The Crimes of Robert Durst (part 2) | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. This is morbid. And we've had a
we've had a good day. I know. It's been a like a hectic good day. Yeah, it's a creative day. A a very fun day. Yeah. Um
Yeah, it's been it's been a blast. I figured out a technical issue. She did. I watched her do it. I never figure out
technical issues and this is this is big for me. She figured The only reason you're hearing our voices right now is
cuz Ash figured it out. You know when that's ever happened? Not before this. None. None. as as your youngest would
say, none times. Nun times. They have none. Yeah. So, we're we're feeling good. And
um Yeah. I'm trying to think if there's anything really exciting happening. Really exciting. Feel like there's so
many exciting things happening. There are that we can't talk about. I know, but we will. We're not being one of
those people like we can't talk about it. We just have so many things happening and we just can't tell you.
But you will absolutely find out these things. What was fun the other night going to Ronnie and Ben's uh live show.
That was so much fun. And by the time you hear this, that will have been approximately 32 months ago. But it was
just know we had a great time. We did. We had a great time. Ronnie and Ben from Watch What Crains came to Boston for a
show. I laughed so hard during that show that my jaw hurt. Oh my god. If you love
reality television, specifically Bravo, and you're not listening to Watch What Crappins, you gota the Bonnie and Ben,
for anybody that out there that doesn't know, they recap these shows, but they do it in such a magical way. They like
do the voices of impersonate all the housewives. Yeah, they impersonate every sing like Summerhouse, Housewives. They
even do on uh their Patreon, they do White Lotus recaps, which are so much fun. It's very worth it. They're very
They're hilarious. They put out insane amounts of content and they're just like the loveliest human beings. We love
them. Yeah, they're great. So, that was a lot of fun. And we got to meet a lot of uh weirdos there. I know. That was so
fun. So, that was a lot of fun. If we ran into you, uh it was lovely and we were very happy to run into you. Yeah,
we met a lot of Massachusetts girlies. Yeah, we met a lot of Boston girlies around the town. It was town sisters, if
you will. It was fun. We loved it. Um Yeah. And it made us really want to like we were like, "Ooh, looks like fun at
the Wilb." We might have texted our touring manager. We might have. Not for a tour. Not for a tour. Let's be clear.
We have a touring manager even though we don't tour. He's He's often sad. He is often sad. In
fact, he didn't believe us that we wanted We were like, "What if we did like one show on like this date?" And he
was like, "I don't believe you." He was like, "Yeah, sure." He's like, "I'll look into dates, but I don't believe
you." So, you know what? Maybe that's in the future. Byebye. The future is bright, everybody. Oh, I was trying to
wear shades. It's so bright. I was about to go future. And then I didn't know why. And
it's that it's the Sabrina. It's super random. Something. Yeah. Sabrina the Teenage Witch's intro gets
wild. Future. Is it saying f? Is it? Probably not. Everybody knows I sing the wrong lyrics. Is it not though? No, cuz
now you got me in my head. Hold on. I'm going to Google it. That one I think is future. No, it's saying it's not.
[Music] It's not future. It doesn't even sound like that at all. Do you know how many
times this happened to me in my lifetime? It happens so guys. It doesn't say future. No, it's a secret. Secrets.
I knew it. I was like, it future. I know it's not. But then all I had was future
in my head, so I couldn't No, what it is is that I'm so compelling. You are. You're very compelling. You compelled
future into my head. Wow. Yeah. Now I feel like I'm singing that for like another purpose that like future. Maybe
you are. I don't know. You just connected it to the wrong nostalgia bomb. I don't know. Let me know in the
comments. Uh but either way, the main part of that was the future is bright. Yeah, I was wondering lots of fun plans
for the future. How we even got there? Uh the near future. So So let's let's get into it. I'm ready for part two.
Let's get into part two of Robert Durst because this guy sucks. Yeah. Um that's accurate. Yeah, he sucks a lot. So I
want to rewatch the Jinx, though. You should. It has an amazing theme song. I know. We talked about that last time.
Fresh blood by the uh I think that theme song was actually in Yellow Jackets the
last episode I watched and I said I love this song. Yeah, that song goes [ __ ] hard. It goes hard. And the actual
documentary is wild. Sorry, I'm already getting us off course, but like that's my role in life. Um I am re-watching The
Staircase right now. Oh yeah, I remember that one. Which I actually never finished. Um I like started it a long
long long time ago. That's a crazy one. It's interesting. Yeah, it's on Netflix right now. I don't I don't think I
watched the whole thing. It's long. I think it's like 13 episodes or something and it's a very differently done
documentary. Like you're seeing step by step. Yeah, you're seeing a lot. So, I watched like the first four or five
episodes last weekend. Um I want to finish that one. Like I'm I'm into it and I don't know what happens in that
case. So maybe maybe afterwards I'll cover it. Yeah, it's definitely a good one to cover. I would say for sure. Um
anyway, when we last left you guys with part one, um Robert Durst's wife Kathy has disappeared. Yeah. And he's not
being normal about it. He doesn't seem like he like after a few months he kind of like retreated out of the spotlight.
He wouldn't give another interview. And he also stopped returning um the detectives calls which definitely made
the detective suspicious for sure. Yeah. Usually when you want to find your wife,
you you return all the police's phone calls. Yeah. And we have like the certain witnesses were now coming back
and saying, "Actually, I don't know if I saw her when I said I thought I saw her
cuz I saw her from the back." So, it's like a lady with brown hair from behind. Things are crumbling a little bit. Yeah.
So, while Robert Durst seemed pretty uninterested in trying to find his wife, which in and of itself is very
concerning, Kathy's friends um Gilbert No, Jimmy and Eleanor Schwank had gone into way higher gear. He's retreating
back. They're going into higher gear trying to find Kathy cuz this is their friend. So Nimmy and Schwank more than
anyone else knew the extent of the abuse that was happening in this relationship
um at Robert's hands. Um and they felt they knew the fear that Kathy had felt a lot. Yeah. And neither of them had
trusted Robert Durst's timeline of events or explanation of what happened. They just both were like no doesn't add
up. which when your friends are already thinking that your husband is the reason
you're missing, there was a problem. Yeah. Like there was a problem and that we should take these people seriously.
So the problem was though, they couldn't find any actual like solid evidence to prove he was lying or that he had
anything to do with the disappearance. It was just kind of like we know what is happening and we think this is
suspicious. In that way, they were like detective struck. All of them were hitting dead ends. Uh, at the same time,
Robert had dropped off the map completely. At this point, he stopped going to work, stopped returning phone
calls, and stopped talking to friends. What the [ __ ] Where'd he go? Apparently, his friend Doug Oliver said
he retreated into himself, and any messages he had for the outside world were conveyed only through his closest
friend, Susan Bur. Hm. Durst finally returned to work the following year and continued making Yeah. the next year and
continued, this is when he continued making like major real estate deals. So, he just like jumped right back in uh all
around the city and they were both on behalf of the Durst organization and himself as an individual. Oh, wow. Okay.
So, Detective Struck and the NYPD, uh, they continued following any new leads on Cathy's case, but again, they were
getting few and far between, and soon the case just went cold. Yeah. Now, in the years that followed Kathy's
disappearance, because it's so sad, she just disappeared. Uh, Robert Durst settled into, you know, being a single
guy, a wealthy Manhattan real estate developer. Really tough role to fall back into, I suppose. So hard, I bet. Uh
but behind the scenes things were anything but good. Robert's lack of enthusiasm for the business cuz remember
he never really wanted to enter that business. Yeah. He wanted like a house. He wanted to like open a shop.
So like he never really wanted to do this but it's just like that was the family business and it paid a lot of
money. Yeah. So he just went with it. Um, so his lack of enthusiasm for the business and his reckless and very
scandalous personal life led his father to skip over Robert and leave the company to his younger brother Douglas.
