Robert Durst, the scion of a wealthy New York business family, who was charged with multiple gruesome killings that later became of the subject of the HBO true-crime miniseries ‘The Jinx,’ died in prison on Monday. He was 78.
Durst, who was serving a life sentence in Stockton, California for the killing of Susan Berman, a former friend, died of cardiac arrest while in hospital for testing, his lawyer confirmed to The New York Times.
The controversial real estate heir, believed to be worth upwards of $100 million, is suspected of having killed three people: his wife, Kathleen Durst, Susan Berman, and Morris Black, a neighbour. (Durst was only ever convicted for the killing of Berman.)
In 1982, Kathleen Durst went missing under suspicious circumstances and was never seen again, just months shy of graduation from medical school.
She and Robert reportedly had frequent public, sometimes violent, arguments, and Kathleen was treated for bruises on her body. She also claimed that Robert forced her to have an abortion. Her husband was suspected in the disappearance, but he always denied any involvement.
The next chapter of Durst’s made-for-tabloid saga came in 2000, when Susan Berman, a friend and confidante, was found shot in her Benedict Canyon home in Los Angeles. Ms Berman, a journalist, had been Durst’s main spokesperson and defender in public. Before she died, Ms Berman was reportedly about to tell authorities that Kathleen Durst hadn’t disappeared but rather had been killed, and that she had aided in Robert Durst’s coverup of the murder.
This is a breaking news story and will continue to be updated with new information.