Robert Hoskins
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Robert Dewey Hoskins (born 1957 or 1958) is an Oregonian drifter who was arrested and convicted for stalking and threatening to kill American pop singer Madonna in 1995.
[edit] Stalking
Hoskins made his first attempt see Madonna in April of 1995, when he scaled the wall surrounding the singer's Los Angeles home and made his way to her courtyard. Madonna's bodyguard, Basil Stephens, spotted him, and Hoskins fled.
The next day, Hoskins returned, this time running into Madonna's personal assistant, Caresse Henry, and delivered a series of threats against the singer. He also left a note for her at her front gate, in which he professed his love for the pop star and asked her if she would "Be my Wife [sic]". The note was written on a religious tract that declared that those who wear inappropriate clothes should be punished, and that fornicators should be killed. When Stephens returned to scare off Hoskins, Hoskins insisted that he would slice Madonna's throat "from ear to ear" if the singer did not marry him that very evening. It was then that Madonna returned to her home on her bicycle, but Hoskins did not recognize her, and fled. The police were contacted, but no trace of the stalker could be found.
Seven weeks later, on May 29, 1995, Hoskins returned to Madonna's LA residence and once again scaled the wall, apparently unaware that the singer was in New York City. Hoskins once again ran into Stephens, who shot and wounded him. Hoskins was then arrested.
[edit] Trial
The trial opened in January of 1996. Madonna, under a subpoena, appeared in court to testify on January 2, and claimed that being in court made her sick to her stomach, and that she'd repeatedly suffered from nightmares of Hoskins entering her home and finding her. The case went to the jury on January 8, and on January 9, despite defense attempts to portray the singer as being "inclined to exaggeration", Hoskins was convicted on one felony count of stalking, three felony counts of making terrorist threats, and one count of misdemeanor assault. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.
