Age, Biography, and Wiki
- Full Name: Ricardo López
- Date of Birth: January 14, 1975
- Date of Death: September 12, 1996
- Age at Death: 21 years old
- Born: Montevideo, Uruguay
- Moved to: Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA (at a young age)
- Notable For: Stalking and attempting to harm the Icelandic musician Björk; filming extensive video diaries of his obsession and subsequent actions.
- Nationality: Uruguayan-American
- Wiki: Available at Wikipedia
Ricardo López grew up in the United States, struggled with self-esteem and social isolation, and became obsessed with singer Björk after seeing her in 1993. His infatuation turned dangerous in 1996 when he mailed a letter bomb to her London home and subsequently took his own life via gunshot.
| Occupation | Criminals |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 14 January 1975 |
| Age | 50 Years |
| Birth Place | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Horoscope | Capricorn |
| Country | Uruguay |
| Date of death | 12 September, 1996 |
| Died Place | Hollywood, Florida, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
No reliable or official records exist regarding Ricardo López’s height, weight, or body measurements. Most available sources focus on his criminal actions and psychological profile rather than physical details.
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Dating & Relationship Status
- Relationship Status: Single, socially reclusive
- Notable Facts:
- Ricardo López did not seek sexual intimacy with Björk.
- His obsession was rooted in anger related to her personal life, notably her brief relationship with producer Goldie.
- There is no documented evidence of any romantic relationships or significant personal connections.
He moved to Lawrenceville, Georgia, with his family at a young age, and began working as a pest exterminator. He had poor self-esteem, was socially reclusive, and eventually developed an obsession with Björk in 1993. Though he did not hope to be sexually intimate with her, he was particularly angry over her brief relationship with the English jungle producer Goldie due to his race. Over the course of nearly nine months in 1996, he made video diaries about her and other topics, at his apartment in Hollywood, Florida.
He had a good relationship with his family, and was described as easygoing but introverted. He had a few male friends, but no female friends, nor a girlfriend. In a diary found by police, López expressed feelings of shame and inadequacy, as well as feelings of social awkwardness around women. Journalist Paolo Pellegrini wrote that López had been diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome.
López's diary grew to 803 pages, with passages about his thoughts on Björk and his feelings of inadequacy due to being overweight, his disgust and embarrassment about his gynecomastia, and his inability to get a girlfriend. He wrote that he considered himself "a loser who never even learned to drive" and complained about his menial job as an exterminator that earned little money. The diary contained 168 references to López's feelings of failure, 34 references to suicide, and 14 references to murder. He made 408 references to Björk and 52 references to other celebrities.
In 1996, López was living alone in an apartment in Hollywood, Florida. Around that time he read in Entertainment Weekly that Björk was in a romantic relationship with another musician, the English jungle producer Goldie. López was angered by the perceived betrayal, and the fact that she was involved with a black man, writing in his diary: "I wasted eight months and she has a fucking lover." He began fantasizing about how he could "punish" Björk.
López stopped writing his diary and began filming a video diary in his apartment. According to López, the diary's purpose was "... a documentation of my life, of my art and of my plans", and that "comfort is what I seek in speaking to you”. He recorded eleven video tapes containing approximately two hours of footage each. The tapes contain footage of López preparing his "revenge" and discussing his "crush [that] ended up as an obsession". López's anger over Björk's relationship with Goldie intensified and he decided to kill her. In one entry, he said: "I'm just going to have to kill her. I'm going to send a package. I'm going to be sending her to Hell."
Four days later, on September 16, a foul odor and blood were noticed coming from López's apartment. The Hollywood Police Department entered and discovered López's decomposing corpse. Written on the wall was a message: "The 8mm tapes are a documentation of a crime, terrorist material, they are for the FBI." The Broward County Sheriff's Office evacuated the building while the bomb squad searched for further explosives, and found none. After viewing López's final tape, police contacted Scotland Yard to warn them that the potentially explosive package was en route to Björk's residence in London. The package had yet to be delivered, and the Metropolitan Police intercepted it at a South London post office, after which it was safely detonated. There had been little danger of Björk receiving the bomb because her mail was vetted through her management's office. Unbeknownst to López, Björk and Goldie had ended their relationship a few days before he killed himself.
