Mugshots: Robert Durst - Mogul in Murder Mystery | Forensic Files

tonight on Mugshots he led police on a cross-country Manhunt most people speculated that with his wealth he might
have left the country and be long gone he had money privilege and a suspect reputation the fact that he was or was
not a scoundrel can't arrest anybody for being a scoundrel but questions surrounding two murders and his wife's
disappearance are now catching up with New York real estate Heir Robert Durst she would say Eleanor if anything ever
happens to me don't let Bobby get away with it and a court TV exclusive an unusual hunt for
evidence tonight Robert Durst money murder and mystery [Music] [Applause] it is Mary gr weekend in galvaston Texas
where beer and Beads blend with colorful costumes and the dark of night but this weekend in another part of this
island town there is serious business hey this a white in the morning Boys in Galveston Bay private investigators are
preparing to search for the head of moris black a 71-year-old Drifter whose body parts were found in garbage bags
floating in the water on September 30th 2001 okay move out 4 months later the cause of Black's death remains un known
guys raise your hand if you feel something if you feel anything raise your hand private eye Bobby bosha has
taken an interest in the case and volunteered to conduct the search the head may have very important evidence as
to how he died and clues very major Clues to the investigation um it's missing and we think it's out
there black arrived in Galveston more than a year ago and led an anonymous life in a place well accustomed to
strangers Kevin Moran covers galvaston for the Houston Chronicle Galveston is the place
where people come to get lost so people do come do tend to blend in and and be ignored just kind of left alone in the
bags containing Morris Black's remains police found other Clues including a receipt for garbage bags from a local
hardware store a cover for a bow saw and a newspaper with a home delivery address
2213 Avenue K when police approached the modest house where black rented a small
apartment they discovered more evidence and More Strangers inside Black's apartment
police discovered blood in the sink and shower and a trail of blood stains on the floor that led across the hall and
into an apartment rented by Dorothy serer whom neighbors believed was a mute middle-aged woman
inside police found more blood stains a pairing knife and a drop cloth in the garbage cans outside police recovered a
22 caliber shell casing and a receipt for an eye exam with yet another unfamiliar
name Robert Durst to the few who met him Durst appeared to be just another down on his
luck Galveston Oddball who hung around Bob's Grocery and liquor store downtown having a good time yeah he was just very
strange person he came in the store and there was a dog tied to a paper machine and he just barked at the dog for about
3 minutes continually he didn't stop he just stayed bent over barking in the dog's face and then and I was like hey
what's wrong with you you know probably about 2 weeks after that I saw him again
come in and he uh had hot pink lipstick on and some big silver uh earrings they look like uh 50 60
style stuff while durst's crossdressing may not have turned heads in Galveston it
did lead police to a major Discovery Morris Black's neighbor Dorothy serer a leading suspect in his murder didn't
exist she was really Robert Durst in drag but Durst remained only a name on a receipt with few leads police contacted
the optometrist office where dur prescription glasses were waiting on October 9th Durst arrived to retrieve
them and the optometrist called the police they stopped him they found a gun in his car they found some marijuana
then they took him off to the jail for the first time all of Galveston got to see The elusive Robert Durst and one of
my first thoughts was that if this man was dressed as a woman he would have been one of the least attractive women
that you would ever run across and it would be hard for him to conceal the fact that he was male no matter what he
did police learned that in the days following the death of Mars black Durst had checked into a hotel on the remote
Eastern end of Galveston under the Alias Jim tur and in a very different disguise
he came in three-piece suit you know shirt tie very well cut guy he mingled in with another conversation I was
having with another guest that was checking in at the same time and your method of payment despite his business
attire Hotel clerks Gerald Gamble and latan Harris recognized Durst from an earlier visit before Maris Black's death
I think it was 2 months prior to that he came in and and scoped out the hotel and
everything you know but he was in Disguise then I mean he had on raggedy clothes a ragged hat and he had a
briefcase with him well Mr dur when he was in the lobby area he uh got up and he walked around the area and he
proceeded to come over here by this torso and he just stood there looking at and with my theory on especially what
had happened to the uh Mr Black I'm thinking he may have gotten his idea from this after his arrest Robert Durst
was brought to the Galveston County courthouse and charged with murder bail was set at
$300,000 but Durst who appeared appear to be jobless and broke surprised Everyone by posting his bail the next
