Jane Birkin’s daughter died ten years agoon December 11, 2013 at the age of 46. Kate Barry was born in April 1967 in London, but she grew up with her mother in Paris. After starting out in fashion, Kate Barry moved into photography. As our colleagues at JDDthe eldest daughter of Jane Birkin, had moved to the wealthy 16th arrondissement of Paris, just five days before his fatal fall. A choice that surprised several of those close to him, starting with his neighbor. Kate Barry’s former neighbor, who lived in the République district, was surprised by the announcement of this move. In fact, the photographer had warned him only a week before his departure. On Saturday, December 7, the movers are there and Jane Birkin’s daughter asks to borrow her friend’s vacuum cleaner. A few hours later, the women take the time to chat together before Kate launches ” Bye, see you soon. See you in January! ». This will be the last time the women see each other. “It wasn’t goodbye”remembered Kate’s neighbor in the columns of JDD.
Two days after moving, Kate Barry went to listen to her mother in concert at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Then she had to unpack her boxes and settle into her new home. Her bookseller, who had sold her novels a few days before her death, had felt troubled. According to THE JDDthe bookseller tried to reassure her: “She had a hard time coping with the idea of moving. It seemed to her a great factor of instability. She was very anxious “, before adding “She told me then that she didn’t like this new neighborhood, but that it was the apartment she had found,” she declared. Five days after moving, on Wednesday December 11 around 6:30 p.m., his son hearing a “big shock” then his mother’s cries. From his bedroom window, he sees that Kate Barry has fallen in the yard. He will be the one to call for help. But the photographer who fell from the fourth floor will not survive and will die at the scene of the accident.
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The suicide hypothesis
Kate Barry did not hide her former drug addiction or her dependence on alcohol. She had also created a specialized center to help dependent people. On the day of his death, withdrawal medications were found in his new home as well as several boxes of anxiolytics and antidepressants. The suicide thesis is then favored. “ Defenestration is the worst thing for the family because we will never really know…”would have confided a judicial source to the JDD.
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias
Photo credits: BERTRAND RINDOFF PETROFF / BESTIMAGE