Murder charge filed against Durst
Count stems from killing of L.A. writer in 2000
NEW ORLEANS – Los Angeles County prosecutors filed a murder charge Monday against real estate scion Robert Durst in the December 2000 killing of his longtime friend Susan Berman, who was found shot execution-style in her home in Los Angeles’ Benedict Canyon on Christmas Eve.
The filing accuses Durst, 71, of lying in wait and killing a witness – accusations that would make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
Durst was taken into custody in New Orleans last weekend at the behest of Los Angeles officials, who say they have uncovered new evidence linking him to Berman’s slaying. New York authorities had been planning to interview Berman, a crime writer, about what she knew about the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s first wife, Kathleen.
The murder charge follows an HBO documentary series, “The Jinx,” on the eccentric Durst and his possible ties to several deaths. In the closing scene of the six-part documentary, Durst, speaking into a microphone he may not have known was on, muttered: “Killed them all, of course.”
It was the latest turn in a whirlwind 48 hours for Durst, who went from the subject of a stranger-than-fiction documentary about his life to being the target of a prosecution that he may have initiated by choosing to speak to documentary filmmakers.
Durst, an eccentric scion of a wealthy New York real estate family, had beaten murder charges in Texas in 2003, arguing he only chopped up the body of a friend after the man was killed during a struggle over a loaded gun. It was self-defense, he successfully claimed.
His latest arrest came one day before the finale of the HBO series aired. In the closing scene of the documentary, Durst made a series of comments some heard as confessional. “You’re caught,” he mumbled, after a tense interview about his possible involvement in Berman’s death.
During a brief court hearing Monday morning in New Orleans, Durst did not challenge his extradition to Los Angeles.
Sitting shackled in a glassed-in cell apart from other inmates, Durst periodically scrutinized the throng of media in the courtroom gallery, closing his eyes to rest before being led out of the cell by sheriff’s deputies.
Asked by Orleans Parish Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell Jr. if he waived his right to extradition to California, Durst, with hands shackled, shuffled to face the judge and uttered a simple “yes.”
His actual extradition, however, may not be so cut and dried. One of Durst’s attorneys, Houston-based attorney Chip Lewis, said Durst may face a marijuana possession charge based on items recovered from his hotel room when he was arrested.
In fact, the Associated Press reported Louisiana authorities filed weapons charges late Monday charging Durst as a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and with having a small amount of marijuana.