day and walking out of jail a free man the hearing came along in a few days and Mr Durst indeed did not show up and uh
everyone in in in creation was waiting for him but Robert Durst was gone in the days to come the people of Galveston
would learn the truth about the crossdressing loner who got away it was a real shocker and I'm sure that the
prosecutors were and the police were a bit embarrassed about all that but they really had handled this case just about
like they would handle any other case and they had no hint that they needed to set a higher Bond and a larger bail for
this particular guy who was Robert Durst his violent and mysterious past when mug shots
[Music] Returns on October 16th 2001 Robert Durst failed to attend his Hearing in Galveston and became a
fugitive only then did Galviston authorities discover the real Robert Durst not an island loner but an heir to
a multi-million doll real estate fortune in New York City my reaction was I I think the same as the rest of the public
around they were astounded they were fascinated by the idea that someone from a family that had helped redeveloped
Times Square could be living in Galveston in a cheap apartment and and possibly be involved in a brutal
murder the Durst organization owns 10 Midtown skyscrapers Robert D's father Seymour
was a king of Manhattan's real estate royalty and his eldest son was the ARA parent when I knew him he only sort of
wore a Blazer and necktie no dresses ever [Music] in the 1970s Robert Durst was a young
Bachelor fresh out of college and living the high life in New York you had Studio
54 and that really called the shots it set the tone Andy Warhol was at every party he went to Bobby was certainly
attracted to all that uh you know and he had his crowd his crowd included writer
Steven Silverman and their mutual friend Susan Burman then a writer for New York
Magazine Bobby was a power player by Family connections and Susan liked to be around
that and therefore you know Bobby was in a way her quote unquote best friend in 1971 Robert durest added a new face to
his crowd a 19-year-old dental hygienist named Kathy McCormack who was renting an
apartment in a Durst building she had just a certain way about her that was very
captivating and um although she was wasn't class you know she wasn't the Madison Avenue little pug noose kind of
beautiful but Kathy was definitely beautiful she just had an a it appeared to be love at first sight for the middle
class girl from Long Island and the New York real estate air and their relationship seemed proof that Opposites
Attract Jim McCormick is Kathy's brother Kathy was evoca if she she would engage
in conversation she'd be interested in things she'd Beed interested in people she was very spontaneous Bob was just
basically the opposite he was a Charming beguiling shy individual that she just fell in love with I think they had a lot
of magic that magic led to marriage in 1973 the couple rented a penthouse apartment in Manhattan and bought a
cottage on the shore of Lake trusdale in South Salem New York and hours drive from the city Kathy's friend gilberta
naami remembers a happy couple Kathy was just the brightest most beautiful exuberant woman and her husband Bobby
was kind and and friendly and you know in the beginning it was terrific in 1974 while Robert durest was making his
name in real estate Cathy enrolled in the nursing program at Western Connecticut State College as a first
step toward Medical School Eleanor schwank was a fellow nursing student initially when she went on to Medical
school things between Bob and Kathy still were not Rocky but as Kathy excelled Bob became I think almost angry
according to Cathy's friends and family Robert durst's anger soon led to physical abuse Cathy's brother claims to
have witnessed it one Thanksgiving Bob wanted to leave he just got it was personality he just got ansy and uh came
in and kind of like come on Kathy you know that raspy kind of voice he had and finally just got lost his patience
walked across the room pulled her by the hair to get her off the couch before you
had time to react to what you were seeing she had grabbed her coat and they were out the door and gone and this is
very disturbing to me that very early in Cathy's marriage Bobby had been hitting
her Kathy told us that Bobby was violent attorney Ellen Strauss another of Kathy's College friends she basically
called to ask my advice although I was still in law school and I suggested that she leave him and that she could still
work out a financial settlement after the fact and that the most important thing to do is to get out
and out of Harm's Way one time she called me and she said Bobby's inside and he's growling I said well what does
it sound like and she said well it's like I said Kathy aren't you afraid and she said well I said Kathy please just
leave him he's crazy but she had information on the dur organization and she said to me Eleanor
I am not going to come out of this marriage with nothing Bill mayor and his wife Ruth were Robert and Cathy's
Nextdoor neighbors Kathy had seen us in the yard and I think Ruth invited her over for a drink over the course of the
evening it appeared that Kathy was distraught and not only distraught but she was scared I had have to say though
that the last thing Kathy said to me was um if anything happened to me suspect Foul Play Kathy durst's cryptic warning
