Mary Kennedy's Family Decries RFK Jr. Accusations

Mary Richardson Kennedy's relatives issued a statement saying an affidavit in the Kennedys' divorce case, disclosed Sunday, was "scurrilous" and "full of vindictive lies"

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s accusations about his estranged wife's behavior before her suicide amounted to "a brutal psychological weapon," her family says.

Mary Richardson Kennedy's relatives issued a statement saying an affidavit in the Kennedys' divorce case, disclosed Sunday, was "scurrilous" and "full of vindictive lies."

In the affidavit, dated September 2011, Robert Kennedy accused Mary Kennedy of abusing his children from an earlier marriage and stealing from them and him.

It asked a judge for an order of protection to keep her from physically attacking him, showing up uninvited at his homes and denigrating him to their children.

Kennedy, son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, also asked that his wife be required to remain sober in front of their children and not threaten suicide in their presence.

Mary Kennedy hanged herself last month at the family's estate in Bedford. The divorce was pending. One of Mary Kennedy's brothers tried to get custody of her body before she was buried near the Kennedy compound in Massachusetts.

The Richardson family's statement said the affidavit, posted online by The Daily Beast as part of a Newsweek magazine article, "was written by Bobby Kennedy as part of a contentious custody battle and was nothing more than a brutal psychological weapon in the divorce case."

It said the release of the document was proof of the "emotional and psychological abuse that Mary endured during the last years of her life, and also in death."

"We hoped Mary could rest in peace," it said.

Messages left at Kennedy's White Plains office at a legal environmental clinic and his divorce lawyer's Manhattan office weren't immediately returned.

Get the latest from NBC 4 New York anytime, anywhere. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Get our apps here and sign up for email newsletters here. Get breaking news delivered right to your phone -- just text NYBREAKING to 639710. For more info, text HELP. To end, text STOP. Message and data rates may apply.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us