The ex-wife of late nightclub tycoon Darren Thornburgh has revealed details of the pair’s toxic marriage and her failed attempts at reconciliation before his death.
Thornburgh, a well-known Melbourne nightclub entrepreneur, was found dead on a mattress on the front porch of his holiday home in Barmah, 250km from Melbourne, in November.
As his lawyers sift through the financial bloodbath left in his wake, Thornburgh’s former partner Denise Foster has broken her silence on his drug and booze-addled lifestyle.
The ex-wife (pictured) of late nightclub tycoon Darren Thornburgh has revealed details of the pair’s toxic marriage and her failed attempts at reconciliation before his death.
Thornburgh, (pictured) a well-known Melbourne nightclub entrepreneur, was found dead on a mattress on the front porch of his holiday home in Barmah, 250km from Melbourne in November.
‘He wasn’t pleasant to me at all. He did make my life very difficult. He wasn’t a well man and had a lot of demons. He wasn’t the person I had met,’ Ms Foster told the Herald Sun.
‘He probably never thought I’d leave him, but I had no choice, I had to get out. It ended very badly.’
The father-of-two was found to have shot himself at his Barmah property but his lack of a suicide note and questionable past initially prompted inquiries into the possibility of murder.
Thornburgh also failed to leave behind a will and his lawyers are now facing the difficult task of unearthing his multi-million dollar assets which include properties, vehicles and stashed cash.
Friends said Mr Thornburgh’s drug use escalated when his marriage to Denise Foster (above) ended in 2008
Friends say Darren Thornburgh’s (above, with Paris and Nicky Hilton) life spiralled out of control when his marriage broke down
Divorce and drug use weren’t the only problems that affected the nightclub owner’s life negatively – he was also facing serious money problems, friends said
Thornburgh also failed to leave behind a will and his lawyers are now facing the difficult task of unearthing his multi-million dollar assets which include properties, vehicles and stashed cash (Pictured is the location of his nightclub)
Despite the bad blood, Ms Foster said she is ‘relieved’ her ex-husband is now at peace after battling his many demons, including a longstanding drug addiction.
‘He is out of his pain and torment. Now I can have some relief in my life too,’ she told the publication.
She said it was her one wish for the pair to be amicable for the sake of their two children.
‘I was the love of his life and he was mine. We did everything together. We had lots of fun and had an amazing time together — I like to look at those days because the last 10 years were not fun.’
Mr Thornburgh opened his club Boutique (pictured) in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in 2001
Mr Thornburgh’s death comes just over a year after bullets peppered the home of his ex-wife (pictured)
Thornburgh opened his Prahan celebrity hotspot Boutique in 2001, and his plush nightclub was often frequented by the likes of Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Russell Crowe and more.
His flashy lifestyle and tendency to flaunt wealth led to a string of enemies and the 53-year-old was believed to be embroiled in a ‘club war’ with criminals who wanted to steal his venue.
Boutique nightclub was shot at a year ago, and a week later the home of Ms Foster in Port Melbourne was peppered with bullets, an ordeal she described as ‘terrifying’.
‘He was respected in the industry and he knew what he was doing. He was definitely king of the nightclubs… until other things took over,’ a former co-worker told the Herald Sun.
Ms Foster said it was her one wish for the pair to be amicable for the sake of their two children (Pictured is the Barmah property)
Divorce and drug use weren’t the only problems that affected the nightclub owner’s life negatively – he was also facing serious money problems.
In 2011, he was made bankrupt after failing to pay a legal bill, the Herald Sun reports.
An associate told the newspaper that he’d once paid a debt by handing over his Bentley.
Threats from debt collectors led to him moving into a suite at the Crown Casino due to the round-the-clock security for four years.
Friends say he left the Crown a year ago and was spending his time between South Yarra and Barmah.
A business associate told the Herald Sun that he had planned to return to the club scene this year – but his landlords had evicted him from Boutique three weeks ago.
‘He lost the club, which means he lost everything,’ they said.