Gwyneth Paltrow testified on Monday against the man accused of stalking her, stating that he sent her disturbing letters, porn and sex toys, according to The Associated Press. Dante Michael Soiu, 67, is accused of stalking the "Iron Man" actress for 17 years, but the trial focuses on the dozens of letters Soiu allegedly wrote to her between 2009 and 2015.
Paltrow, who was the first witness in the case, read aloud from the letters, which she described as "religious to pornographic to threatening."
Soiu also sent the Oscar-winning actress letters saying that he intended to marry her. "I have a goal to marry Gwyneth Paltrow," read one of the letters, according to Reuters.
"You are hopelessly lost," another excerpt read, according to CBS News. "Now you must die. Yourself, must die so that Christ can have preeminence."
Paltrow testified that she received a total of about 70 letters from Soui as well as several packages containing pornography and sex toys since 1999.
Soui's attorney, Lynda Westlund, argued that words such as "die" used by Soiu in his letters to Paltrow were not threatening in nature and "should be interpreted in the Christian sense that, yes, one must spiritually die and relinquish a sense of self before one can receive God's grace," CBS reported.
This isn't the first time Soiu has faced trial for stalking Paltrow. In 2001, he was found not guilty on grounds of insanity and sent to a mental health facility for several years. He was arrested again last year after he started sending the actress a new batch of letters.
