The logo for the Daily Beast's Obsessed website. It reads: 'Obsessed: What to Watch, Binge, See, & Skip'
DAILY BEAST
CrosswordNewsletters
  • Cheat Sheet
  • Obsessed
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Media
  • Innovation
  • Opinion
  • World
  • U.S. News
  • Scouted
CHEAT SHEET
    POLITICS
    • Biden World
    • Elections
    • Opinion
    • National Security
    • Congress
    • Pay Dirt
    • The New Abnormal
    • Trumpland
    MEDIA
    • Confider
    • Daytime Talk
    • Late-Night
    • Fox News
    U.S. NEWS
    • Identities
    • Crime
    • Race
    • LGBT
    • Extremism
    • Coronavirus
    WORLD
    • Russia
    • Europe
    • China
    • Middle East
    INNOVATION
    • Science
    TRAVEL
      ENTERTAINMENT
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Comedy
      • Sports
      • Sex
      • TDB's Obsessed
      • Awards Shows
      • The Last Laugh
      CULTURE
      • Power Trip
      • Fashion
      • Books
      • Royalist
      TECH
      • Disinformation
      SCOUTED
      • Clothing
      • Technology
      • Beauty
      • Home
      • Pets
      • Kitchen
      • Fitness
      • I'm Looking For
      BEST PICKS
      • Best VPNs
      • Best Gaming PCs
      • Best Air Fryers
      COUPONS
      • Vistaprint Coupons
      • Ulta Coupons
      • Office Depot Coupons
      • Adidas Promo Codes
      • Walmart Promo Codes
      • H&M Coupons
      • Spanx Promo Codes
      • StubHub Promo Codes
      Products
      NewslettersPodcastsCrosswordsSubscription
      FOLLOW US
      GOT A TIP?

      SEARCH

      HOMEPAGE
      Crime & Justice

      Guilty! Jury Convicts Real-Estate Heir Robert Durst of Murdering His Best Friend

      ‘WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?’

      Six years after saying on a hot mic, “Killed them all, of course,” and 20 years after Susan Berman’s death, the real estate tycoon was finally held accountable.

      Blake Montgomery

      Reporter/Editor

      Tracy Connor

      Updated Sep. 17, 2021 8:53PM ET / Published Sep. 17, 2021 7:01PM ET 

      Al Sieb/REUTERS

      Real-estate heir Robert Durst, whose bizarre life was the subject of the HBO series The Jinx, was convicted Friday of murdering his best friend nearly two decades ago in Beverly Hills.

      The 78-year-old multimillionaire was not in the Los Angeles courtroom as the verdict was read out—following months of testimony, including by Durst himself, and seven hours of of jury deliberations.

      “It is not his choice to be absent, he would want to be here,” one of his defense attorneys said, noting that Durst was “in isolation” after exposure to COVID-19.

      The conviction in Susan Berman’s shooting death would seem to ensure that Durst—who is already serving a seven-year sentence on a gun charge and has a host of health problems—spends the rest of his life behind bars.

      It marks a dramatic reversal of fortune for the prodigal son of a billion-dollar property dynasty now headed by a younger brother who testified he was deathly afraid of the defendant.

        Durst has never been charged with or tried for the disappearance and presumed death of his first wife, Kathie McCormack, a medical student who vanished in 1982 amid marital troubles.

        He also was acquitted of murdering a Texas neighbor in 2003 after a jury bought his argument that he killed the man in self-defense before slicing up the body and disposing of it in Galveston Bay.

        McCormack’s family hailed the verdict and called for Durst to be tried on charges of murdering her.

        “The justice system in Los Angeles has finally served the Berman family. It is now time for Westchester to do the same for the McCormack family and charge Durst for the murder of his wife, Kathie, which occurred almost 40 years ago. They have had interviews, statements and documents for months,” the family said in a statement.

        “The closing arguments by the Los Angeles deputy district attorneys should remove any doubt. It’s bizarre and unacceptable that Durst was tried for killing an accomplice before being held accountable for Kathie’s murder.”

        Deputy District Attorney Habib A. Balian holds a rubber latex mask, donned by Robert Durst when police arrested him along with a fake ID and more than $42,000 in cash.

        Pool/Getty

        Prosecutors argued that Durst killed Berman, the crime-writer daughter of a Las Vegas mobster, because she knew too much about Kathie’s disappearance. Berman, 55, was slain just one hour before a scheduled meeting with law enforcement in which she was to admit giving Durst a false alibi.

        Durst has denied killing his wife and claimed he merely discovered Berman’s body on the floor of her bedroom with a gunshot wound in the back of her head.

        During his turn on the witness stand last month, Durst admitted that even if he was Berman’s killer, he would never cop to it.

        “‘Did you kill Susan Berman?’ is strictly a hypothetical,” he said. “I did not kill Susan Berman. But if I had, I would lie about it.”

        Los Angeles County Superior Court

        The lengthy trial, delayed for 14 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, revealed that Durst had lied five times to investigators as they probed his involvement in the deaths of the two women over the years. His attorney said that though Durst’s “compass doesn’t point north,” he was not a murderer.

        Beverly Hills Police received an ominous note with the word “Cadaver” on it before Berman’s death, and the handwriting strongly resembled another note Durst had sent her of the word “Beverley.” Durst had long denied that he sent the letter when confronted about it, but he admitted in court filings and in testimony at his trial that he had indeed mailed it.

        “I have difficulty believing it myself that I would write the letter and had not killed Susan Berman,” he said.

        A TV still of Robert Durst from “The Jinx” appears on screens during his trial.

        Pool/Getty

        Durst was caught on a hot mic making seemingly incriminating comments during the filming of the 2015 HBO documentary The Jinx: “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course. There it is. You’re caught. He was right. I was wrong.” Durst said he was “high on meth” while sitting for interviews, and the scandalous audio has since been revealed as a compilation of multiple clips.

        But the documentary was not Durst’s only damning moment. Nick Chavin, a friend of both the Dursts and Berman, testified during the trial that Durst had said of Berman, “It was her or me. I had no choice.”

        Blake Montgomery

        Reporter/Editor

        @blakersdozenBlake.Montgomery@thedailybeast.com

        Tracy Connor

        Tracy.Connor@thedailybeast.com

        Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.

        READ THIS LIST

        DAILY BEAST
        • Cheat Sheet
        • Politics
        • Entertainment
        • Media
        • World
        • Innovation
        • U.S. News
        • Scouted
        • Travel
        • Subscription
        • Crossword
        • Newsletters
        • Podcasts
        • About
        • Contact
        • Tips
        • Jobs
        • Advertise
        • Help
        • Privacy
        • Code of Ethics & Standards
        • Diversity
        • Terms & Conditions
        • Copyright & Trademark
        • Sitemap
        • Best Picks
        • Coupons
        • Coupons:
        • Dick's Sporting Goods Coupons
        • HP Coupon Codes
        • Chewy Promo Codes
        • Nordstrom Rack Coupons
        • NordVPN Coupons
        • JCPenny Coupons
        • Nordstrom Coupons
        • Samsung Promo Coupons
        • Home Depot Coupons
        • Hotwire Promo Codes
        • eBay Coupons
        • Ashley Furniture Promo Codes
        © 2023 The Daily Beast Company LLC