94 Comments

• MrsT | May 27, 2012, 10:18 PM EDT

  I am so happy to see an article that isn't promoting the Kennedy spin! I agree with everything you wrote except Kerry Kennedy wasn't a good friend. She is desperately trying to help her brother minimize his culpability in his wife's death. I believe he is totally responsible as is his mistress.

• chicksooze | May 24, 2012, 03:56 PM EDT

  well said crawford - I couldn't agree with you more.

• crawforddayne | May 23, 2012, 08:55 PM EDT

  Ms. Callahan, I assure you Patrick Roberts never met any of them nor did any of the other so called bloggers and supposed family friends   Second, no one is defending anything but the truth here, which I have yet to see anywhere regarding this terrible tragedy.  I'm sorry, but we're you in the church when Mr. Kennedy's gave his remarks about Mary or are you simply regurgitating the completely out of context line the sleazoids in the press are referring to?  You seem so confidant in your position and exhibit this air of  righteous indignation without even really knowing anything about what truly was happening in this poor women's life. Did you think this was the first time she had tried to do this?  Can you speak to any other underlying issues that manifested themselves during the course of her life or relationship with Mr. Kennedy?  Do you even understand the concept of mental illness and the effects this has on people who have it? You do know it can be fatal right?   Do you know the reasons for divorce and the ultimate need to protect the children?  If you do please share this, because I seriously doubt you or anyone else has this information or even a clue to the truth.  All you can really speak to is the lies and propaganda generated by people who want to sell newspapers, not the truth.  I have yet to see a shred of truth come from these blogs you seem so fond of reading  and believing.  You know why? Because you'll never see a comment from someone who really knows the family and what the real issues are, because they're more invested in protecting the children and want nothing more than to  see them try and live a normal life in the face of this terrible event in their lives.  This isn't a pissing match about Kennedy haters and Kennedy lovers, this is about allowing 4 minor children to come to terms with their loss and not initiating more hardship in their lives.   Please try and understand this  and allow their mother to rest in peace. 

• KathyCallahan | May 23, 2012, 04:49 PM EDT

  I am well informed by the heart felt stories and observations shared by family and friends of Mary on the public record. Their own experiences are valid and deeply affecting...RFK, Jr also shared his experience of Mary and 16 year marriage. Crawford how do you know for sure that Patrick Roberts and bloggers have not met or come into contact with the deceased or know her closest friends who are entitled to express their feelings here. More of the same flagrant malignant narcissism and acute insensitivity coming from RFK Jr defenders...As if to say it's only RFK Jr's way or the highway for everyone else including doomed lovely Mary. Who Kennedy -very narrowly caricatured for the benefit of himself and maintaining a phony public image. Camelost

• crawforddayne | May 23, 2012, 03:32 PM EDT

  The person who should be ashamed of themselves is the author of this article. A person who does not know one thing about the intricacies of this situation, whose only knowledge of anything Kennedy is what he reads in the gossip rags available on line and else where. Not one person here who has made a derogatory comment knows anything about the situation and what this family has been through during this ordeal. Nor does anyone know anything about the state of mind Mrs. Kennedy was in prior to her unfortunate decision to take her own life. To say that Mr. Kennedy was responsible based on spurious information, conjecture and innuendo is nothing short of irresponsible and damaging to not him, but those children. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Do you not think these children are capable of reading your malicious comments about the only parent they have left? There are reasons why things happen and for people to make judgements and assign blame based on misinformation is truly not doing any service to the memory of this women. Clearly she had problems, clearly she was depressed, clearly she had issues that affected the well being of 4 minor children and clearly any responsible adult can see that and why the children were no longer with their mother at the time of her death. And one can thanks God for that, what would it have been like for one of them to find their mother? What impact would this have had on them going forward in life? I think each and everyone of the people that make derogatory and misinformed comments should take a step back and think about just what they are doing and how this might affect these children and not base their comments on idiotic reports like this. Everyone one of you should be ashamed of yourselfs for participating in this circus of lies.

• KathyCallahan | May 22, 2012, 11:35 PM EDT

  Very well said Claire. Fighting to reverse a sleazy annulment and winning is a tremendous victory for Sheila and her children. It's also true there are certain circumstances that render even the most competent, tenacious and powerful woman -utterly helpless and worn down when facing off against a man or organization with legal and financial resources that you cannot ever match...'If only I could be on an even playing field with 'himself': no doubt I would prevail and get the justice and closure that I deserve.' Then you gracefully move on...Being cheated...on, betrayed, played, lied to and abandoned...Is sometimes too much to bare for an honest and trusting faithful women.

• Claire2 | May 22, 2012, 05:36 PM EDT

  RFK's self-serving comments at his estranged wife's funeral were totally inappropriate. Better he had not spoken at all. If she were so ill, as Kerry and Bobby are maintaining, why did he put her under further pressure by his various behaviours? He certainly does not sound like someone who "did all he could" for his tormented wife!! Too bad she did not seek the advice of his brother, Joseph's, first wife, Sheila Rauch Kennedy. THERE is a woman who stood up to the might of the Kennedys and that of the Catholic Church - when Joseph got an annullment without her knowledge! She appealed to the Vatican, and after TEN years, the decision was reversed. She also wrote a book in which she detailed the haranguing she received from Joe. He told her that "Kennedy women don't talk". But, she was made of stern material and fought back against the might of the Kennedys - and won. It seems like Mary K. was subjected to too many pressures and was living in fear of losing her children and her home. She was also in financial trouble, owing American Express $32,000, even though Bobby allegedly made $44million last year! Flaunting his new girlfriend in public before he was even divorced, knowing the fragile condition of his wife, was the height of insensitivity and cruelty. Just ONE of those many pressures which she had to endure, might have been enough to drive any woman over the edge. My sympathies go to MK's children and siblings, but not to Bobby. Hope Mary is finally at peace.

• dhaitzin | May 22, 2012, 02:59 PM EDT

  Maybe it IS our business. Maybe when someone else faces these underhanded tactics used by spouses and lawyers,it serves as an example for someone to try to keep going and counteract the vicious innuendos by fighting and not giving up in defeat. Maybe Mary couldnt take it any more and was overwhelmed, but maybe the lesson is to fight back and not allow someone who is powerful to define you. I can understand her feelings of helplessness, I was married for nearly 30 years and gave up my own profession to be a wife and mother as Mary did. Then to be thrown on the scrap heap and have my spouse circulate rumours which were gossip. Believe me there is a tremendous feeling in ones soul of betrayal. I understood that a marriage can end and that may not be the fault of only one partner, but when you have given your life to your family and you are suddenly portrayed as " person unfit and lacking control" it cuts deeply in to ones heart. I hope other women will take a lesson from this and refuse to be defined by their spouse and know there is a life again even after such betrayal. On a positive note, the lessons I have learned have made me a better human being and I no longer hold animosity to ny ex spouse. There is life after such an experience and perhaps that is why we should discuss this. To prevent another tragic death.

• jamieLM | May 22, 2012, 11:17 AM EDT

  Mr. Roberts, you're being judgmental when you probably don't know any of the family members personally, the circumstances that brought about the decisions that were made, and what really went on in the home. This is none of our business and wouldn't be in the media at all if it hadn't involved a famous family. Let Mary R.I.P. and the rest of the family grieve and move forward privately.

• ambidexter | May 22, 2012, 10:28 AM EDT

  He is her husband and if not him then Her son aged 18 is next of Kin. She is with her family. Are her children not her family because their name is Kennedy? What a disgusting article this is.

• dhaitzin | May 22, 2012, 12:36 AM EDT

  To hjolley Check the records, last one was 5/10. Its a divorce strategy used by lawyers. He has NO rights to bury a woman he left 4 years ago and who he was trying to destroy. She was not his property although perhaps thats where the Kennedys have a problem. They do think their wives are property.

• hjolley | May 21, 2012, 11:31 PM EDT

  To dhaitzin Do you even personally know anyone involved here? He "sent restraining orders ad infinitum," and other accusations sounds ridiculous. Let the man who knew the woman bury her as best he can,for God's sake.

• bonjouryall | May 21, 2012, 11:15 PM EDT

  To OldMariner-yes, the Church has changed as to suicides. They now regard them as sick mentally and there is a mass, at least in the US. In a similar vein, formerly, certain babies could not be buried on consecrated ground if they had not been baptised before their death. At an old church in France, I saw the small graves of the babies buried in the rear of the church. I could read the French written on one of the stones. It read "We have hope for you". Perhaps equally fitting here too.

• chicksooze | May 21, 2012, 10:28 PM EDT

  Alcoholism and depression don't start suddenly. She had a responsibility to her children first and foremost. Men abandon their wives every day, it doesn't mean they turn into alcoholics or sink into depression, get real bythebay, your statement is just ignorant.

• Bythebay | May 21, 2012, 08:23 PM EDT

  Mary Richardson Kennedy's alcoholism and depression started when Robert Kennedy Jr. abandoned her. The Kennedys very cleverly have used it to their own ends to villify her. It's a strategy they're very effective at and has served them well. They never accept responsibility for their bad deeds.