Oh, that's a bad hit. Douglas had shown like a lot of enthusiasm for the business, a lot of passion for this
world. So, he was the obvious choice. Yeah. Uh, it's very success. Very successive. It is. Uh Douglas and Robert
had always had a very difficult relationship and Douglas's promotion to the head of the Durst organization only
made things worse. That's which I can imagine that would be a tense family dinner. Yeah. I feel like it's very like
Connor and Kendall Roy. Yeah. You know, in Succession. Go watch Succession if you haven't watched that yet. You're
missing out on great television. Succession is one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life. I can say that
with full confidence. It is in my top three shows of all time. Yeah. And I love Roman more than life. Yeah. It's
the characters are and Shiv. So good. Yeah. But you hate them all, too. You hate them, but they're wonderful to be
clear. Uh yeah, they're the worst. But but but by the end of the 1980s, Robert stopped going to work at the Durst
organization and cut off communication with his family again. Again. Okay. Not long after, he stopped communicating
again with his friends altogether. Okay. One friend said he separated from everyone in New York. It was a loss of
face in his mind. So him losing that was like a big reputation blow, ego blow. Um, but it's like everybody knew that
you didn't give a [ __ ] about it anyway. Yeah, that's the thing. Work a little harder. It hard work, my friends. But so
this is the thing. It's like he Kathy disappears. He retreats. Yeah, he retreats even further. Then he just
suddenly reappears again, tries to go hard at everything, gets this blow to his eagle, retreats back again. Like he
can't handle any disruption in the path. Yeah. So, Durst spent most of the 1990s
drifting back and forth between Connecticut, Texas, and Manhattan. Random. In 1995, he showed up at his
father's hospital, uh, at his bedside when Seymour Durst was dying, but only after his brother and sister agreed to
leave the hospital so he wouldn't have to see or talk to either of them. When your dad is dying, you got to put your
petty differences aside. Well, it's like I just like if the differences are though like which like obviously no one
knows what goes on in any one familyship. It's difficult to tell what was happening. If if the if the issue
the beef is just that you got skipped over for the that's what I mean the business then like you got to put it
aside. You know what I mean? Like that's just what are you doing? You know like that's petty. That's trivial at a time
when someone's dying. It is. It's just one of those things. Obviously, there are other scenarios where Well, you just
you just never know. Like, it's hard to tell, but he also refused to go to the funeral.
Wow. Which is like, wo, that's really shitty. I mean, it's it's gnarly. I mean, there a statement. There are
funerals I might skip. So, yeah. So, I mean, like I can't I again, I didn't live his life in his house. Thank
goodness. So, through all of his, you know, tumult essentially, like he just couldn't get it together. The only
constant in Darth's life has been who? Susan. Susan Burman. Susan. However, Burman's life in the 80s and 90s hadn't
been the easiest. Oh, okay. She had written a few novels and even optioned some of them for films, but they all
kind of fell through. Oh. Uh, and the novels she did publish didn't sell nearly as well as she had expected them
to. Oh. Despite the financial disappointments, Burman had purchased a large house in Brentwood, one of
California's wealthiest neighborhoods. Yeah. At the time, she'd grown really, really paranoid of the world around her.
Like she was just retreating. Okay. She nailed the windows of her house shut and
bolted all the doors whenever she was at home. Oh. Which is like really sad. Yeah. That's like straight up
agorophobia. Yeah. By the late 1990s, Burman had moved to a much smaller house in Benedict Canyon, just north of
Beverly Hills. Again, she hadn't seen much financial success, but she managed to make enough money to get by, selling
a few novels, producing a series for cable TV. She was doing some things. Uh, by that time, her marriage had fallen
apart, and she divorced her husband, so she was living alone. She was driving a 1984 car that would occasionally catch
fire. Oh. You know, and constantly borrowing money from friends, so she was struggling.
I'm just a little stuck on her car occasionally catching fire. I don't You got to end with that. You can't really
stuff that in the middle. Yeah. I I really liked putting that in the middle to be honest. I'm sorry for Susan for
everything she was experiencing, but specifically her car. Occasionally catching fire. Yeah. For like just from
time to time. Every once in a while. You know what? Yeah. She's going through it.
Yeah. She's got a lot going on. The divorce, the move, the the not selling the novels like she was hoping to. She's
about borrowing money from friends. The car is catching on fire. Like there's a lot that's a lot on your mental health.
The one thing Susan did have and knew she always would have was Robert Durst, which I don't know if that's a prize.
Yeah, I would say no. In the late 90s, Durst had been difficult to get a hold of and the two hadn't spoken in months.
Okay. So, that must have been tough. Finally, in August 2000, Susan sent a letter to Robert Care of the Durst
organization asking him to get in touch. She had needed to borrow $7,000 to buy a
new car because it caught on fire. 1984 one is catching on fire. But more than that, she missed her best friend and
needed some support. She was just like, "I miss you. I just like need somebody who I think cares about me." Yeah. Or at
least did at some point. Months passed and no word came. Oh, that must have really hurt. Yeah. Then in November, a
check for $25,000 arrived in the mail. That's a little more than she asked for. with a
note that read, "It's not alone. It's a gift and you can always count on me." Uh, I want a friend like that. Which,
like, damn. Not in this scenario, but damn. Yeah. $25,000. It's not a loan, it's a gift.
Yeah. It was literally a miracle for her. Like, this was of course it was. It It allowed her to pay off some debt, buy
a car. Like, she was really It allowed her to climb out of a little bit of the hole she was in. Uh, but less than 2
weeks later, Susan Berman was dead. Oh, yeah. [ __ ] On December 24th, Burman's next door neighbors noticed that the
back door to her house had been slightly open for some time and one of her dogs had gotten loose. Given how paranoid
Susan had been about safety, the situation seemed very unusual to this couple. So, they called the police.
Yeah. When officers arrived at Susan Berman's home, they found Susan inside on the floor lying in a pool of dried
blood. A single bullet hole to the back of her head. Oh jeez. To investigators, the murder appeared to be a professional
execution. Yeah. Like one might expect to see out of like a mafia hit essentially. And given Susan's family
background, cuz remember remember where Susan comes from from part one. Yes. They a mob hit wouldn't have been
completely out of the question. And she just came into this like money here. Wow. Also, there didn't appear to be any
sign of struggle in the house and Burman's purse was lying in plain view with nothing missing. Holy [ __ ] So, it
wasn't like it was a robbery, right? So, it's so funny. I had like I I've seen this documentary, but I forgot a lot of
this. It's been a while since that came out. Yeah. I mean, I think I saw that like 10 years ago. Yeah. The idea that
Susan Burman had been killed by a member of an organized crime family may not have been entirely unrealistic, but it
also wasn't very likely. Yeah. Because like like mob hits are happening like all over the Well, and a lot of times
like women aren't involved. Yeah. So after all, you know, by 2000, the US government had almost completely
eradicated the original crime families. And it seemed kind of impossible that her murder could have anything to do
with her father's criminal activity. Yeah. cuz he had died decades earlier. So, it's not like he was like out and
about doing some shady [ __ ] Yeah. But as investigators soon learned, Susan's father wasn't the only connection she
had to criminal activity. Okay. In fact, nearly 20 years earlier, the wife of Susan's best friend, Robert Durst, had
gone missing and he had been the prime suspect in her disappearance. This is true. Connection. There it is. So based
on the crime scene, investigators theorized that Burman had known her attacker. Oh, there was no sign of
struggle, no sign of forced entry. And remember, she's for she's like Fort Knox, like she's locked in there. She
would have let somebody in there that she trust. She had to let somebody in if somebody came in. And she'd obviously
turned her back on them long enough for the killer to aim and fire the gun. Something she wasn't going to do for
most people, right? There was also the unusual letter Beverly Hills police received a few days after Burman's body
