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

[ad_1] Yunice Abbas, one of many suspects within the armed theft of Kim Kardashian, has mentioned he intends to take duty for his function within the 2016 heist and can apologise in courtroom because the trial begins on Monday in Paris.

Abbas, 71, who has publicly acknowledged his participation within the heist, is amongst 10 suspects going through expenses of kidnapping and armed theft.

“I'll apologise,” Abbas advised the Related Press. “I imply it sincerely.”

Kardashian, 44, is predicted to testify in individual on the trial scheduled to run via 23 Might.

In interviews and on her thousands and thousands of {dollars} value of jewelry in an residence the place she was staying for the Paris Vogue Week.

She mentioned she thought she was going to be raped and killed.

“They wrapped duct tape over my eyes and my mouth,” she mentioned, describing the theft. “It was the scariest factor I’ve ever been via in my whole life, simply pondering that, you realize, you’re about to die. You’re simply sort of bracing your self for the second that they’re going to shoot you and kill you. That 10 minutes actually modified my complete life.”

Kardashian is predicted to testify in individual on the trial in Paris (Getty)

Abbas mentioned he acted as a lookout on the reception space on the bottom ground, making certain the escape route was clear. He mentioned he was unarmed and didn't personally threaten Kardashian, however acknowledged he shared duty for the crime.

He was arrested in January 2017 and spent 21 months in jail earlier than being launched below judicial supervision.

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

In her account to investigators, Kardashian described two males forcing their manner into her bed room and pointing a gun in the direction of her, asking for her ring.

She mentioned she was tied up with plastic cables and tape whereas the intruders have been on the lookout for jewels, together with her engagement ring value thousands and thousands of {dollars}.

In a 2020 look on David Letterman’s Netflix present, she tearfully recalled pondering: “That is the time I’m going to get raped. I’m like, ‘What is occurring? Are we gonna die? Simply inform them I've kids. I've infants, I've a husband, I've a household’.”

She advised investigators the lads introduced her within the lavatory earlier than they ran off and she or he managed to free herself.

The residency’s concierge, held at gunpoint and compelled to guide the robbers to her residence, additionally suffered psychological impression.

Investigators discovered Abbas's DNA on plastic ties used to tie the arms of the concierge.

Yunice Abbas is likely one of the suspects within the armed theft of Kim Kardashian (AP)

Requested in regards to the trauma Kardashian suffered, Abbas mentioned: “It’s true, I didn’t give it some thought. I recognise that as a result of I didn't brutalise her myself…I used to be not blaming myself concerning this facet, and but I’m chargeable for it too.”

Based on Abbas, minutes after the raid began, his accomplices got here down from Kardashian's residence and gave him a bag of jewelry.

As he was fleeing the scene on a bicycle, he noticed a police automobile, however officers weren't but conscious of the theft.

Abbas mentioned as he rode the bicycle the bag containing the jewelry turned caught within the entrance wheel and he fell to the bottom, spilling the contents of the bag. “I picked the jewels up and left,” he mentioned.

The next morning, a passerby discovered a diamond-encrusted cross on the street and handed it to police. That was the one jewel from the theft that was ever recovered.

French justice estimated stolen objects to be value $6m in whole.

Abbas mentioned he didn’t know Kardashian’s identification on the time of the theft.

“I used to be advised a couple of well-known individual, a rapper’s spouse. That’s all the knowledge I had,” he mentioned. “Till the following morning, after I heard on TV in regards to the influencer. That’s after I understood who she was.”

He mentioned he would element his function in the course of the trial, to be performed with a jury, a process in France reserved for essentially the most severe crimes. However he wouldn't denounce his accomplices.

“I’m solely an outsider. I’m not the one who masterminded the case. I take my share of duty,” he mentioned.

Many of the suspects have denied involvement, apart from Abbas and one other man whose DNA was additionally discovered on the scene.

Thierry Niemen, the journalist who co-authored Abbas's e-book, mentioned Abbas had approached him as a result of he wished to “inform his personal reality” amid what he noticed as inaccurate or sensationalised accounts.

The e-book additionally revealed investigative particulars, together with how the FBI helped French police establish Abbas’s DNA regardless of him sporting gloves.

“That is the case of all superlatives,” Niemen mentioned. “The FBI overseeing an investigation on French territory – that’s already a superlative.”

Kardashian was then the highest influencer on the earth and the case was the preferred matter on social media in 2016, Niemen harassed.

Abbas’s earnings from the e-book have been frozen pending the end result of the trial.

Kardashian's lawyer, Michael Rhodes, has mentioned the truth TV star and entrepreneur needs the trial “to proceed in an orderly trend in accordance with French regulation and with respect for all events to the case”.