• alimah | May 21, 2012, 08:12 PM EDT

  To Patrick Counihan... Re: RFK Jr. What bad behavior? What significant guilt? How do you know why she committed suicide, or that he contibuted to her death? Did she leave you a note? You offer no specifics, therefore your article cannot be considered Journalism... just a judgmental rant! Those who knew mary well knew that she suffered from depression and alcoholism, which can be a deadly combination, and may have also contributed to the end of her marriage. It certainly could have prevented her from obtaining custody of her children.

• chicksooze | May 21, 2012, 04:39 PM EDT

  Once again mamaginnty, the voice of reason. Nobody has the right to criticize RFK Jr, unless you have walked in his shoes. With respect to Mary, if she wasn't in a position to take care of her kids, (and it appears that she wasn't) he did the right thing in taking them. Who else would they be with? The vile spewing of hatred and judging on here is pathetic.

• jetsnoone | May 21, 2012, 01:03 PM EDT

  Mary Schiavo was killed by her husband and the state.

• faberm1 | May 21, 2012, 12:12 PM EDT

  Kennedys = phonies = disgusting

• mamaginnty | May 21, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT

  Again any excuse and the jealousy and hatred seeps out. No one knows what goes on in a family home, it was only right that he got custody of the children, the poor woman had been alcoholic for years. Well before any marriage break-up.

• OldMariner | May 21, 2012, 11:45 AM EDT

  As a long time lapsed Catholic, I have to ask whether the church still denies mass and graveside services to suicides. Has this also changed?

• Rwnevnstr | May 21, 2012, 09:29 AM EDT

  After the Terri Schiavo fiasco, haven't we figured out that a marriage certificate is actually a 'property deed' and the wife is not only not a human being with rights, but other family relationships do not matter to anyone, not even courts?

• warlocks | May 21, 2012, 01:18 AM EDT

  The Kennedys antics make me sick They all think they are Gods but the truth of the matter the Males in that family are really Rats ! and none can be trusted. they really had the whole World fooled with their BS! Everything Evil thing the boys did was covered up.From Murder to Hot Sex Jacks lovers in the white house ! none of the Kennedys were what they seemed to be !

• kilgara | May 21, 2012, 12:52 AM EDT

  Through the 60's the Kennedys could do no wrong re the mass media. Somewhere along the way{Chappaquidick?}the media did a 180 and the Kennedys could do no right.Obviously the truth lies somewhere in between these two extremes , but media vultures like Roberts feed on this he' s all good or he's all bad fantasy. It sells newspapers and commercial time.Anyone who takes it seriously is just a media dupe.

• Eschetic | May 21, 2012, 12:16 AM EDT

  Shame on everybody on the outside of this personal family tragedy for feeling they have a right to preach about it. We can never know the details of what the father and mother felt was best for their children or all the factors which led to the breakdown of a marriage and life which had started so hopefully. Only the rankest of hypocrites are in any position to criticize any of the parties here or say that the correct legal decision was in any way wrong. It's shameful that this scandal mongering, hate filled "article" was even posted on Irish Central - lowering it to rankest tabloid status. More than a few of those posting (starting with the sanctimonious Mr. Roberts himself) would do well to ask themselves what aspects of their own lives might make for scandal fodder if they were unfortunate enough to happen to have the last name Kennedy, or Bush, or Obama, or Reagan, or Roosevelt.

• KathyCallahan | May 20, 2012, 10:02 PM EDT

  Mary Kennedy already lost so much not to mention her dignity as she was living on the edge of losing custody of her children in a bruising courtroom fight with RFK Jr. She was in collection with American Express if you can even believe it...and was on the verge of losing the home she imagined, created and built to live in with her family! By all accounts she was very generous in spirit, kind, Forgiving, caring, loving, welcoming, self effacing and enjoyed bringing people together. There is only so much loss and humiliation that she could take before falling apart. I am utterly appalled, nauseated and filled with grief as I read her fragile back story and how she is being talked about and caricatured in real time at the wake, funeral and burial. I'm do glad the Richardson's are a strong and loving clan who are taking up for her at a real family gathering in NYC on Monday night. Dear RFK Jr doomed and all alone Mary hung herself in her home and the gardener found her dead: Camelost Somehow I understand...

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 09:11 PM EDT

  Cant believe some of the comments here. This discussion is about the tragic death of a mother and wife. Not about left or right wing politics or about size of families or about being Irish. Its about a husband who abandoned his wife 4 years ago, took herchildren away and was planning to use his power and clout to make it permanent. Who flouted his new relationship in Hollywood took his children to an event with his mistress. Sent restraining orders ad infinitum, left his wife economically in fear. Then turns around and decides on her death that though he hasnt lived with her in 4 years, wouldnt let her see her children on Mothers day that he can decide she now stays a Kennedy and he decides where she will be buried. He is disgusting and it has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with being a decent human being.