was found. It was dated December 23rd, the day before she was discovered. And the letter was addressed to the Beverly
Hills police. It was also spelled wrong. It had an extra e in Beverly, like L E Y. Yep. And contained an anonymous note
with Burman's address and the word cadaavver. Oh, yeah. That's chilling. Yeah. And just like that,
not long after the note was received, someone pointed out that the misspelling of the word Beverly on um on the
envelope was a typo that Durst was known to commonly make. He commonly spelled Beverly wrong this way. However, when he
was confronted with the letter, he of course vehemently denied having written or sent it. But that is a strange
coincidence that he just happens to misspell this word. Yeah, that's real specific. Yeah, it's worth noting that
this was Durst's position on the matter for nearly 20 years. Damn. Until 2019 when his legal team acknowledged that
Durst had in fact sent the letter. But that quote didn't change the fact that Bob Durst did not kill Susan B. Oh, so
he just sent the letter and knew that there was a dead body in her home. That says cadaavver. Like come on. What? He
just sent that. Sometimes with [ __ ] like that, I'm like like I know you got to
you got to do what you got to do, but like are you guys [ __ ] for real right now? Really arguing that like I mean
like you got to do it. I guess I don't know how judges just don't say are you [ __ ] for real right now? Like I would
like I be so for real right now. Like be so [ __ ] for real. Let's be straight up here. Like come on. So when friends
learned of Burman's death, some thought of her father and his connection to the mob because for much of her young life,
Susan had known very little about her father's business. And it was only when she was an adult and he was long dead
that she kind of started learning about his brutal murderous past. Oh, so maybe people are thinking like she's diving in
this. She's going too close. Yeah. Yeah. Others though thought of Robert Durst. Yeah, I could see why. Burman's friend
Christian Clark said, "It has bothered me and haunted me virtually every day for 20 years." Oh, I can't imagine that.
Yeah. When Clark learned of Morris Black's death and Durst's arrest, she immediately thought of Susan and was
more convinced than ever that he was involved. Absolutely. It turned out that Christian Clark wasn't the only one who
suspected Durst could have been responsible for Susan Burman's murder. Detectives in California also found his
connection to the victim to be very suspicious. Mhm. It turned out that just weeks before she was discovered,
investigators in New York had been trying to get in touch with Susan Berman to discuss the recently reopened case in
the disappearance of Kathy Durst. Oh [ __ ] Isn't that strange? Yep. That they were going to be contacting her and now
she's murdered. Oh man. And like that's your best friend. That's your best friend. Like obviously you don't have
feelings clearly. Clearly, but like damn. [ __ ] Yeah. Gilbert and Jimmy told a reporter, "I find it hard to believe
there's not a connection between the Durst and Burman cases." Uh, yet as far as the LAPD was concerned, the LAPD,
they were unwilling to publicly declare Robert Durst a suspect. Strange stance. At least until they had more information
and evidence connecting him to the crime. In the meantime, Robert was free to move about the country, which is when
he chose to relocate to Galveastston, Texas, where he met Morris Black. Uhhuh. while he was in custody for the murder
of Morris Black. So the future of it. Yeah. So we so we had a little future trip. Now he's got off to Texas. That's
when the Morris Black bit happened. That's also when he was impersonating someone else. Yes. Which tells you like
a little bit about the Headspace season. While he was in custody for the murder of Morris Black, Robert Durst said
nothing to police and was freed on $250,000 bond pending arraignment which was scheduled for the following week on
October 16th. It's like obviously that's a high number, but also he's a rich person. Exactly. He can do that in a
second. That's not great. Unfortunately for investigators, October 16th arrived and Robert Durst was nowhere to be
found. Yeah. Are you guys shocked? Yeah. When he failed to show up for his hearing, he was labeled a fugitive and
law enforcement agents were dispatched from Texas to hunt him down. Yeah. At the same time, the judge revoked Durst
Bale and tripled it to 750,000. Even I feel like if you're being held in question of a murder like that like that
that was a brutal murder. Morris Black was dismembered. Yeah. It should be a mill or it should just beine none. No,
but no option. Like obviously I don't know how all of that like the intricacies of that but still doesn't
feel right. No. Now when asked about Durst fleeing Texas, authorities speculated that Robert Durst knew his
chances with a jury were not going to be very good. Yeah, probably not. Uh, Lieutenant Mike Putnell said, "As much
as there is about this case, we still do not know. The one thing we're really confident in in is the strength of the
evidence." Yeah. While Durst's flight from Galveastston wasn't necessarily evidence of his guilt, the evidence
against him definitely didn't look good. Uh-uh. And when they continued looking into his background, things only got
stranger. It turned out that the woman who paid Durst bond a few weeks earlier, Deborah Lee Char uh Sheratin, wasn't
just an acquaintance, but his wife, who he'd married a few weeks before moving to Galveastston. The [ __ ] For 45 days,
investigators fielded calls with tips about potential nurse sightings. So, he's married now, by the way. He's the
wife has now paid his bond, but she didn't live in the apartment where he lived. It's It's so messy. There were
rumors about his having fled to Mexico or other parts of Texas and reports of sightings up and down the east coast
from New Orleans to New York. A lead detective Cody Kazales told reporters with his money he could be anywhere.
Yeah. If investigators were expecting to find Robert Durst in some faroff country
or tropical island somewhere, they were surely shocked when Durst was finally arrested on November 30th after being
caught stealing a sandwich from a Wegman's grocery store in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. That is one detail of this
story that I will never forget. That [ __ ] has endless amounts of cash and steals a Sammy. He stole a goddamn
sandwich. Stole you. You stole it from a WGES. What's wrong with you? Don't be stealing from WG. Don't you steal from a
WG? It's a great family. I think we love Wegman. I [ __ ] so heavy with Wegman. Wegman's for life. And the fact that you
are a [ __ ] fugitive on the run with endless cash and you choose to commit the stupidest crime. Dumb. Or just make
your own goddamn sandwich. You don't even have to buy one. A man like that doesn't make his own sandwich. God damn.
More bizarre than the shoplifting itself was the fact that when he was taken into
custody, Durst had several hundred dollars in cash on him and could have paid for that sandwich like or anything
else he wanted in that store for that. He probably could have paid for the store. Also, what's the like I
understand that like like uh people who steal get some kind of thrill. The [ __ ]
kind of thrill do you get from stealing a sandwich? It's going to be gone in a minute. That thrill is not worth You're
a fugitive, babe. You're I'm glad that you made that choice. That's not good. But still, like a sandwich that you're
just going to eat. Yeah. It's like what what do you get out of that? What's the thrill there? Now, when asked about
Durst's demeanor following his arrest, store manager Kevin Strickles described Durst as nervous from the standpoint
that he got caught stealing. When he was asked why he'd risk shoplifting at a time like that, cuz like everybody
wanted to know what I want to know. Yeah. Durst replied, "I don't know why I did it. I guess I'm just an [ __ ]
self-aware. Self-aware, period. The most valid statement to say, "I guess I'm just an asshole." He is just an [ __ ]
I mean, he's fully upfront about it. Just like, "Yeah, I guess I just suck." I guess I'm just But it's also kind of
annoying cuz it's like like self Oh, it's totally for me and like not flatulating. What is it? I always say
self flag say farting. It's flagagillating. It's so self flagagillating. Well, it's very uh like
he it's very like I guess I'm just an [ __ ] and you all you all have to deal with it. Like the world has to accept
that I'm an [ __ ] Yeah, I shouldn't work on that or anything. Yeah, I shouldn't stop farting all over myself.
Stop farting all over yourself. So, a few months Robert Robert A few months later, investigators released the
details of the manhunt for Robert Durst, which included tracking the millionaire
across several states. According to this those closest to the case, during his six weeks on the run, he quote used at
