rebecca schaeffer would come here one day to make her own stardom dreams come true. >> rebecca lucileaeffer was born in 1967 in oregon. she was the only child of benson schaeffer, who was a child psychologist, and danna schaeffer, who was a writer. she spent her early years, the family did, in eugene. >> we were very lucky as a family. each of us had a very close relationship with rebecca. this is a picture of me holding rebecca when she was probably 3 to 4 months old. and what can i say? i adored her. she was sort of a mystery because if she wanted to do something, she could do it. rebecca was a very easy child to raise. when she was 2 1/2, her mother said, "do you think that you could keep your diaper dry?" that was toilet training. i mean, that was it. nothing else happened after that. >> and when she was 6, i taught her to ride. so she really sort of learned by looking and doing, and it was easy. when she was in fifth grade, we said to her, "we think you should get good grades." and she said, "why?" and we said, "because we want you to." she said, "okay." and she got good grades.

. >> reporter: rebecca schaeffer, the down-to-earth hollywood star who answered her own fan mail. >> i went, "wait a minute. you're answering them back? you can't do that." and she says, "oh, no, but i love it and they want to be friends." and i went, "wait, they're not your friends." >> reporter: one of those fans robert bardo, a mentally ill young man from arizona. bardo grew obsessed, showing up at her studio, then becoming enraged when he saw schaeffer acting in a love scene. it was the stalking case that turned deadly and sparked new laws in the u.s. >> all those rageful feelings. "how dare she?" that gets converted into a plan of cold-blooded revenge. >> reporter: one day, 21-year-old schaeffer was expecting a knock on the door. the script for "godfather part iii." instead it robert bardo waiting at her door. >> he hired a private investigator in california to go to the dmv and find out where she lived. >> reporter: the young actress tried sending bardo away but he came back and shot her dead. >> and they would just hand him her address? i was ballistic with rage. >> reporter: