'Katie was the love of his life. He put all he could into her but when she wanted more it devastated him': Friend reveals why model husband killed himself at shooting range after she was pictured with Leonardo DiCaprio

  • Andrew Stern, 40, the entrepreneur husband of model Katie Cleary, 32, shot himself in the head at a shooting range on Sunday
  • Friends claim that he spiraled into deep depression after suddenly stopping using hormone-replacement therapy to boost libido
  • They call Cleary the 'love of his life' who sent him further into darkness when he realized he was losing her
  • Court documents show he had filed for divorce on April 9, 2014
  • They were still in the process of dividing up their assets
  • Sources said Stern was under significant stress because the couple 'were going through a divorce and he had a history of depression'
  • Cleary was pictured getting close to Leonardo DiCaprio, who is dating Victoria's Secret model Toni Garrn, in Cannes last month
  • She was also seen out with Entourage star Adrian Grenier
  • Cleary appeared in the first series of America's Next Top Model and went on to appear in Deal Or No Deal and small movie parts

By Martin Dryan and Will Payne

Published: 18:46 EST, 24 June 2014 | Updated: 09:00 EST, 25 June 2014


The husband who shot himself dead at a shooting range after his model wife was pictured cozying up to Leonardo DiCaprio was 'devastated' when his marriage to the 'love of his life' fell apart, a friend has revealed.

Katie Cleary was pictured cuddling up to DiCaprio and Entourage star Adrian Grenier last month in Cannes, before her husband Andrew Stern killed himself at a California shooting range on Sunday.

Now his loved ones are trying to come to terms with the death of the 40-year-old businessman, who had filed for divorce just weeks before the tragedy.

'Andrew was an amazing man and husband who believed Katie to be the love of his life,' his friend Pace Lattin told MailOnline.

'He made it clear that he would do anything to make her happy... He saw that he put all he could into his marriage and his wife, and when she wanted more, it devastated him.'

Together: Stern, who appeared on Millionaire Matchmaker, was the one who petitioned for divorce in April

Together: Stern, who appeared on Millionaire Matchmaker, was the one who petitioned for divorce in April

Tragic: Andrew Stern, who is married to model Katie Cleary, shot himself dead at a shooting range on Sunday

Tragic: Andrew Stern, who is married to model Katie Cleary, shot himself dead at a shooting range on Sunday

Another friend told MailOnline that he was already on a dark descent when he realized he couldn't hold on to his 'dream girl'.

'Andrew changed at the beginning of the year,' the source told MailOnline. 'He worked more and socialized less. He began investing even more money and more time into his charity and fundraising work... He got sad. Sadder.'

The friend explained that something was 'broken' in him and no matter how he tried to fight it - with eating well, exercise or counseling sessions - he couldn't shake it.

His struggling married to Cleary was not to blame for his suicide but just added to his pain because of the fantasy he had about their life together, the friend said.

'But the marriage wasn't based on pure, unadulterated, love. Wasn't solely based on the forever do us part love,' the source said. 'He knew what he was getting into when he started even dating Katie. She's too pretty. She's just too pretty. And she's just too charismatic and affable and kind that Andrew knew he couldn't keep her to himself.

'I'm not saying Katie did anything. If she did, I didn't know about it. But he couldn't really have her like he wanted her. Like his fantasy of her. He would talk about her in ideal terms. He idolized her and wanted her to himself, maybe a little too much. He wouldn't show it. He gave her all the freedom she wanted for her career. But he realized he wasn't the only one with eyes for her and wanting her and it deepened his pain.'

Spotted: Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted out in NYC Tuesday night attending the Jeff Koons Retrospective at the Whitney Museum
Spotted: Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted out in NYC Tuesday night attending the Jeff Koons Retrospective at the Whitney Museum

Spotted: Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted out in NYC Tuesday night attending the Jeff Koons Retrospective at the Whitney Museum

Cozy: DiCaprio's name has been linked to the suicide of model Katie Cleary's husband Andrew Stern after she was pictured partying with him in Cannes

Cozy: DiCaprio's name has been linked to the suicide of model Katie Cleary's husband Andrew Stern after she was pictured partying with him in Cannes

'I do remember him sharing that a very famous actor that Katie was working with was calling her cell and he saw her phone,' the source said. 'So he knew that he was in for a downhill plummet.'

Cleary's father, Thomas, who lives just outside Chicago in Illinois, told MailOnline that his daughter was devastated by her husband's death.

'This is a terrible loss for my daughter Katie and obviously she is devastated,' he said. 'We are all grieving for her and for my son-in-law.'

Mr Stern had filed court papers to end the couple's less-than-four-year marriage just weeks before the images emerged, according to court documents, and Cleary and Stern were still in the process of dividing up their assets when he took his life.

 

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Cleary and Stern, who had appeared on Bravo's dating show Millionaire Matchmaker, married the model on July 31, 2010. The court documents state the pair separated on April 3, 2014.

The divorce papers read: 'The exact nature and extent of [Stern's] separate assets including, without limitation, funds and/or other property interests due to [Stern] from [Cleary] by way of recoupment, misappropriation... are presently under determination.'

Cleary's rep told TMZ the couple broke up eight months ago and that the pictures of Cleary getting close to DiCaprio and Grenier were harmless.

Katie Cleary
Katie Cleary

Lady in red: Cleary was pictured getting close to Leonardo DiCaprio at a club in Cannes last month

Getting acquainted: Sources said that Cleary and Stern were going through a divorce, which added to his stress

Getting acquainted: Sources said that Cleary and Stern were going through a divorce, which added to his stress

The rep explained that Cleary and Grenier had been friends for sometime, while Cleary and Dicaprico had only met the night they were photographed - but the rep insisted they were innocently discussing animal conservation and nothing else.

