Ricardo López's Suicide

		Content Warning! The following work contains content and material that some may find shocking. Reader discretion is advised.

On September 12, 1996, Ricardo López, a mentally ill obsessed fan of Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress Björk mailed a letter bomb rigged with sulfuric acid to Björk's residence in London to attempt to kill her, then returned home and recorded his final tape explaining his actions before committing suicide by gunshot with the revolver in the last part of a video diary.

Ricardo López in the final moments before his suicide.
	Ricardo López (perpetrator)
	Shock video
	September 12, 1996

Content

The diary was titled "Last Day – Ricardo López", the tape features 21-year-old Ricardo López (utterly naked with his head shaved and his face painted red and green) returned his apartment in Hollywood, Florida. He then explained his actions by stating that he was "a little nervous" and "definitely not drunk and depressed" while I Remember You - Björk plays in the background. As soon as the song finishes playing, he turns the revolver on his head and shouts: "This is for you!" triggering it after one second. Ricardo's corpse collapses and bleeding profusely on the floor until the camera stops filming. A hand-painted sign bearing the handwritten words "The best of me. Sept. 12" was seen on the wall behind him.

Aftermath

Seven days later after López's alleged suicide, Björk said in a statement that she was distressed by the incident. She described it as "terrible" and "very sad", and said that people should not "take me too literally and get involved in my personal life". She sent a card and flowers to López's family. and left it for Spain, where she recorded the remainder of her third album, Homogenic, away from media attention.

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."

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

In Popular Culture

In 2019, an 87-minute erotic horror film titled The Obsessed (Last Day: The Best of Me). López's final video diary was adapted as the subject material in what Domiziano Cristopharo described the movie as "Albania's first horror film" and "a body horror freely inspired to the real story of Ricardo López, Bjork’s stalker." The film included body horror such as the mouthed penis.

In the Adult Swim animated series Smiling Friends, López's letter bomb plot was referenced by the episode "Enchanted Forest". Pim and Charlie planned to help Mip deliver a handmade gift (with the bomb inside it) to the Princess of the Enchanted Forest, she opened it to reveal the bomb, which nearly killed her, Pim, and Charlie before she threw it out of the window.

Previously on February 9, 2015, the Björk stalker was a topic of discussion on Sleepycast, a podcast involving Smiling Friends co-creator and voice actor Zach Hadel.

Further Reading

• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_L%C3%B3pez_(stalker)

Link

NOTE: The following video contains extremely graphic content!

• documentingreality.com/forum/attachments/f166/44916d1239804687-ricardo-lopez-suicide-bj-rk-stalker-m011108bjork.mp4

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