LUCIANO PAVAROTTI - PAVAROTTI THREATENED SUICIDE BEFORE DEATH

PAVAROTTI THREATENED SUICIDE BEFORE DEATH

Late opera legend LUCIANO PAVAROTTI considered committing suicide because of the anguish caused by his second wife, a friend of the tenor has claimed. Dr Lidia La Marca says Pavarotti made the claim weeks before his death because he was desperate to escape the clutches of "scheming" wife Nicoletta, 37. According to La Marca, Pavarotti feared his wife meddling with his financial documents and deliberately isolated him from his family and friends. She says, "Luciano told me, 'Nicoletta thinks about money all the time. She arrives with documents for me to sign.' "Then he said something that gave me goosebumps. He said, 'You know how this will end? I will shoot myself or we will separate.'" Pavarotti's daughters Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana this week (12Sep07) denied a rift over the star's $500 million (GBP250 million) estate. Cristina claimed the reports caused the family "bitterness". But La Marca insists she is telling the truth, adding, "I am telling what Luciano said because he asked me. He said: 'After my funeral you can say these things.'" Pavarotti lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 71 last Friday (06Sep07).