Robert Durst

Robert Alan Durst was an American real estate heir convicted of the murder of his best friend Susan Berman in 2000 and long suspected in the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, and the 2001 killing and dismemberment of his neighbor Morris Black. The Durst case spanned four decades and was brought to international attention by the HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst" in 2015, during which Durst appeared to confess on a hot microphone.

Robert Durst was born on April 12, 1943, in Scarsdale, New York, to one of New York City's wealthiest real estate families. His father, Seymour Durst, ran the Durst Organization, which owned major commercial properties in Manhattan. Robert had a troubled childhood, including witnessing his mother's death when he was seven — she either fell or jumped from the roof of their home. He attended Lehigh University, later enrolled at UCLA for a Ph.D. in economics but did not complete it, and eventually worked in the family real estate business before being passed over for leadership in favor of his younger brother Douglas.

Kathleen McCormack married Robert Durst in 1973. By the early 1980s, friends and family described the marriage as increasingly troubled, with Kathleen confiding to friends that Robert was physically abusive. On January 31, 1982, Kathleen was last seen leaving a dinner party in South Salem, New York. She was reported missing the following day. Robert told police he had put Kathleen on a commuter train to New York City that night. She was never seen again, and her body has never been found. She was declared legally dead in 2017.

Susan Berman was the daughter of Las Vegas organized crime figure Davie Berman and had been Robert Durst's close friend since their days at UCLA. In December 2000, as investigators were preparing to re-interview Berman about what she knew regarding Kathleen Durst's disappearance, Susan Berman was found shot in the back of the head at her home in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles. Durst was not immediately identified as a suspect.

In 2001, while living under a false identity as a mute woman named Dorothy Ciner in Galveston, Texas, Durst killed and dismembered his neighbor, Morris Black, 71. Portions of Black's body were found floating in Galveston Bay. Durst was arrested, posted bail, and briefly fled to Pennsylvania before being apprehended.

During the filming of "The Jinx" in 2015, Durst was recorded on a hot microphone in the bathroom muttering: "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." This apparent confession, combined with handwriting evidence linking Durst to an anonymous note directing police to Berman's body, led to his arrest for Berman's murder on the eve of the final episode's broadcast.

The Durst case illustrated how wealth, legal resources, and geographic jurisdictional boundaries can enable a suspect to evade justice for decades. Despite being connected to three separate deaths across three states over a span of nearly twenty years, Durst was able to secure acquittals, post bail, and delay proceedings until the convergence of documentary evidence and renewed investigative efforts finally resulted in his conviction.

[Robert Durst's trial for the murder of Morris Black took place in Galveston, Texas, in 2003.](https://www.npr.org/2003/11/12/1494614/robert-durst-acquitted-in-texas-dismemberment-case) Despite admitting that he had dismembered Black's body, Durst claimed self-defense, stating that the gun discharged accidentally during a struggle. The jury acquitted him of murder on November 11, 2003. He was later convicted of evidence tampering and bond jumping and served approximately five years in prison.

Durst was arrested on March 14, 2015, in New Orleans on a first-degree murder warrant for the killing of Susan Berman. His trial was significantly delayed, first by pretrial motions and then by the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial finally began on March 1, 2021, in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

[On September 17, 2021, the jury found Robert Durst guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Susan Berman.](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-17/robert-durst-convicted-first-degree-murder-susan-berman) The jury also found the special circumstance allegation to be true — that the murder was committed while lying in wait. [On October 14, 2021, Judge Mark Windham sentenced Durst to life in prison without the possibility of parole.](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/us/robert-durst-sentencing/index.html)

While in custody awaiting sentencing, Durst was indicted by a Westchester County, New York grand jury on second-degree murder charges in the death of Kathleen McCormack Durst. He would never stand trial for this charge.

[Robert Durst died on January 10, 2022, at age 78, at a California state prison medical facility.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/10/robert-durst-dead/) He had been in poor health, having been previously diagnosed with esophageal cancer and other conditions.