Editing Bernadette Protti

{{Villain_Infobox
|Image = Bernadette Protti.jpg
|fullname = Bernadette Protti
|alias = "Jeannette"
|occupation = Cheerleader (former)
|goals = Join the cheerleading squad (failed)<br>Kill Kirsten Costas (successful)<br>Be forgiven for her actions (successful)
|crimes = [[Murder]]
|type of villain = Envious Murderer
}}'''Bernadette Protti''' (September 20, 1968 - ) is an American [[murder]]er who killed her high school classmate, Kirsten Marina Costas, on June 23, 1984.

==Biography==
Protti, who was 15 at the time, hailed from a middle-class Catholic family in Orinda, California, and was friends with Kirsten Costas. Despite this, however, Protti was jealous of Costas for making both the cheerleading squad and the yearbook committee when she had not, as well as being more popular than her in general. Protti was quite insecure about her status in school, and Costas' successes only increased those feelings of insecurity and jealousy. This eventually lead her to want to kill her.

On June 23, 1984, Costas was lured with a phony invitation to a dinner for the Bob-o-Links, a sorority-like group at school. According to Protti's later testimony, she had planned to take Costas to the party to befriend her, but Costas got angry when she was told that there was no dinner for the new "Bobbies". The girls quarreled, and the argument became heated when Costas realized how obsessed Protti was with her. When Costas called Protti out on this, this only infuriated her further. Feeling unsafe, Costas fled to the home of Alex and Mary Jane Arnold, living nearby, telling them that her friend had gone "weird". 

When Costas could not reach her parents by telephone, Alex Arnold drove her home, noticing that a Pinto–the Protti family's car–was following them. At the Costas home, Arnold, sitting in his car, saw Protti attack Costas. He thought that he was seeing a fist fight, but in fact Protti stabbed Costas five times with a butcher knife and fled. The Costas' neighbors called an ambulance, but Kirsten was mortally wounded and died at a nearby hospital.

It took the police almost six months to find Costas' killer. Initially, Protti claimed that she was innocent and was able to conceal her involvement in Costas' murder, claiming that she was babysitting on the night of the murder, even passing a polygraph test. After attempting to confirm Protti's alibi the police suspected that the girl had lied. After speaking with an FBI officer who informed her that her arrest was imminent and that they knew she killed Kirsten, Protti wrote her mother a letter in which she made a full confession.

Protti claimed to have found the kitchen knife by chance, and her elder sister, Virginia Varela, testified in court that she kept that knife in her car to cut vegetables. The Costases did not believe Protti's story – they asserted that nobody would use a butcher knife to slice tomatoes and that Protti, casually dressed on that evening, never intended to take Kirsten to a party but had planned to murder her. 

After three days, Protti was found guilty of second-degree murder and was sentenced to a maximum of nine years, but was released seven years later on parole. She left California, and currently lives under a new name.

The murder was eventually made into a television movie called ''A Friend to Die For'', with the character of  Angela Delvecchio based on Protti.
[[Category:Female]]
[[Category:Murderer]]
[[Category:Living Villains]]
[[Category:Vengeful]]
[[Category:Wrathful]]
[[Category:Young villains]]
[[Category:Liars]]
[[Category:Modern Villains]]
[[Category:Envious Villains]]
[[Category:Insecure]]
[[Category:Tricksters]]
[[Category:From Nobody to Nightmare]]
[[Category:Fallen Heroes]]
[[Category:Obsessed]]
[[Category:Remorseful]]
[[Category:Redeemed]]
[[Category:Destroyer of Innocence]]
[[Category:United States of America]]