RFK Jr's Estranged Wife Found Dead

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s estranged wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who had fought drug and alcohol problems, was found dead in her home near New York City today. Attorney Kerry Lawrence, who had represented her in a drunken-driving case, said he didn't know the cause of her death at age 52. An autopsy was scheduled for tomorrow. The former Mary Richardson married Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent environmental lawyer and the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, in 1994. The couple had four children, the youngest born in July 2001.

Mary Kennedy had two high-profile arrests around the time her husband filed for divorce in 2010. She was charged later that year with driving under the influence of drugs, not long after she pleaded guilty to drunken driving when police reported seeing her car hit a curb outside a school near her home. Police said she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11%; the legal limit is 0.08%. Her license was suspended. (More Robert F. Kennedy stories.)