Estrange husband raped and killed Playboy Bunny

Model Dorothy Stratten had just won the title of Playmate of The Year when she was violently murdered by her estranged husband.

Dorothy Stratten suffered a brutal sexual assault before she was gunned down by her estranged husband Paul Snider.

Playboy model Dorothy Stratten was barely recognisable when her naked body was found in her former Los Angeles apartment in 1980. She’d been raped and beaten and shot in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun,

Before her grisly murder in August of that year, the 20-year-old rising star had been tipped to be “the next Marilyn Monroe”, and had just starred in a film with Audrey Hepburn.

Dorothy Stratten was tipped to be “the next Marilyn Monroe”. Picture: REX

Her death came at the hands of her estranged husband, small-time hustler, and rumoured pimp, Paul Snider — who also took his own life shortly after killing Dorothy.

Few people were more stunned by Snider’s murder-suicide than his lodger, a 17-year-old aspiring model called Patti Laurman, who discovered the crime scene.

“It was like a staged horror movie,” she recalled.

“They were both dead. They were both naked. They’d been dead for at least eight hours.”

Dorothy and Paul on their wedding day in Las Vegas, in 1979.

Ms Laurman said it was truly horrifying to consider she shared a home with someone capable of such violence.

“Just the thought that could have been me is pretty scary, and I lived with someone that was able to do that,” she said.

Dorothy had been blasted in the face with a gun by her estranged husband, who then turned it on himself.

She was even missing a finger from where she’d held her hand up in a futile attempt to defend herself.

Patti has recounted the lead up to the gruesome murder, and what it was like to discover the bodies, on a new Crime and Investigation documentary, I Lived With A Killer.

Patti Laurman has revealed what it was like to live with a murderer in a new documentary. Picture: Crime and Investigation Channel

PLAYBOY CAME CALLING

Dorothy and Snider met when she was 17, and still in high school, and he was 26.

They quickly fell for each other, and in 1979, Snider persuaded Dorothy to pose for a nude photo shoot that he then sent to Playboy.

Liking what he saw, Hugh Hefner requested a meeting with Dorothy and her career took off.

She was named Playmate Of The Month in August 1979, landed a part in the popular TV show Fantasy Island, and appeared on numerous talk shows.

Dorothy’s career took off after Snider sent nude photos of her to the Playboy Mansion. Picture: REX

A SHADY PAST

Dorothy and Snider were married in June 1979, but beneath his charming facade, Snider hid a seedy past.

He was suspected of working as a pimp, and had been under police investigation for a period of time in 1976.

On top of that, Snider, a Canadian national, was unable to work in America due to his visa status, so it was up to Dorothy to bring in the money.

This photo of Dorothy was taken just four months before her brutal murder.

To the outside world however, Snider and his wife seemed like the ultimate power couple - she even progressed to Playmate Of The Year in 1980.

Snider was also his wife’s agent, so when an impressionable Patti met him at 17, she believed he could help launch her career.

But it soon became apparent that all was not as rosy as it seemed.

DRIVEN APART

As Dorothy’s star continued to rise, she was spending less and less time with her husband.

Things for the couple changed dramatically when Dorothy was cast in director Peter Bogdanovich’s movie, They All Laughed.

She travelled to New York in 1980 to begin filming, while Snider stayed at their home in Los Angeles.

Dorothy and her director soon fell in love, and in June that year, Dorothy wrote to Snider, letting him know that she planned to end their marriage.

She refused to take his calls and would only speak to him via other people.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner gave Dorothy Stratten her start in the industry.

PATTI LAURMAN

By this point, a 17-year-old Patti Laurman was lodging with Snider, and he broke down as he confided in her.

“Paul was really upset,” Patti said.

“He told me that he realised he was losing Dorothy. That he couldn’t make her stay and love him.”

Then, in August, Dorothy got in touch with Snider and, after some convincing, she agreed to talk things through with him.

On August 14, 1980, Patti left the house, so the estranged couple could have some privacy - this would be the last time they were seen alive.

A news crew examines Dorothy’s car outside of the apartment where her and Paul Snider’s bodies were found.

RAPED AND SHOT IN THE FACE

When Patti returned home the next day, she spotted Dorothy’s handbag and assumed the pair had worked things out.

It contained $1,110, which it was later revealed Dorothy had intended to give Snider as a down payment while they worked out the property settlement that would be part of their divorce.

Later that evening, when she still hadn’t heard anything from the pair, Patti became worried and knocked on Snider’s door.

There she was confronted with the bloody crime scene.

Dorothy Stratten was sexually assaulted by her former husband, then shot.

Dorothy had been raped and shot in the head before Paul turned the gun on himself.

A police timeline suggests he shot himself an hour after murdering his estranged wife.

“It was terrible. The first thing you saw was Paul’s body laying on the floor, and then you saw Dorothy laying on the bed,” Patti said.

“When I think about what happened, it’s like, ‘What if he had freaked out like that when I was there?’”

One account details there was “gore on the walls and the curtains”.

The stunning blonde Playboy Bunny died an agonising death.

Dorothy Stratten stole hearts around the world in her short life.

True crime author Michael Fleeman says of the tragic events: “We know there was this brutal, violent round of sex, and it probably wasn’t consensual on Dorothy’s part.”

“At some point the shot gun comes out,” Mr Fleeman said.

“Paul is looking at what has happened, and he turns the gun on himself.”

Dorothy Stratten's grave sits in Westwood. Picture: Barry King

The incident had a major impact on Patti and totally changed her life’s trajectoy, which had initially been destined for stardom.

“I don’t want anything to do with Hollywood,” she said years later.

“That’s just something that was in my past and that’s where it stays – in my past.

“I moved on. I’m happy with my family. And now it’s history for me.”

This story originally appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission.