Lewd last text message between famous actor Daniele Legler and Australian bodybuilder Zhenya Vernon, who claims she was his wife

Flirtatious text messages have emerged between a well-known European actor and his Australian personal assistant after she claimed their relationship had turned sexual and fought for the right to a share of his multimillion-dollar fortune.

Italian-born, Swiss-raised actor Daniele Legler died in April 2022 at the age of 72, leaving his five children a “substantial fortune” with assets in New South Wales, Portugal, Liechtenstein and Malta.

Zhenya Vernon, who was born in Russia but is an Australian citizen, claimed in the New South Wales Supreme Court that the couple were in a de facto relationship and lived together at his beachfront home in Portugal for six years before his death.

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, “Wouldn’t mind having you in my pool…”

He continued the flirtatious text exchange by offering to take her “romantically” to the Biennale di Venezia, a cultural exhibition in the Italian city of Venice, news.com.au reported.

“I want to go to the desert with you and I want to go on a boat with you. This year. And to Venice. And to Russia and Ukraine? I want to go with you,” he wrote.

Mr. Legler then died of a heart attack at around 3 a.m. on April 23 at one of his residences in Lagos, Portugal.

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Melbourne-based Ms Vernon met Mr Legler – who is 30 years her senior – when she helped him get a visa to Australia so he could visit his two young children from a previous marriage.

The eldest of Mr Legler’s five children, 31-year-old Nadja, argued in court that Ms Vernon was trying to take away their “rightful inheritance”.

In a ruling handed down this week, Judge Pike found that while Ms Vernon appeared to be “motivated by self-interest and financial gain,” she nonetheless had a valid claim.

Ms. Vernon markets herself as a visa consultant, and court records show emails from Mr. Legler to friends describing her as efficient and capable.

In 2004, at the age of 24, she moved to Australia with her ex-husband, a British citizen, and in 2012 she completed a degree that qualified her to work as a migration agent.

She is also the author of a fitness book called “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 appeared in more than 30 films and television productions in Europe and in his later years worked as an acting teacher, traveling the world and conducting workshops.

Through his work as an actor and the family fortune of his father, Fredy, who was president of the Legler Textile Group, known for its cotton and jeans production, Mr. Legler had amassed a considerable fortune.

Much of this wealth is held in real estate and 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 in which he lived in Australia on the north coast of New South Wales.

Nadja told the court that she was not aware that the relationship between her father and Mrs Vernon was anything but professional.

However, when she was shown emails and text messages he had sent to friends, she acknowledged that there may have been a “sexual” aspect, but she still did not believe the two were together.

“She was of the opinion that Zhenya was attempting to defraud her and her siblings of their rightful inheritance in these proceedings,” Judge Pike noted.

In one of the emails Mr Legler sent to a friend, Dr Alberto Ferrari, in 2018, he described the couple’s relationship.

“Zhenya is great, she does almost everything … she is capable, a manager, diplomatic, arranges meetings, negotiates with the Russian House, the Russian government and Australia, she has contacts in both countries and now even in the Middle East,” Mr Legler wrote.

“I consider her a secret person, a friend and lately even a little more: … ah ah!! A leopard cannot change its spots …

“But I’m 68 and there’s some money, she knows it.”

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, informing him that she had “ended her relationship with her father.”

“So don’t worry, I’m pissing off,” she wrote.

The next day she wrote an email apologizing for her language.

“Janis, I apologize for the upsetting messages I sent you yesterday. I drank too much at lunch yesterday and couldn’t contain my emotions,” she wrote.

“I hope you understand and that it won’t happen again. Zhenya.”

The court also heard testimony from a friend of Ms Vernon’s, Yevgeniy Kushkin, whom she has known since 2003. He is a business owner and former deputy director of international relations at Sverdlovsk Film Studios in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

He testified in court that when the couple visited Russia, where Mr Legler was holding an acting master class, he told him: “I love Zhenya. She is very important to me.”

“Now that I am with Zhenya, our life revolves around Australia. I plan to return to Australia soon to see my twins.”

However, the court also heard that during her relationship with Mr Legler, Ms Vernon had been in contact with a friend living in Australia, with whom she dated for a time and did not get along, and that after Mr Legler’s death she had texted him saying: “By the way, the Swiss guy died this Friday.”

The court also heard that she withdrew $35,000 from Mr Legler’s Australian Westpac account the day after his death, followed by a further $22,300 a few days later.

Shortly after his death, she also withdrew €63,000 (AUD 102,076) from a European joint account.

Judge Pike also had concerns about Ms Vernon’s creditworthiness and described her as an “unsatisfactory and unreliable witness”.

“Zhenya repeatedly refused to answer the question posed to her and instead made long speeches that she believed would help her cause,” he noted.

Despite his concerns, Judge Pike ruled that he was satisfied that, although the couple travelled frequently, they both considered their residence in Portugal to be their home and, in fact, lived together there.

“I am convinced that the relationship still existed at the time of the deceased’s death,” he said in his decision.

“She was his actual contact person within the meaning of the relevant legal provisions.”

Judge Pike appointed an independent person as executor.

The case will be brought back to court in July to decide on costs.