Millionaire's sons target his new wife

BARNSTABLE -- Before Harwich Port millionaire Kenneth E. Simon dies, his three sons want to make sure his wife, a former prostitute, won't inherit his millions.

Amid their allegations that Anne Simon planned to kill her husband, a former financial broker, to get hold of his fortune, a Barnstable Probate and Family Court judge will hear motions today that the sons hope will speed up action on their complaint to annul the year-old marriage.

The sons' attorney, Gerald L. Nissenbaum, has alleged in court documents that Simon, who served a prison sentence for prostitution in the 1990s, discussed a plan with a female inmate and former lover to marry Simon, 71, kill him, possibly with an overdose of Viagra, and live off his money.

''Defendant specified she would kill plaintiff by giving plaintiff overdoses of various prescriptive medications; and/or wait for the opportune moment when plaintiff was drunk (an admittedly frequent occurrence) and then push or kick him down the stairs," Nissenbaum wrote in his complaint.

Simon, who is representing herself, did not return three messages from the Globe left at her home yesterday. She has denied to the Cape Cod Times accusations that she wanted to harm her husband and has said she loved him.

Anne Simon, who Nissenbaum said is about 45 and resides at the couple's home in Harwich Port, has not been charged with a crime. Harwich police said they are familiar with the case, but declined to say whether they were investigating the murder plot allegations.

Kenneth Simon, a 71-year-old alcoholic, is a patient at Pleasant Bay Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Brewster, where he is suffering from liver disease so advanced it has affected his ability to reason, Nissenbaum said. A judge is expected to decide whether Kenneth Simon, who has been assigned a temporary guardian, can make his own decisions. If not, the judge will decide whether the marriage should be dissolved.

''In either of those events, Anne Simon should end up with nothing," said Nissenbaum.

In August, a probate court judge signed an order restraining Anne Simon from using any credit cards in her husband's name and removing anything but clothes and personal items from the couple's house.

The judge's orders have apparently taken their toll on Simon and her adult son from a previous marriage, Matthew Flaherty.

''The restraining orders filed . . . prevent me from accessing any money, any credit card, or any form of support," she wrote Judge James V. Menno in an undated, handwritten letter. ''We will literally starve and become evicted. . . . I believe that Ken is still responsible for the support of his family and wishes to adhere to his duty."

The couple met at a karaoke bar well before 1996, the year Anne Simon, then Anne H. Flaherty, pleaded guilty to three counts of prostitution, Nissenbaum said. Kenneth Simon, whose first wife had left him, apparently visited her several times at MCI Framingham, he said. The couple decided to marry once she was released, Nissenbaum said.

But the marriage was part of a scheme Anne Simon and her lover discussed together in prison, Nissenbaum alleged. ''She would marry him, kill him, and they would live happily ever after on his money," Nissenbaum said yesterday.

In July 2004, against the wishes of his family, Kenneth Simon married Anne Flaherty. Simon, who according to his sons had been frugal with his money, began going on expensive trips with his bride, court documents stated. His sons say he is worth $5 million to $9 million.

In August 2005, Kenneth Simon's son, Kenneth E. Simon Jr., asked to be appointed temporary guardian over his father's estate. The judge instead has appointed Dennis attorney E. James Veara, who has accused Anne Simon of delaying the case so she can avoid an annulment and stand a better chance of inheriting her husband's $1.5 million Harwich Port house and $1 million of his fortune.

''Such a result would be a travesty," Veara said in a court document.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.