Publicist nicknamed 'Sultan of Sleaze' kills self

Confidence lost
Schmidt "viewed himself as a true pioneer in his field of celebrity sleaze," said David Gingras, an attorney who represented Web sites interested in the photos and videos Schmidt offered. "David was cocky, confident and fearless."

But Gingras said that demeanor was markedly different when the two men went out for wine and steaks about three weeks before police found Schmidt's body.

"The swagger was entirely gone, and he seemed tired, quiet, contemplative and painfully aware of the end of his road approaching," he said. "David knew that the day he was released from prison, he would be homeless, broke, and his only possessions would be the clothes on his back."

Doug Schmidt said his brother liked to come off as a millionaire, but that kind of financial success eluded him.

"He always had a million-dollar deal going on," he said. "He always wanted to be the big shot, and he never got the big deal to back it up."

Faced hard time over extortion plot
Doug Schmidt said his brother was always asking his family for money and that he was diagnosed as manic-depressive but never got treatment. But, he said, it was his brother's failed attempt at extorting $1.3 million from Tom Cruise that sent him over the edge.

Court documents show Schmidt met with the actor's representatives and an undercover FBI agent July 24 in Los Angeles. At the meeting, he compared his actions to "legal extortion" and said he would "hunt down to hell and back" anyone who crossed him.

Schmidt agreed to plead guilty to a charge of attempted extortion and faced up to two years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. He was scheduled to enter a formal plea on Oct. 11, according to his Los Angeles-area defense lawyer, Nancy Kardon. Court records also show Schmidt had recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"I think it's a very sad thing that he elected to hang himself," Cruise lawyer Bert Fields said. "Certainly no one wanted that despite what he did."

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