The 43-year old award-winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, broke down during the trial of Dante Soiu, her alleged stalker for several years. After which, her former bodyguard, Dennis Bridwell, testified and read some of the lewd messages sent by Soiu to Paltrow.
During the trial on the stalking of Paltrow, her ex-bodyguard took the stand and testified on the series of pornographic messages that was sent by Soiu to her roughly 20 years ago. In his testimony, he described in detail the contents of the text messages sent by Soiu to the actress.
As reported by Daily Mail, Bridwell loudly read the sexually explicit messages. These involved the sexual fantasies of Soiu of Paltrow. It also concerned some of the sex toys that Soiu sent to the actress.
The lawyer of Soiu, Lynda Westlund, objected to the testimony of Bridwell. As reported by Yahoo News, her ground for objection was that the text messages were part of a previous case, which resulted to Soiu's confinement in a mental institution in 2000.
Aside from objecting to the testimony, Westlund deemed the messages as "too prejudicial." She also mentioned during her opening statement that her client was a Christian and was merely ministering to the actress.
Judge Mark E. Windham, however, ruled that jurors may be able to better understand the actress' fear of Soiu through the text messages. He said, "That's why it's all the more disturbing that these letters were sent."
Paltrow had cried prior to the testimony of Bridwell when she was asked whether she feared the safety of her children in relation to Soiu's stalking. She also told the jury that she resorted to getting a guard dog in order to better protect her family. She also had her bodyguard teach defense commands to the dog, specifically bite and attack commands.
The current trial is different from the 2000 case. This one involves more recent messages of Soiu sent to the actress between 2009 and 2015. The messages were about religion, death of the actress, and Soiu's desire to marry her.
According to Gwyneth Paltrow, "This was something I had been through a very long and traumatic experience with already." For the actress, the messages were "very upsetting" and has caused her a lot of distress.
