Death of a Cheerleader aka A Friend to Die For (true story)

The movie A Friend to Die For is based on the murder of Kirsten Costas.

Angela Delvecchio aka Bernadette Protti

Ok. Here is a photo of Bernadette Protti. Her name was changed to Angela Delvecchio in the movie Death of a Cheerleader.

You can find more photos of Bernadette on the pages below

Photo of the Real Stacy Lockwood aka Kirsten Costas

In the movie the victim's name was changed to Stacy Lockwood. Her real name was Kirsten Costas.

Bernadette Protti Inner Demons

I have been receiving a lot of private emails from readers wanting to discuss Bernadette’s remorse and again her identity. So just wanted to facilitate some serious and intellectual discussion of Bernadette Protti that each of you can post under the appropriate title.

She most likely is very remorseful... very sorry for what she did. She is also embarrassed by it. I am not sure to what extent her husband knows, but I am sure he knows…some of it at least. I doubt the children know anything at all. The family does not refer to her as Bernadette. In fact, I believe someone told me that her nieces and nephews refer to her as “aunt and her new name”.

She has moved a lot. She has changed jobs a lot. Could this be because people found out? Or started to ask too many questions? Who knows. But it could be an indication. She is in a new location since this blog started. She also managed to get her pictures taken off the web, so for anyone that did not copy and save them, they are no longer available. She has to look over her shoulder a lot. And I am sure she is trying to protect her kids. So I am sure life has not been really easy.

Kirsten Costas Murder Orinda California

Everyone in the town of Orinda wanted to believe that this crime was an "isolated event". They did not want to admit to the underlying truth that the climate of the town was just as much responsible for the death of Kirsten as was Bernadette Protti. That is actually the basis for the movie. Randall Sullivan studied the problem in depth. Alot of what was shown in the movie was taken directly from Randall Sullivan's notes about the case...most likely. Randall Sullivan actually interviewed a girl who turned out to be Bernadette Protti's best friend. Her name was Kris Johnson.  Johnson gave Randall Sullivan a lot of insight as to what the school and the town's atmosphere was like and much of the info that she gave was reenacted in the movie.

Documents


Notes About the Case

A Brief Timeline of Bernadette Protti's Conviction and Incarceration

Photos of Bernadette Protti and Kirsten Costas Crime Scene

Photo of Kirsten Costas: You can find a photo of Kirsten Costas here. She is the one with the curly brown hair. 

Click here for a recent photo of Berit Costas in Hawaii

Bernadette Protti Found! New Identity