February 28, 1960 – August 14, 1980
April 15, 1951 – August 14, 1980 The Murder of Dorothy Stratten Dorothy was 20, and her husband Paul Snider was 29. She was a hot hot hot Playboy model/actress, and he was a sleaze bag loser. They met in their native Canada, and married in Las Vegas in June of 1979. Snider was obsessed with Dorothy and her career. He forbade her to drink coffee, because it would stain her teeth, and he supposedly poisoned her pet dog because he was jealous of it. It eventually caused their relationship to deteriorate, and by August of 1980 they were separated, pending a divorce. Dorothy took up with (Cybill Sheperd’s ex) Peter Bogdonovich. Snider hired a private investigator to follow Dorothy around, because he was insane. Dorothy moved into Bogdonovich’s Bel Air home. Snider was sharing an apartment with a friend, Dr. Stephen A. Cushner, M.D. Originally, Dorothy and Paul lived in the apartment together, but she moved out. Cushner stayed upstairs. and Paul had the suite that he and Dorothy used to share, on the ground floor next to the garage. I honestly cannot figure this out, but there were two other women living in that apartment as well. They probably had barbecues here. Paul was a fanatical “get rich quick” kind of guy. He once took to making weight benches, and with the scraps made a bondage bench he was hoping to market. He was inspired when visiting The Pleasure Chest, a sex shop in LA. The Pleasure Chest opted not to buy the bench, and it stood in a corner of his bedroom for months. Funny that The Pleasure Chest drew the line there. On the morning of August 14th, 1980, Dorothy agreed to meet Snider at the apartment, and showed up just after noon. She was wearing flats and slacks, carrying a big zippered handbag. She had withdrawn $1000 in cash to give to Snider, and hoped to settle her split from him, once and for all. At 12:30, the private investigator called Paul, and Paul told him that “everything was going fine.” Whatever. At 5 in the afternoon, the two female occupants of the apartment came home and noticed the two vehicles (Dorothy’s and Paul’s) in the driveway. They saw that Paul’s door was closed, and they heard no sounds. They assumed that Paul and Dorothy wanted privacy. At 6:00 they watched the news, and then went out to eat. At around 7, Dr. Cushner came home and he too decided to give them privacy. At 8, the women returned home. At around 11, the investigator called the Doctor on his private line (no one was answering Snider’s phone, and it was continually ringing), and suggested they take a peek into the room. Boy oh boy did they get a surprise. They called the cops. Cops arrived at 12:30am. They found Dorothy lying across the end of a low waterbed. Get this: she had black ants crawling all over her. Wild, eh? They found a bullet hole from a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun (that Snider had bought from and ad in a local newspaper) on her cheek, blood on the walls and curtains, and she was missing the tip of her left index finger. No one knows for sure what transpired during their meeting, but blonde hair was found in Snider’s fists. The only scenario that makes sense, was that Dorothy was sitting on a corner of the bed when Snider put the gun up to her cheek. She tried to shield her face with her left hand, thus destroying her left index finger when Snider pulled the trigger. A half an hour later, Snider turned the gun on himself, and fell on top of the shotgun. Kinda makes you wonder what he did for 30 minutes. No wait, I don’t want to know. There were bloody handprints on Dorothy’s buttocks. Oh yeah, Paul had ants crawling all over him too. Near Dorothy, was the “love seat.” According to police, it was set in a position for “possible rear entry intercourse.” There was evidence that the seat had been used, and she had been fastened to it with medical tape. Dorothy was cremated and buried on August 19th, at Westwood Memorial Park. I thought it was Peter Bogdonovich who penned the insane epitaph for her tombstone, but Findadeath.com friend, Todd Dale, informed me that it is from the novel, “A Farewell To Arms,” by Hemingway. As for Bogdonovich, he married Dorothy’s sister a couple of years later. Psycho. Dorothy is buried in Westwood Cemetery. Snider’s body was handled by Malinow and Silverman funeral home (pointed out by Findadeath.com friend, Joe Blodgett, as the funeral home that handled 2 