I think your post reaffirms my position that he was being blinded by pussy - falling head over heels and doing anything for a girl he doesn't really know much about.
And no, I don't feel sympathy for people in that situation. There is a difference between love and lust - love is built on mutual compatibility, shared interests and experiences - it requires time, effort and transparency to cultivate. Lust is what causes a man to marry someone he doesn't really know much about. While yes, he was conned, it seems like many of her fabrications would have been easily exposed if he did anything normal married people would do (get to know each other's families, work, passions etc.).