• isupportrfkjr | May 20, 2012, 07:40 PM EDT

  Horrah for a mon who has the courage to stand up to his critics at one of the most difficutl times of his life. I believe he did this for his children, to show them how to stand up in the face of adversity and let people know see how you truly feel.

• irishpjk | May 20, 2012, 07:13 PM EDT

  Again with all the comments by people from the left and right, who only know what they get from the media, you should be ashamed of your self’s. You see it in print or on TV or you hear it on the radio and then you are an expert on what people did or did not do. Don’t you know left wing media will put a different spin on stuff than the right wing media and if you can’t read both and read between the lines you will end up hating one side or the other. That is how the media hooks us, now you either follow the media and they feed your hatred or you follow them hoping with more information you can decide who is right and who is wrong, either way they got you. To save our great country the PEOPLE have to look at what our leaders did, are doing or promising to do, then ask yourself will it help the USA or hurt. Remember this there is no one out there in Europe or anywhere else to bail us out so stop bickering about the little things that we cannot control. We can control our direction by getting a grip on where our leaders should be taking us then vote them in or out.

• pilib04 | May 20, 2012, 06:09 PM EDT

  I think all of this Kennedy-Hating has to do with the size of their families. Bobby Jr had six children, 2 from the first marriage and 4 with Mary. What is it, jealousy. His dad, Bobby Kennedy, had 11 children. The youngest, Rory was born after he had been murdered.

• pilib04 | May 20, 2012, 05:59 PM EDT

  A little background info on the author of this Kennedy bashing article. Perhaps a teabagger or a RINO. I assume the court acted in the interest of the children (4 of which are Mary and Bobby's). What other family members people are babbling about, I simply am unaware. However, children trump all!!!

• Bythebay | May 20, 2012, 05:48 PM EDT

  McNamara31, research the original records and find out before making outrageous statements about it. You haven't done it and it's very obvious you didn't. Learn your own history.

• JosephDuvernay | May 20, 2012, 05:44 PM EDT

  I solicit whether a few degrees remove frenchperson might... I wonder if our Mr. Roberts knows anything of the shave-hair between lOVE and hATE? I squeeze-cells to make sense with the brain and heart of how I myself can be two things and more, as a man, human. Important: (and here is the pedant) Do unto others what you'd they do to you! Do No Harm! Know thy(sheer nonsense infused)self! And Out the guilt of the larger questions: has he seemingly tried to help the creation? Has she unbought the weighty sale whereever in it comes? May IT continue to bless Mary! May we, in the jaw of defense, not break all its rankling teeth, and be kind to each other.

• bflogal | May 20, 2012, 05:17 PM EDT

  I was just wondering are Mary's parents alive? Every article I read is about the Kennedys but nothing about her family.

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 05:17 PM EDT

  To McNamara31 I do not want to deviate from the main ideas expressed in the article about RFK Jr and his wife Mary. All I will say is that take a look at the children of RFK and note how many have had drug and alcohol problems, have been accused of statutory rape, etc. Seems to me that RFK Jr., who has a history in the past of alcohol and heroin addiction should be the last person to be calling his wife an addict. She was about to lose her home and her children, he used this fear against her and then proceeded in her death to denigrate her memory as though she was mentally deficient. She never used heroin for example, she never went to Harlem to get a fix as he did. She was a woman devastated. I feel so sad for her because noone came to her aid and told her what a talented person she was. I wish she could have talked to Sheila Rauch Kennedy the only ex Kennedy wife who stood up to these people with dignity.

• PhlutiePhan | May 20, 2012, 05:10 PM EDT

  Disgusting but that appears to be the Kennedy way with women. Use them like Kleenex and then walk away. Cardinals Cushing and O'Malley had a chance to make the record right and turned their heads.

• McNamara31 | May 20, 2012, 05:08 PM EDT

  Bythebay You think America (of that time) swung the doors open to all the Irish arriving in Boston? Talk about Laughable!

• abhainn | May 20, 2012, 05:08 PM EDT

  "The Kennedys aren't Irish, they're Americans." Of course.

• unclebrendan | May 20, 2012, 05:06 PM EDT

  Definitely silly Kennedy should be ashamed of himself but a normal reaction would not be appropriate to him. I too suffer from alcoholism and depression but I have stayed sober practically 40 years thaks to God and AA. The depression is debilitating. I was stolen blind and psychologically abused while suffering cancer and depression with 30 years sober.From a family member of course. These people know that the way to get a depressive out of the way is to drive them to suicide with abuse. They are not dumb. I walked away and ended up homeless but it was either that or commit suicide. I had long term sobriety. Mary Kennedy did not. Bless her and damn her tormrntor. Let him exlain it to God. To my critics: how many of you could walk so well in my shoes ?

