NY real estate heir convicted in Sept. of killing best friend
LOS ANGELES — Robert Durst, the wealthy New York real estate heir and failed fugitive who was dogged for decades with suspicion in the disappearance and deaths of those around him before he was convicted last year of killing his best friend, died Monday. He was 78.
Durst died of natural causes in a hospital outside the California prison where he was serving a life sentence, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Durst had been held in a hospital lockup in Stockton due to a litany of ailments.
Durst was convicted in September of shooting Susan Berman at pointblank range at her Los Angeles home in 2000. He was sentenced Oct. 14 to life in prison without parole.
Durst had long been suspected of killing his wife, Kathie, who went missing in New York in 1982 and was declared legally dead decades later.
But only after Los Angeles prosecutors proved he silenced Berman before she could tell police she helped him cover up Kathie’s killing was Durst indicted by a New York grand jury in November for second-degree murder in his wife’s death.
Los Angeles prosecutors also told jurors Durst got away with murder in Texas after shooting a man who discovered his identity when he was hiding out in Galveston after Berman’s killing. Durst was acquitted of murder in that case in 2003, after testifying he shot the man as they struggled for a gun.
Deputy Los Angeles District Attorney John Lewin said jurors told him after the verdict that they believed Durst had killed his wife and murdered Morris Black in Texas.
Durst discussed the cases and made several damning statements, including a confession, in the six-part HBO documentary series “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.”
The show made his name known to a new generation and brought renewed scrutiny and suspicion from authorities. He was arrested in Berman’s killing the night before the final episode, which closed with him mumbling to himself in a bathroom while still wearing a hot microphone, saying: “You’re caught! What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
The quotes were later revealed to have been manipulated for dramatic effect but the production — done with Durst’s cooperation against the advice from his lawyer and friends — dredged up new evidence including an envelope that connected Durst to the scene of Berman’s killing as well as incriminating statements he made.
Durst went on the run in late 2000 after New
York authorities reopened an investigation into his wife’s disappearance, renting a modest apartment in Galveston and disguising himself as a mute woman.
In 2001, the body parts of a neighbor, Black, began washing up in Galveston Bay.
Arrested in the killing, Durst jumped bail. He was arrested for shoplifting a sandwich six weeks later in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he had gone to college. Police found $37,000 cash and two handguns in his car.
He would testify that Black had pulled a gun on him and died when the weapon went off during a struggle. He told jurors in detail how he bought tools and dismembered and disposed of Black’s body. While he was cleared of murder, he pleaded guilty to violating his bail, and to evidence tampering for the dismemberment. He served three years in prison.
Durst had bladder cancer and his health deteriorated during the Berman trial.
He was escorted into court in a wheelchair wearing prison attire each day because his attorneys said he was unable to change into a suit. But the judge declined further delays after a 14-month pause during the coronavirus pandemic.
Durst was born April 12, 1943, and grew up in Scarsdale, New York. He is survived by his second wife, Debrah Charatan, whom he married in 2000. He had no children.
Under California law, a conviction is vacated if a defendant dies while the case is under appeal, said Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School.
Attorney Chip Lewis said an appeal was filed for Durst.