David Caruso's stalker's stalker says that David Caruso's stalker is about to strike

I'll be honest with you -- I think I may regret posting anything about the whole David Caruso stalker business. It should probably be left up to the FBI, the Austrian Police and the U.S. Border Patrol. But I can't help it. The story is undeniably fascinating, especially to someone like me who followed the whole David Letterman-Margaret Ray business back in the 1990s.

Also, I must say I feel sorry for the poor woman who has apparently become unhinged and issued death threats to Caruso. I hope she gets some help. What she's alleged to have done is an extreme instance of something we all do to some degree whenever we substitute "online community" for our own immediate community, or grow obsessed with a TV show or video game. Obviously, most of us remember to keep at least one foot in the real world, but not always - trust me, I get cards and letters from such folks, though none has dared to go as far as the Austrian woman in question.

Also, the stalker has a stalker. Maybe that's a bit harsh. An Internet vigilante seeking to bring a criminal on the lam to justice? Well, that's her self-description, and when I challenged her, this woman sent me a reply that was sufficiently compelling that I posted it below. Decide for yourself.

First, though, here's what we know. An April story from Austria Today read as follows:

A 41-year-old Austrian woman went on trial in Innsbruck Wednesday accused of stalking ´CSI: Miami´ star David Caruso and allegedly threatening to kill him. Prosecutors allege the woman sent more than 100 letters to Caruso and pursued the American actor for an autograph. After the star refused to provided her one, she wrote letters threatening to kill him and his co-stars. ... She was arrested after a joint investigation by the FBI and Austria´s Federal Criminal Investigations Bureau. Since then, the defendent disappeared, and not even her family knows where she is. ... It is unclear why the woman, whom her attorney has yet to meet, would become a stalker and write someone death threats. She has a family and was successful with her work. A psychiatrist for the court says that she is probably suffering from a personality disorder and it should be investigated as it is possible that she could become dangerous.

The mental-illness angle, of course, brings back memories of "Mrs. Letterman," whose post mortem in the New York Times is one of the saddest stories I've ever read while on this beat.

A couple of days ago, I got an email from a Sara Kanne alerting me to her blog which itself had an alert that Caruso's stalker may be living just south of the border in Tijuana and that she was preparing to strike her prey via an incredibly brazen manuever that was ... well ... worthy of an episode of "CSI: Miami."

After some searching, I discovered that Sara does media blitzes from time to time in an effort to bring some added publicity to her cause. For instance, in July the stalker case was publicized by Defamer and CSI Fanatic. So now, I guess, it was my turn.

I may be enabling a wild-eyed blogger, or I may be helping to catch a predator. I don't really know. But I did send Sara an email asking her why she cared so much about this case. Her reply, in full:

One word, Justice. Conan O'Brien, Dave Letterman, Jodie Foster and other high profile actors have been stalked and threatened over the years. For some reason, probably as a result of the NYPD Blue debacle 15 years ago, Caruso gets stalked and no one seems to care. In Caruso's case though, three people have been threatened with death: Caruso, his grown daughter Greta and Liza, the mother of his two young children.

Schnitzer is sitting south of our border hoping that no one will care enough to publicize it. Last summer when Schnitzer fled the first time, the FBI located her in Mexico and sent her packing back to Austria. That story appeared in the Nov. 2007 National Enquirer and in Austrian publications. It wasn't until this spring though, when the Austrians allowed her to slip their borders once again, that the AP picked it up.

Now 4 months later, not a word has been mentioned. It's almost like the story has disappeared. Schnitzer herself has even bragged on a French website that she's been in Chula Vista and San Diego. My traffic stats show that not to be the case. She also brags frequently about not being caught.

Caruso and his family face a potential tragedy if this woman manages to cross into California and hunt them down. Schnitzer has abandoned a young daughter, a job and her country to stalk David Caruso. Sounds like someone whose threats ought to be taken seriously, wouldn't you agree?

