Witness testifies he suspected victim’s manager in the slaying
LOS ANGELES — One of the last known people to see writer Susan Berman alive in 2000 testified Monday that he had suspected her manager in the slaying, which prosecutors say was committed by her best friend, New York real estate scion Robert Durst.
Richard Markey said that Berman, his friend, had a “turbulent” relationship with her manager, Nyle Brenner. After the killing, Brenner told him he didn’t plan to cooperate with authorities, Markey said.
The testimony came during a hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom during which several witnesses, including Durst’s high school classmate turned personal attorney, are scheduled to testify for the prosecution.
Prosecutors say the 74-year-old multimillionaire — whose blue suit jacket hung from his frail frame Monday — shot Berman inside her Benedict Canyon home in 2000 to silence her for knowing too much about the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Kathleen.
Berman, who was a writer and the daughter of a Las Vegas mob boss, met Durst in the 1960s while both attended UCLA and had acted as his unofficial spokeswoman after the disappearance.
Durst has pleaded not guilty and says he doesn’t know who killed Berman. Because his trial is unlikely to start before at least 2018, prosecutors have called several elderly witnesses ahead of time to preserve their testimony. Monday’s proceeding begins the fourth round of such hearings — called conditional examinations — in which witnesses are videotaped while testifying.
Markey described Berman — whom he met while picketing at a writers strike in 1988 — as someone with an insatiable curiosity, vast knowledge of esoteric historical facts and a lot of phobias. Berman, he said, was “extremely security conscious,” adding that even when she knew he had plans to visit her, she’d always peek out the window and then ask, through the door, who was there.
When Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian asked Markey if he thought Berman — who was shot inside her home — would have unlocked the door for a stranger, Markey said no.
“She had a phobia about things like that,” he said.
Markey also testified that Berman told him that Durst had sent her two checks — each, he thought, for $25,000 — in the month or so before her death.
On Dec. 22, 2000, Markey said, he went to dinner and a movie with Berman at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Over the meal, they spoke about a lot of things, including Berman’s frustrations with her landlord.
“Susan had been essentially at war with her,” Markey said, adding that Berman had been overdue on rent. But the problem had been resolved, Markey said, noting that he thought Berman had used the money from Durst to pay her rent.
After watching “Best in Show” that evening, Markey said, Berman took him home. And since she knew he was headed to Las Vegas for a family reunion, she gave him the address of a home she’d once lived in and told him to drop by if he had the time. She then drove off, he said, and he never saw her again.
When he returned from his trip, Markey said he had a phone message from Brenner, the manager, saying Berman was dead and that the police would probably be contacting him.