‘GH’ Maurice Benard Reveals Terrifying Ordeal That Left His Family Scared
The 'General Hospital' veteran opened up to Eva LaRue about a frightening experience his family struggled to escape.
General Hospital (GH) stars Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) and Eva LaRue (Natalia Rogers-Ramirez) sat down for part two of her interview on State of Mind this weekend. The duo chatted about her stalking case, but Maurice also opened up about his scary experience.
Eva’s Stalking
Eva LaRue knows how it feels to be stalked because, for 12 long years, she felt terrorized by her stalker. He was James David Rogers, from Ohio. Both Eva and her daughter Kaya Callahan were victims. You might have seen their Paramount+ docuseries, My Nightmare Stalker: The Eva LaRue Story.
The former General Hospital star listened carefully when Maurice told her that his family also felt very intimidated by his stalker. The veteran ABC actor said that his stalker was from Cleveland. She weighed “250 pounds” and was, in Maurice’s words, “schizophrenic.”
Convinced She Was Paula Benard
GH fans heard how she became obsessed to the point where she was convinced that Maurice was her husband. Even scarier, she said that she was going to take their kids. He admitted, “It scared us so much.”
Paula Benard “bought a German Shepherd from Germany.” Unfortunately, it failed in the protection department, so she went out and “got a gun,” Maurice said, adding, “She was losing it.”
Eva LaRue, chipping in, explained from her experience that being stalked “makes you crazy.” Anyway, finally, Paula got a detective to help her. But first, Maurice explained that “nobody would help us.” And that was despite his stalker calling him at work, pretending to be his wife.
Paula Got a Detective to Help
Eventually, Paula’s brother got involved, and “Paula finally got a detective dude and said, ‘Look.'” And he said, “Okay, I’ll go visit. She’s in a hospital right now.”
So he went there, and the patient was watching General Hospital. He goes, “Hi, my name’s…” She goes, “That’s my husband.”
Next, she introduced herself as Paula Benard. Anyway, they had to serve her with a restraining order, and Paula’s brother went along. For the real Paula and Maurice, it felt unnerving because they all had to go into a small room.
Paula’s brother John was a big man, and even he said he felt scared because the stalker seemed so intimidating, and she identified John as her brother.
Another Scary Aspect
Maurice wrapped up his story by saying that it felt terrifying being confined in a small space with her. He said, “You’re with a psycho, so you don’t know what could happen. It doesn’t matter how big you are or how strong you are. You don’t know what a psycho is going to do.”
Speaking about how they got so little help, Maurice then mentioned that the police wouldn’t help unless you’re in direct danger. He stopped there, but Eva LaRue explained later in the interview that unless she was “harmed or killed,” they couldn’t help her.
The duo complained about the fact that someone can terrify you to the point where you feel like you’re in prison. And there’s not much you can do about it.
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