Stalking Case Set To Begin Today In Toronto - Shania To Testify

OTTAWA — Christel Palumbo never considered herself a perfect woman — just a diligent homemaker, a loving mother and a good wife.

But in the eyes of her husband, Dr. Giovanni "John" Palumbo, that wasn't enough: She should have been more like Shania Twain, the international star that Palumbo adored. He insisted that his wife cut her hair like Twain, be slim like the pop superstar and dress as she did.

Meanwhile, Palumbo, an Ottawa surgeon, pursued the singer.

Over the years, he visited Twain's cottage in Ontario's Muskoka region; he wrote her dozens of love letters and sent her flowers; and even created a Shania "shrine" in his Ottawa home. His pursuit of Twain became so obsessive that he was ordered by the courts to stay at least 500 metres away from the singer.

In March, Palumbo allegedly breached that order when he was spotted at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto during the Juno Awards, where Twain was receiving a special award.

Palumbo was charged with criminal harassment and has remained in custody ever since. His trial — Palumbo has pleaded not guilty — is scheduled to begin today in Toronto. The singer is expected to testify via video link.

But Christel Palumbo said Twain isn't the only victim in this strange story. Her now ex-husband's obsession contributed to their marriage ending and destroyed her well-being.

"He even called me his own personal Shania Twain, which was very hurtful."

"What am I? I felt like I was dirt on the ground," she said in telling her story for the first time. She hopes to inspire other women to leave abusive relationships.

After 16 years of marriage, Christel was granted a divorce in July 2010. She now has custody of their children: Eva, Mario, Amelia and Leonardo who range in age from 12 to 18.

John Palumbo was, she said, a controlling, jealous husband who would fly into a rage if he suspected her of infidelity.

In November 2007, he was charged with assault and uttering death threats against Christel. He was convicted in April 2009 on both charges, receiving a conditional discharge, including two years' probation and a weapons ban for 10 years, according to court records.

Christel said he never acknowledged his mental-health issues and did not take medication for his mood swings. Palumbo, she said, was admitted to hospital four times with mental-health problems and according to records entered in court, was diagnosed as bipolar. The health records show he also suffered from "narcissistic personality" traits and "delusional intensity."

Christel said she repeatedly tried to leave her husband, but was always coaxed back. Finally, in May 2008, she fled to a shelter with her children. She's tried to rebuild her life since. She's currently studying nursing at university while working full-time in an Ottawa Hospital lab.

Christel said her husband's obsession with Twain began in 2003 when the country superstar hosted the Juno Awards at Scotiabank Place.

"He would put her music on when we were together just to make me upset, because I knew he had a crush on her. I tried reasoning with him but he would laugh it off, saying it was nothing."

She realized the full extent of that obsession after obtaining a court order to sell their home in December 2009. She returned to the home for the first time after 18 months and was shocked when she found a shrine to Shania Twain.

"In the living room, there was a piano with a music book on how to play her songs. He didn't play the piano, so that was odd. In the buffet where we had our wedding photo, he had put a picture of Shania. I found about 30 CDs with different photos of her.

"In the kitchen, papers were everywhere with little notes, saying when she was going to be on TV. He videotaped everything that she was appearing on. In our bedroom he had pictures of her, and in the closet were Shania Twain T-shirts. My children's bedrooms had big piles of magazines with Shania pictures, any magazine that had a picture of her he would cut out. There were pictures he had taken of her cottage.

In his office, I found his briefcase with love letters he had written to her. There were about 100 of them."

All the material was turned over to police, she said. Palumbo was arrested for allegedly stalking Twain on Nov. 27, 2009. He was wearing a Shania Twain T-shirt and carrying her biography.

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At the March 2011 trial, the charges against Palumbo were dropped because Twain refused to appear in court.

At another trial in May, Palumbo was acquitted of threatening to kill his ex-wife and two counts of breaching probation after a judge found there was no evidence that he intended for his wife to hear some messages left on his home answering machine. The messages, she said, were frightening and warned her to "watch her back" because he was going to come after her and the children.

As for his alleged harassment of Twain, his lawyer Gary Barnes said Palumbo didn't pose a threat at the Junos because she was surrounded by more than 10,000 people at the Air Canada Centre.

"He's never actually done anything that's a threat. Everything he's ever done is an expression of love," said Barnes.

He declined to comment on the assault allegation made by Christel.

Source: www.calgaryherald.com

Just a quick update from the courtroom as I know how many of you are eagerly awaiting its outcome.
Pretty slow day here, caused by 2 requests by the accused for more time to speak with his council.
There was an initial request at 11:15am eastern by the accused to have further time to discuss matters with his lawyer. That request was granted and for 45 minutes the court sat in recess . When court resumed at 12:00 noon, the accused once again requested time to speak to his lawyer. The court saw fit to grant the further request and the court currently sits adjourned at the time of this blog. The court is set to resume at 2:00pm eastern.

