The lone, black silhouette standing on the lawn who disappears when the light is turned on.
The messages composed of cut-out letters and graphic images. Scrapbooks tracking every moment of a celebrity’s whereabouts, or pumpkins carved in the likeness of their face.
These are just a few images of celebrity stalkers that Hollywood has made famous.
But they’re not as accurate as we’re made to believe.
“Celebrity stalking is the rarest form of stalking,” said Peter Collins, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a forensic psychiatrist for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
According to Collins, there is no psychiatric disorder known as stalking.
Most stalking is the result of a personality disorder.
Celebrity stalking, however, can be different. People who stalk celebrities are often obsessional and emotionally disturbed, he said.
Who do people stalk?
A study published in 2005 by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences about stalking behaviours and reasonings went through the 2300 files on instances of stalking, criminal harassment, menacing, terrorist threats, or domestic violence behaviours, primarily from within the USA.
Of those studied, the average age was 36.5. Eighty-six per cent were male. Almost half the subjects studied were single.
The study grouped stalkers into four categories based on relationship and context.
In the study, researchers and authors Kris Mohandie and J. Reid Meloy argue that the four types are:
1. The intimate stalker: by far the most dangerous stalker, according to the study. Intimate stalkers know their victims and are the most likely to become aggressive.
According to the study, prior sexual relations can increase the risk of violence and there is heightened danger after the initial separation.
2. The acquaintance stalker: rather than acting in response to a relationship, they often seek to establish one.
They are less violent, with only one-third of cases becoming directly threatening.
3. The private stranger stalker: this is a very small group and tends to be made up of mentally ill men.
Half of the subjects studied threatened their victims and nearly one-third were violent towards person or property.
4. The public figure stalker: stalkers who fall into this category have the lowest risk of violence—two per cent compared to intimate stalkers—74 per cent.
A large number of public figure stalkers are mentally ill, according to the study.
Famous celebrity stalking cases
Despite accounting for a fairly small and considerably non-dangerous percentage of stalkers, celebrity stalkers can get a lot of attention.
Child star Rebecca Schaeffer, who played Patricia Russell in the sitcom My Sister Sam in 1986, had been the source of Robert John Bardo’s obsession for three years before he bought a gun, went to her home and shot her in 1989.
This sparked legal reform in the United States, including the Los Angeles Police Department creating the first Threat Management Team in 1990, Collins said.
Even though it is not as common as many believe, some celebrities have had issues with stalkers.
John Warnock Hinckley, Jr. became obsessed with Jodie Foster after watching her movie Taxi Driver. He followed her when she went to Yale University. To get her attention, he attempted to assassinate former president Ronald Reagan in 1981. Hinckley was tried but found not guilty by reason of insanity.
In 2003 and 2004, Dawnette Knight sent letters to Catherine Zeta-Jones, threatening to cut her into pieces because she was in love with Zeta-Jones’ husband, Michael Douglas.
Knight admitted to one count of stalking and three counts of making criminal threats and was sentenced to three years in prison.
These are not typical cases. Many celebrity stalkers are sent to mental institutes to recover. They are more likely to suffer from mental illness, according to the relationship and context study.
While Schaeffer’s murder sparked the creation of the LAPD Threat Management Team, Collins said they made a surprising discovery.
“They actually found out most stalking cases don’t involve public figures,” he said. The most common are intimate stalkers.
“The girlfriend breaks up, the guy won’t accept it, initially he harasses her and stalks her for reconciliation and then he punishes her,” Collins said.
Effects and penalties
In Canada, like in many countries, stalking and harassment are criminal offences.
Under the Criminal Code, criminal harassment, uttering threats, intimidation, and harassing telephone calls are all punishable by law.
Collins said there are different levels of criminal harassment.
“People can do it by Internet or threatening phone calls, but in threat assessment we will gauge the risk of violence based on behaviour of stalkers,” he said.
Collins said the stalkers’ approach, history and whether they have committed violence against animals prior to stalking can all affect their risk factor.
Section 264 of the code lists what it considers to be criminal harassment: repeatedly following, communicating with, and watching any place the person is known to live, work, or visit.
Any threat against the person or any member of their family is also listed as an offence. Criminal harassment can carry up to a 10-year prison sentence.
Ultimately, because stalking is often the result of a personality disorder and not a psychiatric one, it is unpredictable, Collins said.
“Each and every case is different,” he said.