least six aliases, many of them names drawn from his past, like those of former classmates or a handyman he
employed. So, very strange. I couldn't keep track of all that. That's what I don't understand about like
pathological. Absolutely not. I can't lie like that. No, I I just get too confused. I'd be overwhelmed. He also
posed as a woman at least twice and he would dress as a woman and wore a wig to really like sell it. I mean, he was
doing that for like years in that apartment. Yep. During the manhunt, Mike Putnell told reporters, "We really don't
have any idea where he was where he was. He was he wasn't accessing the bank accounts or using the credit cards we
know of. He took elaborate measures to avoid capture, but then he makes mistakes like stealing a hogy. Not a
hogy. Not a hogy. We don't have those here. We call them subs. Oh, is that what that is? Yeah. I never really knew
what a hogy was. Yeah. Hogi is not over here. Oh, what? It's a sub. That's a sub. Dur's wife. Oh, yeah. That everyone
remember he's married. Uh, she attempted to withdraw a cool $1.8 million from the
bank before investigators froze the account. I mean, she probably knew that [ __ ] was coming. A quick yoink. You You
need some spending money if they're going to freeze your assets. a quick actual $1.8 million. Take two. Yeah. Uh,
it's not great. So, the investigators froze the account. Durst had also rented a car using Morris Black's
identification. Oh, but otherwise, his trip was a series of motel and truck stops as he made his way from Texas to
the Northeast. But I'd call that a smoking gun, I would say. So in September 2003, Robert Durst finally
went on trial for the murder of Morris Black after several failed attempts by his lawyer to get the trial delayed even
further so they could come up with a [ __ ] reason. Try to come up with something. Several times, Dur Defense
attorney Chip Lewis argued that investigators had violated his client's rights when they went
through the trash cans outside the apartment building in Galveastston where much of the evidence linking Durst to
the murder was found. Isn't that like once your trash is outside? It's on the street, man. It's done. What are you
talking about? Uh Lewis argued the police officer tried to gain what he could not do by legal means. He used the
landlord as a pawn. The judge disagreed, noting that the trash cans were the property of the city, not Durst.
Exactly. And the full scope of the evidence was admitted. Luckily, I always thought trash was fair game. Yeah.
They're if they're Those trash cans belong to the city, man. Yeah. You're just renting them. described by the
press as a quote eccentric and this is the by the press. This is not me. He was described as a eccentric crossdressing
New York real estate air. Woof. Yeah, that's the press. That is not Wolf press. Yeah, wolf press indeed. Also,
stop. Describe him as a murderer. Yeah, he's a murderer. Exactly. Robert Durst's
trial drew considerable attention from news outlets around this country. In his opening statement, the prosecutor, Curt
Cyrunk, told the jury the case was a straightforward murder. He said, "This was no killing in self-defense. There
was no justified action in killing Morris Black. It was nothing but a cold-blooded murder. All done without
hesitation." Yeah. The prosecutor theorized that Durst, who was clearly hiding out in Texas, had killed Black in
order to assume his identity. Oh [ __ ] Which makes a lot of sense. Yeah. He's been on the run basically from
everybody. Mhm. The defense, on the other hand, argued that Black's death was the result of an accidental shooting
that occurred when, in self-defense, Robert Durst grappled with Black over the gun. Defense attorney Dick uh Darren
said, "How he died will not be an issue. Morris Black died as a result of a life
and death struggle over a gun that Morris Black had threatened Bob Durst with." So, how do you explain the
dismemberment? That's what I'm wondering. The defense acknowledged that there were sensational and um like you
just stated grotesque aspects to the case, but reminded the jury that while Durst may have been involved, the
prosecution had no evidence to support the claim that he had intentionally murdered Morris Black. Okay. But he
definitely very intentionally dismembered his body with a pairing knife. And they're not they're not
arguing that. They're saying it was self-defense and he had to, you know, as Yeah, we we cross certain lines and we
get to different places. As for Durst's behavior after Black's death, like you are discussing, Darren said Durst was
susceptible to panic and has a personality that quote runs from trouble. I would say that's like a little bit
different than like running from trouble. They're not arguing that he did that. They're just like, well, he got
upset. Yeah. You know, he kind of freaked out, panicked. He panics. He has a panic thing. [ __ ] I panic all the
time. I'm like, [ __ ] we're all panicking. No. Like, we can't be saying that that's okay. This entire country is
in a state of panic. You can't be telling me that that's okay after you panic. That's not the response. All of
this, they argued, was the result of Durst's fears that Black was a violent man and had targeted Durst in the weeks
before his death. Okay. Going into the trial, investigators in the prosecutor's office felt pretty confident that they
had everything they needed to secure an easy conviction for murder. Yeah. After all, Durst didn't just shoot Morris
Black to death. He also skillfully dismembered and disposed of his body. Uhhuh. Then when he was arrested for the
crime, he skipped bail and fled the state while using Morris Black's identification. Still, they couldn't get
around the fact that the defense was right. The only thing they didn't have was direct evidence to prove that the
shooting was intentional. Damn. When he was cross-examined by the defense, Cody Kazales was asked directly whether they
had anything to disprove Durst's claim of self-defense, and the detective simply answered, "No, sir." Cuz they
didn't. Yeah. On November 5th, 2003, the jury entered the deliberation phase, which dragged into the following day and
then into the next day. On the third day of the deliberation, the jury requested
the court reporter read back Dur's statement about the fight over the gun, which is like not great. Like you're
just like, "Oh, I asked him for that." Yeah. Finally, after nearly a full week of deliberations, the jury emerged and
they returned an acquitting they didn't feel the prosecution had offered enough evidence
to prove the shooting had been intentional and thus left room for our favorite thing, reasonable doubt. I
think I would struggle so much on a jury. This would be a hard one. I would struggle because you know, but you are
also being told you need to look at the evidence. Did they prove do you have any
reasonable doubt that this is not an intentional Yeah. And it's like so the verdict came as a shock to the
prosecution who despite lacking irrefutable evidence of an intentional shooting felt the circumstantial
evidence had been enough to secure a conviction which I get why they felt that. I agree. Yeah. When asked whether
he felt Durst was still a threat to the community, Kurt Cystrunk told reporters,
"Mr. Dur is not going to be invited into my house." tells you everything. The acquitt may
have resolved the question of murder, but Durst was still on the hook for two counts of bail jumping and one count of
tampering with evidence, the latter for the dismemberment of Black's body. Yeah.
In December 2004, Durst accepted an offer from the DA's office in which he would plead guilty to both in exchange
for a 5-year sentence. That's two years credit for time serve. Dismembering an entire man. Yeah, that's so [ __ ] up.
Robert Durst was parrolled on July 15th, 2005 with the understanding that he would remain in the area and avoid
certain locations like the apartment building where Morrisbach's death had occurred. However, less than 2 weeks
after being parrolled, Durst visited the apartment building. The [ __ ] Thus violating his parole. Why the [ __ ] did
he have to go back there? Yeah, just to be a dick. And as a result, [ __ ] Well, yeah. And as a result, he was sent
back to jail to finish out his sentence and was released from prison prison in a
year in March 2006. What the [ __ ] He was out free. Why would you go back? And they were like, don't go to the place
where you murdered that guy that you have no business going to and that you literally have no reason to go back to.
And he was like, got it. And at that point, it's like, are is that even your apartment anymore? No. Right. It's not.
He has no reason to go back there. Literally. He's so like stupid. Stupid. And like uh indeed what is the uh he's
self-sabotaging and he's reckless. He's he's all of these things. He's so And he's an [ __ ] And he's an [ __ ]
It's like it's like he has to like he's compulsive. Compulsive. Yeah, that's the
word. Thank you, Jesus. So for months before, during and after the trial, the news about Robert Durst and the murder