of the 3 Stooges) and was buried in Schara Tzedeck Cemetery, in Vancouver. Trivia: Paul was a good pal with Max Baer Jr., better known as Jethro, from The Beverly Hillbillies. (color me thissurprised) Max also used to date Sharon Tate. More: There was a film made about the murder/suicide. Its called Star 80, and bizarrely it was filmed in the actual apartment on Clarkson. I’d love to see that again. My buddy Cayley made sure I did, and sent me the DVD. Wild movie, wild story. You couldn’t make it up. Thanks Cayley! JUNE 2000: Interesting irony, thanks to Findadeath.com friend, Joe, that the Hemingway connection extends to Dorothy even further. It was Hemingway’s granddaughter, Mariel, who played Dorothy in Star 80. Thanks, Joe! Thanks Mark Langlois for the pic of Mariel as Dorothy. March 2002: Even more from Findadeath.com friend, Bill Murray (no.): I remember seeing a gag-ad in Hustler magazine back around the time of the Dorothy Stratton murder. It was a making fun of the ads that ran in Playboy magazine with the tag line… “What kind of a man reads Playboy?”. The accompanying photo in the gag-ad depicted the crime scene in pretty graphic detail. I wonder if you could track this down. It would be a great addition to your page, that is of course unless there were any copyright issues. Anyway, I’d be interested in seeing that again if you happen to find it in somebody’s collection of old Hustler magazines. OK everyone, there’s your project! Thanks Bill. May 07 Courtesy of Find a Death friend, Bryan Johnson- Now this is gross, and if you are easily grossed out or offended by gory stuff, please do not look at this picture. Here is the Hustler ad in all is gory glory. Thank you Bryan. Wanna see their cheesy mailbox? For more information on Dorothy, go to this website. To discuss Dorothy and her murder, check out the Find a Death Forum.
Recently I read that he did not shoot her and then commit suicide. He was shady businessman and had become co-owner of a business-club venture in the L.A. area. There is good speculation (per the police of that era) that he was murdered.
Who did it? It was Snider’s co-owner business partner that had him killed and Dorothy just happened to be present, so she was also killed. And if I recall, all of this was basically kept under wraps by the L.A. Police because in the end, Snider was dead, and that’s all they cared about.
Has anyone else read anything similar?
This site seriously needs a moderator to weed out the attention whores aiming for shock comments.
I too felt she wasn’t as breath taking as most describe. I personally found her personality and poise to be much more enchanting. Hard to believe she was only 20 years old when she died. She had the poise of a woman much older.
Paul was pitiful. Him showcasing his hog in some polyester pants aside, he had no green card to work in the US, therefore no means of income, lost his beautiful wife….plus he stuck out like a sore thumb in the circles his wife was moving in. Such a selfish prick to take this girl away from the world because he wasn’t brave enough to be a man, stand on his own square, and take on the rest of his life without her.
Agreed, a mod is needed. I appreciate the comments section but Scott is way too much of a class act for abject nonsense in response to his work 🙁
why is it so hard to find a picture of the actual crime scene? I know it took years before the sharon tate pics were finally available to the public. they have to be out there somewhere.
I’ve been searching as well. I’m surprised none of “The Gore” site’s have them.
Now that Heffner and Bogdanovich are dead, I waiting for Dorothy’s sister to come out with her tell all piece of fiction.
Ok one documentary she says she was dropped off at the beach..Bogdonavich book has her at his home all day.
I honestly believe Bogdonavich was a Luciferian and she was a sacrifice. This man had not intentions of marrying her he was a pkayer.
In the movie they all laughed a masonic symbol is displayed 1st 5 minutes of movie.Each male private investigator represents each his multiple personalities …
This man was involved in the occult..
This Chippendale series is to take suspicion off and confusion off what really happend now that these old stories are comming to the surface
I’ve been searching as well. I’m surprised none of “The Gore” site’s have them.
They were all ignorant! Dorothy, Peter, Paul and later her own sister!
