Alleged Tom Cruise extortionist found dead

A scandalmonger accused of trying to extort more than $1 million from actor Tom Cruise was found dead in an apparent suicide Friday, two weeks after he told a Daily News reporter he wanted to kill himself.

Cops found the body of David Schmidt, 47, dubbed the "Sultan of Sleaze" for peddling celebrity dirt, in his Phoenix home. Authorities did not say how he died.

He had been under house arrest and planned to plead guilty to demanding that Cruise pay up to $1.3 million for pictures of his wedding to Katie Holmes.

"I did something really stupid," he told News gossip columnist George Rush a couple of weeks ago.

"I put a belt around my neck in the shower. Fortunately, it didn't work," he said.

"He was phoning me every other day," said Rush. "I kept saying, 'You got to get yourself some medication.' He said he was on some, but it just didn't work for very long."

Schmidt was arrested in July after obtaining pictures of Cruise's wedding in Italy last year from a co-defendant, authorities said.

Schmidt threatened to release the pictures if Cruise didn't pay up, authorities said.

Schmidt, who had served time for violating a restraining order taken out by the mother of his daughters, was due back in court on Oct. 11 and faced up to two years behind bars.

"I can't go back to prison," he told Rush.

"I tried to tell him how much he had to look forward to, that there was some publishing interest in a book and he could use his time in prison to write his memoirs," Rush said.

But Schmidt was evidently too depressed.

"He had to wear an ankle monitor. He couldn't leave the house, and there were liens on everything he owned," Rush said. "He was days away from getting stripped of everything."

Schmidt was famous for getting hold of sex tapes and nude photos of celebrities.

He tried to auction off diaries and naked pictures of Paris Hilton that had been locked in a Los Angeles storage locker.

He said he had a sex video of Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on "Saved by the Bell," and he sold topless shots of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a former prisoner of war.

He also said he had nude pictures of Gennifer Flowers, who claimed to have had an affair with former President Bill Clinton.

"He loved doing these deals," said Rush. "When he had something in the works, he was pumped up. Full of energy.

"But he couldn't do it anymore. He was afraid the prosecutors would use it as evidence that he was unrepentant and continuing to be up to his old tricks.

"It left him with no income."

Cops said they found Schmidt at 3 p.m. on Friday after they noticed the tracking device he was wearing had not moved.

"He was a lovable rogue," Rush said. "Every time he was on the phone, you knew there was another wild story coming down the pike."

Via nydailynews