Delusional Perpetrators Are Not Your Typical Stalkers
Tyra Banks: Latest Stalked Celeb
Delusional Perpetrators Are Not Your Typical Stalkers
By AINA HUNTER
March 25, 2008 —
Besides her fame, wealth and good looks, there's something else that separates talk show host and model mogul Tyra Banks from most other people who've ever been stalked: The odds are that the alleged perpetrator in her case is suffering from some kind of delusional thinking.
Brady Green, a 37-year-old Georgia native who unnerved Banks, was arrested last week and charged with stalking, harassment and criminal trespass before being released on his own recognizance, according to the New York Post.
Green allegedly harassed Banks for months, including making phone calls, sending letters and flowers and visiting her Los Angeles studios.
Such behavior, which is typical of people who stalk celebrities, is a far cry from men who "treat their wives like possessions," said Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston.
About 10 percent of the general population the vast majority, women have been stalked at some point in their lives, according to the National Institute of Justice. But the "everyday stalker is usually not schizophrenic he just suffers from poor character," Levin said. "There is often a trigger, like a divorce or custody dispute."
Dan Barber, a private investigator who has worked on numerous stalking and murder cases, emphasizes that the more routine cases should not be taken lightly.
In some cases the spurned boyfriend or husband is what criminologists call a "psychopathic personality stalker" usually a man from a dysfunctional home who uses violence as a form of control.
But when it comes to celebrity stalkers, Levin said, schizophrenia or some other form of pathological delusional thinking is the norm. "He may be paranoid, may hallucinate, hear voices [or] suffer from a profound thought disorder."
The profile of a celebrity stalker is one who actually believes he -- and in rare cases, she -- is engaged in a close, personal relationship with the oblivious star.
Still, not all star stalkers are psychotic.
According to Bruce Mapes, a Philadelphia forensic psychologist, otherwise healthy people can be "addicted" to the thought of a relationship with a star and go to any lengths to achieve that.
He or she may need to be treated with intense therapy and/or medication, and in extreme cases, hospitalization.
Here are some other famous cases.
(Evan Agostini/ AP Photo)
Late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien is known for his comedic antics on his NBC show, but persistent attention from a stalker was no laughing matter.
Boston priest David Ajemian, 46, allegedly sent multiple disturbing communications to O'Brien during a 14-month period. Ajemian was eventually arrested by New York City police after trying to gain entry to O'Brien's Rockefeller Center studio. Despite the scandal, his seminary mentor has said Ajemian was a "kind and caring" person.
(Stuart Ramson/ AP Photo )
"Kill Bill" star Uma Thurman was stalked by an obsessed fan for two years.
Jack Jordan, 35, was arrested outside of the actress' home in the West Village in New York City on Oct. 5, 2007, after reportedly camping outside of her house, trespassing on a movie set and drawing a bizarre cartoon of Thurman digging a grave for him.
He allegedly sent a letter to her with the eerie threat, "I feel afraid that if I see you out again with another man, I will want to kill myself, maybe even after we meet."
Jordan, a former psychiatric patient, was charged with attempted coercion, stalking and aggravated harassment.
(Matt Sayles/ AP Photo )
Singer Sheryl Crowe's stalker reportedly believed he was her "spiritual twin."
In 2004, Ambrose Kappos was charged with burglary and stalking, and was known for reportedly lurking outside Crowe's dressing room after a New York City concert.
(Jennifer Graylock/ AP Photo )
Alleged stalker and homeless man William Peter Stansfield went as far as showing up at Pamela Anderson's children's school before a judge banned him from going near the star in 2004.
Stansfield allegedly confronted the "Baywatch" babe near her home and appeared at places she frequented.
(Jennifer Graylock/ AP Photo )
Threats made by Michael Douglas' stalker were particularly gruesome.
Dawnette Knight allegedly threatened to slice up the star's wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and feed her to her dogs. While neither star had ever met Knight -- who became obsessed with Douglas after his film "Fatal Attraction" hit the silver screen -- the stalker sent dozens of threatening letters to the actress before she was busted on stalking charges.
Troubled pop star Britney Spears has everything -- including two stalkers.
In 2004 a Canadian man was arrested for allegedly stalking Spears when he was found on her family's property. One year earlier, a Japanese man was ordered to stay 300 yards away after persistently trying to contact the celeb through notes and phone calls to her parents' home. (Jae C. Hong, File/ AP Photo )
In 2004, Halle Berry's alleged stalker Greg Broussard was ordered to stay away from the star after allegedly threatening her and trying to contact her via fax and telephone. Berry made a statement to a Los Angeles court in which she said that Broussard -- who claimed he was a U.S. Navy Seal -- had imagined the two had a relationship. (Paul White/ AP Photo )
Gwyneth Paltrow was showered with flowers, sweets and letters in 2000 -- but unfortunately they were from 49-year-old stalker Dante Soiu.
The Academy Award-winning actress received as many as five letters a day from Soiu, who also left gifts outside her parents' home. He was eventually convicted of stalking but ruled mentally insane by a Santa Monica, Calif., judge.
In 2005, Janet Jackson won a three-year restraining order against New Yorker Robert Gardner, who she claims stalked her for nine years.
Gardner showed up at Jackson's "Saturday Night Live" taping armed with a knife and a box cutter. Gardner, like many celebrity stalkers, reportedly imagined that he had had a personal relationship with Jackson.
Anna Kournikova's stalker was willing to swim nude across Florida's Biscayne Bay in an attempt to reach the tennis player's home.
Slapped with a restraining order, William Lepeska, 40, even had Kournikova's name tattooed on his arm, according to The Associated Press.
Despite a restraining order, Mel Gibson's stalker just couldn't stay away.
In 2004, Zack Sinclair was arrested for a second time after being ordered to stay away from the actor. He was originally arrested after he repeatedly showed up at the star's gate asking to pray with the actor.
James Speedy was so desperate to communicate with pop star Avril Lavigne that he FedExed Lavigne letter after letter. But the star had enough when Speedy informed her that he would drive by the star's Ontario home, according to People magazine.
