ROBERT DURST -- JINXED?

[HairOfTheDog]

For those who follow major crime stories, the name "Robert Durst" is very familiar -- also, I imagine, to anyone who's lived in New York for any length of time and follows the news. Durst is very wealthy; the Durst family are real estate tycoons in New York City.


TIMELINE

1982 -- His Wife Disappears

Durst's wife ^ Kathie disappeared in 1982 under suspicious circumstances. She's not been heard from since. Her friends have sleuthed the case and suspected Durst of foul play for decades.

2000 -- His Close Friend and Confidante is Executed

One of Durst's closest friends and confidantes in Los Angeles, Susan Berman (daughter of a gangster; pictured above), was shot in the back of the head and killed in her home. It has long been suspected that Durst killed her before she could be interviewed by investigators about the disappearance of Kathy Durst. But, LE could only put Durst in California at the time of Susan's murder, not in L.A. and not at Berman's home, so no charges were filed against him.

2001 -- His Neighbor is Killed/Dismembered

Durst took off to Galveston, Tx when an investigation into Kathy's investigation started heating up again. There, he disguised himself and lived as a mute woman, next door to a man named Morris Black (pictured above). Black ended up dead, dismembered, and floating in garbage bags in a nearby bay (except for his head, which has never been found). Durst was arrested, prosecuted, and admitted to shooting and dismembering his neighbor. He claimed self-defense and was unbelievably acquitted. Seeing the footage from the trial for the first time in the HBO docu, I can almost understand how he got off. Man, he had a great defense team and Durst played his role well to the jury.

2015 -- Durst-initiated documentary to tell his side of the story airs (or, does he want to get caught?)

^Robert Durst today

I binge-watched episodes 1 - 5 of The Jinx (it's an HBO 6-part documentary about Durst) yesterday. It's a really well-executed and addicting documentary. Even knowing most of the major details from following the story in the media for years, I was hooked. I learned a lot from the background information provided and more so from the interviews with Durst himself -- he'd previously avoided the media. He's an oddly fascinating subject. His wife is something else too.

So, at the end of the fifth installment, an amazing and very incriminating new clue was discovered during the making of the documentary. The final installment airs tonight.

And, today, Durst was arrested in New Orleans for the murder of Susan Berman based on that clue.

I'm interested in anyone's thoughts about the cases or the HBO series.

[Duchess]

I think this sounds interesting so I just checked to see when it was on next and starting at 4:00 PM I can binge watch too. I love a good documentary! I hope it doesn't slip my mind.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think this sounds interesting so I just checked to see when it was on next and starting at 4:00 PM I can binge watch too. I love a good documentary! I hope it doesn't slip my mind.

I've been getting out very little over the last few weeks -- trying to kick this cold completely so I can visit clients again. Yesterday I'd had enough of the home office and laid on the couch for hours -- The Jinx really reeled me in.

If you can't watch all of it, I recommend watching episode 5 (they give a little recap of previous installments first) and then the final installment tonight. I'm very interested in tonight's episode.

[Duchess]

So many observations! I think that whacko is very intelligent. How the hell do the police not do a thorough investigation into the first wife's disappearance? Ugh. I felt the frustration. Awesome soundtrack. I was completely skeeved by the mausoleum.

I missed the beginning of Susan's story. I think I heard the narrator say she was killed by a shotgun blast to back of her head. Wouldn't that have completely obliterated her head?

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, he blew her head off -- one of his oldest and best friends.

Police reportedly believe Durst was getting ready to leave the country when he was arrested today. He was registered under a false name and he had a fake ID with him in the hotel room.

His attorney told the media that he won't fight extradition to Los Angeles, but he will fight the charges.

Hope Durst doesn't get off scot free, again.

[Duchess]

Not guilty. I can hardly believe it and neither can he! He is astounded!

[HairOfTheDog]

I laughed when he asked his attorney if the jury really said "no" about his guilt in the Morris Black murder case. But, it's disheartening seeing the behind-the-scenes ploys used to help a defendant get away with murder using a self-defense bullshit story when there are no witnesses to the killing.

His wife is a trip, right? And, his brother too.

It's such a weird effed-up story. The final episode is coming on here shortly.

[Duchess]

His wife is a trip, right?

Oh hell yeah. I thought she was a joke at first (not to say she isn't now) but I came to see that's her normal demeanor.

[Clang McFly]

I had heard about this series, but didn't know what it was about. Sounds interesting. Maybe I'll watch it on HBO on Demand. Thanks HoTD.

[HairOfTheDog]

Wow. I knew about the incriminating handwriting clue, but didn't see that ending coming at all. Huge score for the filmmakers.

I wonder how long ago Andrew Jarecki turned that footage over to the LAPD. I'm sensing he sat on it til the release of the documentary. I hope not; that would have been dangerous.

