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Robert J. Halderman (AP Photo/Pool, Marc A. Hermann)
His current job as a CBS producer for “48 Hours” exposed him to many true crime stories of people who succumbed to the temptation of crime for a quick monetary score.
The news that Robert J. Halderman was charged with trying to blackmail David Letterman out of $2 million left the producer's colleagues dumbfounded.
The producer had worked in the media for three decades. He had seven Emmys and a Columbia Dupont Award to show for it.
After producing for the "CBS Morning Show" in the early 1980s, Halderman went on to cover news stories from scores of countries including military conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia.
He had once produced a movie for Showtime on the school siege in Beslan, Russia, titled "Three Days in September."
"He's a loud, effusive kind of guy, in a lot of ways, a typical TV producer," the insider said. "Joe's a little more flamboyant, a little bit more of the TV producer stereotype."
Halderman married Patty Montet in 1990. The couple settled in an upscale neughborhood in Norwalk, Connecticutt and had two children.
The couple divorced in 2004. A year later, Letterman assistant Stephanie Birkitt moved in with the producer.
Birkitt and Halderman split within the last two months.
Halderman's uncle Richard Smith told CNN that the producer was upset that his ex-wife had moved to Colorado with his young son.
"Joe was quite upset about that," Smith said, adding, "We had no reason to believe he would be depressed enough to get himself in this situation."
Public relations professional Mike Paul who worked with the producer, told the New York Daily News that Halderman is “a guy who knows better" "He's very intelligent,” Paul said. “He understands investigations of a crime. Has he done stories where people have gotten in trouble doing this? Dozens, probably hundreds."
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