‘DON’T kill me, I have babies’, wept Kim Kardashian as a gang of masked men pointed a gun to her head in the most high-profile jewellery heist of the decade.
On that day nine years ago, the TV star feared she was about to be gang raped as she was robbed of $10.6million [£8m] worth of jewels, including her 18.88 carat, £3million engagement ring. But she lost much more than that.
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We can reveal that Kim has been living in fear ever since – terrified whenever she hears noises in her own home and struggling to shrug off the sense of helplessness she felt that night.
A source close to the family told us: “I’ve heard Kim still suffers night terrors nine years later – it was the moment when they bound and gagged her that she thought her life was over.”
In the coming weeks, the mum-of-four will relive in court how she was bound, gagged and locked in a bathroom during the terrifying ordeal in a Paris hotel.
Suspects Yunis Abbas, 71, and Aomar Ait Khedache, 68, are among the ten defendants standing trial.
She’s getting a lot of flashbacks, the trauma is still there in her body
Kim will be flying into the French capital on May 13 to testify for the first time and the whole world will be watching as the billionaire comes face to face with the men who tied her up and left her fearing for her life.
Deeply traumatised by the robbery, Kim avoided Paris for more than a year after that fateful night in October 2016.
Those close to Kim have now explained the real reason she has decided to be there in person, telling us she is hoping the whole experience will be cathartic and will finally give her the chance to move on.
The source continued: “She’s also saying that she is actually looking forward to the trial – she wants to step into the court room and face the men and to look at them, as she believes it will give her that sense of closure by knowing she no longer has to physically fear them – of being able to put human faces, in fact old men, to the nightmare of the balaclavas.”
Night time attack
On that fateful night between October 2 and 3, Kim was lying alone on her bed after her staff and family headed off for the night.
Two “aggressive men” in black police uniforms burst into her suite at Hotel de Pourtalès and taped her mouth shut before locking her in the bathroom.
Brave Kim Kardashian to face Paris attackers and reveal the true horror of jewel heist
She tried to call the police, but only knew the American emergency number 911 – something she has never forgiven herself for.
Kim previously said of the incident: “I thought they were terrorists who had come to kidnap me, I thought I was going to die.”
The looming court showdown is taking its toll on the star, who can’t quite believe it’s happening after all this time.
The delays were so long, one of the elderly defendants in the so-called “grandpa gang” facing charges died before he could be tried.
“She’s admitted to friends and her team it feels very unnerving that the trial is on – she’s quite agitated at the moment, knowing that her trip to Paris is coming up,” said our source.
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“She’s been psyching herself up to give testimony in court for over a year now, ever since she knew it would be coming up and she’s said there was never any question that she would not give evidence.
“But it’s bringing up a lot of stress and lot of bad memories for her – she’s getting a lot of flashbacks, the trauma is still there in her body, but also still there is that total sense of panic she felt about being so helpless and terrified.
“She has never forgiven herself for not knowing the French emergency number and now insists that both she and her kids know it for every place they go.”
“She still panics when she hears noises in the house at night, and still being on her own now
The shock robbery has had a lasting impact on her life, and despite her public appearance of having it all together, she has “never really shaken that feeling”.
She is said to spend around $7million a year now on security in a bid to protect herself and children North, 11, son Saint, 9, daughter Chicago, 7, and son Psalm, almost 6, who she shares with Kanye West.
And there is one person Kim wishes she could have by her side throughout it all – her late father Robert Kardashian.
“She still panics when she hears noises in the house at night, and still being on her own now – yes she’s got a close family, but it’s not the same. But the person she really misses is her father – he would have guided her through everything about the case,” the source told us.
“Kim feels this is a huge milestone in her life, but she is saying that it’s given her the sense of focus and determination to get back on track with her law qualifications.”
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It took just two months for the French police to track down the gang – thanks to a combination of DNA and CCTV analysis, phone taps and geolocation, plus dogged determination by detectives, including physical tailing of suspects.
But the trial has been delayed by Covid and by a backlog of high profile cases in the French justice system.
This week, Yunice Abbas, 72, claimed that he didn’t know who Kim was until after the raid.
He claimed: “My mate Aomar Ait Khedache, who put me on the job, had simply told me the victim was the wife of a famous rapper.”
Ait Khedache, known as “Old Omar”, 68, has also admitted participating in the heist but denies the prosecution’s accusation that he was the ringleader.
Most of the ageing defendants are now on bail but are expected to receive lengthy jail sentences if found guilty.
And if that does happen Kim will finally be able to visit Paris without fear – knowing the cruel men behind the worst experience of her life are finally behind bars.
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What happened to Kim Kardashian?
By Harvey Geh
Kim Kardashian’s ordeal marked the biggest robbery of an individual in France for more than 20 years.
At the time the reality icon was in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week with ex-husband Kanye West – before the rapper returned to the US to pick up his Saint Pablo tour.
While in Paris with her sister Kourtney and various other entourage members, Kim stayed in an exclusive set of apartments so secret they are dubbed the No Address Hotel.
The penthouse suite she was staying in at the chic Hotel de Pourtalès – which is popular with celebrity A-listers – costs an eye-watering £13,000 per night.
On the evening of October 2, after the star attended a fashion show with her sister, Kim decided to stay in the apartment alone while the rest of her crew – including bodyguard Pascal Duvier – went out for the night.
At around 2:30am, three armed men wearing ski masks and dressed as police burst into the apartment block and threatened the concierge at gunpoint.
Two of them are alleged to have forced the concierge to take them to the reality icon’s suite – with the worker later telling police they yelled: “Where’s the rapper’s wife?”
Kim said she was “dozing” on her bed at the time after uploading social media posts telling fans she was home alone, which she believes gave the robbers a “window of opportunity”.
The star said the robbers grabbed her, tied her up with plastic cables and taped her mouth and legs before dropping her in the bathtub.
Before locking her in the bathroom they held her at gunpoint and demanded specifically for her ring and money.
Cops said the robbers left the room after seizing the jewels and escaped on bikes while carrying a haul estimated to be worth about $10million.
It included a $4million 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring from West.
Kim said she then managed to free herself from the restraints and called for help.