• Bythebay | May 20, 2012, 04:55 PM EDT

  The Kennedys aren't Irish, they're Americans.

• Bythebay | May 20, 2012, 04:53 PM EDT

  McNamara31, you really need to check the facts in the original sources about Irish emigrants to the US because you've got the wrong story. That story is the beat the chest we're all so persecuted one which is far from the truth. The Kennedy immigrants did very in Boston as immigrants, their son received formal education and owned a saloon in Boston. What befell them was what befell everyone else in Boston, cholera, not any huge wave of bigotry. Smarten up.

• McNamara31 | May 20, 2012, 04:43 PM EDT

  dhaitzin message back... "These guys are a disgrace to the Irish"...How quick you are to paint an entire family as a disgrace.Very prejudicial don't you think?

• LoveDoolin | May 20, 2012, 04:42 PM EDT

  He's a Kennedy; what would you expect? They exonerate themselves from integrity when it suits their needs. It's been happening since the 1930's with Joseph P. and the'legacy' continues. They aren't the sanctimonious family that most seem to portray them to be.

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 04:25 PM EDT

  Message to McNamara31 Just because they are Irish doesnt mean you give them a pass for bad behaviour. We are in the 21st. century and if you want to talk about discrimination, I can tell you a lot about growing up Catholic and sectarianism in the 50's and 60's and it still exists to-day. These guys are a disgrace to the Irish.

• abhainn | May 20, 2012, 04:23 PM EDT

  Patrick Roberts, why don't you drag out your sticky snout from other people's affairs? You know damn all about it; you're a sanctimonious bystander and an outsider. Shut your filthy trap, you parasitic hack.

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 04:20 PM EDT

  Has anyone heard that she was "mentally ill" except from the Kennedys? Any Doctor come forward diagnosing her mental illness? No! This was a ploy by her husband and his family to get custody and to abandon her financially. This guy has a lot of smart lawyers and PR people. Of course he didnt know he would drive her over the edge. He just wanted to humiliate and control her. If you had spent your life as a loving wife and mother and now you were scrambling to not lose your home and your children, you might take a few drinks. God knows noone was rushing to help her because they knew she wasnt a Kennedy so they wanted to be on the winning side. btw where were all these friends, where was her best friend Kerry Kennedy? She was over the hill, he wanted to pay least amount possible and control her with the children. It is a disgrace and I hope one day her children as adults will see how they framed this tragic death to suit their ends.

• McNamara31 | May 20, 2012, 04:20 PM EDT

  from Nj, USA stated: "and curse the Kennedy's for using America to get its way"...What planet do you orbit? When the Kennedys rolled up on American shores they were greeted with every type of hate and prejudice that the bigots of the day could throw at them. Back then “all” Irish in New York, Boston or New Orleans were treated as ignorant lowlife and one family broke through that stereotype and enabled the rest of our ancestors to move up with them. So please don’t give me this crapola about how the Kennedys used America because it’s untrue and it’s ignorant. The Kennedy’s have a huge family and like all, have had their tragedies, triumphs and shame; but “they” are our Irish history, and what’s really shameful is that Patrick Roberts wrote this piece of crapola today and the rest who used a family’s grief as a hate fest.

• Bythebay | May 20, 2012, 04:08 PM EDT

  Mary Richardson was deemed mentally ill and having depression problems by the Kennedys after Robert Jr. abandoned her. They set her up as an excuse for his philandering.

• kamituar2 | May 20, 2012, 04:03 PM EDT

  Of course I don't personally know the Kennedys' but I do know how hard it is to try to help or live with a mentally ill person. So I say do not judge a man unless you have walked a mile in his shoes.

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 03:58 PM EDT

  Take a look at his self serving comments at her funeral... "He said: “The day before she died, she called me and said, 'You know me better than anyone in the world’. She said, 'I was such a good girl’. I said, 'I know you are and you still are’. She really fought so hard. She had these demons, and she didn’t deserve it. I know I did everything I could to help her.” " She was a 52 year old accomplished architect who had renovated their home in to a state of the art ecologically sound show piece and he wants us to believe she said "she was a good girl"!! Even if she said it in a moment of utter self denigration, why would he repeat this in public at her funeral. this man is disgusting. Maybe he should remember the humiliation from which he was rescued when he was on that plane o/ding on heroin and his wealthy family saved him from jail.

• CitizenWhy | May 20, 2012, 03:56 PM EDT

  What happened to respect for the dead and grieving? Lay off. The poor woman was seriously depressed her whole life. Her children wanted her buried the way she was. Her best friend who gave the eulogy was a Kennedy. She will have her children buried with her.

• TheOldPerfessor | May 20, 2012, 03:55 PM EDT

  In 40 years of marriage, I've distilled one dram of advice. Don't judge anybody else's marriage. You should try that.

