Skating Star Tells Jury of Harassment : Trial: Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt says Westminster man’s ‘bizarre letters’ made her fear for her life. Jury begins deliberations.

Professional figure skater Katarina Witt testified Wednesday in federal court here that a Westminster man accused of sending her obscene and threatening letters had made her fear for her life.

“I believed he was going to kill me,” said the Olympic gold medalist.

During her testimony, Witt rarely made eye contact with Harry Veltman III, the man charged with seven criminal counts of mailing her obscene or threatening mail.

Veltman, whom doctors have found to be a paranoid schizophrenic, faces a maximum of 35 years in prison if convicted. The 47-year-old defendant acted as his own attorney and seemed flustered during much of the two-day trial, especially when cross-examining Witt after she had been questioned by the prosecution.

At the conclusion of Witt’s testimony, both sides rested, and the case was given to the jury to begin its deliberations.

Since his arrest last December, Veltman has denied trying to threaten Witt, saying that his letters, which describe various sexual acts, were intended to be erotic, not obscene as prosecutors have charged. Along with more than 50 pages of letters mailed in 1990 and 1991, Veltman sent nude photographs of himself and sex brochures, prosecutors said.

On Wednesday, Witt, who was subpoenaed by prosecutors, was escorted into the courtroom surrounded by several federal marshals. Talking in a solemn manner, she told the jury that after the 1988 Olympics she received thousands of letters from fans.

But the correspondence from Veltman stood out from the rest because the letters were frightening and odd.

“If was different fan mail,” she said. “It was really bizarre, saying he was going to be president and needed me for his campaign.”

In other letters, she said, he proclaimed his love for her, stating that he “considered me his wife” from the first moment he saw her.

She said she considered Veltman a very menacing presence in her life when he unexpectedly showed up at her residence in Germany in the spring of 1990.

“He would knock on my door at three in the morning, screaming that he loved me,” the 26-year-old skater said. “I told him to leave me alone and not to bother me.”

Despite the rejection, Veltman continued to stalk her home, she said. She even called police and the U.S. Embassy in Berlin for assistance but received no help, Witt said.

Finally, Veltman did leave Germany, but the harassment didn’t end, the skater testified.

Once, in San Francisco, Veltman accosted her, tried to hand her a letter, and screamed “Katarina, I love you” as she exited a tour bus, she said. With the help of some people on the tour she managed to get away from him.

But when she went back to her hotel after the show, she encountered Veltman again. “He stepped in the elevator” with her and her friends, she testified. “I got scared and pushed the button for another floor and jumped out with a friend.” Her other friends, stopped Veltman from exiting the elevator, she testified.

On another occasion, in Denver, Veltman threw a couple of packages onto the ice as she performed, Witt said.

“It was scary, but I finished my performance,” said Witt, adding that she could have tripped and injured herself.

During the same period of time, the letters became more obscene and threatening, she testified.

According to prosecutors, Veltman warned Witt in a letter not to have affairs with other men and to remain “chaste” for him. Other letters detailed various sex acts he imagined between Witt and himself.

In one letter, he wrote that if his wife ever had an affair, he would kill her, her lover and then himself. Witt testified that she was frightened because she thought he considered her his unofficial wife.

In a particularly ominous passage from a July, 1991, letter, Witt said, Veltman wrote: “Don’t be afraid when God allows me to pull you out of your body to hold you tight. Then you’ll know that there is life beyond the flesh.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Wayne Gross, who is prosecuting the case, called the passage “a death threat.”

But when Veltman stood at the podium to cross-examine Witt, he told her that he meant it as an “out of body” experience in a religious sense, or like a vision. He called it “astroprojection.”

Witt, who appeared straight-faced during most of the hearing, chuckled slightly at that point and said: “I do not want to leave my body.”

Veltman also tried to point out that the statements in the letter referring to what he would do to an unfaithful wife could not have been threatening to Witt because they were not married.

He also tried to convince Witt that his letters were inspired by his love for her. “I wrote erotic love letters,” he said.

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor had to remind Veltman frequently to ask questions and stop making irrelevant comments.

When the judge told Veltman that he could not ask Witt if she thought the letters were erotic, he ended his questioning and declined to present a defense.

Veltman implored Taylor to have Witt listen to his closing arguments, but his request was denied.

Veltman’s mental competency has come into question repeatedly since his arrest. Although he has claimed that he has discovered a cure for AIDS, found Noah’s ark and was running for the presidency, Veltman was found competent to stand trial because he was aware of the charges against him and apparently knew the difference between right and wrong.

After testifying, Witt addressed a couple dozen reporters and photographers, saying her ordeal had been a “terrible experience” and she was “glad that it’s over.”

Although she declined to comment on the case, she said Veltman’s actions disrupted her skating schedule.

“Now I’m glad I can go back and practice,” she said.

The jury, which will resume deliberations today, encountered a problem with one of the seven counts against Veltman after noticing that one Veltman letter Witt received at her home in Germany had a Mexican postmark.

The jury asked Taylor if Veltman could be prosecuted under U.S. laws for a threatening or obscene letter that was not mailed from the United States. Taylor instructed the jurors that they should find Veltman guilty on that one count only if they determined that the U.S. postal system was involved in the letter’s delivery.

Although he did not acknowledge making a mistake, Gross made a seemingly half-hearted attempt to defend that one charge.