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Robert Durst

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Robert Alan Durst (born April 12, 1943)[1] is a son of New York real estate mogul Seymour Durst, and brother of commercial developer Douglas Durst. He came to media attention in the 1980s when his wife disappeared, and again in the early 2000s when he was the subject of a multi-state manhunt and acquitted of murder.

In 2015, a six-part HBO documentary titled The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst about the disappearance of Durst's first wife Kathleen in 1982 in New York, the death of his friend Susan Berman in 2000 in Los Angeles, California, and the killing of his neighbor Morris Black in 2001 in Galveston, Texas aired. A day before the last episode aired, March 14, 2015, Durst was re-arrested in New Orleans on a first degree murder warrant issued out of Los Angeles. Chip Lewis, a lawyer for Durst, said his client will not fight extradition to California. Durst's presumed victim was not immediately named.[2]

Early life

One of four children, Durst grew up in Scarsdale, New York. He is the son of real estate investor Seymour Durst and his wife Bernice Herstein. His siblings are Douglas, Thomas and Wendy. At the age of seven, Durst reportedly witnessed his mother's apparent suicide; she either fell or jumped from the roof of the family's mansion. Durst, in the HBO documentary, denies this.[3] According to Reader's Digest, Durst underwent extensive counseling because of his mother's death. He attended Scarsdale High School where classmates described him as a loner.[4]

He earned a bachelor's degree in Economics in 1965 from Lehigh University where he was a member of the varsity lacrosse team and the business manager of The Brown and White student newspaper.[5] He enrolled in a doctoral program at UCLA later that year, but eventually withdrew from the school and returned to New York in 1969.[4][6] Durst went on to become a real estate developer in his father's business; however, it was his brother Douglas who was later appointed to run the family business. The appointment in the 1990s caused a rift between Robert and his family, and he became estranged from them.[7]

Fugitive

In 1973, Durst married Kathleen McCormack, who disappeared in 1982. Her disappearance remained an unsolved case for 18 years when New York State Police re-opened the criminal investigation. On December 24, 2000, Durst's long-time friend, Susan Berman, who was believed to have knowledge of McCormack's disappearance, was found murdered execution-style in her Benedict Canyon house in California. Durst was questioned in both cases but not charged.[7] According to prosecutors, Durst moved to Texas in 2000 and began cross-dressing to divert attention from the disappearance of McCormack.[8]

In 2001, Durst was arrested in Galveston, Texas, shortly after body parts of his elderly neighbor, Morris Black, were found floating in Galveston Bay, but was released on bail. Durst missed his court hearing and was declared the first billion-dollar fugitive in the US. On November 30, 2001 he was caught in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at a Wegmans Supermarket, after trying to shoplift a chicken sandwich, Band-Aids, and a newspaper, even though he had $500 cash in his pocket.[9] A police search of his rented car yielded $37,000 in cash, two guns, marijuana and Black's driver's license.[10]

Trial

In 2003, Durst went on trial for the murder of Morris Black. He hired defense attorney Dick DeGuerin and claimed self-defense. During cross-examination, Durst admitted to using a paring knife, two saws and an axe to dismember Black's body before dumping his remains in Galveston Bay.[11] He was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, which the defense argued explained his behavior.[12] The jury acquitted him of murder.[13]

In 2004, Durst pleaded guilty to two counts of bond jumping and one count of evidence tampering. As part of a plea bargain, he received a sentence of five years and was given credit for time served, requiring him to serve about three years in prison.[14]

Durst was paroled in 2005. The rules of his release required him to stay near his home; permission was required to travel.

