A lame-brained would-be kidnapper. A loony stalker.
Even before last night’s bombshell revelations about an alleged blackmailer, funnyman David Letterman had his share of crazies.
In March 2005, an ex-con was charged in a chilling plot to snatch the funnyman’s toddler son and nanny from Letterman’s Montana ranch and hold them for $5 million ransom.
Kelly Allen Frank, 43, a father of two, was a handyman at the 2,686-acre Deep Creek Ranch and had conducted extensive surveillance before launching his terrifying plot. He was busted after discussing the scheme with an acquaintance, Robert Gondeiro, who went to police.
The target of the plot was Harry Joseph Letterman, then 16 months old.
The boy is Letterman’s son by Regina Lasko, his longtime girlfriend who married Dave last March 19 .
Letterman’s ranch is 30 miles west of Choteau, on the edge of the Rocky Mountain Front, a pristine area where the Rockies spring up from the plains. He bought the spread in 1999.
After his arrest, Frank told investigators he knew Letterman and the boy would be visiting the ranch soon.
He told Gondeiro he believed the comedian would pay $5 million for the toddler’s safe return.
Frank planned to seize the boy and the nanny, hold them for 48 hours and then leave a ransom note. He knew which room the tot would be in because he saw a crib there. But instead of joining Frank in the scheme, Gondeiro went to the local sheriff, who called the FBI. Frank was busted and soon spilled his guts.
He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to 10 years in the slammer.
He escaped from prison in June 2007, was recaptured six days later and given 10 more years behind bars.
For many years, Letterman was targeted by a stalker who called herself “Mrs. David Letterman” and broke into his house at least seven times.
Margaret Ray, 46, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, pleaded guilty to breaking and entering and served 10 months behind bars and 14 months in a mental hospital. She committed suicide in 1998.