A chauffeur for Yoko  Ono  was arrested Wednesday for trying to  extort $2 million from her by threatening to circulate embarrassing photos of  her, and he also spoke of killing her and son Sean Lennon, police said.





Koral Karsan was arrested after Ono reported the plot, New York Police  Department spokesman Paul Browne said. Charges were pending.

Karsan,  while being led into a police station, denied trying to extort Ono.

"No," he said. "No way."

The security staff for Ono, the widow  of John  Lennon , told detectives that Karsan, who  lives in Amityville, wrote in a rambling note to her that he had secretly  photographed her and made audiotapes of her in private moments. Karsan warned he  would make the material public if she didn't pay him, police said.

Ono  spokesman Eliot Mintz said Karsan had worked for Lennon's widow for at least six  years, driving her on an almost daily basis when she was in New York.



She is one woman who has been through enough," Mintz said. "For an employee -  especially a trusted employee who drove her - to attempt a shakedown has left  her just absolutely shocked."

On Dec. 8, the 26th anniversary of  Lennon's killing, Karsan dropped off the note and a photo of Ono in nightclothes  at the Dakota apartment building, where the former Beatle once lived with her  and where she still resides, police said.

Karsan, 50, talked about  killing her, her son and himself during a later conversation with one of her  associates, which was recorded by investigators, police said.

The  audiotapes of Ono were apparently recorded while she was speaking on a phone in  the car with Karsan at the wheel, Mintz said.

"You're reminded that this  takes place around that time of the anniversary, when she is in a particularly  vulnerable position," Mintz said. "It just adds insult to injury. This one's  really cold."

On the night of Dec. 8, 1980, Lennon was returning with  Ono to the Dakota from a recording studio when Mark David Chapman opened fire  with a .38-caliber revolver, hitting him four times.
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