Satanic threats to Catherine Zeta-Jones

The woman accused of making death threats against actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has been declared mentally competent to continue criminal proceedings.

A hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to send Dawnette Knight, 33, to trial on stalking charges was postponed in July after Knight took a barbiturate overdose in jail.

The judge ruled that Knight should be assessed by a psychiatrist, who concluded that she understood the charges against her and could assist in her own defence.

Knight faces 24 counts of stalking Zeta-Jones through threatening phone calls and letters over an 18-month period, informs ABC News.

A day before Knight overdosed on barbiturates, in July, Chicago star Zeta-Jones appeared before the court to tell of Knight’s alleged reign of terror.

She said she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown as a result of the "satanic" threats. "I’ve never in my life had anything or had anyone say anything to me so satanic," said Zeta-Jones, 34, in the pre-trial hearing. "This will affect me for the rest of my life."

One of the letters threatened to have Zeta-Jones "shredded to pieces" and another vowed to cut her up "like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs". Another letter included an invitation to Zeta-Jones’s funeral. Others referred to the violent deaths of President John F Kennedy and OJ Simpson’s wife Nicole Brown Simpson.

It is alleged that Knight made the threats over an 18-month period because she was obsessed with Zeta-Jones’s 59-year-old film star husband. Knight, who is in custody on Ј550,000 bail, is engaged and wants to be a child psychologist. She has already apologised for making the threats, says the Scotsman.

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