Yeah, but I got the sense you asking about fame-seekers in recent times; and even though Kennedy's death was nearly 50 years ago (!), it was really the first instance of a national tragedy being covered by television in a really big way (i.e. lots of coverage about what Oswald did, and ironically including his own public execution).

I didn't get into Sirhan, or James Earl Ray, or Squeaky Froome, or John Hinckley, but they're cases worth analysis.