became well known to her other friends she would say Eleanor if anything ever happens to me
don't let Bobby get away with it which used to make me crazy because I begged her Kathy leave him come come live with
me come you know you can live here on Sunday January 31st 1982 Kathy dur telephoned gilberta aami she was not
having um a good day and she asked if she could come over she just wanted to get away and I said to Kathy I'm having
a dinner party for my family uh but you can come you're my best friend of course
you know come when you can Kathy arrived at Gilbert's home in New Town Connecticut that afternoon Robert Durst
called the house several times I heard Bobby in the background and I'm one of those telephone calls and he was audibly
upset and demanded Kathy return to the South Salem home and it was cold it was snowing raining icy my uh estimate is
that Kathy left my house about 7:15 and when I walked her out we stood on the front porch and she looked me in
the eye and she said gilberta promise me if something happens to me tonight you'll check it out I'm afraid of what
Bobby might do and I I haven't forgotten those words not in 20 years within 24 hours I knew that those
were the last words I was ever going to hear from Kathy and she got in her car and
left Robert durst's wife disappears when mugshots continues on a rainy Sunday evening in
1982 Robert Durst asked his wife Kathy to come home the next day she was supposed to meet her friend gilberta at
a restaurant in New York City and I sat there and I sat there and I sat there and I went to the phone and I called
South Salem to see if Bobby knew where she was I called the the penthouse to see if Kathy or Bobby were there there
was no answer I left message after message after message and I started to drive back to Connecticut I on the way
home I had very strong feelings that something was very very wrong Kathy Durst had repeatedly told her friends
that she feared for her life and they now suspected the worst and I got a call from gilberta and she said Kathy's
missing at which point I said Bobby killed her and she said no Elanor she's in a witness protection program cuz
gilberta was just stuck on that and I had this little uh battle going on between my
brain telling me that no these these things don't happen to people you know and my heart telling me that oh my God
she was right something's wrong 24 hours passed but Cathy Durst was nowhere to be
found her friends were desperate we drove to the South Salem home and picked up all the garbage that he had put out
on the street I mean when I think about it now it's it's mindboggling but if you're going to be a good detective
that's where you start I didn't expect to find Kathy's clothes her medical books things that she
needed in the garbage and what it said to me was how does Bobby know she's not coming back now frantic gilberta naami
crept up to the Durst home and hurled a rock through the window I called the state police and I told them that I was
breaking into the home in South Salem because I was convinced that there was a dead body in the house they wrote that
call down but they did not send anybody to meet me on February 5th 5 days after Kathy was
last seen by her friends Robert Durst walked into the 20th Precinct in Manhattan to report that his wife was
missing you know some people come in and there screaming and they have tears um he was he was very lowkey Michael struck
is a retired New York City police detective who investigated Kathy durst's disappearance if you were to walk into a
detective squad and told the detective that you had not seen your spouse for four or 5 days days well where the heck
were you for the last why did you wait this long to come in and tell us but he explained that away she was a student at
uh Alber Einstein Medical Center her course study would require her to stay out for two or three days at a time at
the various hospitals that she was uh doing these clinics so it it it seemed reasonable the detective quiz Durst
about any problems in his marriage sure they did fight and they argued and they they did some drinking and and there
were some drugs uh he of course said that she would utilize uh cocaine well it certainly didn't seem to be um a
normal relationship but I've seen worse Robert Durst also told the detective that his wife had arrived home
Sunday evening ate dinner and drank a bottle of wine before he drove her to the nearest train station where she
boarded a 917 train Bound for Grand Central Station in New York he spoken with her on the phone at
their Manhattan apartment later that night it was an account supported by Witnesses he had a door man that said uh
that she came in that Sunday night that he took her up to the penthouse at about
1:00 in the morning I spoke to the dean at the college and then the assistant and they told me that she had called L
to work on Monday and that she was um sick and that she would miss the studies for that day uh and also there was a
super who said that that same Monday he saw a woman from the back he thought it was her crossing the street and walking
away from the building so it's actually three events taking place putting her in
New York City that morning barring blood stains and and gunshots and smoking guns at that point
it was just the fact that she was just fed up and she took off so the fact that he was discarding her personal effects
