New York real estate heir Robert Durst, who was convicted of murdering his close friend Susan Berman in September last year and handed life imprisonment, died on Sunday at the age of 78.
Here’s the timeline of how the events allegedly unfolded in Robert Durst’s life before he was finally convicted and sentenced earlier this year.
1965 – Robert Durst, the eldest son of Seymour Durst, graduates in economics from Lehigh University and goes to UCLA. There he meets and becomes friends with Susan Berman, the daughter of a mobster.
1973 – Durst marries Kathleen McCormack, a dental hygenist.
1982 – Durst’s marriage was reportedly falling apart by 1981, according to numerous accounts, amid claims that he was aggressive and domineering. On January 31, 1982, Kathleen was found missing.
Meanwhile, Robert did not report her missing until February 5.
2000 –
In November that year, amid reports that his first wife’s case was being reopened, Durst moved to Galveston, Texas, where he disguises himself as a mute woman and rented an inexpensive apartment.
Berman, who was supposed to be interrogated by Kathleen’s disappearance detectives, was discovered shot to death a month later in her LA home.
However, the police did not find Berman on their own. They received a letter the day her corpse was discovered indicating that a “cadaver” would be located at her residence, which was misspelt as “Beverley Hills.”
2001 – Nine months after Berman’s death, Durst killed his Galveston neighbour Morris Black, in what he said was either an accident or self-defence.
2003 – He admitted to shooting Black in 2003. Although prosecutors said Durst planned Black’s killing to steal his identity, defence attorneys said Black snuck into Durst’s apartment. According to the attorneys, Durst accidentally shot him as both men struggled for a gun. Then, Durst testified that he panicked and decided to cut up Black’s body and throw away the pieces.
2015 – The release of the HBO documentary “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” brought Durst’s curious case back to the limelight. However, the shooting of the documentary started much earlier when the filmmakers met with Durst in 2010 and 2012.
Following the completion of the last shot, Durst went into the bathroom, apparently not realising his microphone was still on. “There it is. You’re caught,” he said. He then rambled a series of seemingly unrelated sentences before saying, “He was right. I was wrong.” Then, he added: “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
During the shoot, the filmmakers also uncovered a letter from Durst to Berman in which Beverly was misspelt in the same way as in the letter sent to police in 2000. The night before the last episode aired on March 15, Durst was arrested for Berman’s murder.
2017 – At the 2017 pretrial hearing for Berman’s case, Nathan “Nick” Chavin informed the court that Durst was the best man at his wedding. Berman confessed to Chavin that Durst murdered his wife, according to Chavin. He also told the court that Durst admitted to killing Berman in 2014 to keep her quiet.
However, Durst remained adamant that he had nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance and pled not guilty to the first-degree murder charge for Berman’s case.
2021 – In August this year, Durst testified in his own defense and denied being involved in killing his close friend Berman in a Los Angeles court.
But finally, on September 17, Durst was pronounced guilty of first-degree murder for killing Susan Berman over 20 years ago. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 14.