Stalking Awareness Day of Action - Peggy Klinke & Miley Cyrus

Sometimes we all casually throw around the word “stalking” or “stalker” - maybe when someone double clicks on a few too many old Instagram photos, 

Or when your best friend is dating someone new so you check out their social media 

Or when you bump into an acquaintance twice in one week and joke that you’re stalking them

But stalking isn’t anything to be casual about and it can turn deadly

According to SPARC - the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center - 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men will experience stalking at some point in their lives. 1 in 7 transgender & nonbinary/genderqueer undergraduate students were stalked in the past year. 

On average, stalking lasts 2 years, but in 1 in 10 cases, it lasts up to 5 years. 

And approximately 13.5 million people are stalked each year. 

The prevalence of stalking is terrifying, but it is every more horrifying when you consider the effects it has on victims — 84% of victims fear for their safety; 72% of victims are threatened with physical harm & women who obtained a protection order for stalking are NINE TIMES more likely to be sexually assaulted than women with protection orders who were not stalked. 

• 76% of domestic violence homicide victims were first stalked by their partner
• 1 in 8 employed stalking victims lose time from work as a result of their victimization and more than half lose 5 days of work or more
• 1 in 7 stalking victims has been forced to move because of their victimization

January is National Stalking Awareness Month, and today, January 18th, 2024 is the first ever National Stalking Day of Action. 

Today we want to share the stories of Peggy Klinke (Klink-y) and Miley Cyrus (yes, that Miley Cyrus!) and shine a light on the impact of stalking. 

Pause

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence. I’m your host, Shaun, and with me as always, is the one and only John.

[John] 

I am the only John in the room.

[Shaun] 

It’s national stalking awareness month, and Tuesday’s episode - Episode 11 - included the story of Jake Freeman, a Vegas Metro police officer who was arrested for stalking his ex wife.

[John] 

Yes, and our January 23rd episode will also cover Dasia’s stalking story which is probably one of the worst stalking stories ever

[Shaun]

For the first-ever National Stalking Day of Action, we decided it was important to highlight how dangerous stalking can be. We want to share with you the story of Peggy Klinke - who was murdered by her stalker on January 18, 2003 – 21 years ago today.

[John] 

Also here at sins and survivors we focus on cases in and around the Las Vegas area, and it turns out that a man who was stalking Miley Cyrus was arrested here in Vegas at one of her concerts in 2019.

[Shaun]

Our research into Miley revealed this wasn’t the first time a man stalked Miley, and horrifyingly, it wasn’t the last time either. 

[John]

During our lifetimes there have been several examples of celebrity stalking turning deadly. But before we get into that, let’s start with Peggy.

[Shaun]

Sure thing. 

Peggy Klinke’s sister, Debbie Riddle – Debbie is actually the founder of National Stalking Awareness Month. Debbie has stressed that it’s important to “Listen and encourage victims, and do not downplay their stories.” That’s what we’re going to do with this episode. 

Margaret Klinke or Peggy – was born on December 2, 1970 in Youngstown, Ohio. Debbie has said that in 1998, Peggy moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to start pursuing a medical degree.

That is when Peggy met Patrick Kennedy. 

Debbie has explained that during the first winter break while Peggy was in school, she went home to Ohio to spend the holidays with her family. And Patrick – he “surprises” Peggy on new years eve by showing up at Peggy and Debbie’s mom’s house. Just shows up. And they have no idea how he knew where Peggy’s mom lived. So right away, Debbie gets a bad feeling about patrick. She said something seemed off about him.

According to Debbie, Peggy and Patrick were together for about 3 years. And during that time, Peggy was in a cycle of emotional abuse with him. Where he would insult her, “violently degrade” her, and then apologize and buy her flowers.

Debbie has shared that once her family all went on a vacation to the beach. When Peggy arrived, Patrick had come with her, and brought his 8 year old daughter (from a previous relationship) and a gun. To the beach.

[John]

I can't conceive of a reason you’d need a gun at the beach. Remotely.

Debbie has said that he was just so controlling of her, he wouldn’t let her spend any time alone with just her sisters. He had to be with her all the time. 

He really tried to isolate Peggy, to separate her from her family, which is another red flag.

And during this time, Debbie said she saw her sister’s sparkle fade. Her spirit was broken. 

“Peggy did try to leave him,” Riddle said. “She was in an airport in Albuquerque, trying to get to Las Vegas where my [other] sister was on vacation, and she was physically sick. She spent the afternoon vomiting in the airport. She was so frightened about what was going to happen to her if she broke the relationship.”

In January of 2002, she tried to move out of the condo they shared and moved a lot of her stuff out, but when she came back for the rest of her things, he had barricaded the door and called the cops to say someone was trying to break into the house. When the police showed up, he told them that he wanted Peggy to stay because he was afraid. It’s not clear to me if he was afraid FOR Peggy or if he meant he was afraid to be alone.

