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Published: August 20, 2008 12:15 pm
Victims of alleged Jeffersonville stalker speaking out
Trial postponed until October
By MATT THACKER
Matt.Thacker@newsandtribune.com
The trial of a Jeffersonville man accused of stalking multiple women has been postponed. Jimmy Horlander, 61, of French Street, was scheduled for trial Wednesday, but it has been delayed until Oct. 14 because of docket congestion.
Meanwhile, three of his alleged victims are speaking out about how being stalked has impacted their lives.
Debra Starks said Horlander has stalked her for 27 years. She still has police records from 1981, the first time she remembers reporting him. She said he called her more than 100 times in one day, and she lives everyday in fear that he is watching her.
“I go to work and then I come straight home and shut my blinds. If I have to go outside to cut my grass, I go out and come right back inside. I’m always looking behind me,” she said.
She initially just asked for Horlander to be taken somewhere for treatment, but she says that despite multiple arrests and spending time at New Hope Services in Jeffersonville, Horlander has gotten worse over the years.
Starks was ready to give up when Angela Kayrouz came to her three years ago and said she was being stalked by Horlander also.
The two had their cases combined.
Horlander was allegedly waiting trial on three counts of D felony stalking when a police investigation showed in January that he violated a no-contact order. He was charged with two counts of class C felony stalking and one count class A misdemeanor invasion of privacy.
Class D felonies hold a potential sentence of six months to three years in jail, and a $10,000 fine.
The victims say Horlander targets single women. Kayrouz said he found her name in a church directory. He allegedly found Starks by looking in the telephone book for women who were listed by their initials because he believed that is how single women list their names.
Horlander posted bond and is required to wear an ankle bracelet while he awaits trial, but his alleged victims still are afraid. Kayrouz said she believes he has been on her property recently. She also has a voice recording of him allegedly leaving a message for her at work using a different name.
Although Horlander has never been violent, police seized several firearms from his property last year. Kayrouz said he also threatened her father once.
“I really think he’s eventually going to snap and kill someone,” Starks said.
Kayrouz said she turned off her telephone because she would receive 40 to 50 calls a night from him. She keeps a notebook where she logged every time he contacted her at home and work. She said he would leave things in her mailbox, call and hang up, move things around on her property and drive up and down the street at a high rate of speed.
Starks has pictures of Horlander’s car driving down her street, which she says is a violation of the no-contact order.
Another woman in the neighborhood said last year she noticed Horlander showing up everywhere she went and watching her. She asked that her name not be published and does not want to testify because she is afraid for her safety.
A revocation hearing is scheduled for early next week in Superior Court No. 1. Horlander’s alleged victims are hoping he will be locked up.
“If this doesn’t work, I’m done,” Starks said. “I’m just tired of fighting this.”
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