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David Letterman is no stranger to psycho fan obsession; something about his twitchy, sarcastic demeanor beckons them like a silent dog whistle. But a recent incident involving a deranged fan in New Mexico who claims she was being personally tormented by Letterman through coded on-air behavior had an usual outcome: it was Letterman himself who was served with the restraining order.

Late last week, a Santa Fe District Court judge signed a temporary restraining order against talk-show host David Letterman alleging he has tormented a city resident for more than 10 years by using code words on his television program.


Now lawyers for Letterman are asking District Judge Daniel Sanchez to quash the unusual order on the grounds the complaint by Colleen Nestler is without merit, according to a motion filed Tuesday.

In the application for the restraining order, which was filed Thursday, Nestler alleges that between May 1994 and now, Letterman forced her to go bankrupt and caused her mental cruelty and sleep deprivation.

Nestler s application was accompanied by a typed, six-page, double-spaced letter in which she said Letterman used code words, gestures and eye expressions to convey his desire to marry her and train her as his co-host . Her story also involves Regis Philbin, Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelsey Grammer, whom Nestler says either supported or attempted to thwart her relationship with Letterman, according to the letter. [...]


Then, three days before Thanksgiving in 1993, Letterman asked Nestler to be his wife during a televised teaser for his show when he said, Marry me Oprah, Nestler wrote in the letter.

Oprah had become my first of many code names, she wrote. ... (A)s time passed, the code-vocabulary increased & changed, but in the beginning things like C on baseball caps referred to me, and specific messages through songs sung by his guests, were the beginnings of what became an elaborate means of communication between he and myself.

Judge Sanchez refuses to comment on why he signed the petition, and Nestler offered no reasons as to why it took 12 years for her to file it. We think it's safe to assume, however, that Oprah's recent guest appearance must have been the culprit, throwing Letterman's obsessor into a tailspin of torment when she realized she wasn't the only special lady code-named Oprah in his life.