Divorce filings accuse Gibbons of affairs

Associated Press

Published Monday, April 6, 2009 | 3:27 p.m.

Updated Monday, April 6, 2009 | 4:40 p.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons

First lady Dawn Gibbons accuses Gov. Jim Gibbons 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, his estranged wife says in a divorce filing which was unsealed Monday by a court order in Washoe County Family Court.

The governor has insisted both women were just friends. He filed for divorce last May, citing "incompatibility" with his wife.

Dawn Gibbons identified one of the women in the documents as Kathy Karrasch, who over several weeks received more than 860 text messages from the governor on his state cell phone.

The governor publicly apologized and reimbursed the state $130. He denied the messages were "love notes."

The documents identified the second woman as Leslie Durant, who once posed in Playboy magazine and is the former wife of ex-Reno Mayor Pete Sferrazza.

The first lady alleged Gibbons wanted a divorce because he was having an affair with a woman who had known the couple for years.

The Gibbons were married in June 1986.

A few months before the governor's divorce filing, his office acknowledged the couple was having problems and that he had moved out of the mansion. Dawn Gibbons remained in the governor's mansion for a while, but now lives in an adjacent apartment.

Last June, Gibbons acknowledged he had used his state cell phone to send hundreds of text messages to Karrasch.

Dawn Gibbons said in court documents that her husband's explanation that he used the text messages to consult with Karrasch on matters related to state government "is false and is laughable."

Discussion: 10 comments so far…

By GHM

4/6/09 at 5:13 p.m.

Suggest removal

I HOPE HE PAYS AND PAYS AND PAYS
By afveteran

4/6/09 at 7:08 p.m.

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This is a shocker.
By jalan25

4/6/09 at 10:12 p.m.

Suggest removal

It's too bad he didn't actually try to govern instead of chasing tail. Still think you voted for the right candidate northern Nevada?
By BringtheRain

4/6/09 at 10:19 p.m.

Suggest removal

From another version:

"It was once said in another context that being in close quarters with such a volatile person was like being locked in a phone booth with an enraged ferret," the governor said of his wife.
By jfnance32

4/6/09 at 11:27 p.m.

Suggest removal

"It's too bad he didn't actually try to govern instead of chasing tail."

Yes, it is sad.

Perhaps instead of chasing tail if he have ordered the death of Bin Laden when he has several easy attempts to do so.

The world would have been a much different place.
By denro

4/7/09 at 12:18 a.m.

Suggest removal

Sorry, but stories, lawsuits and insinuations aside, that man just looks sleazy.
By afveteran

4/7/09 at 9:55 a.m.

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Trying to cure a man like Gibbons from chasing women outside his own house is like trying to get a leopard to change his spots. Can't be done. The man is cursed forever in that area.
By azsk8fan

4/8/09 at 6:36 a.m.

Suggest removal

And he's not even good looking so what, besides his money, do these women see in him?
By NVCitizen

4/8/09 at 8:26 a.m.

Suggest removal

As big a scumbag as Gibbons is, Dawn is not completely without blame here. She had to know that Sleazebag Jim was whoring around, yet she chose to stay by him in order to become the First Lady of the State of Nevada. His affairs were know for quite a while, so apparently she had her own agenda. And where is the Mormon Church in all of this? Should they not be condemning one of their own?
By gregoryabutler

4/8/09 at 9:04 a.m.

Suggest removal

"Just friends" - with a Playboy bunny?

Come on Jim, you can come up with a better lie than that!