After divorcing
Bill Bixby, she reunited with former girlfriend
Tammy Bruce, conservative pundit and openly gay radio talk show host. Benet had been distraught over the death of her and Bixby's six-year-old son Christopher, who had recently died from a sudden throat infection. On April 7, 1982, two weeks after Bruce and Benet again parted ways, Bruce showed up for a planned lunch with Benet at the home they previously shared in Mandeville Canyon in west Los Angeles. She found the bathroom door locked. Police came and broke down the door to find Benet dead from a self-inflicted .38-cal. gunshot wound to the head.