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 03:35 PM EDT

  He took custody of the children on 2/12. Last month took his children and new girlfriend to a Hollywood event which was highly publicized. Had not lived with Mary in 4 years. In the last several weeks served her with 3 restraining orders and a contempt citation. He was taking her to court in August to get permanent custody. He made $55million last year but she was being sued by Amex for $32,000. Does this sound like a caring individual? He pushed and pushed her over the edge. Shades of Ben Broderick except Mary killed herself instead. This is a divorce tactic practiced by wealthy powerful men and they always win.

• jamthecat | May 20, 2012, 03:24 PM EDT

  No argument here, for once. Kennedy's actions are just as despicable as Newt Gingrinch's cheating on wives # 1 & 2 while they were deathly ill, Rupert Murdoch's clan allowing the hacking of people's phones, Romney's bullying and animal cruelty, the outright theft of so many people's life saving by millionaires on Wall Street, and the Koch Brothers buying themselves whatever election that will help increase their wealth. The rich ARE different; most of them are outright sociopaths. One has to wonder why so many people on the right want to protect them and give them even greater and greater tax breaks, let alone not subject them to the same laws as the rest of us?

• irishpjk | May 20, 2012, 03:20 PM EDT

  The whole Kennedy clan needs our prayers; I don’t think pity ever helped anyone. I do think a little shame and humiliation sprinkled with a little love and consideration for their fellow man would help them. I will not judge them that’s Gods job and he is a lot more merciful than me.

• moorehall | May 20, 2012, 03:17 PM EDT

  I totally agree with jj Sherman.People need to pray for the family instead of making all these negative comments. I don'e believe he was the cause of her leaving her four children behind.

• BurrRobson | May 20, 2012, 03:17 PM EDT

  Bobby Kennedy is slime. He was protecting the family name. Maybe he's more like Michael than we thought?

• gino466 | May 20, 2012, 03:11 PM EDT

  marilyn monroe's psychiatrist made only one comment to another about why she committed suicide that comment made to a reporter during a phone call was "ask bobby kennedy" i see his son is keeping the kennedy tradition going

• gino466 | May 20, 2012, 03:09 PM EDT

  if they wanted her out of the fam then why bury her in hyannisport- only to protect the kennedy name what a disgrace no wonder her family sued for the body

• gino466 | May 20, 2012, 03:08 PM EDT

  a worthless piece of garbage if there ever was one

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 03:07 PM EDT

  There was a suicide note reported. Funny how it "disappeared" after her husband got to the house. Why do you think he asked her sisters to leave that same day. He needed some time to check if Mary had any other writings etc. which would make him look bad. The sisters had to go to the local police to gain access to her personal possessions. What was he afraid of?

• goulding18 | May 20, 2012, 03:05 PM EDT

  Pat Roberts, your instantaneous, without evidence of anything you say response is exactly what is wrong with journalism these days. Irish Central is making a habit of this kind of reporting and is fast becoming a yellow journalistic rag that is not worth reading anymore.

• Bythebay | May 20, 2012, 03:02 PM EDT

  The Richardsons are very upset at the way this went but of course have nowhere near the millions the Kennedys have which is why the Kennedys get their own way which they've done in this matter. Of course her burial in Hyannis will make it impossible for the Richardsons to even visit her grave. That's the Kennedy Way!!

• blackbearpause | May 20, 2012, 02:42 PM EDT

  The four children are Kennedys, and her remains belong where they will be a part of them. Legally the remains were for Bobby to decide where they be buried. Her spirit is now free and will be where she wants it to be. I dont think we are the ones to judge his actions, if she meant nothing to him he would not have gone to court over it. In the end her family is OK with the way it went. There is no hostility there, may she rest in peace.

• Pittsburghkid | May 20, 2012, 02:34 PM EDT

  Kennedy's have been a disgrace for a long time. This type of dehavior is typical. Nothing new.

• handsome68 | May 20, 2012, 02:11 PM EDT

  Jesus said, "he who is without sin, (should throw) the first stone." RFK Jr. is to be pitied, not condemned. The sins of the father, and the grandfather.... and all that. (By this, I only mean sins of the flesh, and nothing political.) He needs to unlearn a lot of the lies to which he was exposed, and to repent. Oh, and who am I to talk, you might ask? I'm a practicing Roman Catholic, also a sinner.

• from Nj, USA | May 20, 2012, 02:08 PM EDT

  he should bw ashamws of himself, but he was the next of kin.............the judge had no choice but to give him custody of his poor wife. Let us just pray for her and curse the Kennedy's for using America to get its way. They are no longer the family in charge. They lost it to the Obama's who could care less about America and its people. at least the kennedy's had feelings!

