Anna Svidersky
Anna Svidersky: one of the photos on her MySpace web page
Born	April 26, 1988(1988-04-26) Novoorenburg, Russia
Died	April 20, 2006 (aged 17) Vancouver, Washington, U.S.

Anna Esther Svidersky (April 26, 1988 – April 20, 2006) was a teenager who lived in the U.S. city of Vancouver, Washington, and was murdered while working in a McDonald's restaurant, by schizophrenic sex offender David Barton Sullivan.^[1] News of her death quickly spread worldwide, initially through the Internet friends site MySpace, where she had a personal page, and then through other similar sites. Image File history File links Anna-Svidersky-2. ... is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ... For the capital city of the United States, see Washington, D.C.. For other uses, see Washington (disambiguation). ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ... McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks. ... For other uses, see Schizophrenia (disambiguation). ... This article is about the criminal term. ... MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos. ...

Background

Anna Svidersky was born in Russia. Her family came from Novoorenburg, a small city near the border of Kazakhstan and about 900 miles southeast of Moscow.^[2] They moved to California before her second birthday. She had one older brother and two younger sisters. In 2001, her mother, Esther, moved with the children to Vancouver, Washington, where she has relatives, after a divorce from Andrew Svidersky.^[3] For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

Anna was a student at Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver and worked at the Andresen Road McDonald's. She had intended to go to college after her senior year, and was due to graduate in June. The year before her death, she worked up to three different jobs at a time, in addition to her school studies.^[3]

Death

David Barton Sullivan, who had previously been convicted twice of sex crimes, left his home on the day of the murder with the single intention of "hurting a female", and according to police, did not know Anna Svidersky. He entered the Andresen Road McDonald's at around 8 pm and stabbed her with a kitchen knife.^[4]

Sullivan was captured soon after the attack. He had discarded the knife he used, but was still covered in blood when discovered.^[5] He was charged with first-degree murder, but on June 26, 2007, he was acquitted by reason of insanity and was committed indefinitely to a mental hospital.^[1] is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Aftermath

The murder dominated the news in her home town. A dedicated page put up on MySpace by Svidersky's friends received 1,200 posts in 3 days.^[6] Internet users on other sites such as YouTube also posted tributes. MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos. ... YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. ...

The news of Svidersky's murder spread worldwide within days through internet sites, creating a phenomenon of collective grief from users, the great majority of whom were complete strangers to her. In Britain, The Guardian newspaper compared the widespread expression of grief by strangers to that seen after the death of Princess Diana. The paper cited the 2004 CIVITAS think-tank, which described such grief as "mourning sickness", related to people's own emotional needs, rather than any real rapport with the deceased.^[7] For other uses, see Guardian. ... Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, née Spencer) (1 July 1961–31 August 1997), commonly, but incorrectly, known as Princess Diana, was for fifteen years the wife of HRH The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. ... In the history of the Roman empire, civitas (pl. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mourning. ...

Logo and photo of Anna Svidersky from the memorial site, annasvidersky.net

The McDonald's restaurant where she worked in Vancouver held a fund-raising day for her family, hoping to raise $15,000, but actually achieved nearly $85,000,^[3] as of April 28, 2006, and finally running out of food. McDonald's Corp. matched $1.50 per dollar and other local McDonald's franchises 25 cents per dollar. Image File history File links Anna-Svidersky. ... Image File history File links Anna-Svidersky. ... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A memorial video In Memory of Anna Svidersky on YouTube has been viewed more than 3,000,000 times as of June 2007.^[8]

Notes and references

The front page of the January 14, 2006 edition of The Columbian The Columbian is a newspaper based in Vancouver, Washington. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 193rd day of the year (194th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 168th day of the year (169th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

External links

• Anna Svidersky's MySpace page
• AnnaSvidersky.net - online condolence book
• Kelly Adams, "Promising life cut short for Vancouver teen", Columbian, April 21, 2006, article reproduced on McMurder site
• King5 news report with video link