Former Gov. Roy Barnes called the life of multimillionaire Harvey Strother a "soap opera."

Here is how Strother's life drama played out: He was a husband of 58 years; father to four children, including one who died of juvenile diabetes; a widely successful car salesman who ended life as an alcoholic wearing a diaper; a man with a lover who died of cancer after a 20-year affair; and later, a lover to a woman 30 years his junior who stands to benefit from last-minute changes in his will.

"It was one of those things you only see on a soap opera," said Barnes, a lawyer who represents the executor of Strother's estate in a Cobb County trial that began Monday. At issue is whether Strother knew what he was doing and whether he willingly changed his will three times in his last four years of life. Each change benefited his second lover, Anne Melican.

Cast in the roles of the attorneys — which, of course, they are in real life — are Barnes, Georgia's governor from 1999 to 2003, renowned legal strategist Hylton Dupree, representing the heirs, and Troutman Sanders partner Doug Salyers, advocating for Melican and her adult son, Matthew. Making one of his last appearances on the bench as chief judge of Probate Court is David Dodd, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Barnes made his remarks in opening arguments in the case. One point all sides agree on: Strother, who owned two car dealerships in Marietta and three in Valdosta and left about $38 million, had a drinking problem.

The key question for jurors: whether that drinking problem meant Strother didn't know what he was doing when he changed his will to give Melican and her son cash and properties worth an estimated $6 million, and whether Strother was unduly influenced by Melican, a petite blonde from Marco Island, Fla., who holds a master's degree in counseling and had been Strother's mistress for eight years.

Salyers, in his opening statement, said he will present testimony to show that while Strother, 78 when he died, had a drinking problem, "he did not have a thinking problem."

Dupree said he will challenge one of the three changes to the will on grounds that the change was not carried out properly and will show that Strother's hard drinking — a liter and a half of hard liquor each day before he switched to wine — made the son of a railroad engineer a wet brain in his last years.

"When we start bunching these events in Harvey's life together, you cannot ignore alcohol," Dupree said.

Strother died Jan. 7, 2004, of congestive heart failure.

Family members, through sworn statements and their attorney's court filings, have attempted to portray Melican as a crafty woman who craved expensive gifts — court documents indicate Strother spent nearly $200,000 on her jewelry alone — and used alcohol and sex to manipulate him.

Melican said in a sworn statement that when she met Strother on Marco Island in late summer 1996, he said he was a widower. Several months later, he said he had not shared a bed with his wife in 20 years, but admitted he was still married.

By then, she couldn't break off the affair, she said in the statement: "I was completely captivated by Harvey, and I think he by me." The jury trial is expected to last up to 10 days.