Michael Dwyer / AP

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and his children turn away after paying their respects at the casket of Mary Richardson Kennedy, in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, Mass., Saturday, May 19, 2012.

The body of the late Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was exhumed last week and moved from its original spot among the Kennedy clan.

The coffin containing her remains was transferred 700 feet away and reburied in an empty part of the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, Mass. No marker currently identifies her gravesite, the New York Daily News reported.

Scott Gries / Getty Images

Mary Kennedy is shown at The Plaza Hotel in New York City in this December 2002 file photo.

Gravedigger Frank Maki, who oversaw the plot switch, told the New York Daily News that Kennedy wanted to move his wife to an area where the Kennedy family is now negotiating to buy 50 more plots.

“[Robert] didn’t realize how crowded the area was until after the funeral, and he wanted to have the ability to lay his wife to rest among her family members,” Maki said. “He opted for an area of the cemetery where there is room for future expansion.”  

At the time of her death, Mary’s siblings sued Kennedy to have her buried in Westchester, N.Y., closer to where her four children live. But Kennedy won in court, and she was buried near Kennedy’s aunt and uncle, Eunice and Sargent Shriver.

Mary’s siblings reportedly weren’t made aware their sister was uprooted and moved to a different part of the cemetery, close to its entrance.

The transfer of her body to the other end of the cemetery is the latest incident in the bitter feud between the Kennedy and Richardson families following the death of Mary.

“We were unaware of this, and we were not informed about it,” Patricia Hennessey, the Richardson family’s lawyer, told the Daily News. Hennessey represented the Richardsons in their attempt to have Mary buried closer to her children’s home.

Attorney Steve McSweeney, who represented Kennedy in court, declined comment.

Aside from John F. Kennedy, his wife Jacqueline, and his brothers Robert and Edward – who are all buried in Arlington National Cemetery – most of the Kennedy family is buried in Brookline, Mass., the birthplace of JFK.

Mary, 52, hanged herself at the family’s estate in Bedford, N.Y. in May. Her divorce from Robert, who delivered the eulogy at her funeral, was still pending. Her death followed two difficult years during which she battled drug and alcohol addiction, her husband filed for divorce, and she was charged twice with driving while intoxicated.

The autopsy revealed that there were at least three antidepressants in her blood when she died.

Her autopsy report also revealed that her fingers were caught between her neck and the noose when she was found dead, perhaps indicating that she may have changed her mind about hanging herself at the last minute, the Daily News reported. 

In early June, the Richardson family responded to accusations about Mary’s behavior made by Robert in a court affidavit from the Kennedy’s divorce case.

Kennedy claimed his wife beat him, threatened suicide in front of her children, ran over the family dog and drank until she passed out. It also asked a judge for an order of protection to keep her from physically attacking him, showing up uninvited at his homes, denigrating him to their children and asked that Mary be required to remain sober in front of their children.

The Richardson family slammed Kennedy’s account of their relationship, saying it was full of vindictive lies. 

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Michael Dwyer / AP

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and his children turn away after paying their respects at the casket of Mary Richardson Kennedy in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, Mass., on May 19.

The family of the late Mary Richardson Kennedy is responding to explosive accusations about her behavior made by her husband and revealed in a court affidavit from the Kennedys’ divorce case.

In the September 2011 documents, obtained by Newsweek for a magazine article published Monday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed his wife beat him, threatened suicide in front of her children, ran over the family dog and drank until she passed out.

It asked a judge for an order of protection to keep her from physically attacking him, showing up uninvited at his homes and denigrating him to their children. Kennedy, son of Sen. Robert. F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, also asked that his wife be required to remain sober in front of their children.

 “Mary’s violence and physical abuse toward me began before we were married,” Robert Kennedy said in the affidavit. “She said she intended to kill herself unless I called off the divorce.”

The relatives of Mary Kennedy slammed Kennedy's account of their relationship, saying it is “full of vindictive lies” and a “brutal psychological weapon in the divorce case,” according to a statement released by Kerry Lawrence, the lawyer for Mary Kennedy and the Richardson family.