• branagh | May 20, 2012, 02:00 PM EDT

  I thought there was not a suicide note! How wrong I was-obviously it was received by Mr Roberts.

• dhaitzin | May 20, 2012, 01:56 PM EDT

  He took custody of the children on 2/12. Last month took his children and new girlfriend to a Hollywood event which was highly publicized. Had not lived with Mary in 4 years. In the last several weeks served her with 3 restraining orders and a contempt citation. He was taking her to court in August to gat permanent custody. He made $55million last year but she was being sued by Amex for $32,000. Does this sound like a caring individual? He pushed and pushed her over the edge. Shades of Ben Broderick except Mary killed herself instead. This is a divorce tactic practised by wealthy powerful men and they always win.

• from Nj, USA | May 20, 2012, 01:54 PM EDT

  I will not even mention my political believes....................cause they are not those of the kennedy's! lol

• from Nj, USA | May 20, 2012, 01:51 PM EDT

  Bobby did not do wrong. I believe that he paid his respect to his poor wife. I was divorced from my husband when he died. I paid for his burial and for his family to be there. I would have trusted no one but me to do the right thing!

• shanfrina | May 20, 2012, 01:51 PM EDT

  ... As an American citizen in thee Bflo./Niagara, NY area, I can safely say Bobby Jr. is-NOT-in the same league with JFK & RFK! I interviewed RFK, when he spoke at conservative Brigham Young Univ. in Provo, Utah ('68). A month before he was killed. Bobby had the 12,000 students standing & cheering after his impassioned speech about the U.S.!

• JJSherman | May 20, 2012, 01:51 PM EDT

  No one knows what went on in their home. We are not the pillow, the bed or the spread. It is sad that Mary had to end her life like that, and as for Bobby and the rest of the family my prayers goes out to you. We need to pray for this family pray that the Lord will bring peace to them.

• DLW12183 | May 20, 2012, 01:50 PM EDT

  It is all about the "Kennedys"-always has been and always will be. No body else matters to them or the American media, maybe Irish media also.

• MaryM232 | May 20, 2012, 01:38 PM EDT

  The vile PoS kept their children from her, Bobby Kennedy Jr isolated, and marginalized the poor woman, these are the actions of a serial abuser, a bully, a stalker. He's not fit to have custody, and the judge is a disgrace, whose ties to the Kennedy family should be investigated.

• pegmckpt | May 20, 2012, 01:37 PM EDT

  Is this an Op-Ed piece? obviously you don't care for the Kennedy clan, but to make such statements is absurd unless you were one of Mary's "deep, rich friendships," or she left you a note with her reasons. A person with many deep rich friendships does not kill themselves. they seek help and consolation. a person who wants to fight to keep her children does not kill herself. an addict, who is at the abyss of despair, does. If Kennedy had not buried Mary in the family plot, you likely would have been critical that he denied her as a Kennedy. I think there is no winning with you as there is no impartiality here

• MonaAnn | May 20, 2012, 01:13 PM EDT

  As usual the Kennedy power trip was put into place. He just did that to prove that the Kennedy clan gets whatever they want, no matter who it hurts. They have destroyed so many lives and just don't care who is hurt in their wake. Hopefully the day will come when someone will tell the spoiled brats NO. Now we know why Jackie kept her her kids away from the clan as much as possible.

• Bythebay | May 20, 2012, 01:00 PM EDT

  Kennedy had made the children's lives hell. Sent two off to boarding school and took two with him to California where he's dallying with Cheryl Hines. He had abandoned his wife 4 years before he filed for divorce. Her breakdown was a direct result of his abhorrent vicious actions but he and his family are villifying her. Her remains should have gone to her family, the ones who loved her, the Richardsons. It should not have gone to the philandering to be ex-husband who didn't. All he's doing is the proverbial Kennedy attempts at saving face.

• truveit | May 20, 2012, 12:59 PM EDT

  Pub News indeed... This is an affront to anyone who has ever lived with alcoholism. You haven't got a clue what happened. here, except that Bobby Kennedy could not longer live with his alcoholic wife, as 'good' as she may be. It was sad all around. I understand what "He" went through... Have you proof that he has the "Kennedy sense of entitlement"... Have you proof that Bobby Kennedy "contributed to his wife's suicide"..??? What a statement to make - you could be sued for slander.

• darao | May 20, 2012, 12:55 PM EDT

  It is easy to demonize people when you lump them in together as a group. But since none of know the individual brothers, sisters, mums and dads involved such lumping together with slurs and insults is just mean spirited brain dead slander. It is what people have done to justify terrorism and hatred for eons. The shame is on those who lump the kennedys together and throw stones.

• Madeliene | May 20, 2012, 12:45 PM EDT

  Edward McDonald Well said!