It is widely expected that the pre sentence report will not contain a sufficient diagnosis to justify the court in carrying out an order for mandatory treatment. That would mean the court would then be in a position to sentence the accused under the Criminal Code of Canada. Again if this be the case, it is widely expected that the accused will serve little to no time, as his time served awaiting trial will be credited towards any sentence that the judge deems to fit the offence.

Pretty much as stated above. Doctors reports did not indicate anything that should prevent the accused for being sentenced. At 2:10pm the accused was speaking to his position on the courts options of sentence

As of 2:20pm, the defense is now asking the court for TIME SERVED, which is now 6 1/2 months.. Should be a slam dunk unless this judge is a big shania fan

As of 3:02pm eastern the accused is speaking to the court. Indicated he had no idea that shania was not interested and thought he really had a shot with her

Shortly after 4:00pm eastern, the trial has been adjourned until the opportunity arises for the prosecution to re question the doctor with respect to the report that was submitted to the court.
Also the defence has requested a bail hearing on behalf of the accused while he awaits the sentencing date to be reset. That bail hearing is set for this Wed

Thanks for the updates!
English is not my native language, so what reallt happened? I understood that the acused spoke to his lawyer a few times and that he thought he really had a shot with Shania. And that the chance of him going to jail were very slim because he's already been lockes up for a while now right?
But when is the final verdict on this case? Or what is it?

Firstly, he has already pleaded GUILTY so he will be convicted of course. Since he has been deemed by medical professionals as having a sound mind, then he will be sentenced in the same manner just as anyone else. Because he has already been in jail so long, there is a very good chance he will be a free man VERY soon. Had he been deemed to be mentally ill, it would be an entire different story as he would be held and treated. That could take years.

Just a note on the bail hearing. Simply said, the accused need to show what is referred to as "show cause" and it is a reverse onus situation. What that means is the accused must be able to "show cause", why he is a good candidate to be released under the bail reform act. The main concern of course within the courts eyes is turning up at court as instructed when released on such bail. Since he has already shown that he does not take the courts instructions seriously when he breached their orders and consequently once again tried to approach shania, then his release tomorrow is no guarantee. It could go either way and too close to call

They should check if he has already bought tickets to Las Vegas.


John -

Thank you for the updates so we have to wait?? until when? today, Wednesday?

by the way, here's an article from Toronto Star.





After what the Crown determined to be the “grandiose nature” of Dr. Giovanni (John) Palumbo's answers during a cross examination at his sentencing hearing Tuesday, the judge called for another delay so that the doctor who presented a mental health assessment report can appear as a witness.

The report, which found the Shania Twain stalker to be criminally responsible for harassing the five time Grammy award winner, has been called into question.

During his time on the witness stand Palumbo became very agitated and denied several points asserted by Crown Attorney John Flaherty.

At one time Palumbo praised “the Creator” during a rambling answer.

He also denied suggestions that he kept trying to see Twain even though he knew she was afraid of him because of the intensity of his love letters and the fact that he appeared a her Muskoka cottage in 2009.

Palumbo testified Tuesday that he assumed Twain wasn't receiving the letters and sought to meet her in person to hear for himself.

He also said he had suspicions that Twain's handlers and security detail were interfering and he wasn't sure of Twain's personal feelings toward him.

A bail hearing has been called for 9a.m. Wednesday morning so Palumbo can be released while he awaits the resumption of his sentencing hearing.

“I don't have to stay in a shelter,” Palumbo said to the judge. “I have cash and a credit card.”

Earlier Palumbo testified that he was housed with two “sexual deviants” at the Don Jail and they would watch him as he urinated into the toilet, making him feel “tormented.”

Ontario court Justice Richard Schneider agreed with defence attorney Gary Barnes that a bail hearing be expedited since the sentencing hearing may not continue for several weeks until they find out when Dr. Helen Ward can be called to testify.

Barnes is seeking a penalty of time served, which is about seven months.

The Crown proposes a conditional sentence of a further five months of house arrest to be followed by probation.

Palumbo, a 51-year-old Ottawa doctor with a history of mental illness, initially pleaded not guilty to criminal harassment and to breaching a court order to stay away from Twain.

However, he changed his pleas during a trial in September after the country music superstar testified against him in a Toronto court via videolink from Europe.

The September trial marked the first time Palumbo had heard directly from Twain that she was afraid of his letters and advances, and wanted him to stop.

“I love my fans and my fans love me but we don’t invite each other out on dates,” the 46-year-old entertainer testified. “He’s gone on to the next stage of our relationship and I haven’t even begun it. It was a one-way communication. It’s strange. That alarms me.”

Palumbo was arrested March 27 after being spotted in the crowd at the Air Canada Centre, where Twain was attending the Juno Awards.

Source: www.thestar.com