Hidden-Camera Sting Captures Alleged Travolta Extortion

Sept. 29, 2009— -- As actor John Travolta prepares to take the stand in the Bahamas today, a hidden-camera video could provide incriminating evidence in the case against two people accused of trying to blackmail the actor for $25 million for documents relating to the January death of his teenage son.

The video reportedly captures one of the defendants, paramedic Tarino Lightbourne, negotiating with Travolta's lawyer, Michael McDermott, for a payoff to keep do-not-transfer documents signed by Travolta confidential, according to a report by People magazine. Near the end of the 44-minute tape, the pair reportedly settled on a price of $15 million.

"Case closed. Case closed," Lightbourne says in the video. "Once this is closed, it's buried deeper than the Titanic."

The alleged extortion did not stay buried for long, however, as Travolta's bodyguard of 23 years said during trial that he learned of the extortion attempt and was the one to tell Travolta. Travolta took the two defendants to trial earlier this month.

In the trial's latest twist, a police report claimed Bahamian lawmaker Pleasant Bridgewater, also charged with blackmailing Travolta, burned her copy of the key medical record in the case, using a candle to ignite the document, and flushed the ashes down the toilet after she got nervous the "incident was about to explode."

The paperwork they allegedly threatened to release is a "refusal to transport," which someone would sign when refusing emergency medical services, thereby releasing first responders from liability.

The do-not-transfer documents were signed by Travolta, meaning he wanted son Jett, 16, taken to Florida for treatment. But the actor later changed his mind and accompanied Jett to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.