Criminal Minds - Dorothy Stratten Murder Case
- 6 years ago
On August 13, 1980, the day before Stratten was murdered, Snider bought a used, 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun from a private seller he found in a local classified ad. Later that evening in a conversation with friends, Snider explained how he had purchased a gun that day and that he was "going to take up hunting."
During the same conversation, barely more than 12 hours before the murder, an otherwise jovial Snider casually brought up the subject of Playmates who had unexpectedly died. In particular, he spoke of Claudia Jennings, an actress and former Playmate of the Year who had been killed in a car accident ten months earlier. Snider made several morbid remarks to his companions relating to the problems at Playboy magazine caused by Jennings' death, including a comment about how the editors will pull nude photos of a dead Playmate from the next issue if there's time.
Stratten arrived for her meeting with Snider at his rented West Los Angeles house at approximately twelve noon on Thursday, August 14. She had spent the morning conferring with her business manager, and one of the topics the pair discussed was the amount of the property settlement the Playmate would offer her estranged husband that afternoon.[8] The police later found $1,100 in cash among Stratten's belongings in the house, which she had apparently brought for Snider as a down payment.
Towards the end of her morning meeting, Stratten's business manager made a fateful observation: That his young client could avoid spending any more time with her husband by handing off the remaining separation and divorce negotiations to her lawyer. Stratten replied that the process would go easier if she dealt with Snider personally, explaining that he was being nice about everything and finally adding, "I'd like to remain his friend."
Snider's two roommates had left in the morning, so the couple was alone when Stratten walked into the house that she had shared with her husband until just a few months earlier. By all appearances they had spent some time in the living room, where Stratten's purse was found lying open, before going into Snider's bedroom.
By eight o'clock that night the roommates had returned to the house. They both saw Stratten's car parked out front and noted that Snider's bedroom door was closed. Assuming that the couple had reconciled and wanted their privacy, the roommates spent the next several hours watching television in the living room.
Around 11 pm, Snider's private investigator called the roommates and said that he had been trying to get a hold of his client since the afternoon, but Snider wasn't answering his private phone. The roommates broke into the bedroom and discovered the nude bodies of Stratten and Snider, both having been killed with his shotgun. Police determined that Snider murdered Stratten, who was 20, then abused and raped her corpse, before turning the shotgun on himself.
During the same conversation, barely more than 12 hours before the murder, an otherwise jovial Snider casually brought up the subject of Playmates who had unexpectedly died. In particular, he spoke of Claudia Jennings, an actress and former Playmate of the Year who had been killed in a car accident ten months earlier. Snider made several morbid remarks to his companions relating to the problems at Playboy magazine caused by Jennings' death, including a comment about how the editors will pull nude photos of a dead Playmate from the next issue if there's time.
Stratten arrived for her meeting with Snider at his rented West Los Angeles house at approximately twelve noon on Thursday, August 14. She had spent the morning conferring with her business manager, and one of the topics the pair discussed was the amount of the property settlement the Playmate would offer her estranged husband that afternoon.[8] The police later found $1,100 in cash among Stratten's belongings in the house, which she had apparently brought for Snider as a down payment.
Towards the end of her morning meeting, Stratten's business manager made a fateful observation: That his young client could avoid spending any more time with her husband by handing off the remaining separation and divorce negotiations to her lawyer. Stratten replied that the process would go easier if she dealt with Snider personally, explaining that he was being nice about everything and finally adding, "I'd like to remain his friend."
Snider's two roommates had left in the morning, so the couple was alone when Stratten walked into the house that she had shared with her husband until just a few months earlier. By all appearances they had spent some time in the living room, where Stratten's purse was found lying open, before going into Snider's bedroom.
By eight o'clock that night the roommates had returned to the house. They both saw Stratten's car parked out front and noted that Snider's bedroom door was closed. Assuming that the couple had reconciled and wanted their privacy, the roommates spent the next several hours watching television in the living room.
Around 11 pm, Snider's private investigator called the roommates and said that he had been trying to get a hold of his client since the afternoon, but Snider wasn't answering his private phone. The roommates broke into the bedroom and discovered the nude bodies of Stratten and Snider, both having been killed with his shotgun. Police determined that Snider murdered Stratten, who was 20, then abused and raped her corpse, before turning the shotgun on himself.