NEED TO KNOW
- Kim Kardashian testified Tuesday, May 13 at the trial for the suspects involved in the October 2016 Paris heist
- The reality star was tied up and held at gunpoint as five masked men robbed her of jewelry worth nearly $9 million
- Ten people are on trial, including Yunice Abbas, who co-authored the 2021 book I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian is testifying at the trial for the suspects involved in the 2016 robbery in which the reality star was tied up and held at gunpoint in her Paris hotel room.
Kardashian, 44, was asked at one point if she thought she was going to die during the robbery, to which she replied, “I absolutely did think I was gonna die.”
Ten people are being tried on charges related to the heist, according to the New York Times, NBC News and ABC News. The group has been dubbed the “Grandpa robbers” by French media due to their older ages and previous criminal history, according to ABC News.
Kardashian was visiting the city for Fashion Week in October 2016 when five masked men broke into her room at the No Address Hotel and tied her up at gunpoint before locking her in a bathroom. The thieves stole millions of dollars worth of jewelry from the reality star in the middle of the night.
The SKIMS co-founder has said the robbers took two diamond Cartier bracelets, a gold and diamond Jacob necklace, Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings, a gold Rolex and other items during the heist, according to French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. A $4 million ring gifted to her by then-husband Kanye West was also among the items stolen.
A source close to the reality star told PEOPLE in 2016 that she managed to escape after wriggling her hands out of the zip ties. A second source told PEOPLE that Kardashian then “screamed from the balcony” for help.
Kardashian previously said she believed the perpetrators tracked her via social media.
French police initially arrested 17 suspects across France in connection with the armed robbery in January 2017. Half of the 10 suspects currently on trial are considered alleged accomplices. One of the men indicted by prosecutors is the younger brother of Kardashian’s Paris chauffeur.
One of the suspects on trial, Yunice Abbas, 71, has publicly admitted to his involvement in the crime. He co-authored the 2021 book I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian, in which he identified himself as one of the robbers behind the heist. Since then, Abbas has testified that he had no role in choosing the title of the book, which he claims misrepresents his actions, NBC News reported.
“I regret it, not because I got caught, but because … there was a trauma,” Abbas testified on April 29, per NBC News.
According to the Times, the stolen jewelry was estimated to be worth nearly $9 million and most of it was never recovered.
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