Controversial Publicist Found Dead

Publicist David Hans Schmidt, who plead guilty last month to attempting to extort Tom Cruise, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Phoenix home on Friday.

Schmidt was under house arrest after agreeing to plead guilty to a $1 million extortion fiasco, using Tom Cruise's stolen wedding photos. According to the AP, authorities went to Schmidt's Phoenix home after a tracking device on him had not moved and he hadn't checked in, said police Lt. Anthony Lopez.

Schmidt is also known for an auction of Paris Hilton's diaries, and for representing Olympic scandal skater Tonya Harding and prostitute Divine Brown, who dallied with actor Hugh Grant. More recently, Schmidt said he was involved in Dustin "Screech" Diamond's nasty sex video.



Reader Comments

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76. Cioncidence..i think not...READ THIS SUCIDE STORY BELOW--too similar with the involvement of that CUlt...ONLY THING is I hear a high up in the police force takes money and free lessons at the clebrity center of teh cult

http://www.cultnews.com/?p=2235

Those pictures were a lot more than wedding pics and why the hell is the police chasing someone down on wedding pics when LA is awash with DUIs and murders...hmmmm

Posted at 8:21PM on Sep 29th 2007 by Mi@pocca

77. The Scientologists on here are scaring me.

Look, their religion was founded by a Sci-Fi writer who once publicly said that he thought it would be neat to start a religion. Ever see L. Ron's Dianetics book cover with the volcano? Do you know what these fruitcakes are eventually told once brainwashed. Google Xenu.

L. Ron had a dream vision that Xenu was an evil alien overlord who took a bunch of aliens and chained them to Earth's volcanoes (although some of the volcanoes he names weren't even formed by the year he says this happened) and "detonated" all of our volcanoes at the same time. Then, he claims that those alien souls wander our planet still and get stuck onto ours. Which is why you "remember" things from past lives. So, after continually paying your fees, a mediator/moderator helps you to "exorcise" the aliens from your soul.

Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself. They don''t give you L.Ron's crazy story until they've got you in pretty deep. They start out with practical life improvement/body improvement stuff, add in some "wow, I do have some memories that are from another life" parlor-trick hypnosis. And bam! Thousands (or in celeb's cases - millions) later, you're goofy as hell.

Posted at 8:58PM on Sep 29th 2007 by Read up on Xenu, peeps! Warn others b4 they're sucked in

78. That piece of dirt should have known how serious scientology programmed robots work.

Posted at 9:08PM on Sep 29th 2007 by P-Type

79. Go to wikipedia.com and type in Xenu.


It'll piss the nut-job scientologists off. And it'll arm you with the truth.

Posted at 9:19PM on Sep 29th 2007 by Just Go To Wikipedia and type Xenu

80. Where do all these postsers come from? What reality are y0u all living in anyhow?
The scientologists don't knock people off. get real here, you guys. They are wedding pictures. Tom did the right thing in dealing with extortion. Extortion is EVIL. Have you guys forgotten what EVIL is? I do have some sympathy, though, on a lost soul. But it is plain STUPID to everytime something Tom Cruz does or says, Scientology is brought into it. Do we have to be so ridiculous?

Posted at 9:36PM on Sep 29th 2007 by PJ

81. Tom has a universal remote for all his ROBOTS- HA!!!!!

Posted at 9:45PM on Sep 29th 2007 by P-Type

82. It was not a hit or a murder you stupid tmz readers.Go to scientologynetwork com and read the police report.Thanks TC

Posted at 10:25PM on Sep 29th 2007 by Tom Cruise

83. Actually, doesn't the dead guy look like a fat Tom Cruise

Posted at 11:40PM on Sep 29th 2007 by hahahahahaha - Wheeeeee!

84. HE WAS MURDERED HE MAY HAVE BEEN A SLEAZE BUT I UNDERSTAND THE GUY WAS NOT DEPRESSED

Posted at 4:26PM on Sep 30th 2007 by CHRIS

85. I met this dude in the Chicago Midway airport in 2001. We sat and had a drink together. I thought he was a good guy. Total perve though...He kept asking me if I would pose for him in penthouse. He said he was an agent and knew all the right people that would help my modeling career...Sad, I think he was killed....too many enemies out there

Posted at 12:04PM on Sep 30th 2007 by Kris

86. The Co$ is too clever to do an out-and-out hit. Usually, they just harass and terrorize the target (called "Fair Game" by L.Ron Hubbard) until the person commits suicide. Happens a lot.

I don't think it's fair to blame Tom Cruise for what the "church" does. Celebrity Scientologists are kept blissfully unaware of the more nefarious goings-on inside the cult.

Posted at 2:49AM on Sep 30th 2007 by Do-jo

87. Poor man! It was not suicide, imo! He probably was harrassed unmercifully!

Poor Nicole! She acts like she's still under the thumb of Tiny Tom (Tiny Tom's thumb!)
Those ridiculous statements that she made to that mag, about losing Tiny Tom's babies. When most of Hollywood knows that Tiny Tom is sterile! And loves the guys!

Tiny Tom is such a control freak, that he's in the hunt to find the guy who farted during Tom's imposed "minute of silence" in "tribute" to the anti-nazis. Such nazi-like tactics!

It's enough for a written story! I read that his mom should write one. Suggested title: "My Son the Fart Detective!"

Posted at 2:51AM on Sep 30th 2007 by Babawawa

88. Don't mess with Tom Cruise or his posse of scientogistist will gun you down....really i wouldnt doubt it.......

Posted at 3:11AM on Sep 30th 2007 by vegasdreaming702

89. SCIENTOLOGY+TOM CRUISE=A HIT FOR SURE

Posted at 3:16AM on Sep 30th 2007 by Here comes the judge

90. PARANOIA.... - Why do people fear Scientology. Ugh, duh, cause it's a CULT, not a religion, dumb-ass.

Posted at 10:21AM on Sep 30th 2007 by Spurs

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