that's a dime a dozen that that something that we see all the time in this business the fact that he was or
was not a scoundrel can't arrest anybody for being a scle but Cathy's friends were
convinced that Robert Durst was a murderer there wasn't a shred of doubt in any of our minds that something very
terrible happened between Kathy and Bobby after all she had been telling us if anything happened to her please don't
let my husband get away with it I was very very clear about the fact that I believe that Bob Durst killed Kathy I
said it to newspapers I said it on the radio I said it on television and some of them were were quite
vocal um would have liked to have us Lynch him after the first day I'd like to ask them what was the evidence there
wasn't the the blood there wasn't the fingerprints Kathy's friends may not have had proof but they believed that
parts of durst's story didn't add up we were able to determine that Kathy never left the home in South Salem because I
took that train the same train Sunday night 7 days later it's two cars and I had pictures of Cathy with me I
interviewed all the passengers who apparently are regular customers on Sunday night I satisfied myself that
Kathy had never been on that train on Sunday night January 31st 1982 there was also the phone conversation Durst
claimed to have had with his wife that night he reportedly first told police he had placed that call from their home
then when he realized that the phone records would indicate otherwise he claimed he had done it from uh a pay
booth and the nearest pay Booth was about 3 mil away claimed he was out walking the dog I don't think he would
have walked the dog three miles it was a pretty nasty night that night police also discovered that in the days before
he reported his wife missing Durst made two collect phone calls to his office from the seaside town of Ship Bottom New
Jersey is it proof of murder no but it it lends to the circumstantial issues if he's making calls from Ship Bottom New
Jersey and uh and if he's telling uh detectives that he's in Connecticut at the time there's a conflict there ship's
bottom is known for its Sandy Bottom soil in the winter when this all happened where one could easily get rid
of a body or body parts and I believe it's right there in the water maybe they could have been
tossed out to seea the missing Beauty quickly became front page news in New York yor Robert Durst offered a large
reward for information and turned to his best friend Susan Burman for help with the press it wasn't much of a leap to
make Susan the spokesperson they were were always like siblings Susan always felt you know he was the brother the the
rich brother who uh in a strange way needed protection but on the other hand Susan was really the only journalist
Bobby knew so Susan you know it was assumed could handle the Press Kathy's family personally asked Seymour Durst
for help but the request was ignored here's a man who is allegedly one of the most powerful individuals economically
real estate politically in New York City telephone call away from the mayor's office uh here's a man whose
daughter-in-law his son's wife was reported missing by his son he virtually did nothing to reach out and you know
with empathy or with resources to assist in the process of discovering what happened to Kathy nothing oh it quieted
down within two weeks I mean initially there was news coverage but like anything in New York
City I mean it's a city of millions and millions of people that just drifts away
when the next thing comes up weeks became months there were no new leads no clues no Kathy there was no reaching out
to her family no record of any of her telephone cards no activity on charge cards no activity on checking no intera
action with friends and Confidant zero it's like she just didn't exist some began to speculate about a conspiracy
involving Robert Durst and Susan Burman the call that was made to the dean hi this is Kathy Durst I'm not coming into
school today when I wasn't going to show up for class I didn't call the Dean you call
your instructor I've always believed that U Sue Burman may have had a hand on that that maybe she made the call for
Bobby she would have been the only person he would have trusted to do it and to cover up for him
afterwards she would have stuck by him no matter what he did as time went on detective struck also began to wonder
about Robert Durst after a couple of weeks the facts that were were trickling into us uh regarding uh their
relationship started to change out you know my view anyway as to whether or not he could be behind this still even by
itself it's still not evident to arrest somebody for or to charge them months became years the Cathy dur disappearance
was soon just Another Cold Case forgotten by everyone but her family and friends we were in a State of Shock a
state of like this can't be happening to us you know we we've tried to live within all of the bounds of normal
reason and and Rule and and and and Law and Order why is this happening to our family and especially why has it
happened to Kathy we were obsessed we had to find out what happened to her and I think we knew deep in our hearts that
she was never coming back it was um hard to accept very hard to accept a trail goes cold for 20 years and a
