Crow says alleged stalker made her concerned for her family

NEW YORK -- Singer Sheryl Crow testified Monday that she was concerned about her family's safety after she learned an alleged stalker had asked them to help contact her.

Crow, who appeared relaxed on the witness stand, said she heard about the accused stalker, Ambrose Kappos, from her father, lawyer Wendell Crow, who told her Kappos had visited him in his law offices in Kennett, Mo., with a purported message from God.

"Did that give you cause for concern?" the pop rocker was asked by assistant district attorney Christopher Hill.

"Absolutely," Crow replied. "I was concerned about my family." She said it was relatively easy for her to take care of her own security but she would have difficulty arranging for theirs.

Kappos, 38, is being tried in Manhattan's state Supreme Court on charges of burglary and stalking. He allegedly pursued Crow from July 2002 until his arrest on Oct. 6, 2003, at the Hammerstein Ballroom, about four blocks from the Empire State Building.

The original police report identified Kappos as a former Navy SEAL until his discharge in June 2003. However, prosecutors now say he was a diver in a unit that worked with the SEALs, but was never part of the elite unit.

Crow, who grew up in Kennett, said she knew little about Kappos except what her family had told her. She testified that she had seen him once, standing outside her dressing room on Oct. 6 as she left the ballroom, but had never met or spoken to him.

"I thought it strange that someone would be outside the dressing room who was not supposed to be there," Crow said.

Crow said that minutes after leaving the building, Kappos approached her group. "I was headed into the limo and suddenly there's chaos and I was pushed into the car, and my manager was telling someone, 'Back away! Back away!'"

"We drove away, and that's when Pam Wertheimer [a member of her management team] told me who Ambrose was," Crow testified.

As Crow testified, Kappos watched her intently, sometimes smiling faintly.

'Spiritual twin'

After his arrest, Kappos told police and prosecutors on videotape that the word "fan" was inadequate to describe his attraction to Crow. He said he was a "spiritual twin," and that he and the pop rocker were destined to marry and have children.

Kappos' attorney, Stan Hickman, asked Crow on cross-examination whether the defendant had ever contacted her personally and whether he had threatened her. Crow said Kappos had not.

Kappos' mother, Irene, who was in court, said her son had been "enamored" of the singer but no longer wants to meet her. "He'd be crazy if he did," she said, chuckling.

Earlier in the day, Crow's sister, Kathryn, testified that she was alone at home on July 7, 2002, when a telephone call made her "extremely uncomfortable."

"He asked me if I was Kathy Crow," she said. "It was a little bit alarming to me because [the telephone number] was unlisted. He identified himself as Ambrose.

"He said at that time that God had been speaking to him," Kathryn Crow testified. She said he told her he wanted to speak to Sheryl, and when she asked why, he told her it was none of her business.

Kathryn Crow said Kappos hung up when she told him no meeting would be arranged. When she heard he had been arrested in New York, she said, "I was terrified."

The singer's father, Wendell Crow, 72, said Kappos showed up at his offices two days later, in his Navy dress whites, "a spit and polish sailor" who made a good impression.

The elder Crow said Kappos assured him he was not some kind of "nut or kook and that he was a Navy SEAL. He said he felt he was a soul mate to my daughter Sheryl, that he was the answer to her prayers. He wanted me to arrange a meeting with her."

Crow said he told Kappos he would be happy to help him with any legal matters, but he was not available to talk about his family. He said the meeting lasted 10 minutes at most and he never heard from Kappos again.