Genevieve Sanders was a Valley kid through and through.

Her father was a Tulare County supervisor; her stepmother was the mayor of Lindsay. Sanders studied psychology at Fresno State, then reigned as National Raisin Queen. She worked as a waitress in Fresno. She got married.

Genevieve Marie de Montremare was royalty.

Born in France, brought up on estates across Europe, she held multiple university degrees and was known worldwide for her work in horse genetics. She was a recognized authority on the Friesian breed, and the horse-judging events on her Clovis ranch drew well-to-do horse owners from far and wide.

The strange tale of how Genevieve Sanders reinvented herself as the flamboyant -- but fake -- Genevieve Marie de Montremare was a well-kept secret. Not even her closest friends suspected her French accent was made up.

And they might never have found out if her husband -- a prominent Fresno doctor -- hadn't faked her death in 2007.

Dr. Michael Weilert, 60, is director of pathology and clinical laboratories for Community Regional Medical Centers and a founding member of Pathology Associates in Clovis. He acknowledges that he told friends his wife -- now 48 -- had died after a long illness. He said he did it to protect her privacy because she is gravely ill.

Now their secrets are being exposed in a lawsuit unfolding in Fresno County Superior Court. A couple who paid $2.3 million for a horse ranch the Weilerts owned in Parlier say the faked death was a real-estate fraud that enabled the doctor to trick them into paying too much.

The Weilerts, however, contend they sold the ranch "as is," and that they told the Orange County buyers -- Brian Gwartz and his wife, Cheryl Skigin -- that they should investigate the property before they bought it.

The buyers weren't the only ones fooled.

Equestrian magazine, a national publication, published an article in 2005 describing de Montremare's genetics degree and her French heritage. Reporter Kim Miller said recently that she never met de Montremare, but she had talked to her on the telephone for two hours.

"She was very interesting," Miller said. "I liked her a lot."

And the International Friesian Show Horse Association -- which de Montremare founded -- gave out a memorial trophy in her honor in 2008 and 2009.

"A lot of people were fooled by her," said Gareth Selwood, the organization's president. "I'm sure one day it will be a movie of the week."

Valley roots

Genevieve Sanders was born June 23, 1962, in Burbank. Her family eventually moved to Lindsay and became pillars of the community.

Her father is Bill Sanders, who retired from the Tulare County Board of Supervisors in 2005. Her stepmother was Peggy Sanders, a City Council member and mayor of Lindsay in the 1980s. She died in 2009.

Genevieve Sanders was 24 when she was named National Raisin Queen. During her 1986-87 reign, while she was a Fresno State senior, she hobnobbed with local and state dignitaries, including Gov. George Deukmejian at the opening of the California State Fair in Sacramento.

Back then, former Bee reporter Eli Setencich wrote that a news release said Sanders "not only studies psychology at FSU, sings opera, trains quarter horses and signs for the deaf, but also fixes cars."

What happened to her afterward is detailed in a stack of court documents.

Fresno attorney David J. Weiland -- who represented the couple who sued the Weilerts, alleging fraud, breach of contract and conspiracy -- didn't know de Montremare was alive until her alleged signature appeared on a document four months after her reported death.