but that was intercepted and discarded by her agents and handlers. Bardo went to Los Angeles and, holding a teddy bear and a letter and tried to get onto the Warner Bros. lot to find Schaeffer. He tried twice, but was kicked out by security.

In 1988, Schaeffer starred in the movie Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverely Hills. One scene featured Schaeffer having a adult love scene. After watching the movie, Bardo's obsession took an angry tone.

Bardo hired a private detective, who obtained Scaheffer's home address from the Department of Motor Vehicles for $4. Bardo got his older to buy him a handgun and hollow point bullets.

Murder
On July 19, 1989, Rebecca Schaeffer had an appointment with Francis Ford Coppola to discuss a possible role in the film The Godfather, Part III. Bardo rang the doorbell with a paper bag. When Schaeffer answered the door, Bardo drew his handgun from the paper, shot Schaeffer once in the chest, then ran. Schaeffer died in the hospital thirty minutes later.

A friend of Bardo's in Tennessee told L.A.P.D. that Bardo had been obsessed with Schaeffer. The day after the shooting, Bardo was arrest by Tuscon police.

Bardo was found guilty of first-degree murder in October 1991 and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. In July 2007, Bardo was stabbed eleven times at the Mule Creek State Prison, and survived.

On Criminal Minds
Bardo was mentioned in the episode Somebody's Watching. However, Reid incorrectly stated his name as "John Robert Bardo".