CSI Miami star Eva LaRue recalls moment she went 'white as a sheet' half-way through 12-year stalking ordeal

Warning: This article contains discussion of stalking and threats of sexual violence which some readers may find distressing.

CSI Miami star Eva LaRue recalled the moment she went as 'white as a sheet' from fear during her 12-year stalking ordeal.

In March 2007, the actor received what she thought was a regular piece of fan mail, only to be left horrified to read a letter which contained highly descriptive threats of rape, murder and dismemberment.

"I will kill you both and chop your bodies into small pieces," read one threat against LaRue and her daughter, who was just six years old at the time, while another promised to 'stalk [LaRue] until the day you die'.

For the next 12 years, LaRue was subjected to 'psychological terrorism' at the hands of an anonymous stalker who called himself 'Freddy Krueger' until 2019, when he was arrested by authorities.

Eva has opened up about the trauma of being stalked for over a decade (Paramount +)

LaRue has now opened up about her horrifying ordeal in a new documentary, My Nightmare Stalker: The Eva LaRue Story, for Crime + Investigation.

Speaking about the programme with LADbible, the 58-year-old spoke about the sheer terror she experienced when a dispute about the height of her front gate saw her home address publicised on a during a city council meeting.

In order to defend the installation of a six-foot gate at the front of her house, LaRue had to speak at a Glendale city council meeting being broadcast on a public TV channel, which is where her home was revealed.

"I don't know if you can tell the look on my face, I just went white as a sheet," the All My Children star told LADbible of the meeting. "I couldn't believe that these people were so negligent.

"I had just said to them, here's a file this thick of all of these letters that I've gotten to that date to that point, and that was only halfway through the 12 years, and, and that the very next thing that they say is my name attached the address."

The stalker targeted Eva and her daughter Kaya (Paramount+)

LaRue had explained in the documentary that she'd been able to keep her home address secure by following advice given to her by Buffy The Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar, which involved purchasing her house under an LLC so it couldn't be traced back to her.

"I want to hope that they didn't do it maliciously. I want to hope that they just did it because that's a matter of business that they have to say the address," she added, acknowledging how the city council may not have realised the oversight would put her in such grave danger.

With her address public and available for anyone to find, LaRue and her daughter were forced to abandon the property and move within three days.

LaRue and her daughter Kaya were able to find safety with a new home and the actor's marriage to Joe Cappuccio, however, the stalker's letters didn't stop, even escalating to the point where he would show up at Kaya's school and attempt to pose as her father.

LaRue's stalker was eventually unveiled when a breakthrough in investigative genetic genealogy traced the letters to Ohio man James David Rogers. He was arrested and charged with threatening communications, threats by interstate communications, and stalking.

Rogers received 40 months in prison and three years of probation for his 12-year campaign of terror, an outcome which LaRue found 'devastating'.

He has since been released early and will finish probation in late 2027, a decision which influenced LaRue to tell her story publicly.

"We knew that doing this documentary was going to be poking the bear, and so we almost didn't do it, but we thought it was really important information to share," she added.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300, available 9.30am to 8pm Monday and Wednesday, and 9.30am to 4pm Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.