Zeta-Jones Faces Alleged Stalker

Is this the real-life Fatal Attraction sequel Michael Douglas never wanted to make?

Douglas and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones put in face time in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday, testifying against a woman accused of harassing Zeta-Jones at various locations around the globe.

Douglas was first on the stand, testifying for about an hour that he was "shocked, scared and stunned" when first told about the alleged death threats against his wife. Douglas said Zeta-Jones became "hysterical" at one point due to the threats, and that she "felt she was a marked person."

For her part, Zeta-Jones, said she nearly passed out on the set of Ocean's Twelve after receiving a death threat in Amsterdam.

"It felt like a ticking time bomb," the emotionally wrought actress said.

Wednesday's testimony was the latest evidence presented this week in a preliminary hearing to determine whether the alleged stalker, 32-year-old Dawnette Knight, is to stand trial for 25 charges, including stalking and making criminal threats. If tried and convicted, Knight could receive up to 19 years in prison.

Knight, a Beverly Hills resident who aspires to be a child psychologist, has pleaded not guilty to deluging the Oscar-winning actress with threatening letters and phone calls. Knight, who authorities say is obssessed with Douglas, has been in police custody since her arrest June 6.

But while in earlier correspondences Knight threatened to "chop [Zeta-Jones] away like Manson did" and "slice her up like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs," she has struck a more conciliatory tone in recent missives, pleading for forgiveness.

"I want to apologize for any distress I have caused you and your families," Knight wrote in a recent typewritten letter addressed to Zeta-Jones.

During the prelim this week, Knight also has been begging prosecutors and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Partricia Schnegg (the same judge who on Tuesday sentenced Courtney Love to rehab) for leniency.

But Douglas and Zeta-Jones are not buying it.

Both Douglas and Zeta-Jones cleared their calendars Wednesday to testify against their "admirer" in downtown Los Angeles.

Zeta-Jones, who flew in from Italy, where she is filming Ocean's Twelve, faced down her alleged stalker for the first time.

"I feared for my safety from the moment I was alerted to the fact I [was] receiving death threats," she said. The Chicago star said she even received threats while on location in Amsterdam, and she said she feared she was going to "have a heart attack or a stroke."

In one particular threat, Knight said, "When we finish with this bitch/whore she will not be this pretty face actress, you won't be able to recognize her in her cassket [sic]."

Zeta-Jones, her voice sometimes quivering, read from more than a dozen letters she received from Knight.

Knight also sent threats to Douglas' father, legendary actor Kirk Douglas. "He's 87 years old, and he was trying protect Catherine and myself," Michael Douglas said on the stand. "I was concerned about the stress...on him."

The younger Douglas also said he was concerned that Knight seemed to be following the couple as they jet-setted around the world. "She had an awareness of our social life, as well as geographically where we lived."

Police have said Knight made phone calls, "most of them of them death threats" against Zeta-Jones dating back to January of 2003. "The letters and phone calls became violent and specific," Los Angeles Sheriff's Lieutenant Joe Impellizeri said earlier.

Knight's lawyer and fiancé both claim that the situation has spun out of control. Knight's fiancé, Ronald Calvin, told reporters outside of the courtroom "this case shouldn't have been filed. This is not a criminal matter."

Her lawyer, Richard Herman, said earlier that Knight never had any intention on following through with the threats. Until now, he told reporters, the "the worst thing [Knight's] ever been accused of was killing her ex-boyfriend's goldfish, and she says she's innocent of that."

But it seems doubtful that Douglas, 59, and Zeta-Jones, 34, can be moved this late in the game.

While Zeta-Jones and Douglas have done their duty in court, the hearing will resume Thursday morning with other witnesses testifying for and against Knight.