Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris in October 2016, and millions of dollars in jewelry was stolen during the daring crime.

It was the largest heist of an individual in France in almost 20 years, and it made international headlines.

After nearly a decade, the matter is finally heading to court.

Why has it taken this long? Will Kardashian provide evidence? And who precisely are the alleged “grandpa robbers” on trial?

Here’s all you should know.

Image:
Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery.

What happened?

Two years after Kardashian and rapper Kanye West married in an opulent week-long ceremony that spanned Paris and Florence, the Kardashian-West family returned to the French capital for Paris Fashion Week.

Her then-husband had returned to the United States to resume his Saint Pablo tour, while Kardashian, her sister Kourtney, and several members of their entourage stayed in Paris, residing in an elite set of apartments.

The Hotel de Pourtalès, located on Tronchet Street, a stone’s throw from Place de l’Opéra and next to the prestigious Avenue Montaigne, is a favorite choice for A-list celebrities visiting Paris.

A stay in the Sky Penthouse, the apartment rented by Kardashian, presently costs almost £13,000 per night.

Kardashian was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales
Image:
Kardashian was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales

On the evening of October 3, after attending a fashion show with her sister, Kardashian remained in the apartment alone as the rest of her convoy, including her bodyguard Pascal Duvier, went out for the night.

At around 2.30 a.m., three armed individuals clad in ski masks and posing as police officers pushed their way into the apartment building, threatening the concierge at gunpoint, according to detectives.

Two of them are said to have pushed the concierge to take them to Kardashian’s apartment. He subsequently informed officers that they screamed at him, “Where’s the rapper’s wife?”

Kardashian said she had been “dozing” on her bed when the guys entered her apartment.

She feels her social media posts presented the suspected burglars with “a window of opportunity”.

“I was Snapchatting that I was home, and that everyone was going out,” she stated in the months following the event.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star vividly recounted the incident in a police complaint, according to the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

“They grabbed me and led me into the corridor. They tied me up with plastic wires, taped my hands, and then taped my lips and legs.”

She claimed they brandished a pistol at her and demanded both her ring and money.

Police guard the entrance to the building where Kim has been staying
Image:
Police guard the entrance to the Hotel de Pourtalès the day after the robbery

Kardashian claims they brought her into the bathroom and placed her in the bathtub. She said she was just wearing a bathrobe at the time.

According to a French police complaint obtained in New York three months after the incident, she originally feared the criminals “were terrorists who had come to kidnap me”.

Kardashian told police, “I thought I was going to die.”

According to authorities, the burglars fled the room on bicycles with valuables valued at around $10 million (£7.5 million), including a $4 million (£3 million) 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring from West.

Kardashian stated that when they departed, she escaped her bonds and went in search of help. After interviewing with investigators, she promptly returned to the United States.

Kim Kardashian shows off a ring on Instagram

Image:
Kardashian shows off her $4m ring on Instagram

What was stolen?

Kardashian said that in addition to her engagement ring, the robbers stole her huge Louis Vuitton jewelry box, which held “everything I owned.”

In police reports provided to the French authorities at around 4.30am on the night of the suspected crime, Kardashian identified the following things as stolen:

• Two diamond Cartier bracelets
• A gold and diamond Jacob necklace
• Diamond earrings by Lauren Schwartz
• Yanina earrings
• Three gold Jacob necklaces
• Little bracelets, jewels and rings
• A Lauren Schwartz diamond necklace
• A necklace with six little diamonds
• A necklace with Saint spelt out in diamonds
• A cross-shaped diamond-encrusted Jacob cross
• A yellow gold Rolex watch
• Two yellow gold rings
• An iPhone 6 and a BlackBerry

Police only found the diamond-encrusted crucifix that the criminals had dropped as they fled.

The gold in the haul was most likely melted down and resold, while the diamond engagement ring that has become synonymous with the crime would be much too identifiable to be sold on the open market.

Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Pic: Rex Features
Image:
Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery.