California IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Man to Be Tried in Threats to Skater

A man arrested for sending threatening and obscene love letters to Olympic champion skater Katarina Witt is mentally competent to stand trial and can defend himself, a federal magistrate has ruled. Harry Veltman, 47, of Westminster, who has a history of psychological problems, was arrested Dec. 26, before Witt was to skate at the Forum. He had been arrested before for throwing sexually threatening letters on the ice as she skated in Denver. His mother, Betty J. Hall, gave reporters his statement asking for forgiveness from Witt and that she drop the charges. “. . . I never meant (the letters) as threat,” it said. “And I can see why she might consider some of my letters to be obscene, but I think of them as erotic love letters attempting to cause her to lust for me so that she might begin to love me . . . then marry me and stand with me as a Prophet of God.” Hall said her son first saw Witt on TV in the Olympics and became obsessed with her, adding that he needs help because he was mentally ill.