Catherine Zeta-Jones 'Stalker' Pleads No Contest  2/27/05

Catherine Zeta-Jones' alleged stalker Dawnette Knight pleaded no contest to charges of stalking and threatening the OSCAR-winning actress in a Los Angeles court Friday (25FEB05). Child psychology student Knight, 33, was arrested in June (04) after allegedly sending threats to the Welsh movie star over a two year period. Knight, who claimed she simply had a "girlish crush" on Zeta-Jones' husband Michael Douglas, was originally charged with 24 counts of making criminal threats, but twenty-one of the latter counts were dismissed. 

Superior Court Judge David Mintz has ordered Knight to be assessed over a 90 day period by California's Department of Corrections before she returns to court for sentencing in June (05). In July (04) Zeta-Jones took to the stand at a pre-trial hearing and told of her horror of learning about the threats, which her husband and father-in-law Kirk Douglas tried to protect her from. 

Of Knight's letters which threatened to chop the actress into pieces, "like Sharon Tate was," Zeta-Jones said, "I've never in my life had anything or had anyone say anything to me so satanic. I can't even imagine how a sane human being could have these images locked in their brain." In July, the preliminary hearing was suspended after Knight overdosed on barbiturates.