The Controversial Story of Robert Durst

Robert Alan Durst was an American real estate heir who was born on April 12, 1943, in Scarsdale, New York. He was the eldest son of Seymour Durst and Bernice Herstein, who were both real estate magnates. Robert had three younger siblings named Douglas, Tommy, and Wendy Durst.

Sadly, Robert's mother committed suicide when he was just seven years old by jumping from the roof of their Scarsdale home. Robert claimed to have witnessed the incident, with his father walking him to a window where he could see his mother standing on the roof.

However, his brother Douglas denied that Robert had seen it happen. A psychiatric report on Robert from 1953, when he was ten years old, mentioned "personality decomposition and possibly even psychosis."

Robert Alan Durst was originally set to inherit the Durst Organization, but his father chose to name Douglas as the company's CEO in 1992 due to Robert's inappropriate actions.

Even though he had no real interest in the company, Robert believed he was entitled to inherit it and accused his brother of stealing what he believed was rightfully his. This created a rift between Robert and the rest of his family, and after suing for his share of the family fortune, he was eventually bought out of the family trust for $65 million in 2006.

Robert Durst gained significant media attention as a suspect in several high-profile cases, including the unsolved 1982 disappearance of his first wife Kathleen McCormack, the 2000 murder of his long-time friend Susan Berman, and the 2001 killing of his neighbor, Morris Black.

CRIMINAL LIFE OF ROBERT DURST

Over the span of forty years, Robert Durst was suspected of being responsible for the deaths of three individuals. These included his wife Kathleen Durst, who disappeared on January 31, 1982, after an argument at their South Salem, New York home and was never seen again; his friend Susan Berman, who was shot in her home in Los Angeles in 2000; and Morris Black, a neighbor who was shot in Durst's Galveston, Texas apartment in 2001.

On March 14, 2015, was finally arrested in connection with the disappearance of his ex-wife Kathleen Durst in 1982 and the murder of Susan Berman in 2000. The arrest was made after the creators of the HBO series The Jinx overheard Durst confessing that he had killed them all while wearing a live microphone.

On February 5, 1982, Robert Durst reported his wife, Kathleen, missing to the Manhattan police. The couple had a history of quarrels and physical altercations, and just three weeks before her disappearance, Kathleen was treated at the Bronx's Jacobi Medical Center for facial bruises, which she claimed were the result of beatings by Durst.

However, Durst maintained that on the night of Kathleen's disappearance, he had put her on a commuter train at the Katonah station, which was headed for Manhattan, and then went home and straight to bed.

Robert Durst also claimed that on February 4, 1982, Kathleen's medical school supervisor called him and notified him that she had been absent from class the entire week after calling in sick on February 1.

Robert Durst ultimately filed for divorce in Westchester County Court in June 1990, almost eight years after Kathleen's disappearance.

Kathleen's family strongly believed that Robert Durst was responsible for her disappearance and that he had deprived them of the right to bury her. They continued to advocate for justice for Kathleen and to search for answers about her fate for many years after her disappearance.

Robert Durst fatally shot Susan Berman in her home in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles on December 23, 2000.

He is believed to have killed Berman because she was planning to cooperate with a renewed investigation into the disappearance of his ex-wife, Kathleen McCormack. Durst allegedly feared that Berman knew too much about his wife's disappearance and could implicate him in the case.

Robert Durst was arrested on October 9, 2001, in Galveston, Texas, after body parts belonging to his elderly neighbor, Morris Black, were found in Galveston Bay. Durst was released on bail of $250,000, but he fled to Pennsylvania. He was eventually caught on November 30, 2001.

Robert Durst claimed that Morris Black had grabbed his gun from its hiding place and threatened him with it, resulting in the gun discharging and shooting Black in the face during their struggle. Durst admitted to dismembering Black's body and disposing of his remains in Galveston Bay.

Due to a lack of forensic evidence that could refute Durst's account of the struggle, he was acquitted of murder on November 11, 2003. The jury found that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that Durst had intentionally killed Black.

ROBERT DURST’S CHARGES.

Robert Durst was arrested in New Orleans on March 14, 2015, on charges of first-degree murder in the death of Susan Berman in Los Angeles. After two days of deliberation, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, including the special circumstance that he killed Berman as a witness who could reveal details about his wife's disappearance.

On October 14, 2021, Durst was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole by Los Angeles County Judge Mark Windham.

Additionally, on November 1, 2021, Durst was charged with second-degree murder by a Westchester County grand jury in the death of his wife, Kathleen Durst. However, before he could face trial for this charge, Durst died of cardiac arrest on January 10, 2022, while still in the custody of the California Department of Corrections.