LOS ANGELES — Robert Durst, wealthy real estate heir convicted of murdering his best friend and suspected in other deaths, has died in Los Angeles at 78.
Durst had numerous medical issues and appeared frail as he sat in a wheelchair for much of the California murder trial and sentencing hearing.
'Killed them all, of course'
He was admitted to a prison medical unit with COVID-19 in October, not long after he was sentenced to life in prison for the 2000 murder of friend Susan Berman. He also had been treated for bladder cancer.
The killing had been a mystery that haunted family and friends for 15 years. Durst was arrested in 2015 following his unwise decision to participate in an HBO documentary that unearthed new evidence and caught him in a stunning confession. Durst's microphone was on when muttered to himself off-camera: “Killed them all, of course.”
Disappearance of Kathie Durst
Durst also admitted on “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst" that he made up details about what happened the night his first wife Kathie Durst disappeared because he was “hoping that would just make everything go away.”
Weeks after his California trial, the eccentric millionaire was indicted for the murder of Kathie Durst, who vanished nearly four decades ago, New York prosecutors said.
“When Kathleen Durst disappeared on January 31, 1982, her family and friends were left with pain, anguish and questions that have contributed to their unfaltering pursuit of justice for the last 39 years,” Rocah said.
The grand jury that indicted Durst kept meeting and hearing witnesses even after State Police Investigator Joseph Becerra filed a criminal complaint in a town court in Lewisboro, New York, on Oct. 19 charging Durst with second-degree murder.
Kathie Durst was 29 and in her final months of medical school when she was last seen. She and Robert Durst, who was 38 at the time, had been married nearly nine years and were living in South Salem, a community in Lewisboro. Her body was never found. At the request of her family, she was declared legally dead in 2017.
Death and dismemberment of Morris Black
Perhaps Durst's most bizarre case was the death of his neighbor in Galveston where he moved after Berman was murdered.
Durst admitted he killed 71-year-old Morris, chopped up his body and tossed it out to sea. He claimed it was self-defense during a struggle over a gun. Durst was acquitted of the murder.
Before moving to Galveston, Durst lived briefly in Dallas where he disguised himself as a mute woman so no one would recognize him.
He also spent time in Houston where he owned three condos in the Rice Village area and was described as a good neighbor. But he was later arrested for allegedly urinating inside a CVS in the neighborhood.
Robert Durst’s family owns more than 16 million square feet of real estate in New York and Philadelphia, including a 10% stake in One World Trade Center, the Manhattan skyscraper formerly known as the Freedom Tower. Family members bought out Robert Durst’s stake in the business for $65 million in 2006.
Durst's conviction was being appealed with he died.