Live like a whore, die like a whore
Dorothy didn’t deserve to be murdered by such a sorry ass sociopathic bastard! She was a innocent victim in this whole sad situation! And NOT a whore! What a dumbass remark by you!
He probably got turned down by every prostitute he tried to buy, or, he just couldn’t get it up. That’s why his post sounds so angry.
Dorothy was just a little girl, literally Paul the sleaze ball met her while she was working at Dairy Queen, she was under age, he manipulated her. Started taking pictures of her and was going to use her to get to Hollywood and he did. Dorothy needed her mothers signature of consent to go to Hollywood being a minor and Paul being the pig that he was fraudulently signed the consent form and took Dorothy away. She was just a young girl and thrown into stardom, back in those days you had to grow up fast, unlike the lazy ass Gen Z of today who are do nothing and want everything handed to them.
Wow, very insensitive. So she deserved to die?
Stupid whore / Filthy Kike. Match made. Perfect. Too bad they didn’t take Bogdanovich and Hef with them. Fun to laugh at though. I wish all the ambitious /predatory types would die along with all their stupid admirers. But that is 98% of people. Just glad I’m not one of you.
Spoken like a true self hating incel. Get off the internet Junior, mommy needs it to find you a new step daddy.
I agree! He’s got issues.
Oh shut up! You sound like a pathetic loser just like Paul Snider!
Just another troll, get a life out of your grandmas basement, mmmkay
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
That’s an EXTREMELY misogynistic, victim-shaming statement.
Dorothy was a tragic angel. Horrific loss, the blame lies squarely on that piece of shit Snider.
Snider was scum, pure and simple, tho I’m liking what I’m seeing in those very tight pants he’s rocking.
Call me a tacky slut, I don’t have a problem with that.
You’re a loser, so of course you don’t have a problem with that!
Probably a cucumber or a kielbasa or something. It’s always the needle dicks that have to “show off”.
Some uncut Canadian bacon?
Poor Dorothy was the victim of her hypergamy.
Oh yay, an incel in the wild. Furiously masturbating to a dead woman while also insulting her. Class!
Saw Dorothy in an episode of Buck Rogers & The 25th Century yesterday. Beautiful girl. Sad
I remember around 2005/2006 in a very old forum which I dont even remember the name, an allegedly actual picture of Dorothy’s corpse surfaced. It was just her head, which was destroyed at the top and the missing part rebuilt with medical materials .I think it was made for the autopsy or who knows. I think that picture was real and even if the forum is dead for decades and the pictures was pulled, it still haunts me. Neer been able to find it again on the net, thank goodness
I’d find Sniders grave just to take a shit on his headstone, the maggot.
Everyone fed off Dorothy and she trusted everyone. She married Snider to protect herself from Hefner’s advances and bc she felt she owed Paul that. Everyone warned her not to and she always thought Paul would never hurt her ironically. LAPD seems to have pulled the crime scene photos but not sure why as they were initially released.
Dorothy was angelic. I find it hard to believe in God when I read about stories like this. May Paul Snider rot in hell
The photos were pulled by request of the family members.
Snider’s grave is in Vancouver and can be found on findagrave.com
That picture of Paul in his disco costume posing like Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore is both the funniest and the saddest thing I ever saw. Too bad Dorothy couldn’t see through his act.
A picture in the dictionary next to “loser”.
Dorothy had a lot of misplaced trust in older men. People place a lot of blame on Hefner and Bogdanovich. Dorothy’s death is clearly in the hands of the one who pulled the trigger.
Paul Snider! Morally a lot of blame goes around. Really a fish out of the water surrounded by fins! If parental structure had been there maybe none of this would have happened. Dorothy was groundless and all the immoral temptations was too overwhelming! What is sad is other females have failed to see the trap before it is too late for them!
Misplaced trust in Jews, too!
Fuck off out of here you racist nazi.
That photo of her brains 🧠 (or the staged photo of the murder scene) splattered all over is in poor taste, to put it mildly. This is all presented in a tacky and callous way. Some of the comments follow suit.
The stage photo or depiction is also inaccurate. Dorothy Stratten was draped over the corner of the bed, and Paul Snider was on the floor, on top of the gun.