of Morris Black spread around the country. And those reports almost always referenced the disappearance of Kathy
Durst and the recent murder of Susan Berman. Mhm. And given how sensational those stories were and Durst life in
general was pretty sensational and wild, I'd say so. It was only a matter of time
before the Robert Durst story became the subject of a film. Now, in 2008, documentarians and screenwriters Marcus
Marcus Hinchi and Mark Smurling began working on a screenplay based loosely on Dur's earlier years and Cathy's
disappearance. A few years earlier, Smurling and his filmmaking partner Andrew Jerki had scored a big indie hit
with Capturing the Freriedman's. It was a documentary about a child's sex abuse scandal. Oh, in Great Neck, New York,
and how the trial affected the family of the perpetrator. Hoping to parlay that success into the world of dramatic
feature films, Hinchi and Smurling wrote a dramatic a dramatization of Cathy's disappearance with Jereki attached to
direct. Mhm. The script was quickly bought by uh the Weinstein Company shutters. And in 2010, the
company released All Good Things, starring Ryan Gosling, who was playing David Marx in the film that was supposed
to be Robert Durst. Okay. And then Kirsten Dunst was playing this that David Marx character's wife, Katie
McCarthy, who's supposed to be Kathy Dur. Kathy. I haven't seen that. Yeah. The title was a reference to the health
food store that Robert opened. Oh, [ __ ] Yeah. in Vermont in the '7s and the store traced the couple's relationship
from their meeting in the early '7s to her disappearance in 1982. Oh, however, the fictional version of the story fills
in the ending where the real account remained unresolved, including the Manhattan DA's reopening of the case
after reading a novel from David Mark's best friend. That's like in that film. Oh, the film stopped short of implying
that the fictional Durst killed his wife, leaving that for the audience to decide. Which is probably the best way
to go about it. Yes. All Good Things received mixed reviews from critics. It did pretty poorly at the box office with
mo most critics noting the film's inspiration offered considerably more drama than the fictional account
actually did. They were like, "The real thing is way more interesting to watch."
That's got to be tough though with legality. Well, you can't and you don't want to be like sensational while
retelling it, you know, like that's a hard one. Yeah, that's a tough line to tow. But there was one viewer who was
particularly impressed with the movie and called Andrew Jerky to tell him as much. According to
Jerem, Robert Durst called the director to share his appreciation of what he believed was an even-handed account of
his life. Christ almighty. Also, Durst, who had famously avoided the press for decades, offered to participate in the
commentary for the DVD release of All Good Things. Throughout the commentary, Durst
can be heard verifying the accuracy of some of the film's more violent scenes. Oh, including one in which he dismembers
the fictional version of Morris Black. He says in the flattest, eeriest tone while watching that, this is more or
less accurate. What the [ __ ] We that the fact that we have this man on audio so many times
basically admitting to everything he did in the most horrific ways. In the process of recording the commentary,
Jerki and Durst spent a lot of hours together talking, getting to know each other. At the time, Durst was still
being investigated by authorities in LA for the murder of Susan Burman and by the Manhattan District um attorney's
office for the disappearance of Kathy. Yep. Who had been declared legally dead by a New York court several years
earlier. Okay. Under the circumstances, it would seem odd that Durst would want to attract any attention or scrutiny,
but that's exactly what he did. In fact, Durst was downright enthusiastic in his
acceptance of Derek's offer to work on a project together about his life and legal troubles. The Jinx. He's in the
middle of this [ __ ] and he was like, "Let's go, girls. Attention." Yeah. The result of their collab was 2015's The
Jinx. The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. It was a six episode miniseries on HBO and it covered among other things
the disappearance of Kathy Durst, the murder of Susan Berman, the death of Morris Black. Assembled from more than
25 hours of interview footage, The Jinx also tells the story of Durst's troubled
relationship with his own family and includes extensive and mostly unflattering interviews with his brother
Douglas, who offers a counternarrative to that of Durst himself. Uh Jereki said certainly the things he's been accused
of are tabloid worthy, but what's clear about Bob if you spend five minutes with
him is that he's a deeply complicated person who cannot be summarized in a simple way.
Huh. I I guess you could say that. Yeah. When the Jinx premiered in February 2015, it was an immediate hit. I was one
of those viewers. Same. Uh not only because of the sensational story, but also because of Durst being so [ __ ]
bizarre. He's a weird guy. There was never any question as to whether Durst was directly involved in the making of
the series. He was. Yeah. Uh which is why his comments throughout the film are surprising and at times even suspicious
cuz it's almost like he forgets that he's directly absolutely involved. Yeah. In fact, throughout the six episodes,
Durst seems both aware of how his quirks and personality ticks are perceived and
yet completely oblivious to the fact that much of what comes out of his mouth could be interpreted as thinly veiled
admissions of guilt. Like, you're just like, what's going on? Some of them not even at all. Throughout the series,
Robert Durst maintains that he didn't kill his wife or Susan Burman, despite what people think, and Jerky does little
to question or challenge him on it. Mhm. Then the series concludes with what appears to be nothing short of a [ __ ]
bombshell admission. A full-blown confession. I remember watching this on my couch in our apartment. Yep. And John
and I were like, "What the fuck?" I watched it right after you because I'm pretty sure you texted me and you were
like, "You need to watch this." See, this is before we started the podcast and that's the kind of [ __ ] we used to
be like, "Holy shit." I was like, "You got to see this." So, in the sixth episode's final moments, Jereki and
Durst finish an interview during which Durst seem to have trouble uh controlling his burping. Yeah, it's like
a lot. And Durst excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Alone in the bathroom, still miked, seemingly unaware that he
is still miked, uh, and he's still being recorded, Durst begins talking to himself. He was known to do that since
childhood. This was not something new. It's so unsettling, though. Some of what he says, you can't understand. It's
unintelligible. He can very clearly be heard saying, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all." Of course. And that's
where my of course comes from. Of course. Every time Ash says, "Of course, I just think of of course." It's just
the way he says. He says, "What the hell did I do? Kill them." Of course. Of course. This is similar to the
[ __ ] sandwich that he didn't need to go steal. Yeah. in the apartment that he didn't need to go back to. Y Why
the [ __ ] are you saying this out loud to yourself during filming of a [ __ ] documentary? He just can't help himself.
He literally is compulsive. Like he has to do these things. It's insane. It's like he can't fight it. It's the same
kind of He has a pattern of this [ __ ] He does a pology. He has every reason to
not do that thing and that there's no nothing compelling him to do it. Like you do not need to do that. There's just
he has to easy peasy lemon squeezy to not go to a Wegman's and steal that sandwich. Just pay for it. To not go
back to that apartment. Don't say out loud, I killed them all. Of course. And also, how do you defend? I'm glad he
did. Yeah, I'm glad he did. I'm just saying like, whoa. I'm like also like, how do you get a lawyer after that? So,
so this confession shocked all of us. Sure did. In part because just one day before the episode aired, Robert Durst
was arrested in connection with Susan Berman's death. The arrest seemed to confirm what viewers heard on the tape
that Robert Durst killed Kathy Durst and Susan Berman. Yep. However, the timing raised more than a few questions. More
importantly, the interview uh footage for the series had been recorded over a period of years leading up to the
release of the movie uh or the series. In that case, Andrew Jerki and the producers of the Jinx would have known
about the confession and had said nothing to investigators. Oh yeah. There was also
the matter of some evidence that Jerki had been given by Susan Burman's friend, including a letter to Susan from Durst
in which the handwriting appears identical to that of the cadaavver letter sent to the police, right down to
the misspelling of Beverly. Oh, so it got a little messy. I didn't realize that was a was a part of this