Caruso doesn't deserve this, no one does.

Comments

[Jessica]

I like your post Aaron. I have been reading about the whole sordid affair from time to time. Like you I came up confused. And I have been asking myself - who needs more help - the stalker or the stalker stalker?

The stalker stalker - aka sarakanne - comes up with pretty odd headlines from time to time. However, when you click on those headlines eager to read news you'll find out that it is just a rehash what has been posted several times before.

I don't know how far sara kannes claims that she does what she does because she wants justice can be believed. She seems to be pretty obsessed to me herself.

...that Caruso's stalker may be living just south of the border in Tijuana..

There are too many "mays" and too little facts. If your post can spare us from the tiring repititiveness of sara kannes posts for at least some time - I'll declare you my personal hero.

[Arin]

Fans who stalk their idols are just as scary as people who pretend to be self proclaimed vigilantes. Both need help!

[Not Me]

I, myself, feel that the stalker and the stalkers stalker is the same person. When one falls out of the lime light, the other one appears and brings the issues to the forefront. Funny how that happens.

After reading both the stalker and the stalkers stalker web-pages, I think they both need help.

[lacyleanne]

Sarakanne is her blog name, not her real name and she does indeed seem a trifle obsessed over the stalker, Heidimarie Schnitzer. Heidi is a real person, a real stalker, a real death threat against David, Liza, Greta and Caruso's two young tots. Heidi, who met up with Caruso in 2006, was rebuffed when she made advances, thus setting off this insane 2+ years tirade and vendetta against Caruso.

Caruso does not deserve this treatment - no one would. The fact that Heidi knows where they live is frightening.

[samantha]

Motivations aside from all factions, the story as relayed by Sara is accurate.
Being neither a Caruso fan or even frequent viewer, I became involved quite by accident when researching the name for a business matter. My stunned reaction to this psychotic remains as it was then; shock that she's been allowed to continue unabated for 2 years.

[Rose]

I think they both need help.

Yes, most definitely. While the stalker raves and rants about Caruso her stalker raves and rants about the stalker. Both deserve each other.
How much accurateness actually can be found on Saras page remains to be seen. Some posts appear like a crossover between facts and wishful thinking.
Kudos to Aaron for his delicate approach.

[effinayright]

Every week I watch CSI Miami hoping to see Callie with a camel toe.

No luck.

Instead, every week, all I see is that horrible excuse of an actor Caruso, who has had the same shtick since he appeared in a small part in an early Rambo movie.

Worst actor on TV. Ever.

[angelscrest]

It is really important that the authorities watch out for this type of stalker.

In the early '80s I took a ballet class with Theresa Saldana, the actress from Raging Bull, who was being stalked by a nut from England, who came across an entire ocean and all the way across the United States just to kill her.

When I met her, she was still recovering from her injuries, and had to wear tight bandages to keep down the scarring.

The stalker attacked her outside her home with a butcher knife, and he might have killed her had she not had the courage to grab ahold of the knife blade and hang on. This rendered her hands unusable, because of the severed tendons.

He stabbed her quite a few times before a Sparkletts delivery man happened by and saved her life.

Theresa Saldana was behind a movement to prosecute stalkers and protect their victims, and also wrote a book about the incident called "Beyond Survival."

[Aaron Barnhart]

By the way, I'm convinced stalker and stalker's stalker are two completely different people. A reader sent me a link to this message forum:

http://minx.cc/?post=255274

If you understand this form of IP logging that assigns a unique 5-character "hash" to each commenter's IP, then that thread and the thread it links to will make a pretty convincing case that Sara and Stalker are two different.

... and with that, I'm closing the thread. I think every perspective on this case has been represented here, and I'm trying to discourage you-know-who from continuing to post trolls that I'm not going to publish anyway. (OK, they're not trolls, but you get my drift.) If you have a POV you'd like included here, send me email.