The REAL STORY of the Death of a Cheerleader : Kirsten Costas

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kirsten Marina Costas with me today. In the summer of 1984, the quiet suburb of Orinda, California, was rocked by the brutal murder of 15-year-old Kirsten Marina Costas. A high school swimmer and varsity cheerleader, Kirsten embodied the “All-American” teen, until she was lured to her death by someone she trusted.Her classmate, Bernadette Protti, invited her under the false pretense of a sorority-like dinner, only to stab her five times with a kitchen knife in front of a neighbor’s house. Witnesses initially mistook the attack for a fight; by the time the truth emerged, it was already too late.The investigation dragged on for nearly six months. Protti passed a lie-detector test and lied about her whereabouts, until an FBI agent showed her the evidence, prompting a full confession in a letter to her mother.At trial, her motive was revealed as raw envy and rejection, frustration over not fitting in, and intense feelings of inadequacy toward the more popular Kirsten. Protti was convicted and sentenced to nine years, of which she served seven, before being paroled at age 23 in 1992.