RFK Jr. filings: Wife Mary was erratic

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accused his estranged wife, Mary, of abusing his children from an earlier marriage, including stealing items from his young daughter, showing up uninvited on trips he took after they separated and sometimes calling him dozens of times a day, according to a legal filing revealed Sunday.

Mary Kennedy killed herself last month at the family's estate in Bedford. Robert Kennedy filed for divorce two years ago and the case was pending when she died. They wed in 1994 and had four children together.

Portions of a confidential affidavit filed in 2011 in the divorce case were posted online by The Daily Beast as part of a cover story in Newsweek magazine about Mary Kennedy that was written by Kennedy family biographer Laurence Leamer. A spokesman for the site declined to comment on how the affidavit was obtained.

Its contents convey years of strain in the Kennedys' relationship. Among them, Kennedy recounted instances around 1997 of taking his daughter from his first marriage, then 9, to the airport at the end of weekend visits. She'd been losing things like her wallet or plane ticket, and he chided her for it. He said his teary-eyed daughter told him that his second wife was taking the items and when he tried to convince her otherwise, "She looked me in the eye and said, 'No, Daddy, Mary hates me.' " He said he found the items weeks later, hidden in a drawer under his wife's clothes.

Calls to divorce lawyers for both Kennedys were not immediately returned.

In the filing, Robert Kennedy also asked the court to stop Mary from a list of behaviors, including physically attacking him, stealing his possessions, going to his house and following him on trips. He also asked that she be required to remain sober in front of their children, and refrain from talking about their marriage or threatening suicide -- all in front of the children.

In the affidavit, Kennedy described knowing Mary since 1975, after she became best friends with his sister Kerry. He described Mary as "kind, generous" and "stunningly beautiful." He said he "fell deeply in love with her," and that she had a good relationship with his first two children before the couple married. Later, "Mary began to be abusive toward both my children and particularly hateful toward" his daughter, he said.

Kennedy said he didn't initially know of the treatment, but three years after they married, it triggered his first attempt at divorce. Kennedy said he needed the court to grant his protective order and make Mary sign a child custody agreement "for the sake of my children and for my own safety and sanity."