• Murph46 | May 20, 2012, 12:43 PM EDT

  Let's take the sanctimonious krap out on both sides,the fact is that for two families to fight over where she was to be buried could NOT HAVE BEEN helpful to her surviving children!

• gino466 | May 20, 2012, 12:20 PM EDT

  typical kennedy a dirt bag from a long line of them

• dickmac | May 20, 2012, 12:19 PM EDT

  Yes ! Once again the "Kenndy's show their stuff". May she now rest in Peace.

• Edward McDonald | May 20, 2012, 12:13 PM EDT

  This is where you have it wrong, I C. In truth, the Clan Kennedy is dressed up shanty sociopaths who portend to be concerned about society. In truth, they are a band of foul mannered narcissists throw a lot of BS about their solidarity with the common man. A bigger lot of self possessed windbags, you'll never encounter!

• Linden Nash | May 20, 2012, 12:01 PM EDT

  No one knows what demons caused this woman to be an alcoholic and depressed which is a mental illness. Her husband left her possibly so she would come to her senses and stop drinking and he was fighting for custody of his children, obviously because she was incapable of looking after them.

• hermitTalker | May 20, 2012, 11:55 AM EDT

  Judging without having all the facts is extremely difficult and forbidden to us by common sense and basic justice. prayer for all is best, especially for the children whose role in life was never easy as Kennedys and now a mother who died for no reason any of us can tell, not even her estranged husband we can presume.

• susan724 | May 20, 2012, 11:21 AM EDT

  venicementor - I could not have said it better! How dare Roberts moralize about a situation and individuals with whom he does not know is the slightest! To make that poor woman into a saint and Kennedy into the villain is absurd when you have no earthly idea what went on between these two individuals!

• Amante2me | May 20, 2012, 11:16 AM EDT

  No one knows what goes on behind those doors unless they live with that person! People present one face to the public and another in their own home. I know and have seen it in my own family. She had an substance abuse problem and when at home she did things that no one knew about. She killed herself because it was her choice. NO ONE made her do this! She had money and a home. She was not out on the streets with no one that cared. She had children that loved her and close family members that loved her too. With all that love, come on. She did it because she wanted to not because her husband made her. No one is perfect. She did what she did for no one else but herself. She was not thinking about her children or family when she killed herself.

• venicementor | May 20, 2012, 10:53 AM EDT

  Mr. Roberts... you are who?? Your scathing comment about a person or persons you probably don’t know or have ever had a relationship with, is presumptuous. You sir is exactly what is wrong with much of the world today, judging people on hearsay and conjecture established by other people. I am sure Robert Kennedy has done things in his life that are not “kosher” but for you judge him in situation where NO ONE really knows the exact dichotomy of the relationship, except for the two involved. For you to pass judgment in the manner you chose to do, is pretty audacious to say the least. “Mcnamara31” and “Rebelforce,” hear, hear - thank you, you are right on.

• darao | May 20, 2012, 10:50 AM EDT

  You vitriol is not well founded. You make assumptions about the cause of the suicide without any foundation. You suggest he contributed to it which is something bordering on slanderous comment. He was still her husband notwithstanding the divorce proceedings about which the details may be anything but what is apparent. Your editorial is not only insensitive and inappropriate but based on little of substance. Perhaps you forget to read it before publishing it in your angst to hit out at the family.

• katieherk | May 20, 2012, 10:44 AM EDT

  CONGRATULATIONS, PAT, FOR FINALLY WRITING A PIECE THAT TELLS THE TRUTH. JR. SHOULD BE TERRIBLY ASHAMED OF HIMSELF AND I HOPE THIS KENNEDY NAME FINALLY STAYS OUT OF THE MEDIA.... SICK, SICK, SICK OF ALL OF THEM!! MY HEART GOES OUT TO MARY'S FAMILY, WHAT A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE TO HER KIN.

• McNamara31 | May 20, 2012, 10:16 AM EDT

  Ashamed Really? My God, the man came back took care of his children and the funeral arrangements. Give me a break Patrick; after getting past his own addiction problems RFK has gone on to be a very responsible person and environmentalist. This column hit me as "ghoulish" on your part.... making points on the extreme grief of others.

• Rebelforce | May 20, 2012, 10:10 AM EDT

  Roberts writes, "The whole world knows the truth of the relationship" between Robert and Mary (Richardson) Kennedy. No Pat, the world doesn't know----and neither do you----what went on in their marriage. All we know is that 4 children were left motherless due to this tragic suicide and Robert Kennedy needed to take charge and look out for the emotional well being of his traumatized kids. There may be a time where one can point fingers and blame RFK Jr for his wife choosing to hang herself, but the week this tragedy occured is certainly not that time.