Péladeau sues late girlfriend’s ex-husband

MONTREAL • Newspaper magnate Pierre Karl Péladeau has filed a $322,000 lawsuit against the ex-common-law husband of his girlfriend Marie-Christine Couture, who committed suicide last October.

The lawsuit alleges that Daniel Lacombe, Couture’s ex-husband, sent threatening text messages to Péladeau, fed newspapers with gossip about the former Parti Québécois leader and plotted with Péladeau’s ex-wife, Julie Snyder, to make the man’s life miserable.

Péladeau claims that fearing for their safety, he paid a private security firm $22,000 to protect his children, according to the court document.

The lawsuit also outlines a series of text messages reportedly sent from Lacombe to Péladeau, which Péladeau says threaten him.

“Monday I will be in attack mode to protect my children,” reads one message. “Sharks swim with sharks. Know that soon we will meet. Tell me why and what are your intentions with my wife. I’m not laughing, Mr. Péladeau, see you soon, very soon.”

Before quoting another text message in the lawsuit, Péladeau’s lawyers claim that Snyder shared information about her ex-husband’s vacation plans with Lacombe.

“I know a lot now. You went to Portugal to join my family,” Lacombe’s text message reads. “You went to Venice with my family ... in September the children and (Couture) went to your cottage ... Sharks with sharks, liars with liars.”

The Montreal Gazette’s phone calls to Lacombe’s Outremont residence were not answered Tuesday.

Couture was found dead in her apartment on Oct. 12 after taking her own life. She had been seeing Péladeau — who divorced TV host Snyder last summer — in the months leading up to her suicide.

The lawsuit describes a climate of tension that had overtaken Couture’s life, accusing her ex-husband of waging a “relentlessly vengeful” campaign against her and Péladeau.

Lacombe, the lawsuit alleges, leaked information about the couple to La Presse that “struck at their private lives (and) reputations.” Some of the alleged leaks were printed immediately in the days following Couture’s death.

A few days before his exwife died, Lacombe was arrested and charged with assault after an incident at the home he once shared with Couture. He would later contend that Couture threatened his life.

Adding to the bizarre saga is Lacombe’s two alleged meetings with Snyder, Péladeau’s ex-wife. Together, the two plotted a “stratagem” to make the couple’s life intolerable, according to the lawsuit filed in Quebec Superior Court.

Péladeau’s lawyers argue that Lacombe took his exwife’s laptop to Snyder so that her production team at Les Productions J could “build a file” on Couture.

The legal document quotes transcripts from a telephone conversation between Lacombe and Couture’s brother shortly after she died. In it, Lacombe claims he and Snyder spoke at length about their frustration with Péladeau.

“Listen, Julie (Snyder) was freaking out because (Couture) took (Snyder’s) children in her arms as though they were her own and then posted that on Facebook just to bug (Snyder),” the transcript reads. “Julie was freaking out, listen she lost weight, she said ... that’s why Julie wanted absolutely, and Céline Dion, to go after (Couture), they wanted to smack her and pester her until she cracked.”

None of these allegations has been proven in court.

In a statement sent to the Montreal Gazette, Louis Noel, Snyder’s spokesman and the director of communications at Les Productions J, disputed many of the claims made in the lawsuit, as well as the way it was made public.

“Mr. Péladeau makes several serious allegations about Ms. Snyder, against which she intends to defend herself,” Noel said.

“Neither Ms. Snyder, nor any employee of Les Productions J has ever had Ms. Couture’s computer in their possession.

“The way that Mr. Péladeau has chosen to make his lawsuit public, by associating it gratuitously with Ms. Snyder, is another act of harassment to add to all the others that, since their separation, have attempted to damage Ms. Snyder’s career, reputation and image,” he said.

“Ms. Snyder believes that unfortunately this is a type of psychological harassment,” the director of communications said.

“Ms. Snyder deplores the way her children as well as those of Ms. Couture and Mr. Lacombe are being taken hostage by Mr. Péladeau’s out-of-control, legal blunders.”