It always seems like it’s someone you would never suspect. At least that’s what they always say.
Michael David Barrett has been described as a normal guy who played golf, grilled on the patio behind his $300,000 suburban Chicago home and kept his yard looking neat.
But the 47-year-old sales management employee of the Combined Insurance Company of America was arrested Friday for allegedly stalking ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and posting online several secretly recorded videos. He also is accused of trying to sell videos of Andrews to celebrity Web site TMZ.com.
The Associated Press reports an FBI affidavit said Barrett specifically asked for a room next to Andrews at a Tennessee hotel where seven videos were likely taken, apparently through an altered peephole. An eighth video may have been shot at a Milwaukee hotel.
A federal magistrate judge is expected to decide today whether Barrett should be returned to California as a prisoner or be freed on bail. He faces charges in Los Angeles, where TMZ is based, of interstate stalking. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
His lawyer, Rick Beuke, said he did not believe Barrett had so much as a traffic ticket on his record. “He’s as regular a guy as you’ll ever meet — a great friend.”
A jury may eventually decide that.
ODDITIES: Sixty-one-year-old Jack Holsinger and 44-year-old Connie Spitznagel were both made up as pale-faced vampires for their Halloween-themed wedding Saturday night at a haunted house near Cleveland. Holsinger arrived in a coffin inside a hearse, and the coffin was carried to the altar by six pallbearers. Minister Greg Kopp was dressed as Jason in the “Friday the 13th” movies. After the vows were exchanged, he ordered Holsinger not to kiss his new bride but instead to bite her on the neck.
PLANNING AHEAD: It may be a little premature considering the way they have played the past month, but online registration for St. Louis Cardinals World Series tickets began at 10 today. Fans must pre-register at stlcardinals.com by noon CST Oct. 15. A random drawing will determine who gets the limited number of World Series tickets for any games that would be played at Busch Stadium. Winners will be notified by e-mail on Oct. 16, and the e-mail will detail how winners can buy tickets on Oct. 20.
PLASMA PARADISE: In case you’re wondering how John Madden spends his NFL Sundays now that he has retired from the television booth, click here.
BEING SMART AT THE WATER COOLER: In Kentucky, it’s the law that a person must take a bath once a year.
ON THIS DATE: In 1969, the British TV comedy program “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” made its debut on BBC 1. The rest, as they say, is history.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Will the St. Louis Rams win a game this season?
