RFK Jr. Drove His Wife to Suicide via Family Court

One of Countless Custody Crisis Deaths

A Family Court judge enabled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to drive his wife to commit suicide. Mary Richardson Kennedy gave up the fight for her children and took her life in 2012, but this case has become relevant now that RFK Jr. is running as an Independent for President of the United States.

RFK Jr. is the son of the late U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated within years of each other. Despite these tragedies, the Kennedy era is often referred to as Camelot, as it filled the nation with idealism and promise.

But the era and promise seemed to end with JFK/RFK’s generation. Indeed, RFK Jr. is considered such a blight on the Kennedy family that they are actively campaigning against him, calling him a “danger to our country”. This is political, but perhaps the way he treated Mary plays into their disgust.

Mary Richardson Kennedy probably did not realize it, but she was not alone in her suffering—far from it. Like millions of other women, she entered Family Court and, like a lamb to the slaughter, became a victim of the Post-Separation Crisis [PSC].

Mary’s case demonstrates that no matter how wealthy, beautiful, educated, or fantastic of a mother a woman is before separation, her ex can use Family Court to deprive her of her children and her money, destroying her life—and, in the worst case scenario, cause her death. Below is a list of some PSC victims and links to their stories.

Telling her story is our Tribute to Mary. Please share. She would surely love for it to help bring awareness to the Post-Separation Crisis.

MARY’S STORY

Born in 1959, Mary had four sisters and two brothers, with whom she remained close until the end. She studied at an Ivy League college and became an architectural designer. She was involved with the renovation of the DC Naval Observatory and the Vice President’s residence, so she had a solid career before marrying.

Mary married Robert in 1994. They had four children. He had two children from a previous marriage who visited on some weekends.

After giving birth to the first of four children, Mary gave up her career and became a stay-at-home mom. She was, by all accounts, a loving, nurturing, devoted mother.

Mary used her talents to oversee a massive renovation of their estate-like home after flood damage and mold problems. She had reportedly bought into it for a half million dollars; so it must have been joint marital property—both via her own investment and as having given up her career to be a full-time wife and mother. Put a pin in that.

Towards the end of the aughts things seemed to be going south in their relationship. This may be because she found a journal of Robert’s from 2001 that, among other things, detailed 37 affairs, in which he rated the women from 1 to 10, depending on how far he got with them—10 indicating intercourse.

There were “domestic incidents” and law enforcement was called at least twice. It seems the old “mutual abuse” narrative prevailed and no charges were filed. Perhaps they were staged so they could be used against her in the divorce. That is a not uncommon “screw the bitch” tactic.

In 2010, the day after the last police intervention, Robert filed for divorce. Perhaps Mary was confronting him about an affair and he wasn’t taking well to his male entitlement being challenged. Perhaps he had a hot one on the line and preferred to move on. Apparently, though, Mary did not want to divorce. Even though he was the one who’d lied to and cheated on her, she still wanted to try and make it work.

ENTER FAMILY COURT

Once in Family Court, Robert accused Mary of everything he could muster up to make her look terrible in order to justify taking sole custody of the children. He accused Mary of being all kinds of “mad and bad”.

Mad: she was crazy, depressed, had Borderline Personality Disorder (a favorite in Family Court); repeatedly “threatened” suicide, had “demons”, etc.

Bad: she beat him up, was a drunk, had accused him of being a serial philanderer and sex addict in front of the children, etc. This last one goes to the capital crime of interference with kids’ sacred relationship with the father, sometimes referred to as alienation, readily accepted by judges.

It should come as no surprise to Coalition followers that the judge credited Robert’s false and exaggerated allegations and gave him “temporary” custody. It is a common judicial trick: give the father “temporary” custody pre-trial—until some far off future trial. Even if the mother is cleared of the false allegations later, the judge finds it best for the children to stay with the father.

Mary at first got regular visits, but was soon restricted to supervised visits. Later there was little or no contact. Tighten the screws. Slowly drive her mad. Typical progression of a PSC case.

After her kids were taken, Mary began drinking to cope with the loss. Robert used that and her trauma symptoms—that he had caused—to get Restraining Orders against her. Another perp behavior. Kick ’em while they’re down.