potential witness is silenced when mug shots continues in the spring of 2000 18 years
after Kathleen dur disappeared her case was suddenly resurrected the State Police got a tip from someone who was
looking for a little leniency with an upcoming sentence and offered up information on missing Kathy Durst
although the lead went nowhere it prompted a New York State Police investigator to perform an experiment
then called Kathy's brother Jim McCormick what he did was I think a very smart thing he actually took a police
cruiser um started in Connecticut from where Kathy left that Sunday evening drove to the South salm house waited a a
short while not much dren drove from there to the Katona station and he said Jim I couldn't make the timeline in a
police vehicle how did how does Kathy and Bob ever do all of that you know on a rainy wet icy kind of night including
a supposed hamburger and bottle of wine at the South Salem House it just didn't compute and that literally started the
process of saying this this doesn't feel right several old Witnesses were also reinterviewed with some surprising
results well I understand from the current investigation that some of them have come off the original statements uh
the door man that took her up that night I understand is not um as solid as he was with us there were people who
claimed that they saw her as it turned out it was her coat or from the back or a block away or her voice on the
telephone she never made it into New York she never left that South Salem home alive the Westchester District
Attorney's Office officially reopened the Durst case I know they did put divers in the lake to uh investigate the
lake they actually brought dogs here too uh special dogs that uh could uh sniff for possible remains of people that have
been buried for a long time investigators also removed chunks of walls inside the durst's former home for
forens examination and more witnesses were scheduled to be interviewed on the list
were Robert Durst and his best friend Susan Burman a woman with a colorful [Music]
past Susan Burman grew up in Las Vegas in the 1950s the only child of mobster Davey
Burman the one-time partner of Bugsy seagull and owner of the legendary flamingo Hotel she was the Eloise of the
Flamingo Hotel you know gangsters attended her birthday parties her mother was an ex show girl what could be more
colorful than that burman's childhood was also marked by tragedy her father died when she was 12 her mother a year
later Burman left Las Vegas shuttled between relatives and boarding schools Susan was always very needy as a result
but she also developed this incredible survival Instinct in 1963 Burman attended UCLA where she met
Master student Robert Durst by the time she arrived in New York she was a working journalist with an attitude
Susan really thought she could mop the floor with Barbara Walters Susan thought she was the greatest journalist God ever
put on Earth and she believed it and you have to hand it to her because nothing would stop her in 1981 Burman completed
easy A Memoir of her Las Vegas childhood the book was a hit and when Universal Studios bought the movie rights Burman
set her sights on Hollywood but easy street the movie was never made and her dream of becoming a
screenwriter met with harsh Hollywood realities things just became more and more desperate in California she went
through a trust fund she just struggled for the next several years Burman suffered through failed
relationships and financial difficulties by the summer of 2000 she was desperate
for cash and turned to her best friend Robert Durst who sent her a check for $25,000 he was very generous in the last
year she needed it and he could afford it um I mean she didn't have a penny she was there was nothing in November the
New York papers broke the news that the Kathy Durst case had been reopened published reports indicate that Susan
Burman agreed to a New York Times interview for a follow-up story that same month Robert dur sent Burman
another $25,000 a month later on Christmas Eve 200000 Los Angeles police were summoned
to Susan burman's home by worried neighbors officers found Burman fa down in a puddle of blood she had been killed
by a single bullet in the back of the head I get up very early for my job so it was before Dawn and um I first thing
I do is read the news wires on the internet and it was on the AP wire just said screenwriter slain but then my eyes
Fu I saw Susan burman's name and I just thought it can't be and I called up the story and I froze those involved in the
Durst case in New York were also shocked one of their most important Witnesses had been murdered before she could be
interviewed I don't really believe very much in in in coincidences and um stop believing in Santa Claus many years ago
and the fact that she met her demise at at this particular time certainly aroused my suspicions it just
doesn't make any sense that it was a a robber because nothing was taken and it looked like it was she was shot at close
range by someone who knew her like their New York colleagues police and La were now interested in
talking to Robert Durst but he was nowhere to be found they did not know that 2 months
before Susan burman's murder Durst had arrived in Galveston Texas disguised as a woman when mugshots returns Robert
durst's life on the lamb and later the search for Clues continues in Galveston [Music]
