[ Source: CNN ]
Kim Kardashian, testifying in the trial of the burglars accused of tying her up and robbing her at gunpoint nearly nine years ago, told a Paris court on Tuesday that she “absolutely thought” her assailants would kill her.
“I have babies, I have to make it home, I have babies,” Kardashian recalled pleading with the armed men, who had broken into her hotel room while she slept during Paris Fashion Week in 2016.
Facing her alleged attackers for the first time since the heist, the billionaire reality TV star detailed how she was robbed of nearly $10 million in cash and jewelry, including a $4 million engagement ring – gifted to her by her then-husband Kanye West – that was never recovered.
Kardashian was mostly calm during her testimony, which lasted more than two hours, but was on occasions reduced to tears as she described how the burglary had upended her life and changed how she organizes her security.
The defendants – nine men and one woman whose ages range from 35 to 78 – are facing charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and conspiracy. Eight of them deny involvement, while two have pleaded guilty to some of the charges.
Kardashian arrived at court in the French capital with her mother, Kris Jenner, wearing a diamond-encrusted necklace – in a seeming nod to the jewels taken from her on the night of the burglary.
On the night in October 2016, Kardashian recalled being woken up by the assailants and at first not knowing what the men were demanding.
“There was a lot of terrorist attacks happening in the world” around the time, Kardashian said. “I thought that’s what it was.” One of the reasons the trial has taken so long to start is because of a backlog of major cases in France, including those related to the 2015 Paris terror attacks.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
