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Those familiar with the tale of real estate heir Robert Durst, especially those who watched the 2015 HBO documentary series The Jinx, know full well that the man is almost bulletproof when it comes to being convicted of a crime.
Durst has been a suspect in three murders in three different states: his first wife Kathleen Durst in New York, his friend and confidant Susan Berman in California, and his neighbor Morris Black in Texas.
He has not been found guilty of any of those alleged crimes, despite the fact that he admitted in court to dismembering Black’s body and dumping it in Galveston Bay, where all but Black’s head was recovered.
Durst has also been looked at by law enforcement for possible connections to the disappearances of 18-year-old Lynne Schulze from Vermont, 16-year-old Karen Mitchell from California, and 18-year-old Kristen Modafferi from North Carolina, who all disappeared in states when Durst had residences.
In July 2014, Durst was arrested for allegedly exposed himself and urinating on a rack of candy at a Houston CVS drugstore. He was fined $500.
On March 14, 2015, Durst, now 76-years-old, was finally arrested in New Orleans and charged with the murder of Susan Berman. After several postponements, the case is currently scheduled to be heard in court on January 13, 2020.
Prosecutors hope to present evidence of related to the deaths of Durst’s wife and Morris Black.
“If you’re looking at once accused of murder, second time accused of murder and now it’s the third time accused of murder, that’s not within the normal juror’s experience,” said Peter Johnson, a defense lawyer and law school lecturer told the AP. “I think that does have a significant prejudicial impact on the defendant in this case.”
Regardless of how that case turns out, Durst can once again rest easy knowing that he scored another win as the wrongful-death lawsuit filed against him, accusing him of murdering his wife Kathie in the 1980s was dismissed on Tuesday.
According to the New York Post…
Under the statute of limitations, [Carol Bamonte. Kathleen’s sister] had two years to sue the kooky real estate scion, whom she accused in her March complaint of killing Kathie because she planned to expose the wealthy family’s illegal business dealings.
Bamonte and her lawyer argued for an exception to the statute of limitations, noting that Durst was charged in the 2000 murder of his longtime confidant Susan Berman in California — and that her death was the direct result of Kathie’s.
Prosecutors in the Golden State believe Durst killed Berman to prevent her from going to authorities with information on Kathie’s death.
But [Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Paul Goetz] decided that the two cases have nothing to do with one another.
Perhaps the judge should get himself a subscription to HBO.
On the positive side, Goetz did say that an exception to the statute of limitations could apply if Durst is ever actually criminally charged with Kathie’s murder.
Frankly, at this point, I am just surprised that Durst, whose net worth at the time of his 2015 arrest was estimated by the FBI to be approximately $100 million, doesn’t just f***ing use walk-up music every time he appears in court.