in 1994 Robert Durst left New York after losing control of the family business to
his younger brother for years he wandered between homes in Connecticut Dallas and Northern
California after his arrest and release on bail in Galveston in October of 2001 dur took to the road again the next
thing I heard was that he had been reported to be in New Orleans and that he had New Orleans connections
and that he might be uh hiding out in New Orleans and that he might be dressed as a woman in New Orleans and then after
that we lost track of where he might be most people speculated that with his wealth he might have left the country
and uh be long gone Durst may have been intent on revisiting his past sightings of The Fugitive were reported in
Northern California and South Salem New York as an undergraduate he had attended
Lehigh University in eastern Pennsylvania and on November 30th 2001 2 months after Morris Black's death Robert
Durst walked through the door of the golden view Diner in nearby Bethlehem I came out of the kitchen and I started
laughing there was a guy sitting at the counter drinking coffee and he had a wig
on that was brown and a mustache that was white and his eyebrows were white he was just very quiet didn't say anything
didn't really look around he just drank his coffee and asked where w was on the way
out driving a beat up Chevy that he had rented in Mobile Alabama Durst arrived at the recently open Wegman's grocery
store later that [Music] day Durst entered the store and found his way to the pharmacy as he perused
the products he was being watched that day security recruit Nicholas Westgate was being trained to
operate the store sophisticated camera system we were just watching a high theft area
at the time and he went over to an area that that we tend to get a lot of shoplifting their camera showed a
startling image of Robert Durst with his head and eyebrows shaved another apparent disguise Durst picked up a box
of Band-Aids then with security cameras rolling Robert Durst grabbed a handful of Band-Aids from the box and stuffed
them in his pocket The Fugitive wanted for murder in Texas was shoplifting and he wasn't
finished cameras follow Durst as he picked up a newspaper then began looking for lunch come up they can see what the
texture of the bread is Kevin Lang is the perishable foods manager after he left the newspaper area he wandered over
here came to this case reached in and grabbed a sandwich um grilled chicken salad sandwich and walked around a
little bit tucked it in a newspaper paper under his arm and headed for the [Music]
door this time Robert dur was not getting away security was waiting for him in the parking lot and escorted him
back inside he did call himself stupid and called him himself some curse words banged his head against the wall it was
pretty weird for an average shoplifter but then again he wasn't your average shoplifter what about Susan bman did you
have anything to do do with her murder Durst had $500 in his pocket and no identification do you have anything to
say at all security called the police when the police asked him to identify himself he identified himself
as Robert Durst and when they asked if he was from the area he said that he was from New York uh when they ran the
background checks which they normally do in situations like this it was came up as a hit on a homicide being wanted in
Texas and also for bail jumping wearing a stolen Band-Aid under his nose Robert Durst was taken into custody and his
rental car was impounded in the trunk police found Morris Black's driver's license and more there was a large
amount of cash uh I believe $39,000 there was also uh I believe two firearms and uh marijuana was found as
well Robert Durst sat in county jail for two months while local prosecutors planned his return to Texas durst's
extradition hearing took place Janu anuary 25th 2002 nearly 20 years to the day since his wife disappeared and Kathy
Durst was not forgotten Kathy asked me to not let Bobby get away with it and she was convinced the night she left my
home that it was going to be Bobby that would hurt her and she asked me to promise her and it's 20 years later and
I am still going to keep that promise Robert Durst was led in Chains to the courtroom Bobby did you kill Kathy 20
years ago how you doing Mr D Durst was represented by attorney Michael Kennedy his State of Mind is
that he's actually anxious to get back to Texas to begin preparing his defense will he plead not guilty oh yes he'll
plead not guilty thank you gilberta namami confronted Durst as he left the hearing I was overwhelmed I'm still
overwhelmed you expect him to say anything no but I had to get my message to him did he look you in the eye yes he
did did he say anything did he say no he just turned away and what did you say to
him I asked him to tell me what he did to Kathy when mugshots returns Robert Durst
goes back to Galveston on Jan January 27th 2002 Robert Durst returned to Galveston Texas
where he pleaded not guilty to murdering his neighbor Maris black investigators and others are now working overtime to
find a connection between the two men I did not think that Mars black was a contener old man who ticked Bobby off
to the point where he needed to kill him I felt that there was some connection either between Mars and Bobby 20 years
