A man charged with stalking “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” star Kathryn Erbe testified today that a nasty encounter with a studio security guard galvanized him to contact the actress and seek her help.
“Your bodyguard came over to us,” Charles Nagel said he later wrote the actress, “pushed me against a car,” and “treated me and my family like dirt. [My] two daughters [began] to cry.”
Nagel, a Philadelphia collector of television memorabilia and celebrity autographs, said the incident with the guard grew out of a misunderstanding. Nagel said he thought Erbe had become his Internet friend and that the two had been trading friendly messages over her MySpace page.
But the site was actually run by an teenage impostor posing as the actress, Nagel said, and his efforts to reach Erbe to discuss the issue led to the incident at the Manhattan filming location.
Nagel, on trial in Brooklyn federal court on interstate stalking charges, testified he was shocked to learn that the incident so angered his 12-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old girl who is a family friend, that they created doctored photo of Erbe’s daughter. Scrawled across the 14-year-old girl’s face was an insect that prosecutors say is a cockroach and a dialog bubble attached to her mouth containing the words, “I’m ugly.”
“I feel terrible about them,” Nagel said, adding that he learned about the photos only after his arrest.
All told, Nagel showed up only twice at location shoots to meet the actress, and sent her two letters. Nothing in those encounters or letters was threatening or involved harassment argued his attorney, Robert Datner.
Prosecutors say Nagel harbored a romantic obsession for the actress. They also claim that he sent the photo to Erbe’s daughter and another offensive image oo the actress’ brother, but offered the jury no ironclad proof Thursday.
During his five hours on the stand, prosecutors questioned Nagel about his erotic Internet chat room conversations with another woman not involved in the case, including one particular fantasy involving a McDonalds’ burger.