EXTORT PERP SCARED OF DAVE

The accused CBS producer who attempted a $2 million shakedown of late show king David Letterman was so paranoid he thought Dave was out to get him!

Accused blackmailer Robert 'Joe' Haldeman who ignited the Letterman sex scandal with his bungled extort attempt though Dave might get him fired, burn his house down or even kill him, according to nerw details revealed in court.

What Letterman did was tip the cops and the FBI who arranged a sting to net the man Dave was sharing lover Stephanie Birkitt with.

"I'm not sure how crazy this guy is, or um, how dangerous he might be," former 48 Hours producer Robert "Joe" Halderman reaveld on a secret tape recording about Letterman in an excerpt released yesterday by Manhattan prosecutors.

"So, just for safekeeping, I'm going to keep a copy of everything," Halderman told Letterman's lawyer who had been secretly wired by the DA.

Halderman cautioned the lawyer  he'd be keeping the original e-mails linking the married talk-show host to affairs with female staffers, even as he offered to sell the originals to Dave in the guise of a "movie treatment."

Prosecution claims what Halderman was really offering to Letterman was his promise of silence -- a classic blackmail cocktail --  with a hush money chaser.