By dragging the divorce/custody case along for years, it not only allowed Robert to keep the kids away from Mary but also her money. She was not able to get her hands on marital assets and, because she had been a stay-at-home mother for so long, did not have access to cash or career. And, despite his Kennedy wealth, Robert made her financially destitute and, likely gleefully, watched while she suffered creditors breathing down her neck, some suing her, causing her even more stress.

DRIVEN TO SUICIDE

It was all extremely hard on Mary, but the worst part for her was when the kids were moved from her home to their father’s. After 16 years of being a full-time mother, they were just—gone. Gone kids. A big, empty, quiet house. That would be enough to drive any good mother into a severe depression.

Mary could not count on Robert bringing the kids to supervised visits. See, if a father violates court orders for visitation, no problem. But if a mother doesn’t bring kids to visit the father when they don’t want to go or are not safe there, she is likely to be found in contempt and even jailed—or at least threatened with such so she does not dare engage in that foolishness again.

Robert played it like there was something wrong with Mary for being depressed. He used her “threats” of suicide against her to buttress his claims of her being mentally ill. Drive her crazy, then call her crazy. Abuser M.O.

Her family insisted that she did not have a history of mental illness, that he was the one who had caused her severe depression.

Mary did not have a history of depression. She became a troubled person because of the divorce.

There were other things he used to help cinch the deal. One was that Mary got a DUI for being a little over the limit. The children were not with her. But no matter, that was used to support his RO’s. Now, can you imagine a father losing custody or having to be supervised because he got a DUI? Not a chance.

By Christmas 2011, she had proved her sobriety but that did not make a difference in Family Court.

In March, April and May of 2012, Robert filed for Restraining Orders against her. That was the final straw. There was an upcoming custody trial but Mary already knew what would happen. The judge would give Robert what he wanted—sole custody.

Mary could not take it anymore. She had warned so many times she would commit suicide if Robert continued to keep her kids away from her. But he just kept getting worse.

On May 16, 2012, a few days after a lonesome Mothers Day, she hanged herself in a barn on her property. Either there was no suicide note or it was not made public. Robert “found her hanging and cut her down”, as he unemotionally told a Vlad TV reporter recently. [It is unclear why he was the one to find her since they had been separated for two years and there was an active Restraining Order.]

Because the divorce had not yet been finalized, Robert was legally in charge of her body. He refused to let Mary’s family bury her with their family, insisting on the Kennedy plot. But only months later, he dug her up and moved her off to an empty part of the cemetery without notifying her family.

So the man who left her, took her kids, and drove her to her death continued to control her after death through her dead body. Mary’s family was not allowed at the Kennedy funeral and her children were not allowed to go to her family’s funeral. Mary’s family expressed concern for how this would affect the children.

Robert put blame on Mary even at her funeral. He made it look like her suicide was her fault for being mentally ill. He told reporters that she had “demons” that led her to suicide. Funny, because in his journal, he had written that he was battling “demons”. Projection?

Shortly after the funeral, Robert’s people leaked a sealed court document to MSM for damage control, since it was obvious he had at least contributed to, if not caused, her suicide. It was a 60-page diatribe with every allegation he had made against her.

Her family and friends were horrified and refuted the affidavit as best they could, but the damage to her reputation was done.

The affidavit, which Mary repudiated at the time, is full of vindictive lies.

But Mary had the last word.

She had given Robert’s affair- and lust-filled journal to a friend and said if anything happened to her, give it to the press. So, a while after the disgusting leak of his affidavit, the friend gave his journal to a reporter. It was widely published and friends of Mary’s were interviewed to get her side of the story out.

The public finally heard the truth about Robert’s serial cheating, his drug, sex and alcohol use and abuse, the taking of her children from her, and other emotional abuse which had led up to—and her friends say—caused Mary’s suicide.

TAKE AWAY

Robert’s whole schtick was to portray Mary as an abuser and a danger to her children. Imagine that—after 16 years of being a wonderful, loving, nurturing mother to his four children, all of a sudden, when he decides to leave her, she becomes a shrew deserving of the loss of her children.

The important point for our purposes, though, is not what Robert did or why he did it. Abusive men are a dime a dozen in Family Court and their tactics are all similar.