Now I really wanna know the story behind the hand-over of evidence between Jarecki and LAPD (just outta intense curiosity, it's irrelevant to the case).

Anyway, I'll post the video when it's up in case anybody else wants to check it out. It's reportedly the reason Bob Durst is sitting in jail tonight.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, this article seems to answer my questions about the new evidence hand-over.

The Jinx producers handed over the handwriting clue not long after discovering it, back in 2013.

However, they did not discover the audio of Bob Durst (who was unaware he was still wearing his mic) talking to himself and essentially confessing to all three of the murders until two years after filming stopped, which I assume was very recently.

Good piece about the case and the film: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/nyregi....html?_r=0

[Duchess]

I saw both the envelopes with Beverly written wrong, I saw and heard him muttering under his breath when they took a break and I saw his attorney come in and tell him he has a "hot" mic and it picked up every word he said. So I'm waiting, waiting for it to come back on. I have like five HBO's and they switched to another HBO channel (without me realizing that) so I didn't get to see the last one.

[ramseycat]

I'm going to try and watch this. As I was reading about the story, I realized Law and Order did an episode based on this. It might have even been a two parter.

[thekid65]

I had never heard of this case until now...but then again, I don't have HBO. I'm hoping they put the entire series on Blu-ray so I can binge watch it at a later date. Looks intriguing, and this guy sounds like a nutjob.

[ramseycat]

I watched the final episode this morning. It was interesting. I'd like to go back and watch the first five to get a better picture. The end was pretty crazy though. Either he's laying the ground work for an insanity defense or he's like crew it. I'm old and dying anyway.

[Duchess]

I'd like to go back and watch the first five to get a better picture.

The beginning episode grabs you immediately. There was no wading into it. It begins gruesome.

[HairOfTheDog]

I watched the final episode this morning. It was interesting. I'd like to go back and watch the first five to get a better picture. The end was pretty crazy though. Either he's laying the ground work for an insanity defense or he's like crew it. I'm old and dying anyway.

Sometimes I wonder whether Durst is just an incredible actor.

IMO, one thing that has helped him skate all these years (aside from being worth literally billions) is his "eccentric" personality.

A couple of things that weren't covered in the documentary:
- Durst was immediately suspected in the death of Morris Black when a receipt found in one of the bags containing Black's body parts and a bloody trail led straight to Durst. Durst quickly posted bail and went on the lam. He was arrested soon after in a Pennsylvania grocery store. What got him busted? He was caught shoplifting a chicken sandwich and a Band-Aid, despite having $500 in his pocket. He also had a gun, marijuana and $37,000 in cash in his rental car.

-Last year Durst was arrested for exposing himself and urinating on the cash register and candy display at a Houston CVS store. He was fined $500.

So, is he really eccentric or does he just do such things periodically to cultivate that perception because it works in his favor in a sort of cat and mouse game with authorities?

I can easily see Durst's excellent attorneys claiming that his statements to himself in the bathroom about "killing them all" and "I'm caught" -- after being thrown off guard with the handwriting evidence and going into a burping fit -- were really just Durst rehearsing something in his head again. I don't think it will be a slam dunk prosecution, unless Durst really does wanna finally just openly confess.

Here's the handwriting evidence to which Duchess and I have been referring.
The first is the envelope from a long-overlooked note to his friend Susan Berman before her murder. The second is the envelope and note left for the police immediately after Susan's murder.




I think the handwriting and the misspellings being the same on both notes will be harder for Durst to wiggle outta than the seemingly incriminating words he mumbled to himself. Durst admitted writing the first note to Susan when she was alive, and only the killer knew that Susan was dead when the second note was sent to Beverly Hills PD.

[ramseycat]

I agree it looks like the same person wrote both. He seems like a sociopath to me. He's a killer and will do anything to get away with it.

[Duchess]

He has reptile eyes. Not that it means anything in the scheme of things.

[HairOfTheDog]

IS THE UTTERED (APPARENT) CONFESSION ADMISSIBLE IN COURT?



According to prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, "yes".

Since the filmmakers could not likely be positioned as law enforcement operatives (even though they had consulted law enforcement during parts of the project) and since Durst agreed to wear the microphone, there was no entrapment and he had no reasonable expectation of privacy when he uttered the incriminating statements to himself.

This article includes some interesting takes by attorneys on how the tape might factor into the prosecution and defense cases. LINK: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-robert-du...-in-court/

This is the statement released by Robert's brother Douglas immediately after the arrest yesterday:
“We are relieved and also grateful to everyone who assisted in the arrest of Robert Durst. We hope he will finally be held accountable for all he has done.”

Douglas Durst (and the rest of the Durst family) has been estranged from Robert Durst for decades. Douglas had orders of protection out against Robert Durst, who reportedly long held a grudge against Douglas. Douglas is the younger of the two and was appointed to run the family's billion dollar real estate enterprise.