Frenchman who robbed Kim Kardashian dies of cancer aged 69
A French robber convicted with seven others of stealing jewelry worth $10 million from reality television star Kim Kardashian in Paris in 2016 died on Thursday, a source close to the case said.
Didier Dubreucq, 69, was diagnosed with lung cancer during pre-trial detention and had been undergoing chemotherapy.
He was among 10 suspects to be tried earlier this year for stealing jewels from the American influencer, including a huge diamond ring from her now ex-husband, rapper Kayne West.
Dubreucq, who police nicknamed "Blue Eyes" due to his piercing gaze, was accused of being the second person who stormed into Kardashian's hotel room on the night of October 2-3, 2016, but he denied the charges.
A Paris court last month sentenced him to seven years in jail, including five suspended, over the robbery.
He was absent for the ruling as he was undergoing chemotherapy, and did not return to jail as he had already served his two years in pre-trial detention.
In April, he had however turned up in court after a chemotherapy session to say he had "nothing to do" with the theft.
He said he did not like to be labelled an "armed robber" despite having served a 23-year sentence for past armed robberies.
"I'm a good guy," he said, rejecting suggestions that he was a "thug".
Since becoming a father at the age of 50, Dubreucq said, he had put an end to the "big mistakes" of the past.
None of the eight people convicted last month returned to jail, including 69-year-old ringleader Aomar Ait Khedache, because of the time they had spent behind bars awaiting trial.
© 2025 AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
10 hours ago
- Japan Today
Frenchman who robbed Kim Kardashian dies of cancer aged 69
A French robber convicted with seven others of stealing jewelry worth $10 million from reality television star Kim Kardashian in Paris in 2016 died on Thursday, a source close to the case said. Didier Dubreucq, 69, was diagnosed with lung cancer during pre-trial detention and had been undergoing chemotherapy. He was among 10 suspects to be tried earlier this year for stealing jewels from the American influencer, including a huge diamond ring from her now ex-husband, rapper Kayne West. Dubreucq, who police nicknamed "Blue Eyes" due to his piercing gaze, was accused of being the second person who stormed into Kardashian's hotel room on the night of October 2-3, 2016, but he denied the charges. A Paris court last month sentenced him to seven years in jail, including five suspended, over the robbery. He was absent for the ruling as he was undergoing chemotherapy, and did not return to jail as he had already served his two years in pre-trial detention. In April, he had however turned up in court after a chemotherapy session to say he had "nothing to do" with the theft. He said he did not like to be labelled an "armed robber" despite having served a 23-year sentence for past armed robberies. "I'm a good guy," he said, rejecting suggestions that he was a "thug". Since becoming a father at the age of 50, Dubreucq said, he had put an end to the "big mistakes" of the past. None of the eight people convicted last month returned to jail, including 69-year-old ringleader Aomar Ait Khedache, because of the time they had spent behind bars awaiting trial. © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
10 hours ago
- Japan Today
29 pupils taking high school exams killed in Central Africa crush
Twenty-nine students taking their high school exams in the Central African Republic died in a stampede sparked by an exploding power transformer, the health ministry told AFP Thursday. Just over 5,300 pupils were sitting the second day of the baccalaureat exams at the time of the explosion early Wednesday afternoon in Bangui, the capital of the deeply poor nation. In the ensuing panic, supervisors and students tried to flee, some jumping from the first floor of the school. The injured were transported by ambulance, on the back of pickup trucks or by motorbike taxi, AFP journalists saw. Michael Jordy Yerima, 20, survived the stampede by jumping from a first-floor window but fractured his foot. "Around me, there were other injured students, and some died on the spot," he said. President Faustin Archange Touadera, who was attending a summit of the Gavi vaccine alliance in Brussels, announced three days of national mourning. "I would like to express my solidarity and compassion to the parents of the deceased candidates, to the educational staff, to the students," Touadera said in a video published on his party's Facebook page. According to a document circulating on social media and authenticated by the health ministry, 29 deaths were registered by hospitals in the city. "The hospital was overwhelmed by people to the point of obstructing caregivers and ambulances," a health ministry source said. U.N. peacekeepers, police and other security were seen around the Barthelemy Boganda high school and hospitals. Education Minister Aurelien-Simplice Kongbelet-Zingas said in a statement Wednesday that "measures will be taken quickly to shed light on the circumstances of this incident". The minister added that a further statement would follow regarding a date for the students to resume their exams program. On Thursday, authorities banned a gathering of candle-bearing students who had sought to pay tribute to their dead classmates. Several people also gathered to protest against national energy company Enerca, an AFP reporter said. Colette Hiporo, mother of two injured high school students aged 17 and 19, complained that "raising children in these conditions, with misery, tears and without resources, is already a real struggle. "Officials are underpaid and we can't live well. What happened is very serious." Yerima, the student who jumped from a window, told AFP that after "the explosion which shook the building, the supervisors, who were supposed to control us, were the first to start fleeing". The Republican Bloc for the Defense of the Constitution (BRDC), a coalition of opposition parties, condemned "the irresponsibility of the authorities in place, who have failed in their duty to ensure the safety of students and school infrastructure". The CAR is among the poorest countries in the world and, since independence from France in 1960, has endured a succession of coups, authoritarian rulers and civil wars. The latest civil war started more than a decade ago. The government has secured the main cities and violence has subsided in recent years. But fighting occasionally erupts in remote regions between rebels and the national army, which is backed by Wagner mercenaries and Rwandan troops. Municipal, legislative and presidential elections are scheduled for August and December this year but U.N. experts have urged institutional reform of the electoral authority before the polls and for "transparent internal governance" as tensions between the government and the opposition intensify. © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
2 days ago
- Japan Today
U.S. Marine in Okinawa gets 7-year term over sexual assault
A Japanese district court on Tuesday sentenced a U.S. Marine stationed in Okinawa Prefecture to seven years in prison for a sexual assault committed in May 2024, concluding that the victim's testimony demonstrated a "high level of credibility." Lance Cpl Jamel Clayton, 22, who pleaded not guilty in the case, was accused of injuring a woman in her 20s by choking her while attempting to rape her. He denied having any sexual intent or using physical force against her. In handing down the ruling, the Naha District Court's Presiding Judge Kazuhiko Obata described the victim's account as "precise and authentic," while noting that she reported the incident to both the police and a friend shortly afterward. Obata also said bloodspots found in her eyes after the assault matched a forensic scientist's assessment that such symptoms appear only when the neck is compressed continuously for at least one to two minutes. Clayton's lawyer said the defendant is considering appealing the ruling. Prosecutors had demanded 10 years in prison. According to the ruling, Clayton choked the woman from behind in Yomitan, Okinawa, on the morning of May 26 last year and attempted to have sexual intercourse with her by unbuttoning her pants. She sustained injuries to both eyes that required about two weeks of treatment. The southern prefecture hosts the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan, and anti-base sentiment runs deep due to aircraft noise, pollution and crimes committed by American service members. © KYODO
