Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Mary Kennedy's Friends Blame RFK Jr.: "He Was Kicking Her While She’s Down"
By
Jen Chung
Published May 18, 2012
Modified May 18, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published May 18, 2012
Modified May 18, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The suicide of Mary Richardson Kennedy continues to shock the 52-year-old's family and friends, many of whom are blaming her estranged husband, Robert Kennedy Jr., for her decline since he filed for divorce in May 2010. She will reportedly be buried at a cemetery near the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, but a friend told the Daily News, "Hyannisport? You mean the place from which she had been virtually banned for the past two years?”
Mary Kennedy's body was found in a barn on the property of the Mt. Kisco home she and Robert Kennedy built and where they had raised their four children (none of the children were around). A coroner confirmed she died from asphyxiation by hanging. RFK had not been living in the "meticulously designed" brick home since filing for divorce—Mary Kennedy had a few alcohol-related run-ins with the police around that time and in an interview with the NY Times, RFK said she was depressed, "A lot of times I don’t know how she made it through the day. She was in a lot of agony for a lot of her life." He also denied that a suicide note was found.
Mary Kennedy
However, Mary Kennedy's friends say that his behavior—most notably dating actress Cheryl Hines before the divorce was finalized—didn't help matters. One told the Post, "He was kicking her while she’s down, all alone in this house that she built. In the end, everything was just too much."
Apparently she had fallen into credit card debt (enough for American Express to file a civil suit) and another family friend said, "He was going for full custody of the kids, which broke her heart. She also had been part of the Kennedy family for 30 years. And now she was being cast aside by them." Mary Kennedy's problems with alcohol and prescription drugs grew, and the Post reports she had "threaten[ed] suicide so often that the family staged an intervention, another friend said." A source said, "There were times when she had to be taken to the hospital when she would be acting irrationally and threatening to hurt herself."
The Daily Beast's Michael Daly writes, "She would not have become Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s second wife back in 1994 if she thought that she would just become another ex," and probably clung to the hope of reconciliation, since she appeared at a Waterkeeper event with him in December 2010. But also at the event was Hines: "A friend says that Mary Richardson Kennedy saw the photos of the new, all-too-real-life couple and that, in her despair, she began to relinquish hope of her husband ever coming back. She was coming to realize that she was ending up as the second ex after all, that she was not so different, that he was not so changed."
While Mary Kennedy's funeral will be in Bedford on Saturday, followed by the burial in Hyannisport, her sisters are planning a memorial in Manhattan on Monday. A friend told the News, "For the sake of the children they are going to the ‘Kennedy’ funeral."
Tagged
kennedys
mary kennedy
mary richardson kennedy
mt kisco
rjk jr
robert f kennedy jr
robert kennedy
suicide
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
New York Public Radio CEO steps down after 8 months on job
Chief executive Christy Tanner is resigning after just eight months at the helm. New York Public Radio is the parent organization for WNYC and Gothamist.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 9:03 a.m. ET
Early Addition: Can't stop the sticker bombers
Because the one influencer who tried removing them got dragged, here are your early links: Upper West Side woman adopts a lot of dogs, Big Apple Triathlon returned, "NCIS" lands in New York and more.
By
James Ramsay
News
Early Addition: Can't stop the sticker bombers
Because the one influencer who tried removing them got dragged, here are your early links: Upper West Side woman adopts a lot of dogs, Big Apple Triathlon returned, "NCIS" lands in New York and more.
By
James Ramsay
Cyclist dies in wrong-way crash with an ambulance on Staten Island
By
Brittany Kriegstein
With election 3 weeks away, Hochul and Blakeman to square off in lone NY governor debate
By
Jon Campbell
NYC's taxi union teams with Uber, hedge fund demand healthcare after 4 driver deaths
By
Stephen Nessen
and
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .