Durst passed away on Monday at the age of 78 as a result of “natural causes combined with a plethora of medical problems,” his lawyer said. Accordingly, Durst was seriously ill with Covid-19 last autumn.
Also that fall, Durst was found guilty of a high-profile murder trial in Los Angeles of killing his close friend Susan Berman with a shot in the back of the head in December 2000. The sentence was for life, with no possibility of early release. His lawyers wanted to appeal.
Investigators are convinced that Berman had to die to cover up another murder by Durst. He wanted to prevent Berman from testifying to the police about the disappearance of Durst’s wife. Kathleen Durst disappeared in January 1982 at the age of 29 and her body was never found.
Unintentional confession
Durst had become known to a larger audience through the 2015 HBO television documentary “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst”. In it, Durst apparently inadvertently made a kind of murder confession. The multimillionaire was apparently unaware that the microphone was on when he mumbled to himself while going to the toilet: “What the hell have I done? Killed them all, of course. “
However, according to media reports, the transcripts of the sound recordings in court showed that the quotations had been merged and edited to put them in a different order and context. But Durst was arrested in a hotel room in New Orleans the day before the series finale was broadcast.
Killing a neighbor in self-defense
The HBO documentary also delved into the death of a neighbor Thirst in the state of Texas in 2001. The real estate heir shot the man in an altercation. He panicked and decided to cut up the body. Thirst was acquitted. According to prosecutors, Durst wanted to steal the man’s identity to avoid the investigation into his wife’s disappearance. Two years later, however, he was surprisingly acquitted for self-defense.
Durst was the grandson of a Manhattan real estate mogul. His inheritance was estimated at around $ 100 million. His end spent thirst in prison. After the conviction for the murder of Berman, Durst was also charged by the Westchester County, New York State Attorney’s Office, with the murder of his wife – a case that is likely to remain a “cold case”.
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