all. Yeah. Like this whole thing didn't make just make the team behind the Jinx look bad. It made them look slightly
complicit, which is like not good at all. Yeah. Uh like you can't hold that stuff just to get audience reactions.
Oh. And you would have gotten it either way. That's what it made it look like. So the truth was a little more
complicated to be fair. According to Smurling, Jereki and the producers were seriously conflicted when they received
the evidence. For one thing, their lawyers informed them if they turn the evidence over too soon, its validity
could easily be challenged in court and jeopardize any trial. Okay, so they didn't want to [ __ ] anything up. It was
also the matter of their journalistic integrity, which is a thing. Yes, that is if they went directly to the police,
they would not only be disclosing several sources, they would which is really bad. Yeah. But they would also be
very likely be called to testify in court which would surely affect their reputations as trust trusted
journalists. That's really tough. In the end, humanity did win out. Uh Smurling told a reporter, "We had a moral
obligation and an obligation to the families of the dead to see that justice was done." Okay. In fact, it turned out
that the producers behind the miniseries had been cooperating with investigators
since 2013, 2 years before the Jinx premiered. Okay. Okay. So, it was like a whole It was a
whole thing. At first, I remember it being a thing where everyone was like, "Oh my god, like you held this [ __ ] but
in the end they not really they did what they could do." Yeah. You know, within their parameters. There was also the
matter of the supposed confession, like the whole matter of the confession itself, which it turned out was also a
little more complicated than it appeared. Like many aspects of film making in real life, things weren't
exactly as they appeared to be on screen. Their statement about having killed them all was real, but the audio
uh recording of him captured in the bathroom was actually a lot longer and like a little stranger. The full
recording of Dur smuttering is this. Oh, there it is. You're caught. You're right, of course, but you can't imagine.
They want to talk to him. That's good. I find them very frightening, and I do not
want to talk to them. I don't know. The washer. Well, I don't know what you expected to get, but And then it says
the rest of and you can't hear. Don't know what's in the house. Oh, I want this. Killed them all. Of course. I want
to do something new. There's nothing new about that. What a disaster. He was right. I was wrong. And the burping. I'm
having difficulty with the questions. What the hell did I do? The burping. And the burping. Sorry, I'm a
child. He's a strange fellow. What the [ __ ] And the burping. So to me, that's a man who knows he's
caught, knows what he's done, and he's like, "Fuck." Knows he's pretty much given himself. Like he's like, "Fuck."
To me, that literally translates into [ __ ] That's [ __ ] Period. Yeah. So, the
producers of the Jinx had used some slightly deceptive editing to present an incoherent and, you know, kind of
unintelligible statement as though it were just a very clear-cut confession of murder. I mean, you're making a film.
Well, that's a So, it's like you I I understand. So, when the dust had settled and Jerecki was able to address
viewers and critics concerns and accusations of complicity, things look far less damning than they had
previously appeared. It's still pretty damning. I think he's still pretty damning. But luckily, it didn't look as
damning on the filmmakers. Oh, yeah. That and that's what I mean. Like on Robert Durst. Yeah. That's Robert Durst
had been arrested for Burman's murder. And as it turned out, that arrest wasn't entirely unconnected to his appearance
in the Jinx. Yeah. So, based on the information provided to them by the producers of the Jinx, investigators
were able to get an arrest warrant for Dar's arrest, and he was picked up a few days later at a hotel in New Orleans,
Louisiana. where he'd registered under the name Everett Ward. Huh. Around this time, local authorities had received
complaints about Durst after he was seen confusedly wandering around the hotel lobby and talking to himself. Oh. Turned
out that was only the latest in a series of very strange incidents involving Robert Durst. That checks. A few years
earlier, he was tried and con acquitted of violating restraining orders taken out by his family members. Oh [ __ ] Just
a few months after the acquitt, he was arrested at a drugstore in Houston after he was witnessed urinating on a candy
rack. That's a dick move. Real dick move. A charge to which he pleaded no contest in an incident his lawyer
successfully argued was a medical incident. Nothing's medical about that, babe. I'm
just confused how you whip your dick out during a medical emergency. I don't know. And on the candy. Yeah, that's
[ __ ] up. At the time of his arrest in New Orleans on the murder charge, federal agents found a large amount of
circumstantial evidence suggesting he was planning to flee the country. Among other things, items found in his
possession included a loaded 38 caliber pistol. Jesus Christ. Robert's passport and birth certificate, a fake driver's
license, maps of the southern US and Cuba. Oh [ __ ] A large amount of cash and fleshcoled latex latex masks.
At the time of the arrest, the cash had been divided up into smaller quantities and placed in envelopes, which
investigators believed were going to be sent to whichever location Durst planned
to flee to. A belief that Robert didn't deny. What a life. Yeah. Given the confused state he was in at the time,
Robert was transferred to a secure facility where he would be treated for mental health issues before being
processed by the courts. Though following that announcement, Durst's lawyer refuted the claims that his
client had mental health issues, stating, quote, "He is not suicidal." And it's like, "Yeah, I don't think
that's what we're really worried about here." I think there's a few other things going on. Robert Durst had always
been a peculiar, quirky man. But at the time of his arrest in 2015, questions about his mental health had become
common whenever his name came up. Yeah. Just a few months earlier, Douglas Durst
gave his brother gave an interview to the New York Post in which he detailed some of his brother's bizarre behavior
over the years. Um, he said, "Before the disappearance of my sister-in-law, Bob had a series of Alaskan malamutes, which
is like a husky. He had seven of them, and they all died mysteriously of different things within six months of
his owning them. All of them named Eigore. We don't know how they died or what happened to their bodies.
What the [ __ ] That's so [ __ ] up and scary on so many different levels. He has a series, seven of them. Seven
Alaskan malamutes, beautiful huskys, all named Igore. I'm really stuck on that ice. I'm really stuck on that. I'm
really stuck on that piece. And they all died within 6 months of him having them.
And they were never seen again. You don't know what happened to them. What the [ __ ] did he do to those dogs? That's
horrifying. It's so scary. And why were they all named Eigore? And Douglas um Durst made it clear in that interview
and others that he believed Robert killed the dogs as practice for when he eventually killed Kathy. Oh my god. His
brother said that. While Robert Yeah. While Robert was awaiting trial for the murder of Susan
Berman, investigators in New York were ramping up their reopened investigation into Cathy's disappearance. based in
part on the statements and evidence collected during the making of the Jinx. Yeah. In addition to working
cooperatively with the FBI and detectives in LA, detectives in New York received a warrant for Durst's apartment
where they confiscated a large number of documents and other items. Uh-oh. Ultimately, it took 2 years before Durst
was deemed healthy and stable enough to participate in a trial. Yeah. In that time, he had been treated for cancerous
tumors in his throat, as well as several other health and mental health related issues. Investigators used the delay to
gather more evidence against him and round up witnesses for the prosecution. Many of whom many of many of whom, at
least the wealthier among them, put up serious legal battles to keep themselves out of the courtroom, though none were
able to successfully avoid subpoena. Good. When Durst trial finally began in 2020, the pro Yeah, it was only Wow,
that's crazy. For some reason, it feels like that was like way longer ago. I know. The prosecution presented a very
simple theory as to the motive for Burman's murder. According to Deputy DA John Leuen, Durst eliminated Burman
because she'd agreed to cooperate with investigators re-examining the the Kathy Durst case. Yeah, pretty simple. I hate
that eliminated. Yeah, it's it's so real. that is what people do, but it is so scary. The prosecution believed that B
had known Durst killed Kathy in 1982 and had even helped him cover up the crime.