No, Mary’s story must be viewed in the context of the countless other mothers victimized via Family Court. The focus must be on the fact that the judge was the one who enabled a father to take kids away and destroy his ex emotionally and financially. Robert could not have done what he did to Mary without a judge empowering him.

So that is the larger and core problem: judges have near-absolute power to do whatever they want. There is no due process in Family Court. By design.

The truth is, Family Court is not a real court so it cannot provide justice for women. It is a legal system that was implemented by men for men. The OBN [Old Boy Network] designed it specifically so judges have the power to disregard facts and evidence and override the law so as to continue men’s power in the family post-separation—i.e. maintain that bedrock of patriarchy, literally the “rule of the father”. You don’t think the Old Boys are gonna give up their most coveted power just because women gained equal rights in law last century now, do you?

Of course not. They got around those pesky rights by creating a “special” system.

Women need to wake up as a class and see the horror and injustice being inflicted upon them post-separation—in the name of justice. If you are not a victim yet, you could be next, or your sister, niece, granddaughter, friend...

That is why women need to come together—to demand Post-Separation cases be heard in a real court of law with a jury as fact finder and other due process protections before their children can be taken from them. This is an inalienable right and a right of every citizen in a democracy.

Join Women’s Coalition International and help us fight for justice for women post-separation. If you’d like to engage in activism, join Sisters in Solidarity [see below for info on our next forum].

NOTE: If anyone knows who the judge is who switched custody to Robert, plz email: womenscoalitionintl@gmail.com.

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MANY POST-SEPARATION DEATHS

Mary is just one of many mothers who did not make it out of Family Court alive. Catherine’s story was the last one we covered. She wanted her suicide to bring attention to the Crisis.

Following are some of the cases The Women’s Coalition has covered over the last few years. They do not include the many cases in which a mother is murdered by her ex due to having to co-parent with him.

Catherine: Mom Uses Suicide to Warn Women about Family Court

Narkis: Mom Who Said "Many Women End Up Dead" Has Died

Terra: Mom Dies Following Years of Judicial Torture

Lindsay: Judge Enables Father to Murder Mother & Daughter

Anne-Christine: Dad Murders Mom: Gets Custody

Nia: Family Court Causes Another Mother’s Death

Star: Judge Denies Protective Order: Mom Stabbed to Death in Front of Son

Michelle: Family Court Causes Another Mother’s Death

Nicole: Mom Dies Due to Son Being Taken Away, Given to Ex

Nashwa: Protective Mom Found Dead Day after Mother’s Day

Kymberlie: Woman Commits Suicide by Train on Daughter's 16th Birthday

Nicole: Mom Murdered after Judge Orders Shared Custody

Jennifer: Missing Mom’s Ex Charged with Murder: Held on $6M Bail

Hayley: Mom of 4 Drops Dead in Court after Custody Ruling

Marissa: Face of the Crisis

Shannon: Mom Passes Away after Battling Fervently to Regain Custody

Kimi: Mom with Cancer Passes Away without Seeing Children

Sheila: Despondent Mum Commits Suicide after Kids Given to Father

Jessica: Mom Commits Suicide After 8 Year Battle for Her Kids

Olga: Family Court Causes Another Tragedy

Brenda: Another Woman Commits Suicide after Children Taken and Given to Father

Rest in Peace Moms…

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The next Sisters in Solidarity forum will be on April 13th at 1pm Pacific; 4pm Eastern; 8pm GMT; 9pm UTC; 7am Sydney, Australia.

If you’d like to join SIS, please read this column and fill out the linked form. You will receive an invitation to the zoom a few days before.

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THE SAGA

Spring Break is a good time to catch up on “The Saga” or review what you’ve already read. If you’ve missed reading any chapters, now’s your chance! They are linked in this week’s column for your convenience—with title, chapter quote, intro, and teaser for each one. They are also published in our new Section.

Mother-Fucking: The Saga of One Fucked Mother is a novel based on Dr. Blue's fateful encounter with the Family Court system. She creatively conveys to the reader how family courts are systematically and methodically “mother-fucking” women as she chronicles the sordid tale of protagonist Legion becoming “one fucked mother” in captivating detail.

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Or support the Coalition’s work through a one-time or recurring contribution:

All contributions, small and large, are greatly appreciated!

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