In any event, the police did not talk to Peggy without Patrick around, and they either didn’t pick up on the dynamic or – what I think is more likely, ignored it or minimized it. I think they ignored it because they did ask Peggy if there was anything else she wanted to tell them. When Peggy didn’t say anything, they just let it drop. 

[John]

It's horrifying of course, but based on the stalking cases we’ve covered and are covering next week I'm not sure that her telling the police what was going on would have made any difference or if they would even have believed her.

After Peggy had left him, things really started escalating. He started following her around, to work, to the gym. Calling her incessantly. When she filed for an order of protection in June of 2002, Patrick showed up and filed one as well. He claimed that Peggy was an alcoholic, and was using drugs and was abusive. He had the nerve to tell the court he was afraid for his life. 

The judge ordered the 2 to just stay away from each other. 

He did some absolutely atrocious things like he had a flier printed up with her photo and phone number on it and posted it around Albuquerque. It said some disgusting, vulgar nonsense about her, that I don't think needs repeating. 

Peggy tried to get the police to help - she brought her phone records into the police station and the flyers and the cops said they couldn’t do anything. 

[John]

Let me guess.. Could they not spot the pattern?

In June, Patrick flew to Ohio and spray painted “PK is a whore” on Peggy and Debbie’s mother’s garage. 

He also set fire to Peggy’s new boyfriend’s house.

[John]

It never ceases to amaze me how these people don't get arrested for the ancillary crimes they commit like B&E and in this case ARSON

In August, she moved away. She picked up and moved her life to California, which, 1 in 7 people who are experiencing stalking are forced to do. 

She did everything she could do to try to stay safe. She had an unlisted number, unlisted address, she got a new cell phone. Debbie and her mom were careful not to never reveal where Peggy was living. Peggy talked to her new neighbors and asked them to help keep her safe – she showed them Patirck’s photo and asked them to call the police if they ever see him.

Patrick wouldn’t stop. He hired a private investigator to find Peggy, and the PI was able to find her. 

On January 16, 2003, Patrick flew to California and went to Peggy’s neighborhood and then HE posed as an investigator and began asking questions and eventually a delivery driver told him what apartment Peggy lived in.

On January 18, Peggy was going to have coffee with her neighbor. Patrick was hiding in her garage. He attacked her, beat her with his gun. He tried to tie her hands and duct tape her mouth.. She was able to run away to her neighbor’s and the neighbor called the police.  Patrick broke into the neighbor’s apartment by breaking through the sliding glass door. 

The police did arrive within 5 minutes and there was a stand off for a short time, before Patrick shot Peggy and killed her, and then shot himself. Peggy was only 32 years old. 

Debbie Riddle became an advocate for stalking awareness and worked to have January declared national stalking awareness month, and today’s day of action commemorates the memory of Peggy. 

Now, Debbie’s call to action for all of us is that we should sparkle today, the way that Peggy did. To give the sparkle back to stalking survivors. So, today, January 18, Debbie and the team at SPARC is asking folks to take a photo of yourself with a sparkly background or wearing something sparkly or sequined, and post it to social media with the hashtags #SparkleAgainstStalking #NSAMDayofAction #NSAM2024

one more quick thing - Debbie also worked to have Peggy’s Law created in California – as of 2005 it is a misdemeanor for anyone targeted by a domestic-violence restraining order to try to locate the victim by hiring a private investigator, using a friend or relative or any other “third-party means.”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being a part of this true crime community it’s that sisters get shit done. 

Peggy’s story is one where a former partner was obsessed with continuing to have control over their ex.  And Patrick’s intention was always to frighten and control Peggy. This is similar to the pattern of behavior we know about from Officer Jake Freeman from our last episode.

But now we are going to transition to another kind of stalking that I think gets covered a lot more in the media - celebrity stalking. 

[John] 

Yeah. Next up we’re going to talk about Miley Cyrus who has had her share of stalker experiences. Although obviously Miley has never been physically hurt by one of her stalkers, they’re no less terrifying, and no less dangerous. 

Its good that she has security around her to protect her from these people.

Although we all are probably familiar with Miley, I’ll mention a few key facts. She was born on November 23rd, 1992 to Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus. They had 5 children together, Brandi, Trace, Miley, Braison, and Noah.

They divorced in 2022 after 29 years of marriage.

Miley has been in the spotlight her whole life starting with her run on Hannah Montana from 2006-2011 and has a very successful music career. She’s an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community and started the Happy Hippie foundation

The foundation focuses on youth homelessness specifically LGBTQ youth), and focuses on the LGBTQ community more generally along with other vulnerable populations. Which is kind of awesome.

