Everything We Know About Robert Durst's Murder Conviction
Robert Durst's murder conviction is a wild and gruesome journey. The former New York real estate mogul Durst was convicted of a murder that took on new life after participating in an HBO documentary. Durst was the subject of a 2015 HBO documentary series, "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst." His participation in the documentary directly led to his conviction on September 17 of murdering his best friend.
NPR reported that the 78-year-old Durst was convicted of the "first-degree murder of Susan Berman." The outlet reported that Berman "was shot at point-blank range in the back of the head" in her home in Los Angeles in December 2000. Per NPR, Durst killed Berman because she was planning to tell police how she helped cover up the murder of Durst's wife.
Berman's 20-year-old murder case generated a tidal wave of public interest after the HBO documentary series aired. Town & Country called the documentary series Durst's "trial by public opinion," but the September 17 verdict brought him to justice for one of the murders he is suspected of. Keep reading to learn more about Durst's murder conviction.
Robert Durst suspected in three murders over the years
According to The New York Times, Robert Durst is suspected of having murdered three people, including Susan Berman. The outlet reported that Durst's wife, Kathleen "Kathie" McCormack, disappeared in 1982. McCormack's family has suspected for years that Durst was somehow involved in her disappearance and death. The other two deaths happened a year apart.
The outlet reported that Durst was charged but never convicted of Berman's murder in 2000. And NPR reported that in 2001, Durst killed his Galveston neighbor Morris Black in a "struggle" for a gun, then Durst "chopped up Black's body and tossed it out to sea." But Durst was only convicted of "destroying evidence for discarding the body parts," per NPR.
The New York Times also reported that in 2015, the day before the last episode of HBO's "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst," the FBI arrested Durst on a murder warrant in New Orleans. The New York realtor turned documentary star has been in custody ever since.
According to NPR, prosecutors in the Berman case "painted a portrait of a rich narcissist who didn't think the laws applied to him and ruthlessly disposed of people who stood in his way."