OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The CBS producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman recently worked on a story about extortion against an Olympia woman – she wonders if the blackmail attempt against her might have inspired the plot against the late-night talk show host.

Sherry Jackson said she was stunned last week to see reports that her friend and CBS 48 Hours producer Joe Halderman was arrested and accused of blackmailing David Letterman.

"I was shocked. I had to take a double look 'cause that's Joe, and I know Joe," she told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Richard Thompson. "And I can't believe he did something like this."

Jackson said she got to know Halderman when he helped produce a story recently about the murder of Jackson's brother, Larry Risken -- a bizarre case that included allegations that a woman killed Risken and the woman's first husband in the Philippines.

Someone tried to blackmail Jackson, promising to return her brother's ashes in exchange for cash.

Jackson said the blackmail attempt is something she and Halderman spoke about extensively.

"We would have conversations like that: What an idiot who would do something so dumb?" Jackson said.

But now the man who produced stories about others' failed blackmail attempts is accused of trying to extort one of the most well-known men in America.

"He's a very smart guy, and if he did do, it he had to be very desperate -- extremely desperate," Jackson said.

Prosecutors have not said what Halderman’s motivation for the attempted blackmail was, but court records do show he pays more than $6,000 a month in child support.