Whisper of Fear by Rhonda B. Saunders

Author:Rhonda B. Saunders
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

SPIELBERG HEARD NOTHING about Jonathan Norman’s attempted incursions, or intentions toward him, for several days, even though I placed numerous phone calls to his lawyers and security people emphasizing to them the importance of obtaining his reaction. Everybody was kind of twiddling their thumbs, not wanting to upset him, I was told. These people mistakenly believed that Norman would be kept indefinitely at Harbor-UCLA, betraying a basic ignorance of how fast California processes mental cases in and out of its public psychiatric facilities. I knew different.

When I told them that Norman was to be released on the seventeenth, a call was finally placed to Ireland by Spielberg’s personal attorney and close friend, Bruce Ramer (for whom the mechanical shark in Spielberg’s first great cinema success, Jaws, was named).

Ramer ran down Norman’s behavior and reported the handcuffs, duct tape, and box cutter, as well the day planner with its lists of names, phone numbers, and addresses. Ramer also disclosed that the suspect was about to be released.

Bruce Ramer shared this revelation with Spielberg by telephone. “It was not an easy message to deliver,” the lawyer later testified. “He was in the midst of directing a film and obviously focused, and it’s not the kind of information one comfortably passes on to a friend, let alone a client.”

The bizarre news naturally terrified Spielberg, who told me he was so shocked that he reflexively hung up on Ramer. He couldn’t talk. His throat closed up on him. “I reacted to the information at first with disbelief,” he said in court, “then I became quite frightened. I was very upset. Had Jonathan Norman actually confronted me, I genuinely in my heart of hearts believe that I would have been raped or maimed or killed.”

Once he regained his composure and got Ramer back on the telephone, Spielberg ordered increased security at his compound and for all his family members. The number of security personnel was tripled, as was the security budget. He also made it clear, then and later, that he would cooperate in Norman’s prosecution.

We’d just cleared another major hurdle. Not only was my victim willing to testify, but we could clearly meet the legal test of Norman causing fear both objectively and subjectively. Spielberg was, in fact, terrified. Now we had to figure a way to get Norman off the streets until I could indict him.

On July 17, the day of his release from the psychiatric hospital, Jonathan and his friend, Chuck Markovich, went to the movies to see The Lost World, the sequel to Jurassic Park. All through the film, Norman kept nudging Markovich, saying, “I’m the baby tyrannosaurus! I’m the baby tyrannosaurus!”

In fact, he was toast. While Jonathan and Chuck were at the movie, I was on the phone with Jonathan’s parole officer, Lionel Coulter, describing Norman’s recent stalking conduct. At the very least, I hoped for a “parole hold,” to buy us some time.

The news from Coulter was better than anything I imagined. One term of Norman’s parole was that he could not use drugs, and was subject to random testing to see that he didn’t.

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