Nevada governor's divorce papers claim infidelityThe estranged wife of Gov. Jim Gibbons accuses him of being untruthful about two extramarital affairs. He filed for divorce in May.
Associated Press
April 7, 2009
Reno -- Gov. Jim Gibbons' estranged wife accuses him in divorce papers of having extramarital affairs with a former Playboy magazine model and another woman to whom he sent hundreds of text messages last year.
The Republican governor has been untruthful about his "infidelity" with the two women, Dawn Gibbons contends in a divorce filing that was unsealed Monday by a court order in Washoe County Family Court.
The governor has insisted that both women were just friends. He filed for divorce in May, citing "incompatibility" with his wife.
In court papers, Dawn Gibbons identified one of the women as Kathy Karrasch,
who over several weeks received more than 860 text messages from the governor on his state cellphone.
The governor publicly apologized and reimbursed the state $130. He denied that the messages were "love notes."
The court documents identified the second woman as Leslie Durant, who once posed in Playboy and is the former wife of ex-Reno Mayor Pete Sferrazza.
Jim and Dawn Gibbons were married in June 1986.
A few months before the governor filed for divorce, his office acknowledged that he and his wife were having problems and that he had moved out of the governor's mansion. Dawn Gibbons remained in the mansion for a while but now lives in an adjacent apartment.
In June, Jim Gibbons acknowledged he had used his state cellphone to send hundreds of text messages to Karrasch.
Dawn Gibbons said in court documents that her husband's explanation that he was consulting with Karrasch on matters related to state government "is false, and is laughable."
