Fame and Psychopaths

The recent attacks on two young stars in USA and JAPAN reminds us of earlier incidents of strangers attacking public celebrities.

1. Christina Grimmie: A 22-year-old singer and former contestant on television's "The Voice", shot and killed .
2. Mayu Tomita: Pop star stabbed about 20 times in May 2016 by Tomohiro Iwazaki who was angry she had returned a gift.
3. Gianni Versace: Gunned down by Andrew Cunanan. in 1997.
4. Monica Seles: The 19-year-old was stabbed by a German man and obsessed fan of fellow player Steffi Graf in 1993.
5. Rebecca Shaeffer: The 21-year-old actress,star of the TV show "My Sister Sam",shot by obsessed fan, Robert Bardo,in 1989.
6. Theresa Saldana: The "Raging Bull" actress survived a 1982 knife attack by Arthur Jackson, who was on a "divine mission" to send Saldana into "eternity."
7. Ronald Reagan: Shot by John Hinckley Jr. in 1981
8. John Lennon: Shot to death outside his New York City apartment building in 1980 by Mark David Chapman
9. Sharon Tate: Among five people shot or stabbed to death at her home in Los Angeles in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson

Stars like the 23 year old Selena Quintanilla-Pérez are not included because they knew their attacker.

That Sharon Tate stuff was just one drug ripoff versus another druggie gang, fame was irrelevant.
John Lennon .... wasn't that a street robbery that just happened to take place outside the Dakota?

People obsessed with what they see on the screen.

Quote: Fleastiff

John Lennon .... wasn't that a street robbery that just happened to take place outside the Dakota?

Chapman allegedly started planning to kill Lennon three months prior to the murder. He had been a big Beatles fan, idolizing Lennon, and played guitar himself, but turned against him after becoming a Christian; he was angered at Lennon's comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus."

I was going to say you forgot Selena, but she was murdered by someone she knew.

Quote: Pacomartin

Stars like the 23 year old Selena Quintanilla-Pérez are not included because they knew their attacker.

It's a different kind of psycopath.

Quote: Wizard

I was going to say you forgot Selena, but she was murdered by someone she knew.

It was also a financial dispute at the heart of it, not some stranger wacko but a wacko about to lose their gravy train.

Lots of other, "non-celebrities" are murdered by strangers too, but it's usually connected to a robbery, drugs, or other illicit behavior. Nut jobs are injuring or killing lots of regular folks but these types of incidents may be so common nowadays they don't get national attention.

There are people getting shot at while driving on certain stretches of highway in Arizona and California; A guy followed then killed a woman who laughed at him because he was parked with his feet hanging out of the window of his car. Angel Maturino Resendiz, a serial killer, murdered at least 15 people who lived near railroad tracks. 49 people were killed in Orlando on Sunday.

None of the victims were "celebrities" but they are just as dead or injured at the hands of strangers. I don't think it is necessarily a celebrity thing, but being a celebrity doesn't help.