Celebs Killed By Their Fans

Celebrities garner massive amounts of attention. Why should we focus on our own lives when the life of a Kardashian is so different and exciting? And it doesn't have to just be Kardashians. Fans of music, sports, and movies all have their own celeb crushes and poster children. We just want to know everything about these amazing people who have taken the world by storm. What clothes do they wear? What choices do they make that put them ahead of the pack? What does Beyonce eat? What elixir of youth has kept Steve Buscemi alive so long? How much deodorant does Justin Bieber use?

You can see the problem. If you aren't careful, that celeb crush can slip into a full-blown obsession, and before you know it you're sitting in a conversion van across the street from Adele's house and holding a telephoto lens. Then the emotions set in. Jealousy, anger, rage, whatever. Every now and then, this attraction toward famous people proves fatal. These celebs received the wrong kind of devotion from dangerous fans.

The murder of up-and-coming actress Rebecca Schaeffer has had lasting legal impacts. The 21-year-old star of My Sister Sam was shot in the doorway of her Hollywood home by obsessed fan Robert John Bardo on July 18, 1989. According the Los Angeles Times, Bardo stalked Schaeffer for three years prior to the killing and had even sent her letters and tried to meet with her on the set of her sitcom. When his gestures went unanswered, the Tuscon, Ariz. resident spent $250 to hire private investigators to track down Schaeffer's address, which they acquired from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Bardo then paid his crush a fatal visit, reportedly ambushing her when she answered the door. Interestingly, Bardo also had a copy of Catcher in the Rye on him at the shooting, but he denied any desire to emulate John Lennon's killer, reported the Los Angeles Times. After Schaeffer's death, legislation was passed to prohibit DMV employees from disclosing addresses.

Young Russian artist Mikhail Lermontov was forever immortalized after his friend and admirer, Nikolai Martynov, killed him a duel in 1841. At age 26, Lermontov was making a name for himself as a poet, author, painter, and soldier, but he was also earning a reputation as a partier and prankster. The latter may have led to his demise. According to Russia Behind the Headlines, Martynov was reportedly teased relentlessly by Lermontov and eventually grew so tired of it that he challenged his friend to a duel. Lermontov accepted, but during the face off, he fired into the air, while Martynov aimed for the heart. That story is the stuff of legend, and it's unclear if Martynov suffered any consequences for the killing, but Lermontov's fate was sealed. His funeral was attended by thousands, and to this day, he is considered one of history's greatest poets.

Outside of the death itself, perhaps the worst thing about John Lennon's death at the hands of Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980, is that it happened for virtually no reason at all.

Chapman was reportedly a Beatles fan earlier in his life, but he wasn't truly obsessed with Lennon until Chapman himself experienced a religious awakening. And he wasn't driven by some subliminal message he supposedly heard, but by the hypocrisy he thought he heard in Lennon's lyrics. In addition to that, Chapman targeted Lennon simply because he thought killing someone famous would make him famous, too. To that end, he approached Lennon, asked for an autograph, got it, and then came back later to shoot him dead. All because he wanted fame. He got infamy instead.

We know this to be his motive, because he's admitted as much. When up for parole — for the ninth time — in September 2016, he told the board (as quoted by the Telegraph) that he had "a true sociopathic mind," and that he wanted to "shoot [Lennon] so that [Chapman] could be somebody." Unsurprisingly, the parole board stone-cold rejected his request for freedom, just as they had done eight times in the past. He was up for parole again in 2018, but received his tenth rejection to the surprise of absolutely no one.

On June 23, during the 1994 World Cup, Colombia — one of the favorites to win — dropped a 2-1 shocker to the United States, thanks in part to an own goal from Colombia's Andres Escobar. He attempted to block a shot but instead dribbled the ball past his own goalkeeper.

In a just world, this would've simply been an embarrassment for Escobar — instead, it wound up sealing his fate. On July 1, Escobar was at a restaurant in his hometown of Medellin, Colombia. He got into an argument with some patrons over the goal, and the patrons ended the argument by shooting him multiple times. According to The Independent, one of them shouted "thanks for the own goal!" as he shot him.

According to Fox News, the shooter, a gangster named Humberto Munoz Castro, received 42 years in prison, though he got out after just 11. His bosses and accomplices, Santiago and Pedron Gallon, never received punishment, as Castro refused to snitch on them. Gangsters getting involved caused many to suspect that, in addition to being fans, Escobar's killers were heavily involved in drug trafficking and gambling, and that a lot of money rode on Colombia making it through. Since they didn't, the gangsters blamed the own-goal guy (even though the rest of the team played badly, too), and made sure it was the costliest error of his life.