BREAKING: Runaway bride saga legally over

Runaway bride saga legally over
Pair drop Gwinnett lawsuits against each other

By LATEEF MUNGIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/12/07

At its high point, the runaway bride saga was fodder for every national news outlet. But now the tale has ended quietly. The jittery would-be bride Jennifer Wilbanks and jilted groom John Mason have dropped lawsuits that they filed last year against each other. A single-page court filing signed by lawyers for Wilbanks and Mason announced that the couple that once donned the pages of People magazine were finally through with each other. "The plaintiff and defendants, by and through counsel, hereby dismiss their claims with prejudice," the court document filed last month said.

Jennifer Wilbanks, known internationally as the runaway bride, sued her former fiance John Mason in September 2006, claiming he ran off with $500,000 the couple received for selling their story. Wilbanks got her name after fleeing her lavish Duluth wedding in 2005 and concocting a phony story about being kidnapped and sexually assaulted. The truth was that she got cold feet and fled to New Mexico.

In the suit filed in Gwinnett County, Wilbanks alleged that while she was hospitalized and under medication after returning to Atlanta, Mason obtained a power of attorney, which allowed him to handle Wilbanks' finances. She claimed that Mason then made a $500,000 deal with ReganMedia in June or July 2005 for the couple to tell their unusual story. Wilbanks said Mason used the money to buy a house on Hamilton Mill Parkway in Dacula. Wilbanks claimed that Mason then kicked her out of the Dacula home and didn't give her any of the money.

Mason denied that he stole the money and filed a counter claim that said he should receive money for the emotional distress of being left at the altar. Attorneys for both Wilbanks and Mason did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. It is unclear if either Wilbanks or Mason received the money they were seeking and what will happen to the book and movie deal they signed.

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2007/01/12/0113gwxrunawaybride.html