The images that people search for usually don't exist in the way they think. When a name like Dorothy Stratten comes up, it's often followed by a morbid curiosity about the end. Honestly, it’s a natural human reaction to a tragedy that felt like a scripted Hollywood horror movie. But here’s the thing: the Dorothy Stratten death photos that have circulated for decades are rarely the real thing.
Most of what’s floating around the dark corners of the internet are either stills from the 1983 movie Star 80 or crime scene recreations from various documentaries. Real LAPD evidence photos from that August night in 1980 aren't exactly sitting on a public Pinterest board.
What Actually Happened at 11630 West Pico Blvd
To understand why the obsession with the photos exists, you have to look at the scene the police actually walked into. It was gruesome. Paul Snider, Dorothy’s estranged husband and a small-time pimp who saw her as his meal ticket, had spiraled. He was losing control of her as she moved toward legitimate stardom and a relationship with director Peter Bogdanovich.
On August 14, 1980, Dorothy went to the house they once shared to discuss a financial settlement. She never walked out. Snider raped her, killed her with a 12-gauge shotgun, and then turned the weapon on himself.
Patti Laurman, a friend who discovered the bodies, described it as looking like a "staged horror movie." The sheer violence of the act—a shotgun blast to the face—is why the authorities kept the real Dorothy Stratten death photos under such tight lock and key. They weren't just "crime scene photos"; they were evidence of a level of brutality that shocked even seasoned detectives.
The Problem With the "Fake" Photos
If you go looking for these pictures today, you’ll mostly find Mariel Hemingway. She played Dorothy in Star 80, and the film’s director, Bob Fosse, was obsessed with realism. He used the actual locations and tried to mimic the crime scene’s layout perfectly.
- Star 80 Stills: Many "leaked" photos are just grainy captures of Hemingway in the film’s finale.
- The "Sexual Device" Myth: There is a persistent rumor about a specific piece of equipment found at the scene. While police reports mentioned it, the visual representation of it in the media is often exaggerated or pulled from film sets.
- Autopsy Reports: Text descriptions of the autopsy are public, but the accompanying visuals remain shielded by privacy laws and the Stratten family’s efforts to maintain some dignity for her memory.
Why People Can't Stop Looking
Dorothy was only 20. She was the 1980 Playmate of the Year. She was supposed to be the "next big thing." When someone that beautiful meets an end that ugly, it creates a psychological vacuum. People look for the Dorothy Stratten death photos because they want to reconcile the girl from the Dairy Queen in Vancouver with the victim in West LA.
The reality is that the most "famous" photos of Dorothy aren't the ones from the bedroom on Pico Boulevard. They're the ones taken by Mario Casilli for her Playboy centerfold or the candid shots of her on the set of They All Laughed. Those are the images that actually tell her story.
The Role of the Media and Peter Bogdanovich
Bogdanovich later wrote a book called The Killing of the Unicorn. He was devastated. He blamed Hugh Hefner and the Playboy culture for "grooming" her, though many argue Snider was the primary predator long before she ever reached the Mansion. This back-and-forth blame game kept the case in the headlines for years, fueling the demand for "evidence" or photos that would prove one side right.
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There was a specific photo—not a death photo, but a "test shot"—that Snider sent to Playboy to get her noticed. It’s haunting to look at now, knowing that the man behind the camera would eventually be the one to end her life.
Final Insights and Reality Check
If you’re looking for the truth behind the case, skip the "shady" sites claiming to have leaked crime scene galleries. They are almost certainly clickbait or malware. Instead, focus on the documented facts of the investigation:
- The Timeline: Forensic evidence showed Snider killed Dorothy within an hour of her arrival at noon, but he didn't kill himself until about an hour later.
- The Weapon: The shotgun was purchased just a day before the murder from a private seller through a classified ad.
- The Scene: The bodies were found nude, and the room was a mess of "staged" elements that suggested Snider wanted the discovery to be as traumatic as possible.
The most respectful way to engage with Dorothy's story is to look at the work she left behind. Her film career was just starting, and she had a genuine screen presence that wasn't just about her looks.
If you are researching the legal or forensic side of this case, stick to archived news reports from the Los Angeles Times or the Village Voice from 1980. These sources provide the most accurate descriptions of the evidence without the sensationalism found in modern "true crime" forums.