Rebecca Schaeffer’s Murder: Things That Went Wrong
One might say actress Rebecca Schaeffer’s life was worth only about $5, as that is all the money it took to legally obtain her home address from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, with the issuance of such directly leading to her death (Part I, July 22).
Accused murderer Robert John Bardo then allegedly used this address, which was obtained by a private investigator hired by him, though anyone could easily obtain it from the DMV with a valid reason, to hunt her down and kill her.
It is painfully self-evident that new laws need to be immediately enacted to protect the privacy and safety of individuals by making it considerably more difficult for someone to obtain a person’s home address from the DMV or any other source in order to prevent future such tragedies.
Another disturbing aspect of this murder is that due to severe cutbacks in mental health funding, individuals like Bardo, who are seriously disturbed and need to be confined in mental institutions, are out there freely roaming the streets, veritable walking time bombs, just waiting to explode and kill or seriously injure someone.
KENNETH L. ZIMMERMAN
Cypress
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
