BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio -- An apparently obsessed fan used a 900 telephone number to talk to Playboy centerfold Stacy Arthur many times before he traveled from California to Bellefontaine, where he shot and killed her husband and then killed himself.
James Lindberg of Woodland, Calif., shot James Arthur, 36, to death Tuesday on the main street of Bellefontaine, 50 miles northwest of Columbus, before he took his own life.
Stacy Arthur, 23, the 1990 Mrs. Ohio, appeared on the cover and in a centerfold of the January 1991 issue of Playboy magazine. She said she and Lindberg spoke numerous times on the Playmate 900 line but she did not realize he may have developed a fatal obsession for her.
'He asked me questions,' she said. 'He sent me gifts, stuffed animals, balloons for my children. He always gave his best to (her husband) Jim. He was a very dedicated fan. He loved Playboy.'
Playboy spokeswoman Terri Tomcisin said Stacy Arthur was the voice on several of the company's 900 lines on which callers can hear recorded messages or talk live to Playmates.
'All live calls are monitored,' Tomcisin said. 'And people are told before the calls start that if they talk abusively or do anything strange, they will be disconnected.'
Stacy said her husband met Lindberg in downtown Bellefontaine on Monday and accepted a gift to be delivered to her.
Stacy Arthur said Lindberg apparently came to Bellefotaine to meet her and photograph her.
Arthur told Lindberg his wife would be appearing at an auto show in Toledo this weekend and he could see her there, said Mrs. Arthur.
Jeanette Lazanby, a tenant in a building owned by Arthur, said Lindberg came looking for Arthur on Tuesday and became agitated when he could not find him.
'He was upset because Jim wasn't there,' she said. As he left Jim came aound the corner. They walked down Main Street together. Then Jim came back alone.'
Arthur was shot and killed moments later.
'He shot him first in the face, then in the hand,' said Mrs. Arthur. 'As Jim tried to run he shot him twice in the back.'
Lindberg had stayed at a motel in Bellefontaine for less than a week and was driving a rental car.
The Arthurs were married Jan. 4, 1988, shortly after her 20th birthday.
'We were a team,' she said. 'We were inseparable. He was the wind beneath my wings.'
In July, Stacy Arthur's first husband, James M. Trevorrow killed himself in a motel in Lakeview, Ohio.
