Inside Robert Durst's Life Today

Although Robert Durst came from a powerful real estate family in New York City, he has been the subject of criminal investigations for decades (per The New York Times). After Durst met his wife, Kathleen "Kathie" McCormack, in 1971 and married two years later, she disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1982. McCormack's family has long held the belief that Durst was behind her believed death. Subsequently, the case was reopened this year, following the reignited coverage in HBO's 2015 docuseries, "The Jinx."

In addition to Durst's connections to McCormack's disappearance, he has also been tied to the deaths of two other people. According to the New York Daily News, Durst was charged (but not convicted) of the murder of his friend, Susan Berman, in 2000. He has continued to plead not guilty. A year later, in 2001, Durst was also arrested for the brutal homicide of his neighbor, Morris Black (per The Times). While on trial, he confessed to the crime, but stated that it was an act of self-defense. Despite this, Durst was fully acquitted for Black's murder in 2003. His legal complications did not end there, though. Here is a breakdown of Robert Durst's life today.

Starting in August 2021, according to the Los Angeles Times, real estate heir Robert Durst has started another murder trial — this time for the 2000 death of Susan Berman. The trial was delayed for over a year due to the pandemic. Durst alleges that he discovered Berman's body when he went to visit his longtime friend. However, according to NBC News, the defense says Berman planned to reveal more to authorities about the disappearance of Durst's wife, Kathie McCormack.

After Durst was asked in the courtroom by Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney John Lewin about his relationship to lying under oath, he responded cryptically. "Because what I'm saying is mostly the truth," Durst said. "There are certain things I would lie about, certain very important things." He also elaborated on his confession during HBO's docuseries, "The Jinx," where viewers heard him say he "killed them all." Durst explained, "What I did not say out loud, or perhaps I said very softly, is they'll all think I killed them all of course." Since the trial is still ongoing, it is unclear if Durst will be able to get away with another murder acquittal.

After Robert Durst's first wife, Kathie McCormack, disappeared under suspicious circumstances in 1982, Durst eventually moved on with his love life. Prior to the alleged murders of Susan Berman and Morris Black, Durst tied the knot with Debrah Lee Chartran in 2000. According to The Sun, Chartran also worked on the New York real estate circuit. Yet, while Chartran stuck by Durst's side through his trial for Black's murder, the outlet reports that she has not spoken to her husband since HBO's "The Jinx" aired in 2015.

Durst and Chartran are believed to have begun dating in 1988. Chartran had a son, Bennat Chartran Berger, in 1984 from a previous marriage. According to The Knot, the couple were married in a 15-minute private Times Square ceremony. Durst had also purchased a $77,000 engagement ring and, when Chartan accepted his proposal, he also gave her power of attorney. As the ceremony's rabbi, Robert Summers, told the New York Daily News in 2001, "Durst was rather taciturn. He was not buoyant and didn't smile."