Ricardo López (stalker)

Ricardo López (January 14, 1975 – September 12, 1996), also known as the "Björk stalker", was a Uruguayan-American pest control worker who attempted to kill Icelandic musician Björk in September 1996.

Ricardo López
Screenshot of video diary, featuring López, dated January 17, 1996
Born(1975-01-14)January 14, 1975
Uruguay
DiedSeptember 12, 1996(1996-09-12) (aged 21)
Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide by gunshot
Body discoveredSeptember 16, 1996
NationalityUruguayan/American
Other names"Björk Stalker"
OccupationPest exterminator
Known forAttempted murder of singer Björk and recorded suicide

López developed an obsession with Björk in 1993, and became angry over her relationship with musician Goldie. Over the course of nearly nine months, López made a video diary musing about Björk and other topics at his apartment in Hollywood, Florida. On September 12, 1996, he mailed a letter bomb rigged with sulfuric acid to her residence in London, then returned home and filmed his suicide. Police found López's body and diaries four days later; they contacted the British police, who intercepted the package. Björk was unharmed.

Early life

Ricardo López was born on January 14, 1975, in Uruguay into a middle-class family who moved to the United States and settled in Georgia.[1][2] López had a good relationship with his family; he was described as easygoing, but introverted.[1] López had a few male friends. However, he never had friendships with women or had a girlfriend. This was because he had feelings of inadequacy and was awkward with girls.[1][2][3]

With aspirations to become a famous artist, López dropped out of high school. However, he did not seriously pursue an artistic career due to his feelings of inferiority and fear of being rejected entry into art school.[2][3] He intermittently worked for his brother's pest control business to support himself.[1][2] By the age of 17, López had become reclusive and, as a means of escape, retreated into a world of fantasies and became enthralled by celebrities.[2] [1]

Obsession with Björk
Björk performing at Ruisrock, Turku, Finland (1998)

In 1993, López became fixated on Icelandic singer Björk.[1] He began gathering information about her life, followed her career, and wrote her numerous fan letters.[3] Initially, López cited her as his muse and said that his infatuation gave him a "euphoric feeling".[2] As time passed, his fixation about Björk became all-consuming and he grew more disconnected from reality.[2] In his diary, López wrote of longing to be accepted by Björk and to be a person who had "an effect on her life".[3] He fantasized about inventing a time machine that would enable him to time travel to the 1970s to become friends with her as a child.[3] His fantasies about Björk were not sexual; in his diary, he wrote, "I couldn't have sex with Björk because I love her."[3]

López's diary grew to 803 pages, with passages including his thoughts on Björk as well as his feelings of inadequacy due to being overweight, his disgust and embarrassment over suffering from gynecomastia and his inability to get a girlfriend.[2][3] He wrote that he considered himself "a loser who never even learned to drive" and complained about his menial job as an exterminator that earned him little money.[3] The diary contained 168 references to López's feelings of failure, 34 references to suicide, and 14 references to murder.[3] He made 408 references to Björk and 52 references to other celebrities.[3][4]

Letter bomb plot and diaries

In 1996, López was living alone in an apartment in Hollywood, Florida. Around this time he read an article in Entertainment Weekly that mentioned Björk was in a romantic relationship with musician Goldie.[1][2][5] López was angered by this perceived betrayal and the fact that she was involved with a black man, writing in his diary: "I wasted eight months and she has a fucking lover."[6] He began fantasizing about how he could "punish" Björk.[6]

López stopped writing his diary and began filming a video diary in his apartment.[6][7] According to López, the diary's purpose was to document "my life, my art and my plan. Comfort is what I seek in speaking to you ... I am being my own psychologist. You are a camera. I am Ricardo."[7] He recorded eleven video tapes containing approximately two hours of footage each.[8] The tapes contain footage of López preparing his "revenge" and discussing his "crush [that] ended up as an obsession".[7] López's anger over Björk's relationship with Goldie intensified and he decided to kill her.[6] In one entry he states: "I'm just going to have to kill her. I'm going to send a package. I'm going to be sending her to hell."[7]

López initially intended to construct a bomb filled with hypodermic needles containing HIV-tainted blood, which satisfied his desire to have a lasting effect on Björk's life.[6] When he realized it would not be feasible to build such a device, López began constructing a letter bomb using sulfuric acid in a hollowed-out book, which he planned to have sent to Björk's home in London, England, by her record label.[6][7][2] The device was designed to explode and kill or disfigure Björk as she opened the book.[6] He would commit suicide after mailing the bomb, hoping that, in the event that the bomb killed Björk, the two would be united in heaven.[6][9]

Death

On the morning of September 12, 1996, López began filming his final video diary entry. The final tape, titled "Last Day – Ricardo López", begins with López preparing to go to the post office to mail the letter bomb. He stated that he was "very, very nervous," but that if he aroused suspicion, he would kill himself rather than be arrested. After returning from the post office, López resumed filming. As Björk's music plays in the background, López, nude, shaves his head and paints his face red and green.[7] He examines himself in a mirror and tells the camera that he is "a little nervous now. I'm definitely not drunk. I am not depressed. I know exactly what I am doing. [The gun] is cocked back. It's ready to roll."[2] As Björk's song "I Remember You" finishes playing, López shouts "This is for you" and shoots himself in the mouth with a revolver.[2][10] López groans and his body falls out of the camera's range; at this point, the camera stopped filming.[2] A handpainted sign bearing the handwritten words "The best of me. Sept. 12" hung on the wall behind him.[7] Police theorized that López intended to cover the sign with his blood and brain matter with the gunshot.[11]

