The wife of crooked NBA ref Tim Donaghy - who two years ago denied to her rumors that he had an Arizona girlfriend - was spurred to file for divorce last week after The Post confirmed the other woman's existence, a source said.
Kim Donaghy now believes news of the other woman will help her get a hefty divorce settlement from Tim - despite her having signed a prenuptial agreement 12 years ago, another source said. Kim in the past had tearfully told friends: "I want to leave the bastard, but I can't because of the prenup. If I leave, I get no money unless I have serious proof that he's ruined the marriage," according to that source.
The developments come as Tim Donaghy awaits sentencing on federal gambling-related charges. He last month admitted in Brooklyn federal court to taking money in exchange for feeding gambling buddies inside information about basketball games.
"At some point, maybe two years ago, [Kim] had heard rumors about a girl in Arizona," said a source close to Kim. "He [Tim] was bragging about her to his golf buddies, and I guess one of the wives told her, so she confronted him."
"He convinced her that it wasn't true. He said, 'No, no,' and just kept denying it. And she believed him."
But two weeks ago, The Post revealed Tim had a woman he had called his "girlfriend" in Phoenix - Cheryl Wolfe-Ruiz, a busty, blond sports-bar owner.
That story disclosed that Tim had slept in a hotel room he rented for Wolfe-Ruiz when he traveled to Phoenix for a game, despite the fact that the NBA had rented him another room.
"When the story came out, and she was staring at the face of her husband's girlfriend in The Post, that was it," the source said. "And shortly thereafter, she started filing the papers. It was just too much."
Kim Donaghy filed for divorce last Thursday in Florida, claiming the marriage is "irretrievably broken."
Tim's criminal-defense lawyer, John Lauro, yesterday declined to comment on the divorce and purported prenup agreement. But Lauro angrily denied Tim had ever told a friend that "if she knows what's good for her, she'll never try to leave me . . . she says she wants out and I always say, "I dare you, I dare you to leave me.' "
The Post yesterday quoted a friend of Tim as saying that.
Lauro said, "Those quotes are false . . . Someone for whatever reason is trying to portray Tim in a false light."
A source said Kim long had contemplated divorce but held off on it because she had signed a prenup that shielded Tim's assets.
"Kim would always say, 'I'm a prisoner in the castle.' She was miserable, but couldn't leave because of the prenup," the friend recalled. "If she left him, she wouldn't get any money. She's got four kids she's got to raise. She needed the money, the money was always why she stayed."
"There was that huge picture of this blond, smiley girlfriend in The Post, she certainly had grounds to leave him," Kim's friend said.
"Kim's case is basically proven for her. She knew she had to step up once the story came out. She needs the money and now she'll get it. She's got proof that he cheated on her."
From The New York Post.
Recent Comments