Madonna Stalker Escapes Mental Hospital
A man stalking pop icon Madonna has escaped from a Los Angeles mental hospital.
Police say that Robert Dewey Hoskins "is a very psychotic man when not taking his medication and has very violent tendencies," the L.A. Police Department told The Los Angeles Times. He was sent to prison in 1996 for stalking Madonna and making violent threats against her.
"Madonna testified that her bodyguard told her that Hoskins wanted her to be his wife and said that if 'he couldn't have me, he was going to slice my throat from ear to ear,'" according to a report by the Daily News.
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The threats did not stop with his imprisonment, though, and he continued to make statements against the singer.
After his release, Hoskins was deemed "mentally disturbed" and entered the mental hospital. He was later released but re-arrested in 2011 and sent to a different mental hospital.
Reports state that Hoskins simply walked out of that mental hospital last week. Authorities have been unable to find him since his escape and are asking for the public's help.
Reports from the 1996 court case show just how scared Madonna is of Hoskins.
Jurors told the L.A. Times, "as far as the women were concerned, there was no doubt" she was afraid of Hoskins. Foreman John J. Utech also told the Times that "[Madonna] was very real, very believable and very credible. We all walked away feeling she was frightened."
Times reporter Andrea Ford noted that as the verdict in the case was read, "Hoskins smiled when he was led into the courtroom … but he sat impassively as a court clerk announced that he had been found guilty on all the counts against him."
Madonna, who had been told of Hoskins' escape before the Super Bowl, honored her commitment and was able to perform during halftime.
She has not spoken publicly about her ordeal but maintained a stoic silence. Hoskins is also believed to be targeting Halle Berry, who recently announced that she is moving to France to escape from him.
