In 1969, Apollo 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on a mission to test the lunar module. After talking to Bobby and Mary, Gunderson says, "I was convinced the diagnosis of BPD was correct. He said he cried often during his marriage, but not from sadness or grief. Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest., People talk about cancer freely; why is it so difficult to discuss the effects of depression, [bipolar], anxiety, or schizophrenic disorders? she wrote. Hines has a 16-year-old daughter, Catherine Rose, from her . Her behavior often became violent and destructive.". Son corps a t retrouv dans le garage de sa . Elle souffrait de dpression. She was glowing and he was repeatedly saying how much he loved her and how glad he was they had gotten together.". Mary fit in, could talk to kings or bartenders, mold herself to any situation. There was no greater witness to the chaos than the housekeeper. And if not, maybe she could figure out how to get it back, always striving to please. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" actress Cheryl Hines and was recently photographed with her for the first time since Mary's death at a Kennedy wedding on Cape Cod. She did not want her marriage to end and that reality was slowly, progressively coming. Mary called all the restaurants in the district saying . We hoped Mary could rest in peace. "I saw her in the kitchen, like with her head down, and I was like, Oh, golly, she's talking on the phone and crying," says the housekeeper, who had lived with the couple throughout their entire marriage. [13] An autopsy report revealed that she had antidepressants in her blood system. But I lived it. Sometimes in the middle of the night, Bobby would awake to find Mary standing over his bed, beating him, according to the affidavit. Five minutes later, Bobby came down. My sister asked, 'Are you OK, Bobby?' More content from msnbc.com and NBC News: Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook. [17] A legal battle between her husband and her brother, Thomas W. Richardson, ensued over which family should have control over her remains.[17]. Thats hyperbolic language. "Thanks for the unimaginable happiness, for your wise and compassionate counsel, for your generous spirit, for your faithful companionship in joy and grief, for the love youve given our children," he wrote, adding, "And for the endless laughter.". The housekeeper called Bobby and he came over to the house. Rushing over, he checked the attic before tracking down Shannon White, Richardsons AA sponsor, at an 11 a.m., Armonk AA meeting. Mary was a fabulous mother and, like all of us, a flawed adult whose problems stemmed from her husbands conduct and her drinking, caused by specific stimuli, with Bobbywho could anger, frustrate, belittle her into taking a drinkas provocateur, the attorney continues. Three days later, jumping a curb at a school carnival, Richardson picked up a DWI (ultimately downgraded to a motor vehicle violation). And so the judge ruled. The Kennedys have a celebrated tradition of keeping their secrets to themselves, but Bobby's affidavit, sworn Sept. 16, 2011, and filed in New York Supreme Court in Westchester County as part of their divorce, discussed a Kennedy family's private life with sad candor. [7] Following flood damage to her home in 2003, Richardson oversaw a massive salvage job and green rebuild project known as the Kennedy Green House Project. And on Easter Sunday morning she attended mass with daughter Kyra, later in the day briefly seeing 11-year-old Aiden when he was brought over to swim by Kennedy who, honoring a court order forbidding the pair to be in each others homes, remained in the driveway while Richardson stayed upstairs. Conor's mother, Mary Richardson Kennedy, had committed suicide just a few months prior, and his father, Robert F. Kennedy, reportedly saw Swift's presence in his son's life as a "good . I pray that Im wrong but this is going to play out one of two ways: Shell kill Bobby or herself, and the greater fear, will she be alone or drive off a cliff with the kids in the car? , Theres no blame to be laid here, adds someone familiar with the Kennedy divorce case. ", Easter Sunday, April 8, should have been a welcome respite from the chaos. Attorney Steve McSweeney, who represented Kennedy in court, declined comment. Mary vowed that she would kill herself and before doing so tell the world what a monster he was. For a while, Mary worked for Andy Warhol and was part of the artist's avant-garde set. And she feared living without her children. And he said, 'Mary attacked me in the bath with scissors.'