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Net Worth and Salary
- Net Worth (as of 2025): Not applicable (deceased, no estate or financial legacy publicly documented)
- Salary/Earnings: No career or business ventures resulted in notable income. He worked as a pest exterminator before his criminal actions.
- Assets: Not known or documented.
His life was marked by social isolation and financial obscurity. There is no evidence of any significant business, investments, or inheritance.
Career, Business, and Investments
- Profession: Pest exterminator
- Notable Activities:
- Filmed video diaries documenting his obsession and criminal plans.
- Attempted to harm Björk by mailing a letter bomb in 1996.
- Business/Investments: None known.
- Other Notes: Ricardo López did not have a public or professional career beyond his work as an exterminator and his notoriety as a stalker and criminal.
With aspirations to become a famous artist, López dropped out of high school. However, he did not seriously pursue an artistic career due to his feelings of inferiority, and fear of being denied entry into art school. He intermittently worked for his brother's pest control business to support himself. By the age of 17, López had become reclusive and, as a means of escape, retreated into a world of fantasies and became enthralled by celebrities. Before his fixation on Björk, López had been obsessed with Hollywood actress Geena Davis.
In 1993, López became fixated on the Icelandic singer Björk. He began gathering information about her life, followed her career, and wrote her numerous fan letters. Initially, López cited her as his muse and said that his infatuation gave him a "euphoric feeling". As time passed, his fixation became all-consuming and he grew more disconnected from reality. In his diary, López wrote of longing to be accepted by Björk and to be a person who had "an effect on her life". He fantasized about inventing a time machine to travel to the 1970s and befriending her as a child. His fantasies about Björk were not sexual. In his diary, he wrote, "I couldn't have sex with Björk because I love her."
Social Network
- Online Presence:
- No official social media accounts exist due to his death in 1996.
- His video diaries have been referenced and circulated on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, often in the context of true crime and viral content.
- The documentary “The Video Diary of Ricardo López” is listed on IMDb as an external link on his Wikipedia page.
On the morning of September 12, 1996, López started filming his final video diary entry. The final tape, titled "Last Day – Ricardo López", began with López preparing to go to the post office to mail the letter bomb. He said that he was "very, very nervous", but that he would kill himself rather than be arrested if he aroused suspicion. After returning from the post office, he resumed filming. While Björk's music played in the background, a naked López shaved his head and eyebrows and painted his face red and green. Police speculated that López's reason for doing so was to make himself less recognizable, so it would be easier for him to take his own life. He examined himself in a mirror and told the camera that he was "a little nervous now". He then stated, "I'm definitely not drunk. I am completely am not [sic] depressed. I know exactly what I am doing. [The gun]'s cocked back. It's ready to roll." As Björk's song "I Remember You" finished playing, López shouted "Victory!" and shot himself in the mouth with a .38 caliber revolver. He groaned and his body fell out of view. Shortly after, he began to bleed out on the floor, which was audible; at that point, the camera stopped filming. A sign bearing the hand-painted words "The best of me - Sep 12" was propped on an upturned mattress behind him. Police theorized that López intended to cover the sign with his blood and brain matter with the gunshot, but the gun was not powerful enough to cause that to happen.
In 2000, Sami Saif released a 70-minute documentary, The Video Diary of Ricardo López, comprising a condensed version of López's 22-hour video diary. Saif decided to limit its availability as "I want to be there when people see the film, because there are all sorts of things about Ricardo López on the internet. I like to be able to talk to people about what it is they've actually seen."
In 2019, independent Italian director Domiziano Cristopharo released an 87-minute erotic horror film titled The Obsessed, with the working title of Last Day: The Best of Me. López's video diary was adapted as the subject material of The Obsessed in what Cristopharo described as "Albania's first horror film" and "a body horror freely inspired to the real story of Ricardo López, Bjork’s stalker".
Education
- Formal Education: Not documented in available sources.
- Additional Notes: Ricardo López’s psychological profile, as described in true crime discussions, suggests a lack of social integration and possible undiagnosed mental health challenges. No record of higher education or specialized training exists.
On September 18, outside her home in London, Björk gave a statement to the press, saying that she was very 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. She left for Spain, where she recorded the remainder of her third album, Homogenic, away from media attention. She also hired security for her son, Sindri, who was escorted to school with a minder. A year after López's death, 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."
