Gwyneth's Stalker Locked Down
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/eo/20001215/en/gwyneth_s_stalker_locked_down_12.html
Friday December 15 08:59 PM EST
Gwyneth Paltrow can sleep a little better tonight now that her stalker
has been sent away.
Dante Michael Soiu of Columbus, Ohio, who had obsessed over the actress
for almost two years, sending her hundreds of letters and packages and
even showing up at her parents' home, was convicted Thursday of stalking
the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love star.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert P. O'Neill ruled that Soiu, 51,
was insane, and ordered him sent to a lockdown mental facility. He could
remain in the institution for at least three years (the maximum sentence
for a first-time felony stalking conviction) to the rest of his life,
prosecutors say, depending on his psychiatric evaluation. He is due back
in court June 14 for a progress report hearing.
Paltrow's spokesman, Stephen Huvane, referred all comments to the
prosecutor, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Rhonda Saunders, who
said Paltrow was "very pleased" Soiu was in custody.
During testimony last week, Paltrow, 28, described how Siou gave her
nightmares and "traumatized her," Saunders said.
According to the prosecutor, Paltrow was "absolutely terrified" of Soiu,
who sent "five to 10 packages a week, dozens of letters a week [and]
over 1,200 emails," everything from love notes, flowers and candy to
religious tracts pornography. He also made "a threat of a sexual nature,"
said Saunders.
Soiu began bombarding Paltrow with gifts and missives in March 1999.
Then, in May 1999, he traveled to Los Angeles and wound up outside the
home of Paltrow's parents. Her mom, actress Blythe Danner, confronted
Soiu and asked him not to come back, Saunders said. The man agreed, but
returned the next day.
Soiu eventually went back to his hometown in Ohio, where the FBI tracked
him down and ordered him to stop harassing the actress. But, this past
spring, about a year after his first visit to the Paltrows, he returned.
That's when police finally arrested him.
The case was kept confidential at Paltrow's request--the actress' name
was listed as "Jane Doe" in court documents and the police complaint--a
protection allowed under California law in cases of a sexual nature,
said Saunders, who has also put away the stalkers of Madonna and Steven
Spielberg.
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