Minnelli/Gest divorce turns nastier

The nasty divorce battle between Liza Minnelli and David Gest has become even worse, with Minnelli accusing her estranged husband of trying to poison her and Gest charging that she hid the fact that she had a sexually transmitted disease.

According to papers filed in a Manhattan, New York Supreme Court, Minnelli claims she was "living in fear" while she and the music producer were married, because she was scared he was "trying to poison her with drugs".

Meanwhile, Gest claims the Oscar-winner hid her sexually transmitted disease, herpes simplex, from him until well after they were married.

A source close to Gest tells the New York Post: "David was devastated when he found (this) out a year after they had been together and six months after they were married."

In the court filing, Gest's lawyers demands to know when and how Minnelli got infected and plan to make her medical condition an issue in their long-running divorce case where each is accusing the other of being "cruel and inhuman".

The estranged couple have been locked in a court clash since splitting in July 2003.