That's what the prosecution stated. Oh. Um Burman's friend, Nick Shaven, told the jury in a pre-trial hearing, "Susan
said to me specifically that Bob killed Kathy." Oh. According to Shaven, uh Susan loved Durst and had wanted to
protect him, so she agreed to help him cover up the crime, specifically by, among other things, calling the school
and pretending to be Kathy. Oh, that's so [ __ ] up. And that's something Susan had disclosed to friends
in the years after Kathy disappeared. So that one lingering thing that we were talking about, like who called? Who was
that? Susan. That's really [ __ ] up. The problem, according to Leuen, was that while Susan Burman may have been an
incredibly loyal friend to Durst, she had a reputation as someone who wasn't very good at keeping secrets. Also
revealed in pre-trial hearings was Burman's statement to friends that quote, "If anything ever happens to me,
Bobby did it." Another person saying that, "Luen didn't provide details into what exactly they believe prompted Durst
to kill Burman at the time, but it's not incumbent upon the prosecution to provide motive. Instead, they offered
the evidence and that's it. Hurst was known to be in California at the time of the death. Based on the testimony of
Burman's friends, he had a reason to kill Susan and they had the cadaavver/beverly Hills letter that an
independent analyst believed was a match for Durst handwriting. Right. Given the
extent of the evidence and the fact that the story was so wellknown by then because of the miniseries, Durst lawyers
encouraged him to own up to having written the letter to the LAPD a few years before a few days before Burman's
death cuz at this point he hadn't admitted it yet. Yeah. Yeah. This was a big turnaround for the man who so long
had denied having anything to do with that note, which he claimed was an indication of something that only the
killer could have known. He himself said that. Ooh. Still, while Durst's lawyers
were willing to admit he was in the area and even in Burman's home around the time of her death, uh, and he wrote the
note, they steadfastly denied that he had anything to do with the murder. They said, "Sure, he was in the area. He was
in her home around the time of her death. He wrote a note that said cadaavver at this address, but he did
not do it. Totally didn't kill her." Nick Darren told the court, "What the note demonstrates is that the person who
mailed it was aware there was a body at the house, not that the individual murdered Susan B." That's a wild ass
argument. That's a wild ass argument. I hope he stretched before he made that. For real. Dur's trial dragged on for
nearly seven months during which jurors and spectators heard a thorough overview
of his personal history and the full extent of his criminal activities. The defense claimed that he had nothing to
do with the Burman murder and that the prosecution was simply trying to capitalize on the popularity of an HBO
miniseries. Uh, defense attorney David Chesnoff said, "We believe the absence of evidence is evidence that Bob is not
guilty." I think there's an absence of evidence. The prosecutor, John Leuen, acknowledged
the lack of conclusive physical evidence, but stressed that while the evidence may have been largely
circumstantial, there was a lot of it and from very reputable sources, including the defendant himself. Well,
Mike, circumstantial evidence is evidence nonetheless. Yeah. In his opening statement, he said, "It's a long
and complicated story because Mr. Durst committed a lot of crimes. As you're listening, some of the most damaging
aspects of this case are going to come from him." Yeah. Luen reminded the jury Durst wasn't just in the area when
Burman died. He was in her house, which he admitted. He somehow also appeared to know there
would be a body in Susan Burman's home before she was even dead. She wasn't dead yet, y'all. Which they knew because
he had confessed to writing and sending the note, which was postdated before her
death. Medically, they found that out, guys. In the end, the jury sided with the DA. And on September 18th, 2021,
after more than seven hours of deliberation, Robert Durst was found guilty of the murder of his best friend,
Susan Berman, more than two decades earlier. Additionally, the jury found that the prosecution had successfully
pro proved the claim of special circumstances, specifically that Durst had been quote lying in weight for Bur
and that killing her effectively effectively amounted to quote killing a witness. Yeah. Which is a pretty big
deal. The following month on October 15th, Durst was back in court for sentencing and victim impact statements.
Denny Marcus, one of Burman's cousins, said, "I was robbed and my beautiful son was robbed of an ex absolutely
extraordinary, brilliant person whose life was s tragically and savagely taken." Before passing sentencing, Judge
Mark Windam had his own statement he wanted to make, calling the murder a quote witness killing and a horrific
crime as well as a quote denial of justice. Also, Judge Windham strongly rejected the defense's request for a new
trial, citing the quote overwhelming evidence of guilt as one of the reasons. So, he's like, I don't need the physical
evidence. Like, there's enough. Yeah. Finally, with all the statements out of the way, Judge Windham handed down his
sentence, life in prison, without the possibility of parole. Bye. So, the case against Robert Durst had been built on
the theory that he killed Susan Burman in order to prevent her from sharing what she knew about the disappearance of
Kathy Durst. Given that it had been a successful strategy, police in New York filed seconddegree murder charges
against Durst, alleging he murdered his wife in 1982. I wonder why second degree. I don't know. It's always
confusing. They might be claiming it was during like a fight, you know. Oh, okay.
According to the lead detective on the case, Joseph Joseph Basera, the verdict in the Burman case was only one of the
factors that prompted this new filing. In addition to Basera's discussions with the LA district attorney, he also cited
quote conversations with numerous witnesses and observations of defendants recorded interviews and court testimony
in related proceeding proceedings. So basically, he [ __ ] himself over. Unfortunately, Robert Durst would never
see a trial for the murder of Kathy Durst. On January 10th, 2022, he died from cardiac arrest at San Sanwaqin
Hospital in California at the age of 78. Oh, it's so frustrating. His death in 2022 brought an end to the story of one
of New York's wealthiest and most bizarre criminals. But after decades of public interest in the saga, Andrew
Jerki felt the public was entitled to their own kind of closure. In late April 2024, nine years after the Jinx aired on
HBO, the cable channel aired the six episode second season of the show, which focused on Durst's life after the
original series aired until his death. Oh. In his assessment of the second season, New York Times critic Mike Hail
concluded, "Everyone has seen the jinx. Everyone knows how it contributed to Durst's downfall. Everyone is in on the
joke and the wholesale intrusion of the show into its own narrative is not in these episodes dramatic or moving. It's
not a great Huh. Great end. Oof. But that is the that is the story. It's such an interesting case. So [ __ ] bizarre.
Such a weird guy. It is such a twisty turny. It is. He is bizarre. Well, because it goes on for so many decades,
too. It took forever. Yeah. And in so many places and just I didn't realize that there was a follow-up, though. Have
you watched any of it? I haven't watched the follow-up. I'd like to now. I was thinking, well, when you first started
uh covering this, I want to rewatch the first season, but I'll definitely check out the second now. Yeah, definitely.
Definitely check out that first season. Yeah, if you haven't seen the first, you
got to see it because it did contribute to getting him finally where they needed
him to be. It bums me out that there was never true justice for Kathy's murder. I
know. That's the thing that kills me because also that's his wife. Where is Kathy? I know. That's the thing that
bothers me the most is like where is she? Where is she? And he just died never telling anyone. That's really
[ __ ] up. And killed the only other person that might know. Mhm. Like that sucks. It's really sad.
All I can think of though is I mean people said Susan Burman was not a good secret keeper. I told someone. Does
someone know? Someone knows. You got to say it, man. You got to tell someone. You can't let Kathy Durst just go into
No, she has family, you know. No. Not finding out where she is. Yeah. That's awful. Or what happened.
Everybody deserves to be found like actually laid to real rest, you know. Yeah, exactly. What an interesting case
though. It is. And go check out the Jinx. And we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not
so weird that as Robert Durst cuz he's Don't be that weird. Don't be that weird.
[Music] [Music] [Music]

