Mary Kennedy, Estranged Wife Of RFK Jr., Hanged Herself

Yesterday afternoon a housekeeper discovered the body of Mary Richardson Kennedy, the 52-year-old estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Various news outlets are reporting that Kennedy had hanged herself in an outbuilding on the property of her Mount Kisco home. The Richardson family released a statement, "We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her. Our heart goes out to her children, who she loved without reservation." And friends of Mary Kennedy are blaming her apparent despair on her husband's behavior.

A friend of Mary Kennedy's told the Post, "She was lovely. She always looked out for you... She did not have it easy, being Bobby’s wife. I remember being seated at a dinner next to Bobby around 10 years ago that she was also at — it was the first time I had met either of them — and he put his hand on my thigh under the table. We hadn’t even spoken but to say hello. He is such a dog that way. ... Like all Kennedy wives, she was expected to tow the line. Stay quiet, take care of the kids, tolerate the affairs and look happy. She took solace in yoga and meditation."

The couple, who married in 1994 (Mary Richard met Robert's sister Kerry Kennedy at boarding school; the women were roommates at Brown), had a tumultuous 2010. On May 10th, she called the police to her home. According to the Journal News, "Responding officers reported her to have been “visibly intoxicated” and noted that she had 'great difficulty collecting her thoughts and articulating her reasons for calling.' She told police her husband was “verbally abusive to herself and her children.” Two days after, RFK Jr. filed for divorce and then on May 13th, the police were called to the home again, with RFK Jr. claiming his wife was drunk. And two days after that, she was arrested for driving drunk into a curb outside a school. And there's more:

Shortly after the drunken-driving arrest in May 2010, The Journal News discovered that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., concerned about his wife’s mental state, had attempted to drive her to Northern Westchester Hospital to see a psychologist in September 2007. She resisted and, according to Mount Kisco police records, ran from the car into the road.

Mary Kennedy was again arrested Aug. 21, 2010. A state police officer stopped her after observing her driving at a high rate of speed pulled her over for speeding on the Taconic State Parkway in the Town of Pleasant Valley in Dutchess County and found she had taken prescription medication before getting on the road in her 2004 Volvo.

She apparently had been on her way to yoga class and was said to have been traveling 82 mph.

A family friend told the Post, “She was deeply troubled, abusing alcohol and prescription meds. She had cause. She was used up and tossed away by Bobby. That was awful." Another source told the Daily News, "Bobby tried really, really hard to shield the kids from her condition."

An autopsy is being performed today. None of the couple's four children were at home at the time her body as well as a note were discovered. A neighbor told the Daily News, "She always seems lost these days, whenever she came into the village. Lost and alone and sort of out of it.”

RFK Jr., founder and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, was seen at the property last night around 8:15 p.m., "appearing to grimace as he entered the home" according to the NY Times. He issued a statement, saying that she "inspired our family with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit. Mary was a genius at friendship, a tremendously gifted architect and a pioneer and relentless advocate of green design who enhanced her cutting edge, energy efficient creations with exquisite taste and style." RFK Jr. has reportedly been dating actress Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines.

The Post's headline says "Kennedy Curse," but a Kennedy biographer Lawrence Leamer writes in the Daily News, "Nobody dies of a curse — even if they’re a Kennedy."