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A man accused in the high-profile 2016 armed robbery of Kim Kardashian in Paris has died, just as the long-awaited trial into the shocking heist got underway.

According to The New York Times, the Paris court confirmed on April 28, the opening day of proceedings, that one of the suspects in the case had passed away.

Another defendant has been deemed medically unfit to stand trial. Ten other men, however, will face charges of robbery and kidnapping related to the incident that saw Kardashian bound, gagged, and locked in a bathroom while millions of dollars worth of jewellery were stolen from her hotel room.

The group, dubbed The Grandpa Gang by French media due to the suspects’ older age at the time of the crime, is now on trial for what remains one of the most talked-about celebrity robberies of the decade.

The case is expected to run through May 23, with Kardashian, who was 35 when the crime occurred, scheduled to testify on May 13.

Her attorney, Michael Rhodes, told NBC News that the entrepreneur and reality TV star has “tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system,” noting that authorities have treated her with “great respect.”

While Kardashian has reserved her comments for the courtroom, she has previously recounted the terrifying experience.

During a 2017 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, she recalled thinking, “They’re going to shoot me in the back. There’s no way out. It makes me so upset to think about it.”

In more recent years, the 44-year-old has opened up about the lingering emotional effects of the robbery. In a 2024 episode of The Kardashians, she discussed her response to trauma with a therapist who observed that she may have become “desensitised” as a survival mechanism.

“You think calm is your superpower,” Kardashian shared. “I think I’ve let it get too calm to where people could take advantage of my calmness — or I’m just turning into a full robot with no emotion.”