Yes, this information is 20 years old, but it is the first I heard of it.
Regarding 1980 Playmate of the Year, Dorothy Stratton. For you young’uns who don’t know and didn’ t see the (completely creepy) movie “Star 80”, she was a lovely innocent young girl who was married to a total asshole by the name of Paul Snider. He was a grasping, greedy, manipulative, small, nasty little man. When she told him she wanted a divorce, he tied her to a weird sex device chair he had built and put a 12 guage shotgun to her face and pulled the trigger.
Roughly 30 minutes later he turned the gun on himself.
All that I knew.
What I did NOT know, until I heard about it on “E! True Hollywood Story” tonight, was that Paul Snider’s repulsive, greedy, grasping nature was apparantly hard wired into his DNA. Get this: his family sued to try and claim ALL of Dorothy’s estate, on the grounds that at the moment he BLEW HER FACE OFF, all her worldy possessions reverted to him, since they were still married. And when he blew his OWN head off 30 minutes later, it all reverted to them!!
Have you ever heard of anything more perfectly contemptible in your entire life? I am appalled.
Even receiving this information makes me feel unclean…excuse me while I go wash off the stink.
Sometimes I’m really ashamed of my species.
Wow. That is pretty insensitive of them, I don’t think I have ever heard of someone trying that. Did they win the case? If they didn’t, who got all of her estate? I sincerely hope this doesn’t become a precedent for families of homicide-suicide victims.
Sorry, I was so busy being revolted I forgot to reveal the end of the story, which, according to the show, was that the family got Paul’s used Mercedes and $5000 and her family received an “undisclosed” amount. Her family didn’t fight it, her mother’s attitude was the one you’d expect: “If money means that much to them, let them have it!” But it was a judge who decided what was fair.
I don’t think many people would go quite that low. Not that many people wouldn’t necessarily THINK of it, only that SHAME would prevent them from acting on it.
My first reaction was a chuckle. Not because I find the situation humorous in any way. More like the hysterical laughter one might have upon viewing a particularly gruesome scene. It is ok to laugh at evil once in a while just so long as you remember to take it seriously.
Actually this information might shed some light on this guy. Is it any wonder that a family with those values would produce a rotten bastard?
I have no idea what the law was like 20 years ago, or what the law is in California even now, but under current Illinois law, you cannot inherit anything from a person you murder. Even if it is in joint tenancy, or other form of ownership that does not need to go through probate.
The standard of proof is different than in a criminal trial, too. It is entirely possible that you could be acquitted of the murder of your spouse in criminal court, where you must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, yet still have the probate court decide that a preponderance of the evidence shows that you did in fact off your spouse.
Of course, if you do it right, and are REAL careful . . . .
Didn’t see the movie, but I have heard Peter Bogdonavich (for whom Stratten left Snider) that she was killed by the “Playboy mystique”. My shiny metal ass. Were any of the other Playmates shot in the face?