Second arrest

In December 2005, Durst made an unauthorized trip to the boarding house where Black had been killed and to a nearby shopping mall. At the mall, he ran into the presiding judge from his murder trial, Susan Criss. Due to this incident, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles determined that Durst had violated the terms of his parole, and he was returned to jail.[15] He was released again from custody on March 1, 2006.[16]

In 2011, it was reported that Durst had purchased a townhouse in Harlem, and his family confirmed that he was living there at least some of the time.[17]

Third arrest

In July 2014, Durst was arrested after turning himself in to police following an incident at a Houston CVS drugstore in which he allegedly exposed himself without provocation and urinated on a rack of candy. He then left the store and casually walked down the street. Durst was charged with criminal mischief and is currently awaiting trial. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, he may serve up to a year in prison and may be subject to a $2000 fine.[18][19]

2015 arrest

Durst was arrested in March 2015 in Louisiana on an accusation of first degree murder out of Los Angeles County, California.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ Collins, Marion (November 18, 2002). Without a Trace. New York: McMillan. ISBN 0312985029.
  2. ^ "Real estate heir Robert Durst arrested in New Orleans on murder charges, attorney says". Fox News. March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  3. ^ Jonathan Bandler (February 7, 2015). "Robert Durst admits lying about wife's disappearance on HBO". The Journal News. Retrieved March 15, 2015. Robert Durst addresses her 1950 suicide at the family's home in Scarsdale when he was 7. Durst claims his father, Seymour, walked him over to a hall window and showed him Bernice Durst standing on the roof. "I waved at Mommy. I don't know if she saw me," he said. "It never went through my mind that, 'What is she doing on the roof in her nightie?' " He didn't see her fall but said he heard the maid shouting, " 'She's off the roof.' " "I never forgot it," he said. "It never left me." {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 207 (help)
  4. ^ a b Bagli, Charles V.; Flynn, Kevin (October 21, 2001). "A Two-Decade Spiral Into Suspicion; Long After Wife Disappears, Heir Vanishes After Texas Murder". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Freeman, Sarah (January 28, 2011). "Alum's Deadly Decisions: The killer story that inspired the new movie, 'All Good Things'". The Brown and White. Lehigh University.
  6. ^ Cartwright, Gary (February 2002). "Durst Case Scenarios". Texas Monthly.
  7. ^ a b Bruno, Anthony. "All about millionaire murderer Robert Durst". truTV. Retrieved 2010-01-23.[dead link‍]
  8. ^ Rosenberg, Rebecca; Greene, Leonard (October 24, 2011). "Cross-dressing 'murderer' Robert Durst moves into Harlem townhouse". New York Post.
  9. ^ Todt, Ron (December 1, 2001). "Fugitive heir Robert Durst arrested in Pennsylvania". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina.
  10. ^ Bagli, Charles V. (January 26, 2002). "Durst Waives Extradition To Texas Trial In Murder". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  11. ^ Springer, John. "Prosecution forces Durst to admit his many lies". truTV. Retrieved 2009-04-02.[dead link‍]
  12. ^ Leung, Rebecca. "The Mystery of Robert Durst". CBS News. Retrieved 2014-12-14.
  13. ^ John Springer. "Millionaire Durst acquitted of neighbor's murder". truTV. Retrieved 2009-04-02.[dead link‍]
  14. ^ Su, Jessica. "Millionaire Robert Durst pleads guilty to bail jumping, evidence tampering". Court TV. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Abrams, Dan. "Billionaire Robert Durst back in jail". MSNBC. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  16. ^ Moran, Kevin (March 1, 2006). "Millionaire Durst allowed back to Houston home". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  17. ^ Reilly, Richard Byrne (February 4, 2011). "Cross-Dressing Convict Robert Durst Returns to New York". New York.
  18. ^ Rice, Harvey (July 22, 2014). "Durst accused of urinating on candy at CVS". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2014-07-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Diebel, Matthew (July 24, 2014). "Robert Durst: From riches to allegedly peeing on candy". USA Today. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  20. ^ Richard Winton, Matt Hamilton and Shelby Grad (March 15, 2015). "Robert Durst arrested in slaying of L.A. writer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  21. ^ Ashley Southall (March 15, 2015). "Robert Durst, Subject of HBO Documentary on Unsolved Killings, Is Arrested". The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  22. ^ Rubinstein, Dana (August 8, 2008). "Ryan Gosling Is Robert Durst". The New York Observer. Retrieved 2008-08-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Jones, Leigh (August 22, 2008). "Movie based on Durst's wife's disappearance". The Galveston County Daily News. Retrieved 2008-08-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ Bagli, Charles. "Stranger Than Fiction? Try Fact: HBO Plans a Documentary on Robert Durst". The New York Times (December 1, 2014)

Further reading

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