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When police charged Baldwin-Whitehall school director Beverly Coon with trying to kill a former boyfriend, the alleged crime differed from most stalking incidents, according to national statistics.

Almost 90 percent of stalkers are men, federal statistics show.

"It's very much a power and control thing," said Janet Scott, associate executive director of the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.

Stalking often begins when one person wants to break off a relationship. The abuser sees the victim as property, and thinks, "'I'll do what I can to get you back -- and if I can't, I'll get you,'" Scott said.

Stalking is a repetitive pattern of unwanted, harassing or threatening behavior. The stalker might use the telephone, follow his victims, send them unwanted gifts or badger them in person. More than 1 million women and almost 371,000 men are stalked each year, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime within the U.S. Department of Justice.

Coon and her ex-lover, Bethel Park Schools Superintendent Ronald Grimm, had a two-year relationship while both were estranged from their spouses.

Grimm, who has not talked outside court about the case, testified that he told Coon in August he wanted to break off the relationship and reunite with his wife, Joyce. On Sept. 8, Coon allegedly stopped by Grimm's apartment and gave him pastries laced with a sedative. Police said she later set his bed on fire, causing second- and third-degree burns on his face, hands, arms and ears. Coon is awaiting trial on charges of attempted homicide, arson and stalking.

Mindy Mechanic, assistant professor of psychology at California State University in Fullerton, Calif., said one of the most common patterns in stalking cases involves a spurned or rejected lover.

"Some people are high-functioning in their professional lives but can't handle the intensity of personal relationships. That's a different area where they struggle to recognize their emotions," she said.

Mechanic said most stalkers often act out of anger and hostility, stemming from actual or perceived rejection.

Stalking gained national attention when Robert John Bardo, a fan of actress Rebecca Schaeffer, stalked and killed her in 1989 at her California home. California passed the country's first anti-stalking law in 1990. By 1993, all states had passed legislation making it a criminal offense.

"It's only in the last few years that there has been a broader recognition of stalking," said Jan Bailey, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

Those who stalk others "don't think what they are doing is wrong," said Liz Joyce, spokeswoman for the National Center for Victims of Crime.

"They are very determined. Some of them will go to any lengths."

In Allegheny County and across Pennsylvania, stalking seldom is reported as a single charge, but instead falls under the umbrella of domestic violence.

Allegheny County has 1,300 to 1,600 domestic violence cases each year, said District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. His office does not separate stalking cases from other types of domestic violence.

"It's not an everyday charge," said Bethel Park District Judge Robert Wyda, a former assistant district attorney who has handled five cases in the past 25 months. He held only one case for trial.

Stalking victims generally know their stalkers.

"Seventy-six percent of women homicide victims had been stalked by the person who killed them," Joyce said.

A 2001 nationwide study by the Virginia-based Institute for Law and Justice found that stalking is far more common than officials estimated and "more dangerous than they appreciate." The study said anti-stalking laws in almost every state needed changes, including stiffer penalties.

Pennsylvania's stalking law took effect two years ago, but some prosecutors say it lacks strength. Joyce said victims often find their stalkers back on the street in a relatively brief time.

First offenders usually receive probation. The second offense is a third-degree felony that could result in jail time of 10 to 23 months.

Westmoreland County Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Calisti, who prosecutes stalking cases, said the law needs tougher penalties.

Robert Domasky, 49, of Mount Pleasant, was so obsessed with Kelly Stein, 37, a hairdresser from Greensburg, that he had her name tattooed on the back of his neck and her high school yearbook photo tattooed on his arm.

Domasky had made a new passport and Social Security card using Stein's identity. At one point, he was paying her credit card bills.

The case took an even stranger twist when police learned that Domasky sometimes posed as a woman, and, using the name Kelly Dawn Hullenbaugh, became fixated with the Greensburg High School cheerleading squad.

Domasky pleaded guilty in July to 10 charges, including five misdemeanor counts of identity theft, and single counts of criminal trespassing and stalking. He was sentenced to 10 to 23 months, but was paroled.

His conviction was little comfort to Stein, who hoped he would serve a longer prison sentence.

"I was stunned and infuriated," she said.

She said she now looks over her shoulder and is accompanied by her dogs, a pit bull and a rottweiler, when she goes outside the house.

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