Report: Did Letterman's alleged blackmailer get the idea from 'Lomita Black Widow' story?
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.
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
days 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.
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yes, Larry. it's all about you.
This from my boss?