New York court indicts Robert Durst in 1982 murder of first wife Kathie Durst

Millionaire real estate mogul Robert Durst was indicted Monday on a murder charge in the death of his first wife, Kathie Durst, who disappeared nearly four decades ago, prosecutors said.

The second-degree murder indictment in the New York City suburbs comes weeks after an investigator in the case filed a criminal complaint against the 78-year-old Durst, who was recently sentenced to life in prison in California for killing a confidante who helped him cover up the slaying.

Durst was transferred to a state prison medical unit last week less than two weeks after being hospitalized on a ventilator with COVID-19 following sentencing in the Los Angeles case.

A warrant has been issued for his arrest in the killing of Kathie Durst, Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah said in a statement announcing the indictment.

“When Kathleen Durst disappeared on January 31, 1982, her family and friends were left with pain, anguish and questions that have contributed to their unfaltering pursuit of justice for the last 39 years,” Rocah said.

Kathie Durst’s 1982 disappearance garnered renewed public interest after HBO aired a documentary in 2015 in which the eccentric heir appeared to admit killing people, stepping off camera and muttering to himself on a live microphone: “Killed them all, of course.”

Earlier in October this year, a Los Angeles jury convicted Durst of murdering his close friend, Susan Berman, 20 years ago after a lengthy debate in September. He was handed life imprisonment. 

Durst was pronounced guilty of first-degree murder after jurors deliberated about 7 hours over three days before announcing the verdict.

The 78-year-old real estate baron will now spend the rest of his life in prison in the shooting of Berman in her Los Angeles home in December 2000.

With inputs from the Associated Press