Stacy Arthur was a former Playboy model who rose to fame in the early 1990s. She was the Playmate of the Month for January 1991 and appeared on the cover of the magazine wearing a pageant-style banner that said “Miss January 1991”. She also starred in several Playboy videos and was a contestant in the Mrs. America contest as Mrs. Ohio in 1990. However, her life took a dark turn when her husband was killed by a fan in a murder-suicide and she accused Playboy of rape and negligence. She died on April 5, 2019, at the age of 50, after a short battle with illness.
The Murder-Suicide of Her Husband
Stacy Arthur’s husband, James Alan Arthur, was a 36-year-old businessman and father of three children from a previous marriage. He married Stacy in 1989 and supported her modeling career. However, on October 29, 1991, he was shot and killed by a fan named James Lindberg on a street in Bellefontaine, Ohio, where the family lived. Lindberg, a 27-year-old unemployed man, had become obsessed with Stacy after seeing her in Playboy and had stalked her for months. He had also sent her letters and gifts, which she ignored or returned. On the day of the murder, Lindberg followed James Arthur as he left his office and confronted him in his car. He shot him twice in the chest and then turned the gun on himself. The police found a suicide note in Lindberg’s pocket, which read: “I love you, Stacy. I’m sorry I had to do this. Please forgive me.” According to Open Sky News, the incident was the subject of the first episode of the first season of “The Playboy Murders” titled “All That Glitters” that aired on January 30, 2023.
The Rape Allegations Against Playboy
Stacy Arthur claimed that she was raped and sodomized by three Playboy employees at the Playboy Mansion on October 6, 1991, just three weeks before her husband’s death. She said that she was invited to the mansion by a Playboy photographer for a photo shoot and that she was drugged, then raped and sodomized by two security guards and a butler. She said that she reported the incident to the police and to Playboy, but that they did nothing to help her or to punish the perpetrators. She also said that Playboy severed its ties with her after she appeared on two nationally televised shows where she publicly declared her rape at the Playboy Mansion. In 1992, she filed a $70 million lawsuit against Playboy and others, alleging that the magazine was responsible for her husband’s death and that it failed to protect her from sexual assault. According to Wikipedia, the lawsuit was never resolved and the rape allegations were never proven. The deputy district attorney who investigated the case said that there were too many inconsistencies in Arthur’s statements and that the three employees who had sex with her said that it was consensual. The employees were fired by Playboy for violating the company policy by having sex during working hours.
The Death of Stacy Arthur
Stacy Arthur withdrew from the public eye after the tragic events that shattered her life. She moved to Florida with her son from her first marriage and tried to rebuild her life. She never remarried and never posed for Playboy again. She died on April 5, 2019, at the age of 50, after a short battle with illness, according to Genius Celebs. The cause of her illness was not disclosed, but some sources speculated that it was related to the trauma and stress that she endured. She was survived by her son and her stepchildren. She was buried in a private ceremony in Naperville, Illinois, where she was born. She was remembered by her fans and friends as a beautiful and talented woman who had a bright future ahead of her, but whose life was cut short by tragedy.