Catherine Kassenoff took on hardened criminals and gang members as a federal prosecutor and beat breast cancer twice, but she said New York’s broken family court system would be what killed her.
In a letter posted on Facebook on May 27, the mother of three from Westchester, NY, announced that she was to die by assisted suicide in Switzerland later that day.
“It is with deep sorrow… that I write my last message. Today I will end my own life… In the last four years of my life I have woken up every day with a nightmare like no other,” he write in his public suicide note.
Catherine, 54 years old and a lawyer who he once served as special counsel to New York Governor Kathy Hochulshe wrote that she had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but blamed her decision to die then, and by assisted suicide, on her ex-husband’s alleged abuse and a messy custody battle.
He had been cut off from contact with his three daughters, aged 9, 12 and 13, by a Westchester family court order.
Despite having no criminal record, mental health issues or substance abuse history, Catherine claimed, the court took her home, her dogs and her life savings and continued to deny her visits with their children.
“I cannot survive this torment and the pain that comes from such a prolonged separation from my children,” she wrote. “The judicial system did this to me… It’s a predatory system that works in the dark: through ‘gag orders’ like the one in my case, through a docket that’s not accessible to the public, through a courtroom closed courts and through ex parte ‘temporary’ orders that have been in force for years.”
Friends who saw Catherine’s alarming social media post say they immediately got in touch.
On May 27, in text messages seen by The Post, Catherine’s friend and colleague Jonathan Davidoff begged her not to end up killing herself, to which she replied, “I can’t make the my children pass more, Jonathan. Please fight the fight I can’t.”
Cobie Jane, a friend and mother who is also fighting the family court system after being cut off from her children in 2018, described Catherine as “laser focused on how to support her daughters”.
She said she wrote to Catherine just after receiving an emailed version of the suicide note and that Catherine replied: “I’m so happy to hear from you and so sad for both of you. Please use my story to achieve change. Please don’t use it to give up too. I feel so completely connected to you.”
No one The Post spoke to has heard from Catherine since.
According to Ms. Revistaattorney Wayne Baker, the executor of Catherine’s estate, said he is awaiting final confirmation of her death, which could take four to six weeks.
Like many of Catherine’s friends, he believes she chose to die in Switzerland because she felt she had no other options.
“Catherine once said that someone would have to die before taking this stuff [alleged abuse by the family court] seriously,” said her good friend and self-described fellow survivor and advocate, Elizabeth Harding Wedinstein. “Catherine was a warrior. I hope they’re paying attention now.”
Catherine and Allan Kassenoff married in 2006 and filed for divorce in 2019.
Catherine’s friends said the former couple’s problems began long before the divorce proceedings began.
In videos who now have over 10 million views on TikTok, influencer @therobbieharvey recounts Allan’s alleged verbal and emotional abuse towards Catherine and her daughters.
In one video Allan can be heard shouting “I hate you” at Catherine. He also calls her “a big loser.”
In another disturbing video, a girl can be heard crying in the background as Allan says she refuses to take her daughter to school: “Take your daughter. I’m not taking her. She’s spoiled and I’m not taking her. She’ll be punished for don’t go today.”
He continues about his daughter: “I’m not dealing with her anymore. I will no longer take her to weekend activities. I won’t do nice things for her anymore. She will be treated like everyone else.”
The Post has reached out to Allan’s attorney for comment on the videos.
Catherine’s final Facebook message included a now-defunct Dropbox link containing thousands of court files and numerous legal documents, medical records and videos, including the videos used in the TikToks.
She explained that the contents of those files prove she did nothing wrong and argued that her children were taken as a result of “unjust decisions” by “a disgraced custody evaluator,” a money-driven children’s attorney and the court in favor of the “Festa paid”.
Before her alleged death, Catherine was successful in proving some of her allegations about the dysfunctional court proceedings.
She filed a misconduct complaint against Marc T. Abrams, the custody evaluator who recommended that her ex-husband have sole custody of the girls, leading to Abrams’ removal from the Health Professional Certification Board Mental Health, New York State, Appellate Division, Supreme Court, First and Second Judicial Departments as a mental health professional.
During the proceedings, photos surfaced of the judge presiding over the case who officiated at Abrams’ wedding. Catherine denounced this potential bias and conflict of interest, and Judge Lewis Lubell recused himself from the case.
Carol Most, the children’s lawyer, was also removed from the case after Catherine sued her for misconduct.
The court also denied Most a large portion of the $270,000 he billed the Kassenoffs for services.
According to Ms., Catherine had gone from having extremely limited visits with her daughters to longer unsupervised visits.
The magazine reported that Catherine was arrested in January 2022 for violating a protection order and approaching one of her daughters.
Afterward, she was let go from her job in the governor’s office.
All charges were later dismissed.
In March 2023, the family’s therapist issued a report urging the court to give Catherine more time with her daughters, according to a report in the Dropbox files.
Despite all the new information in her favor, a new forensic evaluator, as Ms. reported, “rubber-stamped Abrams’ old erroneous report that Catherine was manipulating her daughters.”
In May, Catherine was still unable to see her children.
In Catherine’s farewell statement, she wrote: “Her father has spent years and millions of dollars, over $3 million, to cut me out of our girls’ lives…He will never give in.. . As long as I’m alive and want to see them, they will be damaged over and over with every attempt I make. What’s the point? The last thing I want to do is make my own children suffer.”
Allan issued a statement to The Post through his attorney Gus Dimopoulous. It says, in part:
“At every stage of this four-year custody dispute, the court system has acted responsibly and thoroughly. After an evaluation by a neutral forensic evaluator, the court ordered an immediate order granting her father the sole legal and physical custody.The court also issued an emergency order of protection against Ms. Kassenoff eliminating unsupervised interactions with the children based on what they observed when they were with their mother.. Although it is always difficult limit parents’ access to their children, given the circumstances of this case. , it was found to be in the best interests of the children to take these steps urgently. The children have been in our client’s care for 3 1/2 years and they are safe and sound.”
Greenberg Traurig, the law firm where Allan works as an attorney, issued a statement saying they are conducting an internal investigation while the father is taking a voluntary leave of absence to focus on his family.
At a vigil for Catherine held at Stanz Cafe in Larchmont, N.Y., Monday night, friends, court reform advocates and more than a dozen mothers who say they are also victims of family court vowed to demand justice, saying his supposed death proves it. the need for an immediate investigation into the New York family court system.
Wedinstein, who organized the event, said she believes she and Catherine were sent here to help reform the courts. “Judges are kidnapping children from safe and protective parents,” he said. “We have to stop this!”
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free, confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can call the 24/7 suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
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