A man accused of stalking Jennifer Lawrence and her brother has had his application for bail rejected.
Han Cong Zhao, 23, the alleged stalker of Jennifer Lawrence, 23, and her brother Blaine, will now be held without bail for the duration of his criminal trial after a judge declared him a ‘danger.’
Zhao, who is from Vancouver, British Colombia, is facing charges of repeated harassing phone communications after apparently sending hundred of texts and voicemails to the brother of the Hunger Games actress, in an attempt to contact and ‘protect’ her.
By her side: Jennifer Lawrence attended the Film Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on February 23 with her two brothers. Her brother, Blaine Lawrence, was allegedly stalked by a man attempting to reach her
Presiding over the case, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Whalin explained that: ‘Mr. Zhao has no connections here and apparently not strong connections in Canada. The evidence is strong. He presents a danger.’
He denied that Zhao was being held due to the fact that Lawrence was a high-profile personality.
At the time he was taken into custody in May, Zhao’s attorney, public defender Donald J. Meier, requested the psychiatric exam.
Meier didn’t cite any specific behavior in making the request, though prosecutors did not object.
Alleged stalker: Han Cong Zhao, a 23-year-old Chinese-born Canadian citizen, is being held without bail during his trial after a judge declared him a ‘danger’
FBI Special Agent Richard Boswell III wrote in an affidavit that Zhao started contacting ‘B.L.,’ who is identified in a related state court record as the actress’ brother Blaine Lawrence, on April 4 of this year.
Lawrence received numerous phone calls and text messages from Ted on his work cell phone at 2am, Boswell wrote. Boswell said ‘Ted’ was later identified as Han Cong Zhao.
The phone calls and text messages came from numbers with area codes in California and Colorado but were later traced to Zhao.
Zhao blamed Blaine Lawrence for putting his sister in danger because she was in Boston before the Boston Marathon bombings, Boswell said.
Reached out: Zhao allegedly flew from Vancouver to Louisville on April 18 and kept contacting Blaine, seen here in a Facebook photograph fishing
He made comments about ‘bad things’ happening to Lawrence and his family and eventually gave up his real name and phone number in Canada.
Two weeks later, Zhao sent three email messages to Blaine Lawrence, declaring himself Jennifer’s ‘husband for life,’ and making references to the Bible and their relation to the Silver Linings Playbook actress.
According to Boswell, Han Cong Zhao told Blaine Lawrence he ‘wouldn’t kill anyone for sure,’ but would scare people with real things happening in their lives and would get angry ‘and all hell’s going to break loose.’
On April 18 Zhao flew from Vancouver to Louisville and continued to contact Blaine Lawrence, Boswell wrote.
‘Either I find out, or you come and see me, okay?’ Boswell quoted Zhao as saying. ‘You got me really upset. When I’m, when I’m upset, let’s see what happens, alright?’
Industry heavyweight: At just 23-year-old Jennifer has already won two things every actor dreams of: an Oscar and a lead role in a lucrative film franchise
He took a cab to the Indian Hills Police Department in suburban Louisville on April 19 and asked about the home address of Lawrence’s mother.
Police interviewed Zhao for three hours. During the interview, he described himself as the second coming of Jesus and said Lawrence’s mother had what he needed to complete his journey.
Officers took Zhao into custody and involuntarily hospitalised him for a psychiatric evaluation. He was taken to Central State Hospital, where he called Blaine Lawrence once more.
Upon his release, police arrested Zhao. Federal authorities took custody of Zhao on May 7 and filed a criminal complaint against him on May 11.