In October 2001, the dismembered remains of seventy-one-year-old Morris Black were found floating in Galveston Bay. A few days later, Black’s neighbor, Robert Durst, was arrested on suspicion of murder and released on $250,000 bail. After posting bail, Durst jumped bail and disappeared for six weeks, before being arrested by Pennsylvania authorities at the end of November.

In the years that followed, investigators and prosecutors began combing through Durst’s life, discovering disturbing connections between the excentric millionaire and the mysterious disappearances and deaths of several people who were once close to Durst. Robert Durst had been a suspect in the murder of Morris Black, but was it possible he was in fact a multiple murderer who’d evaded detection for decades?

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References Associated Press. 2001. "Fugitive is arrested in Galveston man's death." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 1: 26.

Babineck, Mark. 2001. "A mysterious trail left in Galveston." Austin American-Statesman, October 20: 25.

Bagli, Charles. 2020. "4 decades of Durst's past are traced as trial begins." New York Times, March 11.

—. 2021. "Durst faces new charge for murder of his wife." New York Times, October 23.

—. 2021. "Durst is convicted of murder after 2 decades of suspicion." New York Times, September 18.

—. 2021. "Durst is sentenced to life in prison for 2000 murder of friend." New York Times, October 15.

—. 2020. "Real estate scion admits he wrote note in case profiled in 'The Jinx'." New York Times, January 1.

—. 2014. "Stranger than fiction? Try fact." New York Times, December 2.

Bagli, Charles V., and Kevin Flynn. 2001. "A two-decade spiral into suspicion." New York Times, October 21: A33.

Bagli, Charles, and Kevin Flynn. 2001. "On the run with a fugitive: tales of aliases and disguises." New York Times, December 7: D1.

Bagli, Charles, and Vivian Yee. 2015. "Straight from TV to jail: Durt is charged in killing." New York Times, March 16.

Cartwright, Gary. 2002. "Durst case scenarios." Texas Monthly, February: 87-112.

Collins, Marion. 2002. Without a Trace: Inside the Robert Durst Case. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.

Forbes. 2020. Durst family. December December. Accessed March 28, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/profile/durst/.

Gerber, Marisa. 2021. "The Hollywood ‘Mafia princess’ was Robert Durst’s best friend. Did loyalty lead to murder?" Los Angeles Times, May 21.

Hale, Mike. 2024. "Conversations on murder." New York Times, April 24.

2015. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Directed by Andrew Jarecki. Performed by Andrew Jarecki.

Lozano, Juan. 2003. "Juey to see Galveston case evidence." Austin American-Statesman, August 14: 21.

—. 2003. "Officer testifies there's no direct evidence against heir." Austin American-Statesman, October 21: 17.

—. 2003. "Murder trial gets under way for multimillionaire Robert Durst." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 23: 21.

Miller, Julie. 2015. "Robert Durst may have had a Mission Impossible-style plan to flee the country." Vanity Fair, March 18.

Palmer, Alex. 2015. The Creepiest Things Robert Durst Says in His All Good Things DVD Commentary. April 15. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/robert-dursts-all-good-things-dvd-commentary.html.

Reporter-Dispatch. 1950. "Durst death in Scarsdale ruled an accident." Reporter-Dispatch (New York, NY), November 10: 9.

Stewart, Richard, and Kevin Moran. 2003. "Millionaire is acquitted of murder." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Nevember 12: 1.

Streeter, Kurt. 2001. "N.Y. police had sought to quiz slain author." Los Angeles Times, January 9: 28.

Zeman, Ned. 2020. "He also decided to kill her." Vanity Fair, April 23.

—. 2015. "The fugitive heir." Vanity Fair, March 16. Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

Robert Durst's saga continues with discussions on Kathy's disappearance and Susan Berman's murder, revealing shocking twists and unresolved questions.

Key points

Technical Triumph. Ash solves a technical issue, a rare feat for her. "This is big for me!"
A Night to Remember. Ash and Elena recall a fun night at Ronnie and Ben's live show. "I laughed so hard during that show that my jaw hurt."
Susan's Tragic End. Susan Berman is found dead shortly after receiving a generous gift from Robert. "Less than 2 weeks later, Susan Berman was dead."
Durst's Connection to Burman's Murder. Detectives found Robert Durst's connection to Susan Burman suspicious, raising questions about his involvement.
Durst's Arrest for Shoplifting. Robert Durst, a fugitive, was arrested for stealing a sandwich despite having cash.
Durst's Bizarre Behavior. Durst, while on the run, stole a sandwich and had hundreds of dollars on him.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The future is bright, everybody.

Ash's optimistic outlook on future plans.

3:10WatchMay 8, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Morbid | Podcast

Solve the Crime

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