| Lovelorn, Loaded, Alone When Countess Valentina Artsrunik's lover was convicted in America of murder and jewel theft, it seemed she had nowhere to turn. Except to her ex-husbands, of course. And Max Clifford. By Steve Crenshaw
A Bulgarian-born Russian society beauty who travels on a French passport
and lives in a Knightsbridge apartment with her ex-husband, a wealthy
Nigerian-born Armenian count. A millionaires's bodyguard, who becomes the
countess's lover after meeting her one night in the bar of a Palm Beach hotel.
A jeweler is murdered in the American south: the bodyguard is convicted of
murder and robbery, the countess is also jailed while facing related charges
but is later acquitted. The countess hopes to sue the court for wrongfull
arrest, and seeks to mount an appeal against her lover's conviction, claiming
that this is all a set-up and a terrible injustice. The cast of characters and storyline might have been dreamed up by John Grisham, emperor of the outlandish thriller plot - and then discarded as an exoticism too far. The cast of characters and storyline might have been dreamed up by John Grisham, emperor of the outlandish thriller plot - and then discarded as an exoticism too far. It comes as no surprise to find that Hollywood agents are beating a path to Countess Valentina Artsrunik's door for her to tell her tale and that of her boyfriend, 48-year-old Dorian Lester, and of the mysterious death of George Moody In Charlottesville Virginia. Her door is up a few flights of stairs in Knightsbridge, just around the corner from Harrods and from all the designer shops that have been her habitat for many years. |
All of this now means nothing to her, she says. "They're just things." She hopes to organise an auction of some of her hats and dresses and airs. This week, she opened a Defence of Dorian Lester Fund, to raise money for legal fees. The 42-year-old countess has just returned from the United States, where she was acquitted on charges of larceny. The prosecutions case was that Lester killed George Moody and that Artsrunik was involved in the robbery of $40,000 (£25,000) worth of gems. Artsrunik spent five months in custody before being released on bail. Artsrunik and Lester were due to fly to London to start their new lives together, when they were arrested four days after the murder in September 1997. According to the prosecution, Lester ("fameless and wealthless") killed Moody to gain money to buy her presents. |