It’s always sad to hear how people with mental disorders develop consuming obsessions with celebrities that lead them down a terrible path. Last night, a fan obsessed with American Idol’s Paula Abdul killed herself in her car with the license plate “ABL LV,” near the judge’s house.

Paula Goodspeed, 30, ended her life last night in a parked car filled with prescription pills, CDs and a photo of Abdul hanging from the rear-view mirror. "It appears to be a suicide by overdose," Detective Robert Bub of the Los Angeles Police Department told Reuters. (TMZ.com reported that Goodspeed overdosed in the exact same area about a year ago but was found in time by police.) Goodspeed was a one-time American Idol contestant on Season 5, who, despite being ridiculed during her audition, maintained her infatuation with Abdul, often posting comments and illustrations about Abdul on her MySpace blog. Despite being harshly criticized by Abdul, Cowan and Jackson after her performance of “Proud Mary,” Goodspeed vowed she’d never stop singing.

“I am deeply shocked and saddened at what transpired yesterday,” Abdul said in a statement. “My heart and prayers go out to her family.”

While humiliating people might be good for ratings, might Goodspeed’s death force the show's producers to reevaluate how contestants are treated? Will they now think deeply about the ramifications of the insults they encourage the show's judges to spew in an effort to tittilate the audience? Of course, these are rhetorical questions, and by the time the next taping rolls around Abdul's empathy will be remembered as little more than crocodile tears.