Johnny Carson Testifies Man Came to His Home

Entertainer Johnny Carson testified Thursday that he hired armed security guards for his protection after a man accused of sending him threatening letters and tapes in an extortion attempt appeared outside his Malibu home.

Carson, 64, testified at a preliminary hearing in Burbank Municipal Court that after investigators showed him a picture of Ken Orville Gause, “I realized I had seen him and my wife had seen him” outside the star’s home. Carson said he had received many threatening letters and audio tapes from Gause over the last two years.

Gause, armed with a homemade bludgeon--a sock filled with salt--was arrested Dec. 6 when he showed up at the NBC studios in Burbank, where Carson’s “Tonight Show” is taped, making threats and demanding to see Carson, police said.