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Twain feared stalker who sent 'disturbing' love letters, singer testifies

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Ottawa Citizen
By Linda Nguyen, Postmedia News
September 29, 2011

TORONTO — An Ottawa doctor accused of stalking Shania Twain for the past three years by repeatedly trying to meet her in person and sending her countless love letters, made the country singer fearful to return to Canada, an Ontario Court of Justice was told Thursday.

"I don't consider him a fan," the Timmins, Ont.-born singer told the court via video link from an undisclosed location in Europe. "I consider him a man who is pursuing me inappropriately."

Dr. Giovanni "John" Palumbo, 51, faces charges of criminal harassment, violating court orders and breaching bail conditions following his arrest last March at Toronto's Air Canada Centre where Twain was being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the Juno Awards.

The surgeon had been ordered to not go within 500 metres of Twain and was prohibited from travelling to Toronto, unless he was requested to be there by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.

During the first day of his criminal trial, Twain testified she became "afraid" of Palumbo after she started receiving "disturbing love letters" from him at her Switzerland home in the spring of 2009.

Dressed in a V-neck, white sweater, with her hair in a ponytail, the 46-year-old singer seemed relaxed at the beginning of her testimony but became increasingly concerned as she recalled specific letters Palumbo had written her.

Twain said the letters often were addressed to her by her given name, "Eilleen Regina," and were "different than fan mail" she usually received because Palumbo did not understand "the reality" that the two would never have a romantic relationship.

"(The letters) make me uncomfortable and a little bit sad, awkward," she told Justice Richard Schneid.

During the testimony, Palumbo's neat printing and handwriting in the letters were displayed on a projector for the court to see. In them, he repeatedly asked Twain, who is married, to go on dates with him.

"'I was totally amazed by you since I first noticed you 15 years ago,'" read Twain from a letter dated February 2009. "I love you more than anyone in the universe . . . . I love you.'"

Twain said she was particularly concerned when one of the letters talked about them getting together "a.s.a.p. so we can get to know each other."

In another, Palumbo quoted lyrics from one of her songs, said Twain.

"'If you really want to touch her — ask. So I'm asking and I will wait,'" she read from a June 2009 letter.

The letters often talked about the two being "perfect for each other" and teased Twain about "playing hard to get."

She became so alarmed that summer that she hired 24-hour security when she vacationed at her Dwight, Ont., cottage after finding Palumbo parked outside in a Lamborghini and another time boating back and forth on the adjacent lake.

She said Palumbo once went to her brother-in-law's auto shop near the cottage and pretended he needed to get his car fixed to try to find out more information about her whereabouts.

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Twain admitted that she temporarily felt "empathy" toward Palumbo, who also wrote to her about his divorce and suicidal thoughts but then became "disturbed" when she realized he was "speaking to me like a lover . . . someone I didn't even know."

That summer, she also did not attend her grandmother's funeral in Timmins because she was afraid he was going to be there. She later found out he was. Twain also said she would have skipped the Junos, too, if she had known he was going to ignore his restraining order and be in the crowd.

"I believed at that moment I was vulnerable and there was nothing that could stop him," she said.

Palumbo had been arrested in November 2009 on similar charges related to Twain but those were withdrawn when she declined to appear in court to testify against him.

"I sort of froze when I was told I had to get more involved," she recalled. "I was trying to get away, not more involved . . . He was very much at the forefront of my thinking."

Palumbo, who has a history with mental issues, has maintained that Twain is unaware of his case and that it's her handlers who want him prosecuted.

Thursday was the first time he has ever heard Twain's response to his gestures of love.

At one point during the testimony, Palumbo addressed Twain in an unexpected outburst in the courtroom.

"Eilleen," he shouted from the prisoner box, addressing her by her real first name, "you can trust me. I am going to plead guilty. I've been offended too much, your honour."

Following the outburst, Palumbo's lawyer, Gary Barnes, quickly asked for a recess until after lunch.

Once the trial resumed the Crown was asked whether there were concerns about Palumbo's fitness to stand trial.

The defence said no, leaving the guilty plea to stand.

The trial has been scheduled to continue for two more days.

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