Kim Kardashian thought sister Kourtney would stumble on her dead body

A defiant Kim Kardashian has appeared at a Paris court dripping in an estimated A$5 million in jewels to give testimony about how she made a dash for freedom from her 2016 hotel gem heist.

A naked Kim Kardashian “absolutely thought I was going to die” and be raped she told a Paris court in harrowing testimony during the trial of the men accused of robbing her for her jewels in Paris in 2016.

The reality star and businesswoman fronted court wearing a necklace jeweller Zack Stone told the Daily Mail could be worth up to A$5.4 million.

“It was her necklace that has truly stolen the spotlight – dazzling on arrival, it appears to feature a series of graduated pear cut and marquise cut stones arranged in a symmetrical pattern. It likely carries a jaw-dropping price tag of around US$3.5 million (A$5.4 million),” he said.

She waved to the crowd as she arrived at the Assize Court. Picture: Alain JOCARD / AFP

Kardashian spoke through a translator to give her testimony to the French court.

“He grabs my legs and pulls me. I’m naked and my everything is exposed. I was sure that I was going to be raped,” Kardashian told the court.

She added she believed her sister Kourtney, who had gone to a nightclub with their bodyguard, would return to the hotel to find “that I would be dead on the bed, shot dead, and that she should have this memory forever.”

Presiding judge David De Pas asked the 44-year-old if she feared for her life.

“I absolutely thought I was going to die,” she responded.

The SKIMS shapewear founder was staying at the Hotel de Pourtalès during the brazen robbery.

The trial has been ongoing for two weeks. Picture: AFP

She told the court she heard “stomping” outside her door before it was opened by a group of men dressed as police who entered along with the concierge, who had been handcuffed.

“I obviously was very confused when they walked in,” Kardashian said, adding she was very confused but began to put the pieces together after the men started pointing at her finger and saying “ring.”

“I said to the concierge, ‘I have babies, tell them, I just have to make it home,’” Kardashian said noting she was “pretty hysterical” as the concierge translated the conversation with the robbers.

Kardashian said the concierge was also terrified and confided her: “I don’t know if we’re going to die.”

The most famous of the Kardashian sisters described how she was bound at the wrists and ankles with zip ties and had her mouth taped up by the thieves before they fled.

After finally succeeding wriggling her hands free, Kardashian said she hopped down the stairs and found her stylist and childhood friend Simone Harouche who was staying on the floor below.

Ms Harouche cut her free and they ran outside and hid in the bushes to call Kardashian’s mother Kris Jenner.

Kris Jenner was at court to support her daughter. Picture: AFP

When Paris police really did arrive, Kardashian was still hesitant and recalled “being confused if they were real police because the other guys were dressed as police. I didn’t know who to trust,” she said.

The trial began two weeks ago when 10 suspects finally fronted court over the robbery, which saw some $15 million worth of jewellery stolen from the US celebrity and influencer.

The group, nicknamed the “grandpa robbers” because of their ages, face accusations that they plotted and carried out a brazen robbery against Kardashian in the French capital nearly a decade ago.

Kardashian was bound and gagged during the ordeal, and left Paris hours after the robbery on the night of October 2-3, 2016.

Those on trial are mainly men in their 60s and 70s with previous criminal records and underworld nicknames like “Old Omar” and “Blue Eyes” that recall the old-school French gangsters of 1960s and 1970s films noirs.

‘WE NEED TO DISPEL THIS MYTH OF ROBIN HOOD’

US celebrity Kim Kardashian arrives to the Assize Court for the trial during which she will testify over the 2016 robbery that saw her relieved of millions of dollars' worth of jewellery at gunpoint at in Paris. Picture: Alain JOCARD / AFP

The lawyer for one of the victims of the robber said he was eager to dispel the image of “kind old men” on trial.

“We need to end this myth of friendly, Robin Hood-style pensioners,” said Henri de Beauregard, who represents the night receptionist forced to accompany the robbers.

The nine men and one woman on trial, while charged in connection with the robbery, are not currently in custody.

Kardashian, then 35, was threatened with a gun to the head and tied up with her mouth taped up. The theft was the biggest against a private individual in France in the past 20 years.

The trial will also go into how the perpetrators received the information as to where Kardashian was staying during Paris Fashion Week, and picked the very moment when her bodyguard was absent, accompanying her sister Kourtney to a nightclub.

Plaintiff Abderrahmane Ouatiki speaks to the press at the Palais de Justice of Paris on May 13, 2025 in Paris, France. Picture: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

It is thought Kardashian’s frequent posts about her wealth, personal life and whereabouts may have facilitated the perpetrators’ actions.

Meanwhile, a key suspect in the case has died unexpectedly after reports he received threats from a criminal gang suspected of buying the reality TV star’s jewellery.

Marceau Baum-Gertner, 72, was the alleged “super fence” working with the gang that held up Kardashian at gunpoint in the terrifying 2016 robbery, The Sun reports.

His alleged role meant he would have been responsible for finding buyers for the Kardashian jewellery, which included Kim’s $6 million engagement ring from former husband Kanye West.

Baum-Gertner was found dead in Paris’s 10th arrondissement on March 6 and the cause has not been released.

A source told The Sun: “Mr Baumgertner had been released on bail following his arrest over the Kim Kardashian robbery eight years ago, and was living in Paris, while regularly reporting to police.

“His name was on the defendants’ list for the trial, and he was very enthusiastic about clearing his name in court.

“This was until he died suddenly in the 10th arrondissement of Paris on March 6th.”

The source continued: “He was suspected of liaising with mafia gangs from across the world over the Kardashian jewellery, and criminals are known to have issued threats against him following widespread publicity connected to the case.”

– with AFP

Originally published as Kim Kardashian thought sister Kourtney would stumble on her dead body