Man Arrested in Threats Against Johnny Carson

A Milwaukee man who for more than two years sent letters and tape-recordings threatening to kill entertainer Johnny Carson and other celebrities was arrested Wednesday when he showed up at the NBC Studios in Burbank with a homemade bludgeon--a sock filled with gravel--in his jacket, Burbank police said.

Ken Orville Gause, 36, was being held at the Burbank City Jail on suspicion of attempted extortion, making terrorist threats and carrying a dangerous, concealed weapon, Sgt. Don Goldberg said.

The network’s security guards were expecting Gause because he had sent a letter threatening Carson and saying he would visit the studios, where Carson’s “Tonight Show” is filmed, early this month, Goldberg said.

He said police were seeking bail of $250,000 for Gause, who was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Burbank Municipal Court.

Gause, who sent numerous letters and tapes to the network including one in which he allegedly threatened to blow up the studios, had been the subject of an investigation by Burbank police detectives since early 1987, Goldberg said.

KNBC-TV news reported Wednesday evening that Gause had threatened to kill Carson unless he was paid $5 million. Studio representatives were unavailable for comment.

Gause arrived in Los Angeles from Milwaukee aboard a Greyhound bus Wednesday and immediately took a taxi to the studios, at 3000 W. Alameda Ave., police said.

Security guards apprehended Gause shortly after 3 p.m. in a studio lobby when he started making demands and threats, Goldberg said.

He did not get near any celebrities, police said.

Goldberg said Gause had been ordered off the NBC Studio grounds in the past, but police could not provide details about those occasions.