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Rhonda:
Met detectives flew to Hollywood
BBC News -
UK
January 12,
2000
Detectives
hunting new leads in the Jill Dando murder inquiry have flown to Los Angeles to
enlist the help of an expert on celebrity stalking.
L A's Deputy District Attorney, Rhonda Saunders, leads an
anti-stalking unit which specialises in prosecuting fans who have become
obsessed with Hollywood idols.
The Stalking and Assessment Team was established following the l99l doorstep
killing of television soap actress Rebecca Schaeffer. So far it has pursued
successful convictions on stalkers hounding Sylvester Stallone, Michael J Fox,
Madonna and Kevin Costner. More recently, the team was involved in securing a 25
year prison sentence on a man who plotted to assault director Steven Spielberg.
Scotland Yard detectives, increasingly desperate for leads to
help them crack the high profile case, believe that Ms Saunders may be able to
help build up a profile of Miss Dando’s killer.
 Their
US inquiries come as Australian police interview a man reported to have been an
obsessive fan of the presenter.
Ms Dando, 37, who presented the BBC’s Crimewatch programme, was shot in the head
at close range with a semi-automatic 9mm handgun outside her home in Fulham,
west London, on 26 April last year.
Despite a massive murder inquiry, police have yet to pinpoint a motive or a
suspect.
According to Ms Saunders, known in LA as the "Stalker Queen",
detectives need to intensify their operation.
"I spoke with a detective several weeks ago and they had come
out here to basically find out what we're doing here in California how we
approach these types of cases,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“They are very different from what police officers are used to. They’re very
time intensive and it is sort of like a jigsaw puzzle where you need to get all
the pieces and put it together."
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Stalking expert Rhonda Saunders: "Anyone can be
a stalker we've had lawyers, judges, police officers, transients and
doctors." |
“Police officers are used to crimes such as burglaries or
robberies where they may interview one or two people, take a report and that’s
it. Then they send it to the prosecutor."
"With stalking they need to do a lot more work because if it is a true stalking
case, generally it has taken place over a long period of time."
But, warns Ms Saunders, stalkers exhibit no obvious character
traits.
“Anyone can be a stalker. We’ve had lawyers, judges, police
officers, transients and doctors. There is no specific profile for a stalker.
“A lot of times these stalkers have no prior criminal histories. Sometimes
they’re in their 30s or 40s before they start their stalking activities, before
they become obsessed.
“And I recently just prosecuted a case of a 74-year-old man who was stalking his
ex-wife. He was trying to blow her up with pipe bombs, he blew up her truck and
he blew up her motor home and prior to this activity he had led a blameless
life.
“Anyone who is in front of the public can be the victim of an obsessed stalker.
I think it goes back to that expression that familiarity breeds contempt."
“Nowadays with access to TV and the movies, people sit in front of their TV sets
they see the same person there day after day and they feel as if they’ve had a
relationship with them.”
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Stalking expert Rhonda Saunders: "I recently prosecuted a 74-year
old man who was stalking his ex-wife - trying to blow her up with
pipe bombs" |
Australian police question
"fan"
Meanwhile, Australian detectives have taken a statement from a British man who
is reported to have been an obsessed fan of Miss Dando.
The 29-year-old man left the UK within days of her murder, it was reported
locally. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We have been in touch with New South
Wales Police and inquiries have been made. We have no plans at present for
detectives to visit Australia.”
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