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"Whisper of
Fear"
The True
Story of the Prosecutor who stalks the Stalkers!
Authored by
Rhonda Saunders
Released Worldwide
November 4, 2008
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Welcome to
Stalking Alert !
Shortly before he murdered actress Rebecca
Schaeffer on July 13, 1989, Robert Bardo wrote to his sister, "I
have an obsession with the unattainable. I have to eliminate what I
cannot attain." As a result of the Schaeffer stalking and murder,
the vicious physical attack on actress Theresa Saldana by drifter
Arthur Jackson, and the murders of four young women in Orange
County, each of whom had a restraining order against their
ex-husband or boyfriend, the California Legislature passed the first
stalking law in the country in 1990.
The seriousness of the crime of stalking is seen
in the facts surrounding the Rebecca Schaeffer murder case. In 1986,
while living in Tucson, Arizona, Bardo saw Schaeffer on the
television series, "My Sister Sam." He began writing fan letters to
her, and received a card and autographed picture of her, which
validated his delusion of their "mutual attraction." In 1988, he
started making trips from Arizona to Los Angeles in the hope of
contacting her. On each trip he brought candy and stuffed animals
and on each trip he was turned away by the studio security. He then
saw her in her first movie and grew infuriated when he saw her in
bed with a male character. Feeling betrayed, he told his sister that
he had to save her and the only way of saving her was to kill her.
He had read a magazine how Arthur Jackson located Theresa Saldana’s
address through the DMV and hired a private investigator to locate
Schaeffer’s address in the same manner. Bardo returned to Los
Angeles, only this time, instead of carrying flowers and stuffed
animals; he carried a gun with hollow point bullets. Bardo went to
Schaeffer’s house and shot her once through the chest. She died at
the age of 21. Bardo was arrested and convicted of this murder and
is now serving a life without possibility of parole sentence.
Subsequent to this case, the California Legislature enacted
Vehicle Code Section 1808.21,
which provided that stalking and threat victims may request
confidentiality in their DMV records.
The California Stalking Law
Penal Code Section 646.9 has greatly
evolved over the past fourteen years and has become more effective
in defining and addressing this increasingly common crime.
California now has one of the strongest stalking laws in the
country. No Longer should victims of stalking be turned away by law
enforcement and told, "come back when he actually hurts you." From
1991 through 1993, stalking was a misdemeanor punishable by only one
year in county jail when no restraining order was in place. Under
the current law, a first-time stalker can be sentenced to a felony
charge and sentenced to State Prison for up to three years. If a
court or restraining order is in effect, the stalker can be
sentenced up to four years in prison or if he has previously been
convicted of felony stalking or other related crimes, he could face
up to five years in prison.
Stalking is a crime of conduct, not necessarily
words. For example, a stalker may send a love note saying "I love
you" but he also encloses a bullet in the envelope. The "credible
threat" made by the stalker need not be a direct threat but may be
implied by his conduct. The victim need not be physically present
when the threat is made as long as he or she learns about it shortly
thereafter, either directly or through a third person. The test for
a credible threat is whether a "reasonable" person would fear for
his or her safety or the safety of his or her immediate family and
that the victim was actually in fear because of the stalker’s words
and/or conduct.
Stalking is a chronic behavior that can continue
for many months or years. Incarceration or the existence of a
restraining order may not diminish the stalker’s obsession. Many
stalkers continue to write or phone their victims from jail or
prison. It is for this reason that Penal
Code Section 646.9 contains the language that, "incarceration is
not a defense." Prosecutors can bring new charges of stalking
against a defendant who is in custody but continues his obsessive
behavior against a victim.
It is a mistake to characterize all stalkers as
mere transients or losers, or to think that only a celebrity can be
a stalking victim. Anyone can be a stalker, and anyone can be a
stalking victim. In a study conducted in 1998 by the U.S. Department
of Justice, it was determined that one out of every twelve women and
one out of every forty-five men in the United States has been
stalked at some time in their lives. The majority of stalking cases
appear in the context of domestic violence and these are the cases
that most often result in serious bodily injury or death. The same
study indicated that of those women who were stalked by a current or
former husband or dating partner, 81% were also physically assaulted
by the same partner. However, most stalkers do share an uncanny
intelligence and unusual determination that enables them to
successfully track their prey. They are not your typical criminals.
Given the seriousness of this crime, it is
important for law enforcement, prosecutors and those in the private
sector to have as many tools available to help analyze and stop this
crime before it develops into a murder, rape, assault, or workplace
violence type of situation. This website has been developed
specifically for that purpose. Not only does it contain all
California law relating to the crime of stalking and criminal
threats, but it has brief descriptions of all California cases that
have defined these statutes. Additionally, it contains links and
resources such as the addresses and phone numbers of all District
Attorney Offices, parole and probation offices, prisons, law
enforcement agencies, victim advocate agencies and domestic violence
shelters, etc. You can access restraining and protective orders used
in this state, including Civil Harassment, Workplace Violence, and
Domestic Violence forms and the instructions at
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/ where you can fill out
relevant information onto the form and then print it out on your
computer. If you wish to see your state's stalking and harassment
law please go to
http://www.ncvc.org/src/main.aspx?dblD=DB_state-bystate_statutes117.
We hope that this website will be helpful to you
in handling your stalking and threat cases. Stalking and threat
cases may take much more time and effort on the part of law
enforcement and other threat and security professionals. However, it
is time well spent saving lives.
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