The Playboy Murders: Why did Paul Snider kill Playboy Playmate and actor Dorothy Stratten?

The tragic murder-suicide of Playmate Dorothy Stratten and her husband Paul Snider sent shockwaves across Hollywood. Stratten, who was set to make her big break in Hollywood, had met the 26-year-old local club promoter and pimp, Paul Snider, in Vancouver. Paul convinced her to pose naked for photos that he sent to Playboy magazine.

In her meteoric rise to stardom, Snider and Stratten's marriage started to degrade as Paul demanded more control over her life. An affair with the director Peter Bogdanovich drove Snider to procure a shotgun. He raped and then shot Stratten to death before he shot fatally himself.

The Playboy Murders episode titled Falling Star airs on February 26, 2024, at 10 pm EST on Investigation Discovery. The synopsis of the episode reads,

"A 19-year-old is discovered in Canada; after becoming "Playmate of the Year," her husband sees dollar signs, but as her star rises, she's drawn to another man; afraid of losing his meal ticket, her husband shoots them in their home."

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Who was Paul Snider? Details explored

Paul Leslie Snider was born on April 15, 1951, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He had been working as a promoter for automobile and cycle shows at Pacific National Exhibition but also traded flesh as he pimped young women on the side, per Teresa Carpenter's Village Voice cover story of 1980.

The 26-year-old Snider had set his eyes on the 17-year-old Dorothy Stratten, who used to work at the local Dairy Queen. According to ABC News, Carpenter added in her story,

"He didn't keep a low profile. In that, he drove a black corvette, wore a mink coat [and a] Star of David encrusted with jewels that he hung on his chest. He was called the Jewish pimp and he cultivated that."

Paul Snider reportedly promised young Stratten expensive gifts, posh dinners, and a gown to her senior prom, where he was her date. Paul convinced Dorothy to pose naked for a professional photoshoot - the outtakes of which were sent in for the Great Playmate Hunt in 1978.

While the centerfold for the 25th-anniversary issue of Playboy in January went to Candy Loving, Stratten was noticed by the magazine's former West Coast photo editor, Marilyn Grabowski, and then subsequently by Hugh Hefner.

Stratten moved to Los Angeles in August 1978, and Paul joined her. The two got married in June 1979 as Snider worked as Stratten's manager and coach. Dorothy Stratten was announced the Miss August 1979.

The next year, Dorothy Stratten was cast in multiple television roles and went on to feature in Autumn Born (1979) and Galaxina (1980).

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Why did Paul Snider kill Dorothy Stratten?

As she rose to fame, Paul Snider's friends reported him becoming jealous of Stratten's fame, per Oxygen. Most of Stratten's friends, including Hefner, disapproved of Snider and his presence in her life. According to ABC News, Hefner had also linked Dorothy with a professional manager and a funds manager to weaken Paul Snider's control over her career and life.

The former Playmate, Miki Garcia, told Fox News Digital,

"Dorothy became very afraid of her husband. She would come to my office, pick up her fan mail and go through it. She would tell me to throw certain things away because she didn’t want him to know about them. He was very jealous. People saw a huge star in her, and she was exploited in many ways."

As Dorothy started filming for her role as Dolores Martin in Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed, she fell in love with Bogdanovich and announced her separation from Snider over a letter in July 1980. Paul's friends spoke of him becoming engulfed with rage and jealousy upon the news. In addition, he had been living in the United States without a green card and, thus, relied on Dorothy for his monthly bills.

Paul Snider responded by hiring a private investigator and selling Dorothy Stratten's gifts from her Playmate of the Year event, including a Jaguar sportscar valued at $26,000, per Richard Rhodes' Playboy magazine essay, Dorothy Stratten: Her Story.

Snider borrowed a handgun from a friend and reportedly attempted a shooting outside Bogdanovich's house. However, Dorothy visited Paul on August 8, 1980, at their shared apartment near the Santa Monica Freeway in West Los Angeles, intending to negotiate an amicable settlement with him.

Per Fox News Digital, Dorothy Stratten and Paul Snider were found naked and shot to death with a 12-gauge shotgun. Snider had r*ped Stratten and fatally shot her in the head an hour after her arrival. He then committed suicide.