The jilted journo charged with trying to shake down David Letterman for $2 million will be portrayed in court as a desperate guy — emotionally and financially, sources said.
“Everything piled up — he was under emotional stress,” said a source familiar with the defense strategy for Robert “Joe” Halderman, 51, an Emmy-winning producer for “48 Hours Mystery.”
Halderman, busted Thursday in the alleged extortion scheme, has pleaded not guilty to attempted grand larceny. CBS suspended him from “48 Hours Mystery.”
He allegedly tried to put the squeeze on Letterman by threatening to go public with the talk-show host’s sexual shenanigans with female “Late Show” staffers.
One of those affairs allegedly included Halderman’s former girlfriend Stephanie Birkitt, 34, who broke up with the TV producer about six months ago, the source said.
The source said Birkitt didn’t tell Halderman of her fling with Letterman until after she broke it off with the producer.
“First, there was the breakup,” the source said. “Then [Halderman’s] kid moved with his ex-wife to Colorado.”
Then Halderman had financial problems related to alimony, child support and a mortgage on his Norwalk, Conn., home, the source said.
The source said Birkitt used to kick in for the mortgage while she lived with Halderman.
“His defense is saying that he never had a record, no problems with the law” before, the source said.
“They’re saying it was an emotional breakdown.
“They’re saying it’s a bigger shock that Joe Halderman would do something like this than it is that Letterman was having an affair.”