Raunchy final texts emerge between famous actor Daniele Legler and Aussie bodybuilder Zhenya Vernon who claims she was his spouse – as she seeks a share of the dead star’s fortune
Flirty texts have emerged between a well-known European actor and his Australian personal assistant as she won the right to claim a share in his multi-million dollar estate after claiming their relationship had turned sexual.
Actor Daniele Legler, born in Italy and raised in Switzerland, died in April 2022 at the age of 72, leaving his five children a ‘substantial estate’ with assets in NSW, Portugal, Liechtenstein and Malta.
The court saw text messages from the successful actor that he sent on April 22, 2022, just hours before his death.
Mr Legler sent Ms Vernon, who is in her early 40s, a message saying: ‘I wouldn’t mind having you in my pool…’.
Zhenya Vernon, who was born in Russia but is an Australian citizen, claimed in the NSW Supreme Court that she and Mr Legler were in a de facto relationship and lived together at his beachside home in Portugal for six years before his death.
European actor Daniele Legler (pictured left on the set of the German TV program Kreuzfahrt ins Glück) left his estate to his five children
He continued the flirty text exchange with an offer to take her “romantically” to La Biennale di Venezia, a cultural exhibition in the Italian city of Venice. news.com.au.
‘I want to go to the desert with you (sic) and I want to go in a boat with you. This year. And to Venice. And to Russia and Ukraine? I want to come with you,” he wrote.
Mr Legler subsequently died of a heart attack at around 3am on April 23 at one of his homes in Lagos, Portugal.
Ms Vernon, based in Melbourne, first met Mr Legler – 30 years her senior – when she helped him get a visa to Australia to visit his two young children from a previous marriage.
The eldest of Mr Legler’s five children, Nadja, 31, argued in court that Mrs Vernon was trying to take their “rightful inheritance”.
In a judgment handed down this week, Judge Pike ruled that while Ms Vernon appeared ‘motivated by self-interest and financial gain’, she also had a valid claim.
Ms Vernon markets herself as a visa consultant and court documents show emails Mr Legler sent to friends describing her as efficient and capable.
She moved to Australia in 2004 at the age of 24 with her former husband, a British citizen, and obtained a degree in 2012 to qualify her to work as a migration agent.
She has also written a fitness book titled ‘How to Love Getting the Shape You Want: Why Feeling Good and Looking Great Opens More Doors’ and has competed in bodybuilding competitions.
Mr. Legler had appeared in more than thirty films and television productions in Europe and in his later years had worked as an acting coach, traveled the world and taught workshops.
Mr Legler (pictured) had a ‘significant’ fortune thanks to family money and worked as an actor for thirty years. He recently gave master classes all over the world
Through his acting and the family money from his father Fredy, who was president of the Legler Textile Group, known for its cotton and denim production, Mr. Legler had amassed a significant fortune.
Much of that wealth is held in real estate, along with bank and cryptocurrency accounts in Europe and Australia.
Mr Legler’s eldest daughter, Nadja, is one of three children from his first marriage, while his two youngest children from his second marriage were born during a brief period when he lived in Australia on the northern coast of NSW.
Nadja told the court she was unaware that the relationship between her father and Mrs Vernon was anything but professional.
However, after being shown emails and text messages he had sent to friends, she admitted there may have been a “sexual” aspect to it, but she still didn’t believe they were together.
Ms Vernon (pictured) met Mr Legler as a visa consultant when he was planning a visit for his Australian-based children from a previous marriage
“She believed that in these proceedings Zhenya was attempting to defraud her and her siblings of their rightful inheritance,” Judge Pike noted.
One of the emails Mr Legler sent to a friend, Dr Alberto Ferrari, in 2018 outlined the couple’s relationship.
‘Zhenya is great, she does almost everything… she is competent, a manager, diplomatic, arranges meetings, deals with the Russian House, the Russian government and Oz, she has contacts in both countries, and now even with the Middle East East,” Mr. Legler wrote.
‘I consider her a secret person, a friend, and lately a little more: … ah ah!! A leopard cannot change its spots…
“But I’m 68 and there’s some money, she knows.”
The court was also shown emails from Ms Vernon in which she discussed her relationship with Mr Legler and his adult children.
In 2020, Ms. Vernon sent an email to the actor’s son, Janis, telling him she had “terminated the relationship (sic) with your father.”
“So don’t worry about anything because I’m messing around,” she wrote.
The next day she wrote an email apologizing for her language.
“Janis, I apologize for the disturbed messages I sent you yesterday. I drank too much at lunch yesterday and couldn’t suppress the emotions,” she wrote.
‘Hope for understanding and it won’t happen again. Zhenya.’
The court heard raunchy text messages sent by the actor (pictured, far left) to Ms Vernon hours before he died
The court also heard evidence from a friend of Ms Vernon, Yevgeniy Kushkin, who she has known since 2003 and is a business owner and former Deputy Director of International Relations at the Sverdlovsk Film Studios in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
When the couple visited Russia for Mr Legler to give an acting masterclass, he told the court he told him: ‘I love Zhenya. She is very important to me’.
“Now that I’m with Zhenya… our lives revolve around Australia… I plan to go back to Australia soon to see my twins.”
However, the court also heard that while in a relationship with Mr Legler, Ms Vernon kept in touch with an occasional boyfriend from Australia, and that she texted him after Mr Legler died to say: ‘By the way, the Swiss died this Friday’.
The court also heard she withdrew $35,000 from his Australian Westpac account the day after Mr Legler died, followed by another $22,300 days later.
Shortly after his death, she also withdrew €63,000 from a European joint account.
Judge Pike also had reservations about Ms Vernon’s creditworthiness, describing her as an ‘unsatisfactory and unreliable witness’.
“Zhenya repeatedly refused to answer the question put to her, instead giving long speeches that she thought would support her case,” he noted.
Despite his concerns, Judge Pike ruled that he was satisfied that although the couple traveled frequently, they both regarded the property in Portugal as their home base and that they were indeed living there together.
“I am satisfied that the relationship remained good on the day of the deceased’s death,” he said in his decision.
‘She was de facto his within the meaning of the relevant statutory provisions.’
Judge Pike appointed an independent person as administrator of the will.
The case will return to court in July to hear a claim for costs reimbursement.