Even by Hollywood standards, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones live a life of almost unimaginable privilege and glamour, cocooned in luxury residences around the globe.
None of that was enough to block the call that came in early March to the lush oceanfront Ariel Sands Hotel in Bermuda. The caller left a menacing message: "She was going to kill my wife," said Douglas, who co-owns the property. "The sense that someone knew where we were
The phone call, taken by a hotel receptionist, marked the first time Douglas became aware of an eight-month campaign of threats and stalking directed at Zeta-Jones and carried out, according to prosecutors, by a 32-year-old woman with a romantic fixation on "Fatal Attraction" star Douglas.
The series of 26 letters and three phone calls, threatening Zeta-Jones in crude terms with murder and mutilation, are at the heart of the case against Dawnette R. Knight, arrested June 3 in Beverly Hills and described in some media accounts as a would-be child psychologist.
A preliminary hearing to determine whether Knight should stand trial in the case was suspended Friday when Knight's attorney said she had taken an overdose of barbiturates that left her unable to participate in her defense. She was sent for a psychiatric evaluation and is due back in Los Angeles Superior Court on Aug. 16. She has pleaded not guilty to one felony count of stalking and 24 felony counts of making criminal threats.
Outside court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Debra Archuleta expressed concern that the mental competence issue was diverting attention from the criminal allegations. Knight's attorney, Richard Herman, countered: "What happened is this case has turned into Hollywood against Dawnette Knight, and it's not a fair fight."
The letters and calls central to the case touched a wide circle of Hollywood figures -- among those who received threats against Zeta-Jones were onetime Fox Network President Doug Herzog, CAA agent Bryan Lourd, society hostess Dani Janssen and the actress' famous father-in-law, Kirk Douglas. None, according to Knight's attorney, went directly to Zeta-Jones or Michael Douglas -- although the Oscar-winning couple testified this week that they nevertheless received the frightening message loud and clear.
The stars' court appearance not only attracted a huge swarm of international media attention but also offered a glimpse of contemporary Hollywood security concerns in an Internet- and paparazzi-dominated age.
