Kim Kardashian heist trial set to start in Paris with jury selection

PARIS — Prosecutors and defendants were set to begin selecting jurors Monday as French courts made the necessary preparations to hear witness testimonies in the trial of those accused of stealing jewelry worth $9 million at gunpoint from Kim Kardashian.

It was the opening day of proceedings against 10 people charged in connection with the 2016 robbery, in which they allegedly held Kardashian, 44, at gunpoint and stole her jewelry while she was in Paris for the city’s fashion week.

Kardashian was staying at a private apartment complex favored by visiting VIPs, when five of the accused arrived on bicycles and on foot, gained entry to the building and robbed the reality TV star turned business mogul. The other defendants are accused of related offenses, including planning and giving tipoffs about Kardashian’s whereabouts.

The group has been nicknamed “the grandpa robbers” in local media, owing to some of them being in their 60s and 70s. The case has taken so long to come to trial that one defendant died and another, aged 80, cannot be tried because of the person’s medical condition.

Those who are standing trial include Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, known as “Old Omar,” accused of being the plot’s mastermind; his son and alleged getaway driver, Harminy, 37; Didier “Blue Eyes” Dubreucq, 69; and the brother of Kardashian’s driver in Paris, Gary Madar, 35,  who is accused of providing the alleged gang members with information about Kardashian’s whereabouts. One of the accused is a woman, 78-year-old Christiane Glotin, who was allegedly an accomplice in planning the heist.

At least one defendant has admitted to his part in the robbery. Yunice Abbas, now 72, wrote the 2021 book “I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian,” in which he detailed his life story and provided an account of the robbery itself. In the text, he describes being recruited months beforehand for a team to rob an unnamed “wife of an American rapper” — whose identity he only learned after committing the crime against her.

Abbas’ lawyer, Gabriel Dumenil told NBC on his way into court that his client wants “to explain himself, to express himself, to speak his truth and express his regrets about this case. This is very important for him.” 

“He knows what is at stake in this trial,” Dumenil added.

Under France’s judicial system, defendants in criminal cases do not enter formal pleas. They can admit or deny their guilt, but the trial proceeds regardless. Most cases in France are decided by judges, but, as the maximum sentence of this trial is more than 20 years, it will be heard by a jury. No television cameras are allowed in French courts, so the proceedings will be documented by journalists and sketch artists recounting what happens in the room.

The American reality star is herself set to appear in court May 13. She has previously described her experience as a terrifying ordeal in which she was sure she was going to die.

She recalled trying to dial 911 when the men entered her room, “and I’m like I don’t know how to call 911 in a different country,” she said in an episode of E!’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” that aired in 2017. “And then the guy came and grabbed the phone from me, threw me on the bed, and I was like, this is it.”