A KEY suspect in Kim Kardashian’s $10million robbery case has suddenly died after reportedly getting threats from a criminal gang suspected of buying her jewellery.
Marceau Baum-Gertner, 72, was the alleged “super fence” working with the gang that held up Kardashian at gunpoint in the French capital in 2016.
This means the deceased suspect was allegedly responsible for finding buyers for the Kardashian’s robbed possessions, including a $4million engagement ring that has never been recovered.
He was due to go on trial on Monday, alongside 10 others accused of a variety of charges linked to the “robbery and kidnap” of Ms Kardashian by “an organised gang”.
However, he was found dead in Paris’s 10th arrondissement on March 6th.
Baum-Gertner’s cause of death has not been released, but an investigating source said it was unexpected.
The source said: “Mr Baumgertner had been released on bail following his arrest over the Kim Kardashian robbery eight years ago, and was living in Paris, while regularly reporting to police.
“His name was on the defendants’ list for the trial, and he was very enthusiastic about clearing his name in court.
“This was until he died suddenly in the 10th arrondissement of Paris on March 6th.’
The source continued: “He was suspected of liaising with mafia gangs from across the world over the Kardashian jewellery, and criminals are known to have issued threats against him following widespread publicity connected to the case.”
Baum-Gertner was first arrested in January 2017, after regular meetings with Aomar “Old Omar” Aït Khedache – who has already confessed to being the ringleader of the Kardashian gang after his DNA was found at the scene of the crime.
On Monday, people accused of “armed robbery in an organised gang”, “kidnap” and “criminal conspiracy” will stand trial at Paris Assizes, two miles from the scene of the crime.
As a key witness, Kim, 44, is willing to face her alleged attackers for the first time since the terrifying raid at the Hotel de Pourtales.
Michael Rhodes, Ms Kardashian’s U.S. lawyer, said: “We can confirm that Ms. Kardashian will be testifying in person at the upcoming French criminal trial involving the 2016 incident in which she was bound and robbed at gunpoint by a number of masked assailants.”
The star of Disney+ show The Kardashians has waited years for justice as the case dragged on, with timetabling problems caused by high-profile terrorist trials sparking backlogs in the courts.
French detectives have revealed to The Sun how they tracked down the accused.
One of the ageing crew has already publicly confessed to robbing Kim, who, in 2016, was still married to rapper Kanye West.
This week, Yunice Abbas, 72, revealed that he didn’t know who Kim was until after the raid.
He claimed: “My mate Aomar Ait Khedache, who put me on the job, had simply told me the victim was the wife of a famous rapper.”
Police dossier shows how a combination of DNA and CCTV analysis, phone taps and geolocation, plus dogged determination by detectives, including physical tailing of suspects, led to the smashing of the gang within two months of the Hollywood-style heist.
