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Cosby Informer Picks Up $100G

The informer in the Ennis Cosby murder case collected a $100,000 reward Thursday from the National Enquirer, according to CBS affiliate KCBS.

Christopher So called the tabloid with information that led to the conviction of Mikail Markhasev for the murder of Bill Cosby's only son.

The 34-year-old So has served time in jail for embezzlement, and says he never intends to get in trouble with the law again. One reason for that, he acknowledged, is fear of reprisals if he went back to jail.

So contacted the tabloid after they posted a reward. He said he drove Markhasev and a friend, Michael Chang to a flood control channel where they searched for a discarded gun.

Wearing a National Enquirer T-shirt and a cap bearing the words, "Enquiring Mind," So said he did what anyone should have when he turned in Markhasev, the 19-year-old Ukrainian immigrant who shot Cosby in a robbery attempt.

Markhasev, convicted Tuesday, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

"He took somebody else's life, somebody's son," So said. "I have a kid too and if something happened to my kid I'd want somebody to come forward and do what I did."

The tabloid said it was happy to write the check.

"We consider it money well spent," said Jerry George, the Enquirer's Los Angeles bureau chief. "It took a killer off the streets and put him behind bars."

He said Markhasev bragged: "I shot a nigger. It's all over the news."

So said he plans to give part of his reward to the Ennis William Cosby Foundation for children who require special education.

©1998 CBS Worldwide Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report

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