Los Angeles, Feb 10 (IANS) Gwyneth Paltrow faced a man who stalked her for 17 years. The actress testified in a court here against Dante Michael Soiu, 67 and broke down in tears as she told the court that she feared for her safety.
“I felt very upset by it. It defied logic, and I found it very, very upsetting,” the 43-year-old said while struggling to contain her emotion, reports aceshowbiz.com.
“This was something I had been through a very long and traumatic experience with already,” she added.
Soiu reportedly started sending Paltrow letters in 1999 after she won at the Academy Awards. He described his intention to marry her in one letter. In another disturbing note, he said: “You are hopelessly lost. Now you must die. Yourself, must die so that Christ can have preeminence.”
The man had sent more than 60 letters until 2015. He also sent her pornography and sex toys.
According to Paltrow’s head of security Terry Abbott, the actress was always informed when a letter from Soiu was received, but he stopped giving her any details after one debriefing “caused her too much distress”.
This is the second time Soiu is facing charges for stalking Paltrow. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a 2001 trial and later spent more than three years in a mental health facility. He then resumed sending the actress letters in 2009.
Soui has pleaded not guilty to felony charges. His defence attorney contended that his messages were biblical in nature and non-threatening. The lawyer also argued that the man hadn’t made an attempt to meet the actress unlike in 1999.