On September 16, a foul odor and blood were noticed coming from López's apartment.[2][6][7] The Hollywood Police Department entered and discovered López's decomposing corpse.[2][12] Written on the wall was a message reading: "The 8mm videos are documentation of a crime, terrorist matter, they are for the FBI."[6][8] The Broward County Sheriff's Office evacuated the building while the bomb squad searched for further explosives, though the device López sent was the only one constructed.[8] After viewing López's final tape, police contacted Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom to warn them that the potentially explosive package was en route to Björk's residence in London.[8][13] The package had yet to be delivered; the Metropolitan Police intercepted it from a south London post office, and it was safely detonated.[2][8][12][13][7] There had been little danger of Björk receiving the letter bomb as her mail was vetted through her management's office.[11] Unbeknownst to López, Björk and Goldie had ended their relationship a few days before he mailed the bomb and killed himself.[11]

Aftermath

After López's suicide, Björk said in a statement that she was "very distressed" by the incident.[14] She said, "It's terrible, very terrible. It's a very sad thing that someone would shoot his face off"[12] and "I make music, but in other terms, you know, people shouldn't take me too literally and get involved in my personal life."[2] She sent a card and flowers to López's family.[15]

Björk left London for Spain, where she recorded her album Homogenic.[16] She also hired security for her son, Sindri, who was escorted to school with a minder.[17] A year after López's death, Björk discussed the incident in an interview: "I was very upset that somebody had died. I couldn't sleep for a week. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare the fuck out of me. That I could get hurt and, most of all, that my son could get hurt."[10]

López's family and friends were aware of his obsession with Björk.[3] They maintained that they had no idea that López harbored violent thoughts or was capable of violence. At one point, López's brother had told him to "Get a real woman, you're obsessed".[3][1] A psychiatrist who treated López for anxiety shortly before his death also stated that López did not appear dangerous.[1] López's videotapes, including his suicide, were confiscated by the FBI and released to journalists.[18]

Documentary

In 2000, the 70-minute documentary film The Video Diary of Ricardo López was released. Directed and edited by Sami Saif, the film is a condensed version of López's 22-hour video diary. Saif decided to limit the film's availability as "I want to be there when people see the film, because there are all sorts of things about Ricardo López on the internet. I like to be able to talk to people about what it is they've actually seen."[19]

See also

References
  1. Meloy, J. Reid; Sheridan, Lorraine; Hoffmann, Jens (2008). Stalking, Threatening, and Attacking Public Figures: A Psychological and Behavioral Analysis. Oxford University Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-19-532638-5. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  2. "Inside the Mind of a Celebrity Stalker". ABC News. December 11, 1996. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  3. (Meloy, Sheridan & Hoffmann 2008, p. 99)
  4. Schlesinger, Louis B. (February 2006). "Celebrity Stalking, Homicide, and Suicide A Psychological Autopsy". International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. SAGE Publications. 50: 39–46. doi:10.1177/0306624X05276461. ISSN 1552-6933.
  5. Carll, Elizabeth K. (2007). Trauma Psychology: Violence and Disaster. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 130. ISBN 0-275-98531-8.
  6. (Meloy, Sheridan & Hoffmann 2008, p. 100)
  7. Friedberg, Ardy (October 11, 1996). "Videos Document Obsession, Suicide". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  8. Ragland, Sarah (September 18, 1996). "Police Say Obsessed Fan Sent Bomb Before Suicide". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  9. (Carll 2007, p. 131)
  10. Whiteley, Shelia (2013). Too Much Too Young: Popular Music Age and Gender. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 1-136-50229-7.
  11. Pytlik, Mark (2003). Bjork: Wow and Flutter. ECW Press. p. 113. ISBN 1-550-22556-1.
  12. "Rocker Makes Statement". Sun-Sentinel. September 19, 1996. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  13. (Meloy, Sheridan & Hoffmann 2008, p. 101)
  14. Speers, W. (September 19, 1996). "Police Intercept Explosive Mailed To Rock Singer". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  15. Colin, Chris (May 1, 2001). "Bj". Salon. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  16. Ellen, Barbara (July 21, 2001). "'I used to think I'd live forever...'". The Guardian. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  17. Hughes, Chris (September 19, 1996). "I Feel So Scared for My Little Boy. He's Very Brave' Bjork: My Acid Bomb Terror". The Mirror (London, England). Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  18. Claus Christensen (May 2001). "Bag et mediemonster". Filmmagasinet Ekko (in Danish). p. 1. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  19. Hjort, Mette, ed. (2013). The Education of the Filmmaker in Europe, Australia, and Asia. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1–2. ISBN 1-137-07038-2.
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