? He didnt want his kids thinking that their mother killed herself because their father left., Richardson refused to consider divorce, quietly hiring Bienstock a year later. Her father, John F. Richardson, was an attorney and a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, who died when she was 12 years old. Another Richardson friend concurs. When Mary was raging, adds another, this calm came over Bobby. Eventually, it took over and she became a full-blown alcoholic.. In April 1994, three weeks after Kennedy divorced his first wife, he married Mary, already pregnant with first son Conor. Bobby couldn't understand what was happening to this beautiful woman he adored. Her Putney roommate was Kerry Kennedy, Bobby's younger sister. Would you like to donate something for Election Day?" So, when the other campaigns handed out lukewarm coffee and stale donuts, Citizens for Joe brought out a spread of sushi, pad thai, and lobster thermidor from Loch . I never held her accountable because that was her disease, not who she was as a person, and we all knew it., Indeed, according to documents seen exclusively by The Daily Beast that delineated Richardsons mental-health issues from early adolescence through her first year of marriage, Richardson, throughout her life, was waging a cyclical battle with her own mental healthongoing feelings of depression, self-loathing, and low self-esteem. A quick search online, however, revealed a plethora of spirituality sites devoted to the . A decade earlier, to satisfy a community-service sentence after he was busted for heroin possession, Bobby had joined New York's Riverkeeper organization; now he was the group's chief attorney, punishing polluters and cleaning up the Hudson River. He was a god. Even when Kennedy came clean about other women, Mary justified [it by saying] that he was an addictive personality, adds a close friend, with a disease, but in her heart she knew., Kennedy had mentioned divorce previously, but on Fathers Day in 2006, he finally told his wife that he was getting a divorce and leftreturning two weeks later when Richardson refused to let him see the children. She was 22. RTE star Mary Kennedy opens up about receiving counselling for mental health; Mary explained: "Eva, our eldest child got married, on . Live. She last held an on-air job in 2010, wrapping up 30 y May 17, 2012, 10:25 AM. But while her estranged husband sobbed from the church pulpit at her funeral as he described her demons, friend Carole Radziwill told PEOPLE in 2012: Battling demons? Richardson, 76, died of Alzheimer's Disease. The perfect addition to your next book . She was totally vulnerable to himand, ultimately, to herself as well. His father had spent much of his inheritance on his 1968 presidential run. It wasn't only that she was gorgeous, but that she had an intellect to match, a nearly photographic memory, and a promising career as an architectural designer. She said she intended to kill herself unless I called off the divorce and unless I promised to recommit to the marriage. Everyone warned Mary that her conduct was jeopardizing her rights, which the court eventually demonstrated by reducing them., That happened in January 2011, when a matrimonial judge determined that, due to Marys erratic behavior, it was no longer safe for the children to live with her. Radio personality Ira Glass is 64. . Mary Richardson Kennedy committed suicide at her home on May 17, 2012. "Her features would change with her jaw set forward, her face paled, her eyes notably darkened, her voice alternatively breathy or hard. 8. Mary Richardson Kennedy was born on October 4, 1959, in New Jersey, America. In 1997, after three years of marriage, Bobby asked Mary for a divorce. No, because she threatened so often, a friend recalls about Mary Richardson, the wife of Robert Kennedy Jr., who slipped her head through a hangmans noose a year ago today at the age of 52. Between 7:30 and 8 Richardson is said to have left a phone message for the gardener that shed see him later about some weeds. There were two sides to it. The family feud exploded after Mary's body was found hanging from the barn rafter. Heres Mary, teetering, possibly suicidal. Mary Kennedy's death now appears even more tragic. --. At the time of her death, Marys siblings sued Kennedy to have her buried in Westchester, N.Y., closer to where her four children live. Monday was no better, nor Tuesday, and the housekeeper had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. The transfer of her body to the other end of the cemetery is the latest incident in the bitter feud between the Kennedy and Richardson families following the death of Mary. She is called a gifted architect and a "relentless advocate of green design". She was a straight-A student, but hardly the scholarly sort. "He thought he had finally met the person that he was going to spend the rest of his life with. Because of her condition, the family-court judge decided to give full but temporary custody to her estranged husband, who lived in a rented house just down the road from the couple's estate. 'He is a demon. Her father, a college professor, died when she was barely a teenager. [Robert] didnt realize how crowded the area was until after the funeral, and he wanted to have the ability to lay his wife to rest among her family members, Maki said. While Bobby thrived on chaos, Mary needed structure and constancy and could not rest if there was an unmade bed in the house. In this 2008 photo provided by Peter Michaelis, Mary Richardson Kennedy poses for a photo outside her Bedford, N.Y. home. That's the portrait that emerges from a sealed, 60-page court affidavit filed by Bobby during divorce proceedings, which I have reviewed in detail, and from interviews with those who were closest to Bobby and Mary, including medical professionals who treated her and said she suffered from a psychiatric disorder. He wield[ed] power over her using emotional ping-pong, idealizing her one minute, putting her down, the next. And when her mother was dying, 90 minutes away, I dont remember Mary visiting her either, even