Tycoon says ‘I killed them all’ on tape
AN ECCENTRIC US tycoon linked to two killings has been arrested in connection with a third murder, just a day before the airing of a television documentary in which he said he “killed them all”.
Robert Durst, the scion of a wealthy New York real estate family, was taken into custody on Saturday at a New Orleans hotel at the request of Los Angeles police investigating the 2000 killing of his friend Susan Berman, and was being held on a murder warrant, US media said.
The arrest came just before the final episode of the six-part documentary series called The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst was aired.
In that episode, Durst, 71, is heard muttering to himself, “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course”.
He said this unaware that a wireless microphone re- mained switched on while he used the bathroom.
Durst was wanted over the unsolved killing of Berman, a daughter of a Los Vegas mobster who was shot dead execution-style in the back of the head a day before police were to question her over the disappearance of Durst’s wife.
Durst had been under suspicion over his wife’s death in 1982, but has denied any involvement.
He was also charged in 2003 with the murder and dismemberment of his neighbour, 71, in Texas two years earlier, but found not guilty after a trial in which he claimed self-defence.
A newspaper said authorities did not comment on what led them to accuse Durst now but a source said that the documentary played a role.
Durst registered under an alias at the hotel, paid with cash and was found with fake documents, a source said.
Durst has denied killing Berman. Durst’s attorney, Chip Lewis, told The Washington Post: “He’s maintained his innocence for 10 years now. Nothing has changed.”
The Post said it was not clear whether Lewis knew about Durst’s recorded remarks in the bathroom, or if these would be admissible in court.