AP Photot / Westchester County District Attorney's Office, File

Mary Richardson Kennedy is shown in a police photo after she was arrested in a drunken driving case.

“This latest piling on is proof perfect of the unbelievable emotional and psychological abuse that Mary endured during the last years of her life, and now in death,” Lawrence said.

According to the court documents, Robert Kennedy said that just a year after the couple were separated, “Mary ran over and killed the dog, Porcia, in the driveway.” And when he went over to the house, “Mary was intoxicated. I opened the door and she leapt out of her bed and hit me with a roundhouse punch.”

Robert Kennedy also says Mary screamed at him in front of their son, saying, “everything he does is evil and a fraud. He is a philanderer, an adulterer, a sex addict.”

“She drank heavily,” Laurence Learner, a respected Kennedy biographer and author of the Newsweek article told NBC News. “Because of her drinking, her children were taken away from her. What was left? She had nothing. Her identity as a Kennedy was finished.”

A judge granted Robert Kennedy full but temporary custody of their four children.

Mary Kennedy hanged herself last month at the family’s estate in Bedford, N.Y. The divorce was pending. Robert Kennedy delivered the eulogy at her funeral. Her death followed two difficult years, during which her husband filed for divorce and she was charged twice with driving while intoxicated.

“Our hearts are breaking for what her children continue to witness,” the Richardson family statement said. “We hoped Mary could rest in peace.”

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Updated at 6:20 p.m. ET: Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., died of asphyxiation due to hanging, a medical examiner said after performing an autopsy Thursday.

The 52-year-old was found dead in her home in Westchester County, N.Y., on Wednesday. Two people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times her body was found hanging in a barn behind her Bedford, N.Y., house, and that she had left a note.

Authorities who responded to the scene cut her down and tried unsuccessfully to revive her, said The Times.

Kennedy separated from her husband two years ago. At the time, she was battling drug and alcohol addictions, according to NBC. In May 2010, she was arrested for a DUI.

 Mary was Robert F. Kennedy's second wife, with whom he had four children -- Connor, Kyra, William and Aiden. They married in April 1994, just one month after he divorced his first wife, Emily Ruth Black, with whom he had two children.

Key RFK figures: Where are they now? 

Mary Richardson Kenendy's family released this statement on Thursday:

"While we would naturally prefer to remain private at this very upsetting time, we feel compelled to make this statement because the description of Mary carried by certain news organizations since her passing yesterday is wholly inconsistent with the sister we knew and the life she, in fact, lived. We loved Mary and knew her to be an exceptional mother, sibling and friend to many. Countless people have described her as an extraordinary mother, selfless in her desire to help others, and one of the finest people in the world. We know her as all those things, and more. She was generous, thoughtful, with a refined aesthetic, genius organizational abilities, boundless energy, physical stamina, and natural elegance. She laughed a lot. Her enthusiasms were deep. She loved to connect people, with no self-interest, and with great intelligence.

We would ask the media to give us a few days to begin processing Mary's tragic death, and to fully understand all the circumstances around it. The first task is for Mary's family to take her to her final resting place, with the dignity and love she deserves. There will be plenty of time to correct all the inaccuracies and misrepresentations we are seeing in the media. Thank you for your understanding.

A private memorial service for our beloved sister will be held in Manhattan."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent environmental lawyer, has been touched by tragedy before. When he was 9, his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. Five years later, his father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was also assassinated. Years later, his brother David would die of a drug overdose; another brother, Michael, would be killed in a ski accident. His cousin, John F. Kennedy, Jr., died in a plane crash in 1999, and three years ago, his uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, died from cancer.

A wedding announcement in The New York Times said Mary Richardson was then an architectural designer for a New York firm.

In a statement from the Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. family, Kennedy was described as a “tremendously gifted architect and a pioneer and relentless advocate of green design who enhanced her cutting edge, energy efficient creations with exquisite taste and style.”

Robert filed for divorce in May 2010 after 16 years of marriage, the New York Post reported.

Mary had known the Kennedys since she was 15, and was a close friend of Robert's sister, Kerry, long before she married Robert, reported the Post.

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