David Caruso - Heidemarie Schnitzer Poster Child For Mental Illness

UPDATE: On April 14, 2009, Innsbruck Judge Guenther Boehler convicted and sentenced Heidemarie Schnitzer for stalking and threatening to murder David Caruso. Schnitzer is currently serving time in an Austrian prison to be followed by incarceration in a mental institution.

Mention the name Margaret Mary Ray in the same sentence with Heidemarie Schnitzer, David Caruso's fugitive Austrian stalker, and Schnitzer's back goes way up. With fewer and fewer sites welcoming Schnitzer and her psychotic posts, she's been relegated to IMDb's unmoderated abyss. Much like she did on TVGuide.com's now defunct forums, Schnitzer manipulates the threads when normal people with normal lives sleep. Schnitzer thinks if she pushes posts containing the truth farther and farther from the top, they will somehow magically disappear.

Comparisons between David Letterman's stalker the late Margaret Mary Ray and Caruso's stalker have become widespread. Most agree that Schnitzer is the 21st century's version of Ray on steroids with Internet access. Although many joke about Schnitzer and her cyberspace exploits, like Ray, Schnitzer has become a poster child for mental illness and the lives it destroys.

The Stalker Chronicles was recently tipped off that Schnitzer had abandoned not one, but two children. Ray herself abandoned four to stalk Letterman. For several days now, Schnitzer has gone to extraordinary lengths to deny that she has two children which really should come as no surprise. When photos of her daughter Katharina Sophie surfaced last summer, Schnitzer denied Katharina was her child as well.

It is highly likely that Schnitzer suffers from the same brain disorder that plagued Margaret Mary Ray. Schizophrenia, which manifests as severe mood swings and incoherent behavior accompanied by visual and auditory hallucinations are classic symptoms exhibited through Schnitzer's Internet rampage to destroy David Caruso. Schnitzer fashions herself as Caruso's companion. Whenever photos are published of Caruso with another woman, Schnitzer goes into a tailspin posting hostile attacks. Oftentimes the attacks are so vicious and incoherent one wonders if Schnitzer is using drugs or perhaps drinking.

Schnitzer's impulsiveness and total lack of sense of right and wrong are further signs of a mental imbalance. Hiding behind hundreds of pseudonyms for no other reason but to wreak vengeance and give the appearance of support where none exists confirms that Schnitzer's condition is deteriorating.

If, like Margaret Mary Ray, Schnitzer's family has tried to prevail upon her to get help, she has resisted those efforts. Ray spent time in jail and psychiatric hospitals but reportedly would stop using her meds when she started feeling better. If Schnitzer has ever been on any type of medication, it has failed to control her obsession with David Caruso and the accompanying delusions. Ray's crimes amounted to nothing more than trespassing and burglary. Schnitzer, on the other hand, has threatened the lives of three people. The sad story of Heidemarie Schnitzer will end soon. How remains to be seen.

Heidemarie Schnitzer remains at large on Mexico's Baja peninsula wanted on an International Warrant for threatening to murder CSI Miami's David Caruso and for fleeing Austria to avoid prosecution thereof. Schnitzer is armed and considered to be extremely dangerous. Please do not attempt to apprehend this woman. Contact the U.S. Border Patrol at 1-800-232-5378 , the FBI at (310) 477-6565 or Austria's Bundeskriminalamt at +43-(0)1-531 26-0.