Her first stalker experience occurred back in 2009, right in the middle of the Hannah Montana Years when she was 16 and 17 years old. The stalker's name is Mark McLeod and I hope you’re sitting down because he was 53 years old when this all went down. 

McLeod never made any threats toward Miley per se according to police, but that doesn't mean that like most stalkers, he wasn't completely delusional. One of the quotes from him.. And this is something he said to police officers was

"Our eyes met at her concert and we both knew. I walked straight through security and up to her bus. Bill Ray was standing there. He shook my hand and said you're the good man we've been praying for."

[Shaun] 

He just… imagined that happened? 

Yep. The concerning thing here is this is the least dangerous stalker she dealt with

He also claimed that Billy Ray knew about and approved of their “relationship” and that Miley had been sending her “secret messages” through her show.. Which was, as a reminder, Hannah Montana. He also  claimed he’d sent Cyrus diamond rings and other gifts and that she had accepted his marriage proposal

He was eventually arrested during the filming of the movie “The Last Song” (have you seen that? I don't think I have.. But I'm gonna guess it wasn't made for me)

The local prosecutors resolved the case when a grand jury declined to indict him on the felony charges. He instead pled guilty to obstruction of a police officer (because he head-butted a cop when being handcuffed) and disorderly conduct. The stalking charge was dropped.

His attorney was quoted as saying that he was pleased the unemployed assistant plumber would finally get help for any mental problems.

“I guess he’s just like an avid fan and obviously there’s some delusion going on, but that’s not against the law,” he said. “The evidence didn’t show that he ever had any intention of harming (Cyrus) or her family.”

So this first stalker, I think most people would agree, was definitely not fully in touch with reality, but he never did threaten them, so that’s something, but the age difference really gets me here. I'm sorry but that's just gross. I really do hope he got the help he so desperately needed.

Next up is in my opinion the scariest stalker she has had. David Rumsey, the youngest of her stalkers is 42 years old. He was detained here in Las Vegas at the iHeartRadio festival in 2019 when security recognized him (thankfully and were able to detain him). He reportedly told her security team it was his "life's mission to impregnate" her.

He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, where according to the CCDC website he was charged with making false threats and burglary

He was extremely active on Twitter in that timeframe constantly talking about her and replying to her Tweets. 

Regarding his unhinged and delusional outreach to her, here are a few examples around the concert include

"Been here since Thursday hoping to maybe meet up before if you where in town early. Love you and hope you give me time. We have a lot to talk about."

"Just an fyi I would have spent more on concert but didn't want to be sitting next to someone trying to get with me. I myself don't want to be next to anyone but you. I do hope we can meet
up like I've been asking before the concert just to talk about your music lyrics," he tweeted.

"hoping not to be back at my room. I don't want you to have to go to motel 6. I wanted to stay in one of the hotels close to stadium and banned from mgm hotels from when you took my soul. I'll go check for messages of where to meet at. I'm in room 208 at Tropicana one."

On Sept. 13, he apologized for "hurting" Cyrus and blamed President Trump. He tweeted he hopes they "can talk about everything in Vegas so I can explain all to you. I am wanting as much 1 on 1 time talking with you as possible. I know soon I will be partying it up with all the famous people but you are the only one I really want to talk to."

"I feel a party will be having everyone try to talk to me and trying to talk to you might be harder. I know after we are together we can party it up with 2pac, biggie, Prince, Michael Jackson and all those we lost," Rumsey said. "So any party you might have planned will be more of a pre-party."

This last one might seem weird until you understand that he planned to raise Michael Jackson, Prince and Tupac from the dead, so he could put on a party with Cyrus. 

So just to be clear, he’s completely unhinged as well.

Last up, her most recent stalker, another 52 year old named Alexander Kardalian has been sending Miley unsolicited letters since 2018. In 2022 Cyrus was granted a 3 year restraining order (which is a very long duration for a restraining order if i'm not mistaken)

It won't surprise you to know that when he was released from prison in 2022, after only about 3 days he showed up at her house with a stuffed animal for her. Her security detained him, and he was arrested.. without bond. Probably for the best.

He had tried to get into her hours FOUR times before he was finally arrested.

All of these stalkers are honestly just terrifying. Many of these end in violence and even murder as we’ve heard.

If you are experiencing stalking and are in immediate danger please contact the police. There are resources on the SPARC website we will share in the show notes, and we’ll share resources in the coming days in our social media as well. 

Stalking is a phenomenon that can start out seeming innocuous, but like the frog in the pot, you may not know it's getting worse until it's too late, so learn the warning signs and remain vigilant.

Our next episode is another case of stalking .. it's the case of Dasia Washington and we hope you'll join us for that episode when it drops on Tuesday January 23rd.

Until then stay safe, and remember

What happens here, happens everywhere.