John Lennon
The mythical Beatle died on the afternoon of December 7, 1980, when he was returning from a New York recording studio in the company of his wife, the artist of Japanese origin Yoko Ono. An obsessive fan named Mark Chapman shot him five times outside the Dakota apartment building, where Lennon lived with his family.
On the morning of that same day, Chapman, a 25-year-old hospital worker, got the legendary musician's autograph. In this historic photo, you can see the meeting between Lennon and his future murderer:
Of the five shots, one injured John's right lung and another caused a hemorrhage in an artery in his heart. He lost up to 80% of his blood volume and was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Centre.
As for Chapman - who went to New York especially to assassinate Lennon and thus go down in history - he was sentenced to life in prison and is currently incarcerated at the Wende Correctional Center in Alden.
"I murdered him because he was very, very, very famous and that's the only reason. I was looking for personal glory. Very selfish," Chapman said in an appearance before judges at the correctional facility.
He described the murder as "a despicable act."
Selena Quintanilla
The queen of Tex-mex Selena Quintanilla was just 23 years old and at the peak of her career when the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar, ended her life on March 31, 1995.
A former nurse, Saldívar was also the manager of several of Selena's businesses, including a beauty salon and several clothing stores where the singer sold her own designs. After four years of collaboration, the interpreter discovered that the woman was stealing money from her and quoted her at a motel in Texas. The heated argument soon led to Saldívar shooting Selena to death.
The woman—who called Quintanilla "daughter"—was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. However, more than 25 years after the tragedy, the woman has not wanted to take the blame. She repeatedly stated that it was nothing more than an accident. According to her, Selena opened the door and when she told her to close it, the gun just "went off."
Christina Grimmie
On June 10, 2016, popular YouTuber and singer Christina Grimmie, who rose to fame after becoming a finalist in The Voice music contest, died after being shot after a performance in Orlando, Florida.
The tragedy occurred at the Plaza Live concert hall. An unknown man approached the singer during the signing session and shot her, after which she took her own life in front of the eyes of more than a hundred of the artist's fans.
Later, he was identified by police as Kevin James Loibl. He traveled to Orlando armed with two pistols and a knife. Grimmer was admitted to a local hospital, but doctors failed to save her life.
Rebecca Schaefer
This American actress, most famous for playing Patti on the television series My Sister Sam, had been harassed for three years by a mentally ill fan named Robert John Bardo. Her fan wrote several letters to Schaefer and even traveled to Los Angeles twice to see her in person, but CBS security guards prevented him from entering the filming set.
In 1989, the man saw the movie Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, where the actress appeared sleeping with another protagonist. After this, he decided to punish her for being "another Hollywood whore". Armed with a firearm, he traveled to Los Angeles for the third time and went to Schaeffer's apartment, but she asked him not to return to her house. An hour later, Bardo returned and shot him point blank.
The man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It should be remembered that Schaeffer was also considered for the role of Vivian in the legendary film Pretty Woman, but with her death, the role fell to Julia Roberts.