ago or Maris and Susan Burman they haven't found anything solid that I tend to doubt that they had
a connection before my personal belief is that two odd Ducks ended up in the same forp Plex and somehow Crossed
Swords one day and Mr Black ended up dead police are also piecing together a timeline of Robert durst's activities
while in galvaston in April 2001 Durst was spotted standing in his old backyard in South s New York staring out at Lake
trusdale the date was the 12th his 58th birthday and what would have been his and Cathy's 28th wedding
anniversary all right lock up now we do have um sharks and alligators and and there is sea life here in this water you
feel something yeah it's whatever it is it has been 3 hours since the search for
moris Black's head began in galvaston Bay okay it's a rock okay great very good Searchers have found several rocks
and a lawn chair but nothing else I think the divers are giving up independent private investigator
Bobby Bosa is almost ready to call it a day we didn't find the head today but we
did a very thorough search if the head was thrown in with the body it's out here
somewhere before quitting Bobby sends her team to walk the area around the dock and they make a startling Discovery we
were kind of walking up and down the shoreline and uh that's when we stumbled on some of these items here and there
were some hair extensions right here too lying on the side of an access road are
two women's wigs a glove and clothing police immediately declare the area a crime scene um evidently they want to
seal off the scene see if it's something that's um may be connected to the case dur was known to wear wigs a forensic
special IST tags and collects the potential evidence for a crime lab [Music] analysis encouraged by their lucky find
Bosa and her team returned to the scene two weeks later for a more thorough search they discover a large rug covered
with dark stains in shallow water field tests confirm their fears as soon as we flipped it you know kind of unrolled it
a little bit you could see it it was just plain as day that it was blood with evidence mounting against his
client durst's attorney dropped a bombshell at a pre-trial hearing in March he announced that Robert Durst did
Kill Mars black but in self-defense the trial is set for September 2002 meanwhile in Los Angeles police
have requested a writing sample from Durst to compare against an anonymous note they received at the time of Susan
burman's murder the note contained burman's address and the single word cadav these are only the latest twists
in the bizarre trail of mystery surrounding Robert [Music] Durst the connections between him and
Miss Burman and the fact that she's dead now the disparity between the stories that he told the investigators when his
wife first disappeared and yet they were never able to file any charges obviously he was a successful
manipulator early on in this deal and and yet he comes here to Galveston and allegedly commits a
crime and leaves a trail a mile wide of evidence that astounds me if he killed his wife and if he killed Miss Burman
and if he killed Mr Black he already qualifies as a serial killer the fact that he's alleged to have dismembered
somebody to get rid of that individual opens a dimension in my mind that I didn't really entertain that
strongly in the past Kathy dur disappearance remains unsolved those connected to the case are
hopeful that publicity from the Texas trial and the LA investigation will lead to a breakthrough there's an additional
person or persons out there who are finally going to say I need need to get it off my chest to themselves have an
epiphany of conscience that says I know something or I know of something or I know know that I've got to tell the
police what I know about Kathleen there's disappearance Kathy's friends believe that the only person who needs to talk
is Robert Durst himself he could put some real closure to this whole event for her family for her friends and I'd
like him to know that he'll feel better if he tells us what happened between him
and Kathy he have this you know calmness about him I wish he could see that I wish he could understand that you know
it's over every case is solvable some just take a long time [Music] [Music] [Music]
[Music] I oh

Click here to watch great FREE Movies & TV: http://filmrise.com

Brief Summary

Robert Durst's complex case involves two murders, his wife's disappearance, and a web of deceit and disguise.

Key points

Robert Durst's Hidden Identity. The shocking revelation that Robert Durst was not just a local oddball but a wealthy heir.
The Disappearance of Kathy Durst. Kathy Durst's friends feared for her life before her disappearance, suspecting foul play.
Kathy's Friends' Fears. Kathy's friends were convinced of her husband's involvement in her disappearance.
The Disappearance of Kathy Durst. Kathy Durst's case went cold, leaving her family in shock and despair.
The Murder of Susan Burman. Susan Burman, a key witness, was found murdered just before she could testify.
Robert Durst's Arrest. Robert Durst was arrested in Galveston, Texas, after being spotted shoplifting.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I think the same as the rest of the public, they were astounded.

Reaction to Durst's hidden identity.

8:21WatchJul 28, 2014

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.