However, the celebrity website cites sources as saying Stern felt embarrassed by the pictures and was suffering depression.

Interviews with the couple's friends revealed he was stressed over his marital problems and had a history of depression, TMZ earlier reported, while others said he had financial strains.

But his friend Pace Lattin denied Stern was in serious financial trouble, saying that the couple's house was paid for and his family was 'well off'.

'Maybe he wasn't as rich as some of the Stars his wife was fooling around with but he was rich with real friends,' Lattin said on Facebook.

He added to MailOnline: 'While he did fight with depression his entire life, it's partially because he put so much passion into everything he did.'

Just friends? Cleary was also pictured stepping out in Cannes with Entourage actor Adriran Grenier

Just friends? Cleary was also pictured stepping out in Cannes with Entourage actor Adriran Grenier

In addition, fresh claims have emerged on TMZ that Stern had a history of injecting human growth hormones and the male hormone testosterone in a bid to boost a waning libido.

Friends said the treatment, prescribed by a health and wellness centre in Beverly Hills, made him irritable and prone to drastic mood swings.

Stern was said to have kept it up for a year until stopping using the treatment suddenly.

But after going cold turkey from the drugs, he was said to have sunk into a deep depression, which was only made worse after the failure of his business and his marriage problems.

On Tuesday it emerged that two other men had taken their lives at the same shooting range in the past five years.

Stern shot himself in the head at the Target Range in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, and according to local reports another man killed himself there just 10 weeks ago.

The unidentified man in his 50s shot himself in the chest at the indoor shooting range on April 6.

Stunning: The couple became engaged in 2009 and married in California in 2010

Stunning: The couple became engaged in 2009 and married in California in 2010

Katie Cleary
Katie Cleary

Glamorous: Cleary, 32, works on Deal or No Deal and has featured in a handful of movies and TV shows

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, according to CBS LA.

And in November 2009 a man in his 30s was reportedly wounded at the range and died at hospital about two hours later, an archive Los Angeles Daily News report says.

The latest tragedy comes just four weeks after 32-year-old Cleary was pictured getting close to DiCaprio at the Gotha nightclub in Cannes.

The pair were seen chatting and dancing closely, while DiCaprio was pictured whispering into the model's ear. The apparent closeness came even though DiCaprio is dating Victoria's Secret model Toni Garrn.

Katie, who is from Glenview, Illinois, appeared on the first series of America's Next Top Model while she was still a college student, before landing the role of 'briefcase beauty' on popular game show Deal Or No Deal.

The brunette beauty has since had minor roles in The Break Up, Iron Man 2 and Entourage, while appearing in advertising campaigns for Sketchers, Nike and Elastiderm.

She was also spotted out and about with Entourage cast member Adrian Grenier while in Cannes.

Early days: Cleary is pictured second from right with the cast of the first season of America's Next Top Model

Early days: Cleary is pictured second from right with the cast of the first season of America's Next Top Model

Video Source YouTube

Stern had set up his own successful marketing firm after graduating from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and moving to Los Angeles.

Initially working for other companies, he started his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Taco Bell, Southwest Airlines and Pepsi, according to an obituary posted on Performance Marketing Insider by a business friend, Pace Lattin.

After working with professional athletes including Kobe Bryant and Anna Kournikova at Broadband Sports, he joined L90 Worldwide as a sales and media planner, it noted.

In 2002, he founded Seed Corn Advertising and went on to produce movies, launch restaurants, real estate and 'brokering exotic cars', the obituary said.

He also featured on Season 2 of the hit TV show 'Millionaire Matchmaker' before marrying Cleary, 'the love of his life', Lattin wrote.

'Andrew kept his original company, never sold out, always was making money and working hard,' he wrote.

'We both started in the industry at the same time, and his passing makes me extremely sad. We were both young kids in this industry, and grew up making money in this industry - and everyone I know did business with him at one time or another.'

Happier times: Cleary is pictured kissing her husband at an event in Los Angeles in September 2011

Happier times: Cleary is pictured kissing her husband at an event in Los Angeles in September 2011

Successful: Friends paid tribute to Stern as a hard-working businessman 'who never sold out'

Successful: Friends paid tribute to Stern as a hard-working businessman 'who never sold out'

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Her husband was HOT and she was ok. I am sure he could have had any woman he wanted.

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Knowing she would get half of his assets and he would finance and watch helplessly as she cavorted around with celebrities in her ambitions to climb the social ladder likely pushed him over the edge. I think I could understand this . . .

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NEVER love a woman more than she loves you...........

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hmmm, met on millionaire matchmaker. The "i want a hot girlfriend/wife" guy matched up with the "i want lots of money" girl. the makings of a classic love story.

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The tighter you hold on to something, the more likely you're going to lose it, especially a relationship.

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Cue the music: "When you're in love with a beautiful woman .... " How sad. RIP.

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U should never die for ur love....there is always better alternative

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If your spouse is no longer into you, you cry and them file for divorce-- you don't kill yourself. Maybe she found it unduly stressful to be the only thing he was living for. Who wouldn't food that stressful?

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So he married her because she's pretty and then became suicidal because other people also acknowledged she's pretty? C'mon, that can't be true.

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He probably just felt defeated. He was successful but not like Leo and those other celebrities. She probably made made perfectly clear that she had options.

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