Bill Murray to divorce after wife's addiction claims
Wife of Bill Murray files for divorce citing adultery and addictions
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Friday, 30, May 2008 01:53
The wife of Bill Murray has filed for divorce after 11 years of marriage citing the actor's adultery and addictions to marijuana and alcohol.
Jennifer Butler Murray also accuses the Ghostbusters star of physical abuse and frequent abandonment, claiming he would "often leave the state or country" without informing her.
Mrs Murray and her Oscar-nominated husband were married in 1997 and have four children - Caleb, 15, Jackson, 12, Cooper, 11, and Lincoln, 7 - of whom she is requesting sole custody.
Court papers obtained by the Post and Courier newspapers in Charleston, South Carolina, reveal that the couple had been separated for more than a year, after Mrs Murray and her four children moved to a home on Sullivan's Island "due to [Murray's] adultery, addiction to marijuana and alcohol, abusive behaviour, physical abuse, sexual addictions, and frequent abandonment".
She claims the last instance of physical abuse in November 2007 at Sullivan's Island when the Lost in Translation actor "hit her in the face" and told her she was "lucky he didn't kill her".
Murray's "violent, abusive and erratic behaviour toward plaintiff destroyed the marital relationship between the parties and plaintiff no longer feels safe being in the presence of defendant," her testimony explained.
Though Murray's lawyer John McDougall would not comment on Mrs Murray's allegations, he said the former Saturday Night Live actor is "deeply saddened by the break-up of his marriage".
"He and his wife made loving parents and they are committed to the best interests of their children," he added.