though, she sobbed uncontrollably at her funeral., Once at Vermont's Putney School with Kerry, Richardson began her love affair with the Kennedys, with whom she spent most holidays. [1] She reportedly struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse. And then my sister said, 'What happened to you?' "Happy anniversary, honey!" Almost every time Bobby drove her to the airport at the end of the weekend, she seemed to have lost something that created all kinds of unnecessary problems. On the last day of her life, Wednesday, May 16, at 7:53 a.m., Richardson again called Kennedy, who did not pick up. I moved slowly backward because she was drunk and unsteady and I didn't want her to tumble over the banister. "We deeply . Mary Richardson Kennedy was found hanging in the barn in the backyard of her Beford, N.Y. home on May 16. She was ethereal but not fragilefearless, really, with amazing optimism and fortitude., So persuasive was Richardsons public persona that when her yoga instructor, Colleen Breeckner, called some of Richardsons friends four months before she died, saying that she feared her student was suicidal, nobody believed that shed kill herself, she says. The housekeeper fell to the ground in a fetal position and stayed there for several hours. ), Bienstock has his own view. The news of Richardsons suicide astonished her legions of friends if only because her devout Catholicism forbids it. It was a very bad day for Mary, says the same friend. Bobby, who was seven years her senior, had only part of the equation. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" actress Cheryl Hines and was recently photographed with her for the first time since Mary's death at a Kennedy wedding on Cape Cod. Her death followed two difficult years during which she battled drug and alcohol addiction, her husband filed for divorce, and she was charged twice with driving while intoxicated. Bienstock, meanwhile, appears to consider both points of view. "She tried very hard, and part of it was going to therapy and talking about it. Mary combined that RFK/roll-up-your-sleeves/get-the-job done ethos, with Jackies otherworldly elegance, including the breathy voice, recalls Michael Mailer, who lived with Richardson before her marriage to Kennedy. It was a juicy tale, lacking in nuance. I know you have told me that her frequent suicide threats are not real. American interior designer, and philanthropist, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, "New Questions Arise About Mary Richardson Kennedy's Suicide", "Why Aren't There More Classic Irish Whiskey Cocktails? Kerry Kennedy, at boarding school and was a maid of honor at her wedding . She was a proponent of green building and was a co-founder of the Food Allergy Initiative, the largest fund for food allergy research in the United States. Saoirse Kennedy Hills funeral on Monday. Mary's mood vacillated between rage and self-pity. On Wednesday, May 16, Mary was nowhere to be found. Every time I saw it happening, it scared me. Feb. 3, 2009: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, and wife Mary Richardson Kennedy arrive at the premiere of "The Pink Panther 2" at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York. ), When Mary lost Bobby and then her kids, says a close friend about Richardsons possible motive, she got scared. "You are married to a woman who has borderline personality disorder," Hankin told him, according to Bobby's account in the affidavit. Mary Richardson Kennedy was active for years with the Boys . Marys siblings reportedly werent made aware their sister was uprooted and moved to a different part of the cemetery, close to its entrance. "Once, during dinner, Mary grabbed a plate of spaghetti and threw it all on Bobby in front of the children," says the housekeeper. she wrote. Her reaction, as expressed in the affidavit, was explosive. Afterward, she continued binging and purging, accompanied by regular use of alcohol and drugs, prescription and otherwise, for three years, until 1989 when, through AA, she managed to stop everything until 2005. What is the relationship of Mary Richardson Kennedy? But the caretaker finds it difficult to leave as the partner threatens to kill him or herself.". In fact, the surprise is not that she died so young, but that she willed herself to stay alive so long. She was a beautiful, charming, enthusiastic, devoted, loving mother, but Mary had serious demons that she could not get under control., On the road to dying there are many little deaths. For the first time, Bobby considered divorce. [1] She was involved in the renovation of the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the official residence of the Vice President of the United States. Saoirse Kennedy Hill, granddaughter of assassinated Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the only child of Courtney Kennedy Hill, was buried Monday afternoon next to her aunt Mary Richardson Kennedy the second wife of Saoirses uncle Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who killed herself in May 2012. The Richardsons were far from wealthy, but they managed to send Mary to the progressive Putney School in Vermont. Minutes later, Kennedy showed up, and ignoring Whites admonishmentDont go in therebrushed past. But like with everybody else, there was a dark side that could take overand did.. [5], In 1993, Richardson