Kim Kardashian 'feared she would be killed’ during Paris hotel robbery, has the $4m diamond ring been recovered

The reality TV star and entrepreneur was in Paris for Fashion Week when masked men disguised as police officers burst into her luxury residence at the Hôtel de Pourtalès in the early hours of October 3, 2016.

On Tuesday (May 13), the 44-year-old testified publicly for the first time in the trial of the men accused of stealing more than £4.5 million worth of jewellery from her hotel suite, including a $4 million (£3 million) diamond ring, were never recovered.

She was zip-tied, gagged, and held at gunpoint while the assailants made off with jewellery and other items of high value. “I have babies,” Kardashian told the court. “I have to make it home. They can take everything. I just have to make it home.”

She described how one of the men gestured towards her hand and said “Ring! Ring!”, indicating the large diamond ring that had previously been shown on her social media. French prosecutors say the group tracked Kardashian using Instagram posts, timestamps and geotags.

According to court documents, the robbers fled with several items, including the diamond ring and a jewellery box containing more than €9 million (£7.5 million) worth of accessories.

While speaking to the court, Kardashian recounted the moment she was dragged from her bed, tied up, and locked in the bathroom. “I absolutely did think I was going to die,” she said. “I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me.”

She said she later managed to rub the tape off her hands using the edge of the bathroom sink and hopped downstairs with her ankles still bound, where she found her friend and stylist Simone Harouche. The two women then hid on the balcony, fearing the robbers would return.

Twelve suspects were originally charged in the case. One has since died and another was excused due to illness. The remaining defendants, most of them in their 60s and 70s, have been dubbed “les papys braqueurs” (“the grandpa robbers”) by the French media. They face charges including armed robbery, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy, which carry the possibility of life imprisonment.

Two of the men have admitted to being at the scene. One claims he didn’t know who Kardashian was at the time.

Judge David De Pas questioned whether Kardashian had made herself a target by posting images of her luxury lifestyle and expensive jewellery online. Harouche, who also testified, dismissed that line of reasoning:

“Just because a woman wears jewellery, that doesn’t make her a target. That’s like saying that because a woman wears a short skirt that she deserves to be raped.”

Kardashian also told the court her Los Angeles home was burgled shortly after the Paris robbery in what appeared to be a copycat attack. Since then, she said, she keeps four to six security guards with her at all times and rarely sleeps without them present. “This experience really changed everything for us,” she said. “I started to get this phobia of going out.”

Despite the trauma, Kardashian appeared in court wearing another luxury piece, a $1.5 million diamond necklace by Samer Halimeh New York, as highlighted in a press release issued while she was giving evidence. The piece features 80 flawless diamonds, according to the brand.

Closing her testimony, Kardashian, who is currently studying law, said: “This is my closure. This is me putting this, hopefully, to rest.”