Catherine Kassenoff ‘ended her life’ after being diagnosed with cancer and losing child custody

A mother of three and former special counsel to the governor of New York reportedly ended her own life in Switzerland. She has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time and is fighting an ugly custody battle with her “abusive” ex-husband.

Catherine Kassenoff, 54, of Westchester, took to Facebook on May 27 to write a heartbreaking note announcing that she would “end my own life.”

“It is with deep heartbreak, that I hope none of you ever experience, that I write my last post ever. Today I end my life,” she wrote in a now-deleted post. ‘I do that in a dignified and idyllic setting in Europe. There are simply no other options left.’

“In the last four years of my life, I have woken up every day in a nightmare like no other. I can no longer bear the abuse and terror of Allan Kassenoff…I have also endured the emotional devastation of being without my children for so long…”

Kassenoff was recently diagnosed with her third round of cancer and this time it was terminal. In addition to the vicious illness, she reportedly suffered beatings from her husband Allan, whom she videotaped throwing tantrums, calling her a “fat old loser,” and allegedly threatening to release a video of her in her underwear on YouTube to give. .

She released thousands of court documents alongside the videos in a defunct Dropbox link in her Facebook farewell.

“Maybe if I had the physical stamina to keep going I would. But with a new terminal health problem that will soon also limit my physical strength, and with no court protection, I can’t continue to run from Allan, “the late mother, whose death certificate will take up to six weeks to process.” wrote.

The mother-of-three said she was not strong enough to undergo “grueling chemo, surgery and radiation” again.

Kassenoff said she kept her health secrets because her husband “would have tried so much harder to end my existence.”

Allan, who works for law firm Greenberg Traurig, is currently under investigation by the firm and has “taken a voluntary leave of absence to focus on his family,” despite multiple judges ruling that he had done nothing wrong.

However, Kassenoff’s videos paint a different picture. The father-of-three was seen in one of the videos saying to his then-wife at the foot of the bed, “I hate you, Catherine, I hate you. I regret every moment of my life that I met you.’

Other videos show Allan allegedly yelling behind doors, yelling at his children to shut up, and dramatically leaving their home, refusing to care for his little ones.

A heartbreaking video shared by Kassenoff showed one of her daughters crying that she “didn’t want to hang out with that crazy guy.”

The court had designated Allan as the primary parent, and Kassenoff accused him of doing everything he could to keep her away from their three daughters — ages nine, 12, and 13 — including several attempts to have her arrested.

She claimed in her Facebook post that Allan made a false 911 call, claiming she was “able to “kill” him or my own children.

He allegedly filmed her being questioned by police, who ultimately failed to arrest her after they “realized he was lying,” she claimed.

“That’s how I’ve lived for years,” Kathy Hochul’s former special counsel wrote. “Like a hunted animal, worried about when Allan will make the next false report. He sees all this as a game and the court won’t stop him…”

She had been arrested in January 2022 for allegedly violating a protection order by approaching her daughter. As a result, she was dismissed from the governor’s office. The charges were later dismissed.

She claimed that the courts took away her children, her home, her dogs and her savings.

“Their father has spent years and millions of dollars – over $3 million – to remove me from our girls’ lives… He will never budge… As long as I live and want to see them, they will be over and over again damaged with every attempt I make. What’s the point? The last thing I want is for my own children to suffer,” she said.

However, Allan’s attorney, Gus Dimopoulous, told the New York Post, “At every stage of this four-year custody dispute, the justice system has acted responsibly and thoroughly.

Following the assessment of a neutral forensic evaluator, the court ordered an immediate injunction to award their father sole legal and physical custody.

The court also issued an urgent protection order against Ms. Kassenoff, eliminating unsupervised interactions with the children based on what they observed while they were with their mother.

“While it is always difficult to restrict a parent’s access to their children given the circumstances of this case, it was felt to be in the best interests of the children to take these steps urgently. The children have now been with our customer for three and a half years and they are safe and healthy.’

Kassenof also accused her ex-husband and his team of telling her children to hate her. They’ve been told to hate me, to call me ‘Catherine’ instead of ‘Mom.’

An email filed with the New York court system shows one of her daughters emailing her, “Mommy, I hung up on Dr. Alder because she was annoying and she said you were dangerous. I hate her and I don’t want Shira to replace you and I miss you and love you so much.”

A vigil was held for Kassenoff on Monday at the Stanz Cafe in Larchmont, New York, where friends, lawyers and mothers gathered to honor her.

If you or someone you love is experiencing suicidal thoughts or actions, call the National Suicide Hotline at 988.