worked for the firm Parrish Hadley Design as an architectural designer. But it had cost double the original estimate, and now, half a dozen years after starting the project, the solar panels were already falling apart, and it was costing $40,000 a month to maintain the house and staff. I want that to be known. Bobby read that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association lists nine criteria for BPD, five of which must be present for a diagnosis. The former Mary Richardson, a longtime connection of the Kennedy clan, married Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent environmental lawyer and the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President . He has two children with his first wife, Emily Black, and four children with his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who committed suicide in May of 2012 at the age of 52. She is called a gifted architect and a "relentless advocate of green design". Mary Kennedy (ne Richardson), pouse de Robert F. Kennedy Jr., s'est donn la mort le 16 mai 2012, 52 ans. All she ever wanted was a healthy marriage and family, who looked to her for stability. From left: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines. Portraying Bobby as the alarmed family man, fleeing to protect himself and his children from their depressed, alcoholic, physically abusive, suicidal mother, the document infuriated Richardsons family, who publicly dismissed his vindictive lies, proof of the unbelievable emotional and psychological abuse that Mary endured during the last years of her life, and now in death., Equally upset, dozens of Richardsons closest confidantes have also spoken with The Daily Beast. For five years, beginning in 2007, I quietly represented Mary, says Bienstock, but when Bobbys affidavit showed up in printwe thought the court papers were sealedthat was beyond the pale. The former Mary Richardson married Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent environmental lawyer and the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, in 1994 aboard a boat in the . Aidan was crying. Shortly after her husband's 1968 assassination, Kennedy founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and his children turn away after paying their respects at the casket of Mary Richardson Kennedy, in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, Mass., Saturday, May 19, 2012. There will be a time and a place for the true facts to come out. Tying the perfect knot would have appealed to Marys extreme sense of order., The story of Mary Richardson Kennedy is a tale of two Marys, one told by those who lived with her, the other by those who did not, for whom she was the life of the party, says one of her closest friends, the first person on anyones list, at home in Studio 54 or a Honduran village, hugely curious, always reading books, writing diaries, keeping up with friends, organizing the next event. [volume] (Milford, Del.) And then there were the children, now facing a lifetime of emotional confusion because of their mothers unexplained actions. On Instagram, alongside intimate family photos, he wrote last week that she was fierce, both in her love for her family and yearning for justice. They may think hes an asshole but dont publicly say that hes responsible for Mary killing herself. The 52-year-old mother of four also struggled with her estranged husband's relationship with actress Cheryl Hines. When her father went into the hospital with colon cancer, recalls another woman who knew Richardson for 16 years, she told me that they never saw him again, dying a couple weeks later without anyone getting to say goodbye. Bobby gently asked his daughter to be more responsible. [4], After studying architecture at RISD, Richardson lived in SoHo, Manhattan, in the 1980s, and was active in the bohemian culture. She would say she was sorry and didn't know why she was acting this way. (Grant Delin/Corbis Outline) And she was that way to everybody, not just celebrities but fishermen, cabdrivers, and the guy who installed her floors." She was drinking heavily, and her behavior became so erratic that court authorities would only allow her to see her four children during visits supervised by the family housekeeper. From then on, every time that Bobby tried to leave, says a Kennedy insider, Mary would threaten to commit suicide. Burial. In July 2012 Mary Kennedy's body was moved from it's space next to her Shriver in-laws to a new spot near the cemetery entrance. So after that, Mary told me, 'Oh, my sisters, my brothers, they're all so mad at me they don't want to talk to me for what I did.' The day that she died there was a coil of rope lying on her bed and, under the covers, a bandana, showing how to tie major nautical knotsincluding a hangmans noose. It also asked a judge for an order of protection to keep her from physically attacking him, showing up uninvited at his homes, denigrating him to their children and asked that Mary be required to remain sober in front of their children. Mary was not attracted to the rawness nor to his drug habit. It feels great because you know you are going to be with the person you really like to be with for a very long time, Hines said after the wedding. Mary's eldest sister, book editor Nan Richa rdson, was also involved in human rights causes with Kerry Kennedy, now divorced from Cuomo.