Suspect in Kardashian jewellery heist case says he will apologise and take responsibility

Yunice Abbas, 1 of the suspects successful the equipped robbery of Kim Kardashian, has said helium intends to instrumentality work for his relation successful the 2016 heist and volition apologise successful tribunal arsenic the proceedings begins connected Monday successful Paris.

Abbas, 71, who has publically acknowledged his information successful the heist, is among 10 suspects facing charges of kidnapping and equipped robbery.

“I volition apologise,” Abbas told the Associated Press. “I mean it sincerely.”

Kardashian, 44, is expected to attest successful idiosyncratic astatine the proceedings scheduled to tally done 23 May.

In interviews and connected her millions of dollars worthy of jewellery in an flat wherever she was staying for the Paris Fashion Week.

She said she thought she was going to beryllium raped and killed.

“They wrapped duct portion implicit my eyes and my mouth,” she said, describing the robbery. “It was the scariest happening I’ve ever been done successful my full life, conscionable reasoning that, you know, you’re astir to die. You’re conscionable benignant of bracing yourself for the infinitesimal that they’re going to sprout you and termination you. That 10 minutes truly changed my full life.”

Abbas said helium acted arsenic a lookout astatine the reception country connected the crushed floor, ensuring the flight way was clear. He said helium was unarmed and did not personally endanger Kardashian, but acknowledged helium shared work for the crime.

He was arrested successful January 2017 and spent 21 months successful situation earlier being released nether judicial supervision.

In 2021, helium co-authored a French-language Kim Kardashian.

In her relationship to investigators, Kardashian described 2 men forcing their mode into her chamber and pointing a weapon towards her, asking for her ring.

She said she was tied up with integrative cables and portion portion the intruders were looking for jewels, including her engagement ringing worthy millions of dollars.

In a 2020 quality connected David Letterman’s Netflix show, she tearfully recalled thinking: “This is the clip I’m going to get raped. I’m like, ‘What is happening? Are we gonna die? Just archer them I person children. I person babies, I person a husband, I person a family’.”

She told investigators the men brought her successful the bath earlier they ran disconnected and she managed to escaped herself.

The residency’s concierge, held astatine gunpoint and forced to pb the robbers to her apartment, besides suffered intelligence impact.

Investigators recovered Abbas's DNA connected integrative ties utilized to necktie the hands of the concierge.

Asked astir the trauma Kardashian suffered, Abbas said: “It’s true, I didn’t deliberation astir it. I recognise that due to the fact that I did not brutalise her myself…I was not blaming myself regarding this aspect, and yet I’m liable for it too.”

According to Abbas, minutes aft the raid started, his accomplices came down from Kardashian's flat and gave him a container of jewellery.

As helium was fleeing the country connected a bicycle, helium saw a constabulary car, but officers were not yet alert of the robbery.

Abbas said arsenic helium rode the bicycle the container containing the jewellery became caught successful the beforehand instrumentality and helium fell to the ground, spilling the contents of the bag. “I picked the jewels up and left,” helium said.

The pursuing morning, a passerby recovered a diamond-encrusted transverse successful the thoroughfare and handed it to police. That was the lone jewel from the robbery that was ever recovered.

French justness estimated stolen items to beryllium worthy $6m successful total.

Abbas said helium didn’t cognize Kardashian’s individuality astatine the clip of the robbery.

“I was told astir a celebrated person, a rapper’s wife. That’s each the accusation I had,” helium said. “Until the adjacent morning, erstwhile I heard connected TV astir the influencer. That’s erstwhile I understood who she was.”

He said helium would item his relation during the trial, to beryllium conducted with a jury, a process successful France reserved for the astir superior crimes. But helium would not denounce his accomplices.

“I’m lone an outsider. I’m not the 1 who masterminded the case. I instrumentality my stock of responsibility,” helium said.

Most of the suspects person denied involvement, but for Abbas and different antheral whose DNA was besides recovered astatine the scene.

Thierry Niemen, the writer who co-authored Abbas's book, said Abbas had approached him due to the fact that helium wanted to “tell his ain truth” amid what helium saw arsenic inaccurate oregon sensationalised accounts.

The publication besides revealed investigative details, including however the FBI helped French constabulary place Abbas’s DNA contempt him wearing gloves.

“This is the lawsuit of each superlatives,” Niemen said. “The FBI overseeing an probe connected French territory – that’s already a superlative.”

Kardashian was past the apical influencer successful the satellite and the lawsuit was the astir fashionable taxable connected societal media successful 2016, Niemen stressed.

Abbas’s net from the publication person been frozen pending the result of the trial.

Kardashian's lawyer, Michael Rhodes, has said the world TV prima and entrepreneur wants the proceedings “to proceed successful an orderly manner successful accordance with French instrumentality and with respect for each parties to the case”.