Von Tiehl stalking case opens
It began in August 2011 with a Facebook friend request, and Erika von Tiehl, then with one year in Philadelphia as a CBS3 anchor and looking to build viewers, said she agreed.
It began in August 2011 with a Facebook friend request, and Erika von Tiehl, then with one year in Philadelphia as a CBS3 anchor and looking to build viewers, said she agreed.
John Hart wrote that his favorite movie was the Will Ferrell comedy Anchorman, and von Tiehl reposted it was hers also.
Facebook posts continued, emails and phone numbers were exchanged, and then came three or four dates, ending with Hart staying overnight in von Tiehl's apartment.
Von Tiehl said she felt uncomfortable, that Hart wanted more from the relationship than she, and so, in an Oct. 6, 2011, phone call, she told Hart it was over and wished him luck.
Hart didn't take it well, von Tiehl said, which is why she was in a Philadelphia courtroom Friday.
Von Tiehl told a Common Pleas Court jury that Hart was the person who embarked on a monthlong anonymous campaign of harassment, including threats to tell then-Philadelphia Daily News gossip columnist Dan Gross purported career-ruining secrets.
"I was scared," von Tiehl testified. "He mentioned Dan Gross and that my career was over. I worked my tail off and tried to do the right thing and the fact that some person was purposely trying to take that from me was very scary."
Questioned by defense lawyer Jack McMahon, she acknowledged that she did not believe she had done anything that could get her fired. But she said the anonymous threats were frightening nonetheless.
Von Tiehl spent about two hours testifying on the first day of Hart's stalking trial.
Hart, 39, of Havertown, is charged with stalking, harassment, and identity theft in an alleged campaign against von Tiehl in late 2011 after she ended the relationship.
Hart allegedly electronically disrupted von Tiehl's bank, telephone, and utility services, and sent threatening text messages.
Assistant District Attorney Lauren Katona told the jury of seven men and five women in her opening that Hart has a history of harassing women who reject him.
Katona said the jury will hear from Hart's former girlfriend Laura Selvage, who will testify about similar harassment after she ended their relationship.
"You can't always get what you want. . . .," said Katona. "That's a lesson that John Hart refuses to learn. When he doesn't get what he wants, he decides to take it and he took Erika von Tiehl's sense of independence, her sense of security, and sense of safety."
McMahon said the prosecution would not be able to present any evidence from Hart's laptop computer and cellphone that he knew von Tiehl's personal security codes or Social Security number, both of which he allegedly used to cut off her cable, Internet access, and change her cellphone number.
"It was impossible for him to commit these crimes because her Social Security number, her PIN numbers, he had none of them," McMahon said.
McMahon added that von Tiehl had a series of brief relationships with men before Hart, and she initially did not know which one might have been responsible for the harassment.
Von Tiehl returns to the stand Tuesday when the trial resumes after a day off to accommodate a court hearing McMahon must attend in Northampton County.
215-854-2985 @joeslobo