The case of the jilted bride is officially over.
Wayne Gibbs gave his ex-fiancee $150,000 Thursday, honoring a judgment that a Hall County jury ordered him to pay in July after finding him in breach of contract for breaking off a marriage engagement.
RoseMary Allen, who went by the name RoseMary Shell when she sued Gibbs, claimed she gave up a good-paying job in Florida and moved back to Gainesville on the promise that Gibbs would marry her. Gibbs, who proposed in November 2006, backed out of the marriage the following March.
The unusual civil trial drew widespread media attention, and following the verdict, Allen appeared with her attorney, Lydia Sartain, on NBC’s "Today" show to discuss the case.
Gibbs asked presiding Hall County Superior Court Judge Kathlene Gosselin for a new trial, but the judge denied the motion two weeks ago, saying she would not second-guess the jury’s verdict. Gibbs and his attorney, Hammond Law, had considered taking the case to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Law said Thursday that his client didn’t offer a reason for abandoning any further appeals.
"He really didn’t explain; he just decided for it to be over," Law said.
Sartain said her client agreed to waive 8 percent interest on the judgment that had been accruing since August at a rate of about $1,000 a month. Sartain never doubted her client eventually would be paid.
"We believed the verdict was legally sound and would have withstood any appeal," Sartain said.
The jilted bride said Thursday was "a very happy day."
"It has been a very trying time, a very difficult time of my life, and I’m glad to be leaving it for happier times," Allen said. "I’m leaving it all behind and closing this chapter of the book. I’ve always been a believer that things will happen as they should."
In October, Allen was married after a brief engagement — that was honored.
"Hopefully, everyone will live happily ever after," Sartain said.