Death threats received by ESPN reporter, ‘Dancing With the Stars’ contestant Erin Andrews

Death threats prompt tighter security for Andrews

LOS ANGELES — First she was secretly videotaped in the nude. Now she’s receiving death threats. At least a dozen e-mails had been sent to a media outlet threatening ESPN reporter and “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Erin Andrews since September, her attorney Marshall Grossman said.

The messages discuss the case of Michael David Barrett, who was sentenced last month to 2½ years in federal prison for secretly shooting nude videos of Andrews, her attorney Marshall Grossman said.

“He refers to Barrett in his e-mail in a way to make clear to us that situation had some influence,” Grossman said, but added that the man appeared to have no ties to Barrett.

DirecTV provided the emails to Andrews’ representatives Thursday.

The e-mails were at first sexual, but the most recent were explicitly violent and “threatened Erin with murder,” Grossman said. They also had details about location and method.

The FBI has been notified, Grossman said. He said the man’s identity is known to law enforcement and is believed to live on the East Coast. An e-mail message left for an FBI spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

Andrews is not yet seeking a restraining order but has asked ABC to beef up its security on “Dancing with the Stars,” Grossman said.

Private security also has been hired to protect Andrews and her family.

Andrews has no plans of quitting the show.

“She’s not the type to be easily threatened,” Grossman said. “She has every intention to meet her obligations.”