It was intentionally done that way as a parody photo and because the police retrieved the photos that surfaced as per request by the family.
Wasn’t that staged photo something that ran in Hustler? Tasteless, indeed!
Well, Hustler was never known to be a tasteful publication.
I agree Dorothy was very attractive but if you take that glommed makeup off she’s not someone to lose their head over. No need to get up, I’ll let myself out.
I’m a heterosexual female, so I may not be the best of judges, but I agree with you. Without the pound of make-up, I think Stratten’s face was unremarkable and her eyes had a funny shape. I could never see why she was so head and shoulders above other Playmates, or why Peter Bogdonavich “could not believe she was real”.
She’s not head and shoulders above them now.
I agree, she was cute, but not super attractive. Any normal looking woman can be made to look super pretty with the right make up and photography. Hell even my old ass can look good with the right lighting and make up. 🙂
It was the late 70s/early 80s. Beauty standards were completely different. This was an era when being blonde was everything and by default beautiful. Few Playmates were drop dead gorgeous (no pun!) anyhow. All of them were the result of lots of makeup, good lighting and photography. It was more about the mystique of Playboy and that lifestyle which we’re now learning was icky.
You used to have more pictures on your old website. Where’d they go?
Your story is conflicting…at first you say she was found laying on the foot of the bed then you say she was taped to the bondage frame…smh
No, there was evidence it was set up for “rear entry” and that she had been taped to it. Meaning there was evidence of those two things. She was found at the foot of the bed, and the evidence on the table suggested she had been taped to it earlier.
It appeared that he forced sex on her on the loveseat while she was alive, then again on the bed afterwards, hence the bloody handprints.
What a very tragic ending for such a beautiful lady. I blame Hefner and Bogdonovich for contributing to her death.
Rest In Peace Dorothy, your presence hear on earth will last for the forever.
All 3 men were predators!!! Dorothy was young and extremely naive. That was her misfortune as for her looks yes a beautiful women and at 20 who doesn’t have a kick ass body. Lol look that good at 50 and that’s a rarity.. She was incredibly trusting and she paid the ultimate price ;((
All 3 men were predators!!! Dorothy was young and extremely naive. That was her misfortune as for her looks yes a beautiful women and at 20 who doesn’t have a kick ass body. Lol look that good at 50 and that’s a rarity.. She was incredibly trusting and she paid the ultimate price ;((
All 3 men were predators!!! Dorothy was young and extremely naive. That was her misfortune as for her looks yes a beautiful women and at 20 who doesn’t have a kick ass body. Lol look that good at 50 and that’s a rarity.. She was incredibly trusting and she paid the ultimate price ;((
Interesting factoid: Star 80 was directed by the one and only Bob Fosse.
Meg
Saginaw, MI
Damn, what a shame. Dorothy seemed like such a nice person.
Rot in hell, Paul.
Ah, yes, here is proof of what kind of people this slimeball came from: Snider’s family sued in court to acquire Dorothy’s assets (since she preceded Paul in death, technically) and WON. Greedy, shameless, pathetic brood- should be illegal for some animals to procreate.
Bogdanovich didnt like the way he was portraited in star 80s. He was obsessed with ds and ended up marrying her sister After having being some soft of Daddylonglegs toher and paying for her School and presents since she was 12. So soon y ish ! He Also payed for some surgery cause the Sis didnt look like dor at all.
Is this English?
She was absolutely gorgeous with or without makeup! Her body was incredible! So don’t even comment on it being the makeup you stupid jealous fucks! He shot her in the face to destroy her angelic beauty. Not one of you bitches could stand next to her!
I really can’t see what there was for Bogdanavich to object to in the portrayal of “Aram Nicholas” (character based on Bogdanavich) in “Star 80”. Hugh Hefner also objected to his portrayal, and same thing—he’s not portrayed as a bad guy at all. Well, except for the ending, when he’s shown examining pictures of a new small town girl with Playmate looks, while Dorothy is lying dead.
… what?