Convicted killer Robert Durst has passed away in prison at the age of 78.
Last year, Durst contracted Covid-19 and was receiving treatment when he died of cardiac arrest on January 10, 2022, at the San Joaquin General Hospital in Stockon.
At the time of his death, he was in the custody of the California Department of Corrections.
Durst was the wealthy murderer who had escaped arrest following the vanishing of his wife, Kathleen Durst.
The New York real estate mogul unintentionally confessed to the killing of long-time ally Susan Berman in the notorious TV documentary, The Jinx.
The Vanishing of Kathleen Durst
In 1973, 30-year-old Durst married 19-year-old Kathleen McCormack, a student dental hygienist.
Their marriage quickly deteriorated, and Kathleen often confided in friends that she was apprehensive of her husband.
Kathleen was last spotted on January 31, 1982, at a dinner party hosted by her friend Gilberte Najamy in Connecticut.
After receiving a phone call from her husband, she made the decision to return home to South Salem, New York.
Durst reported Kathleen missing on February 5, later stating that he delayed doing so because her responsibilities at medical school frequently kept her away from home for days at a time. It wasn’t until he realized it had been too long that he filed a report with the police.
To this day, Kathleen’s absence is still being investigated as a missing persons case, although there has been speculation about Durst killing her in a burst of anger.
Durst Kills His Closest Confidante
Durst appointed long-time friend Susan Berman, daughter of Las Vegas gangster David Berman, as his unofficial spokesperson.
On December 24, 2000, Berman was discovered deceased in her home in Los Angeles after neighbors alerted the police that her door was open and a dog was loose. Investigators disclosed that she had been shot execution-style.
Four months prior to her death, Berman had written Durst a letter requesting funds. He sent her two checks of approximately $25,000 each.
The primary evidence found at the murder scene was an anonymous letter penned to the Beverly Hills police informing them of a “cadaver” at Berman’s home.
The LAPD dismissed Durst as a suspect, believing he was too close to Berman to be considered her killer.
Durst Disassembles Morris Black
To evade heightened media attention, Durst relocated to Galveston, Texas.
In September 2001, body parts of his elderly neighbor, Morris Black, were located in the bay. Police discovered the packing for a bone saw and the address of the boarding house, where they found a receipt with Durst’s name on it.
Durst was ultimately arrested a month later when Police discovered him living under an alias. Their search of his car led to the bone saw used to kill Black.
Durst managed to pay a $30,000 bail and vanish until his subsequent arrest in November.
He was tried for Black’s killing in 2003, where he confessed to dismembering the body. Due to a lack of forensic evidence, the jury declared him not guilty.
HBO’s The Jinx: The Life and Death of Robert Durst
During an on-camera interview, Durst refuted any involvement in his wife’s disappearance and the murder of his friend Berman.
In 2014, creators of the documentary located and rearranged audio of Durst muttering to himself in the bathroom, unaware that he was wearing a mic when confessing to the murders.
Durst was officially accused of first-degree murder in 2015 and spent the next few years wavering between ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty’ for his series of crimes.
Durst contracted Covid in October 2021 and was officially accused of the killing of Kathleen on October 22.
Unfortunately, neither her family nor the public will ever know what happened to Kathleen now that Durst has died. Nonetheless, many will continue to presume he killed her or orchestrated her death.
