Former senator Rod Zimmer dead at 73

Senator Rod Zimmer leaves Provincial Court in Saskatoon on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012. (Liam Richards / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA - A former Liberal senator from Manitoba has died.

A party official confirms that Rod Zimmer died Tuesday morning at the age of 73.

Zimmer was appointed to the upper chamber in 2005 and resigned in 2013 due to health troubles.

In 2011, at age 68, he married Maygan Sensenberger, a 22-year-old aspiring actress.

The couple was involved in an incident on an airplane the following year that resulted in Sensenberger pleading guilty to causing a disturbance.

Last year, a review by the federal auditor general indicated Zimmer owed $176,000 in improperly claimed expenses.