Report: Did Letterman's alleged blackmailer get the idea from 'Lomita Black Widow' story?

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A national Web site is asking the question: "Did Letterman's blackmailer get the idea from one of his CBS News stories?"

I wondered that myself as soon as I heard the charges against Joe Halderman.

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Halderman produced the CBS 48 Hours Mystery show, "Conspiracy to Kill," the story of Sonia Rios Risken, who we call the "Lomita Black Widow."

As I reported before, 48 Hours contacted me last year after my stories on the Risken case appeared in the Daily Breeze. Both of her husbands were killed 19 years apart in the Philippines. Then she was shot in the head a year later in her Lomita home.

Two producers, including Halderman, met with me at the Daily Breeze office on Torrance Boulevard. He was really intrigued with the story as I told it. He returned with correspondent Peter Van Sant a week or so later so Van Sant could interview me. A couple of days later, we continued the interview in my apartment and at Sonia's former beauty salon. Then we went to dinner. I had a good time. Halderman sat to my left. He was a good guy.
The story ran on TV in February and was repeated in August. Now, the Web site, Gawker.com, is keying on one segment of the Risken saga.

If you recall, Sonia Risken had her husband, Larry, cremated in the Philippines a couple of Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for RiskenSonia.jpgdays after his killing. She never gave them to his family in Washington state. They still want them.

After Sonia was killed, somebody sent e-mails to Larry Risken's sister, Sherry Jackson, suggesting he could provide those ashes, but they'd have to pay him $35,000.

Detectives ultimately traced those e-mails to Sonia Risken's nephew, Eric De La Cruz, who allegedly wrote them on board the USS Ronald Reagan, where he was stationed. De La Cruz and a Navy shipmate were arrested in April and charged with killing Sonia Risken.

Anyway, Gawker.com wonders today if Halderman got the extortion idea from covering the Sonia case.

Makes you wonder. Of course, it didn't work in either case.

Previous entry.

2 Comments

Anonymous said:

yes, Larry. it's all about you.

Larry Altman Author Profile Page said:

This from my boss?

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About the Blogger


Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.

E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.

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This page contains a single entry by Larry Altman published on October 6, 2009 4:15 PM.

Wilmington man who got second chance is back in prison was the previous entry in this blog.

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Denise Nix knew as young as grade school, when she spent every summer working on the camp newspaper, that she wanted to be a journalist. Denise has spent most of the last 12 years of her career in the courtroom. She joined the Daily Breeze in 2001, where she tracks and reports on hundreds of cases at every level of the justice system. And she's never, ever, seen a judge use a gavel.

E-mail Denise at denise.nix@dailybreeze.com.

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