Robert did “everything” he could to help Mary
Revealed: Mary Kennedy forced to borrow $20 for groceries in final days before suicide after RFK Jr cut off money to ‘squeeze’ her during bitter divorce battle
Daily Mail: Mary Kennedy, the ex-wife of Robert Kennedy Jr, was left so impoverished by her former husband that she could not afford to buy food, it has been claimed. Mary, 52, was found hanged in a barn on the family’s estate in Bedford, New York on May 16 by her ex-husband.
The mother-of-four was allegedly so destitute that she was forced to borrow money from parents of children’s classmates in her final months while her former partner piled on pressure in their divorce battle, questioned her capability as a mother and flaunted his new girlfriend in public.
A source told the New York Post: ‘Somebody living in a fifth-floor walk-up in The Bronx with cash could do more than she could.’ It was also revealed in court documents that Mary Kennedy’s divorce attorneys had not been paid $278,000 in legal fees promised to them by Robert F Kennedy Jr.
The harsh tactics employed by Kennedy apparently left his estranged wife without a $20,000 credit card approved by a court. It meant that she had struggled to live day to day, without the money for groceries, gas or medical care while battling depression and alcoholism.
Robert and his girlfriend Cheryl Hines
Before Mary’s death, RFK Jr had taken to appearing at public events with their four children – Kyra, Aiden, Conor and William – who he had full temporary custody of, and his new girlfriend, 46-year-old actress Cheryl Hines.Mary Kennedy was found dead by her husband and a housekeeper in an out building at her $2 million mansion in upstate New York.
The domestic turmoil surrounding her life extended into preparations for her funeral. One of Mary’s brothers went to court in an attempt to get custody of her body, while the Kennedys planned to bury her near the family’s seaside compound in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.
However at her funeral, her devastated former husband, son of assassinated senator Robert F Kennedy and nephew of JFK, told the congregation: ‘I know I did everything I could to help her.’ He revealed to mourners that he had spoken to her the day before her death, and that she told him: ‘You know me better than anyone in the world.’ He continued: ‘She said, “I was such a good girl.” I said, “I know you are – and you still are.”‘
Under an agreement made in October, RFK Jr was to pay Mary’s household and legal expenses. Both partners were also to have a credit card with a $20,000 limit each month.
Robert F Kennedy’s decision to cut her off was aimed at putting pressure on his wife while they hammered out the details of a bitter divorce, including who would be left with property and custody of the couple’s four children.
Last month, details from a sealed affidavit written by Robert F Kennedy Jr were made public. Portions of the 60-page confidential divorce document filed in 2011 claimed that Mary Kennedy blackmailed her husband, killed the family dog, drank until she passed out and often threatened suicide in front of the children. Mary’s family dubbed the revelations ‘vindictive lies’ as the family continued to battle over the late mother’s legacy.
Both regulars at AA, Robert and Mary each suffered from addictive personalities, an article by Newsweek reported. Robert had infamously battled a drug addiction while Mary had suffered from anorexia since she attended Putney School in Vermont, where she shared a room with Robert’s younger sister, Kerry.
As the couple’s marriage fell apart, their finances dwindled with legal bills soaring to over $1 million, on top of the monthly $40,000 cost to maintain the staffed estate.
Speaking after Mary’s funeral, her old school friend Kerry Kennedy said that Mary had suffered from mental illness the entire 37 years they had known one another. ‘She struggled so hard, for so long, with mental illness, which so many Americans suffer with,’ Kerry Kennedy said after her death. ‘She fought with dignity, and in the end, the demons won.’
Mary and Bobby separated after 16 years of marriage, and while he filed for divorce in 2010 it never went through. The case was pending when she died. Shortly after the split, her internal struggles became public when she was arrested twice on charges of driving while intoxicated.
Things appeared to have spiraled out of control in recent years and friends claimed she was drowning in credit card debt, feared she would lose both her home and her children.
Bobby Kennedy filed multiple restraining orders against his estranged wife in recent months and sought full custody of their children by claiming she was an unfit mother. Robert Kennedy’s lawyer Norman Heller told the Post he had not read the court filings but that the allegations were ‘very serious’.
Ah, the liberal Kennedys. Always so compassionate for other human beings, just ask Mary Jo.
DCG
