Durst sentenced to life for murder of best friend
LOS ANGELES » New York real estate heir Robert Durst was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without chance of parole for the murder of his best friend more that two decades ago.
Durst, 78, was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court last month of firstdegree murder for shooting Susan Berman pointblank in the back of the head at her home in December 2000.
The killing had been a mystery that haunted family and friends for 15 years before Durst was arrested in 2015 following his illconsidered decision to participate in a documentary that unearthed new evidence and caught him in a stunning confession.
Berman’s death left a permanent hole in the lives of family members who remembered her Thursday for her adventurousness, her creativity, and her deep and loyal love.
“It has been a daily, soul consuming and crushing experience,” said Sareb Kaufman, who considered Berman his mother after his father dated her. “I’ve lost everything many times over because of him.”
Durst, who has numerous medical issues and sat in a wheelchair wearing brown jail scrubs, said nothing. His eyes were wide open and he had a catatonic stare when he entered the courtroom and barely looked over at Kaufman and three of Berman’s cousins when they spoke.
Durst silenced Berman to prevent her from incriminating him in the reopened investigation of his wife’s 1982 disappearance in New York, prosecutors said.
Berman provided a phony alibi for Durst when Kathie Durst vanished, prosecutors said.
Durst testified that he didn’t kill either woman, but said on cross-examination that he would lie if he had.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that he intentionally killed a neighbor in Galveston, Texas, in 2001, though he had been acquitted of murder in that case after testifying that he shot the man in self-defense.
Durst’s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said they plan to appeal and refrained from making other remarks during sentencing.
Judge Mark Windham denied a motion for a new trial, rejecting arguments there was insufficient evidence or that he had erred 15 different ways in prior rulings.