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new York Real estate mogul Robert Durst testified in his Los Angeles Wednesday murder trial that he had used cocaine, methamphetamine and “a lot of marijuana” before his wife’s disappearance in 1982.
Durst testified Wednesday at his own trial for the second time this week and described a happy relationship with his wife, Kathleen “Kathie” Durst, and best friend, Susan Berman, whom he is accused of killing, when the trio lived together in the 1970s.
“I’ve tried it a few times,” Durst said when asked about his cocaine use in the ’70s. “Luckily, I can’t snort anything because I have hay fever. , every time I tried cocaine my nose would stay stuffy for three or four days. “
WHO IS ROBERT DURST?
Durst, 78, is charged with the murder of Berman, who was shot in the back of the head in his Los Angeles home in December 2000. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, although prosecutors allege the millionaire attempted to do so. silence Berman before she can give police any information regarding his alleged role in the disappearance of Kathie Durst.
Prosecutors share a photo of Robert Durst (right), Susan Berman (middle) and Kathie Durst (right) during Robert Durst’s murder trial on August 11. (Fox News)
Durst added that he had used methamphetamine and “a lot of marijuana” when asked if he was taking any other drugs; he also claimed that Kathie Durst was a heavy user of cocaine.
“There were a lot of drugs around,” the accused said of New York City in the 1970s. “… Theoretically, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana were illegal, but the only people that seemed being arrested were black people in Harlem. “
ROBERT DURST WITNESSES AT LOS ANGELES MURDER TRIAL
Kathie Durst was 29 when she did not return home in 1982, and authorities finally declared her dead in 2017.
Besides what Durst described as an exciting lifestyle in 1970s Manhattan, he also testified that he had a happy marriage with his wife and a friendship with Berman.
New York real estate scion Robert Durst, 78, answers questions from defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin, left, as he testifies during his murder trial at the Inglewood courthouse on Monday, August 9, 2021 . (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
The real estate heir said at trial that he “never thought about divorce” and was “happy” with his marriage, although he eventually found out that Kathie Durst was secretly paying a marriage lawyer to leave. from their joint bank account. Durst apparently filed for divorce from Kathie in 1990, years after her disappearance, according to a 2001 New York Times report.
THE REAL ESTATE SCION ROBERT DURST SHOULD TESTIMONATE IN HIS OWN DEFENSE
Durst noted during his testimony that a point of contention in his marriage was Kathie’s desire for children and her hope to remain childless after what he described as a disastrous childhood.
“I was very, very opposed to having children,” he said. “I felt it was such a responsibility. I didn’t want to be a dad. My childhood had been a disaster. I didn’t want the same to happen to my child.”
The accused was also charged with killing his neighbor Morris Black in Galveston, Texas, while he was in hiding there after Berman’s murder.
During his murder trial in 2003, he said Black was accidentally killed in a fight after entering Durst’s apartment with a gun. He admitted to dismembering and disposing of Black’s body. The jury acquitted him of the murder.
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It took police nearly 15 years to arrest the New York real estate heir in the murder of Berman and five others to bring him to justice, which was later in the past year due to COVID-19.
The homicide trial involving Berman is in progress in california, and New York recently reopened its investigation into Kathie Durst’s disappearance.
Laura Prabucki of Fox News contributed to this report, as well as the Associated Press.
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