Real estate mogul Robert Durst guilty of murdering best friend Susan Berman

Real estate heir Robert Durst, whose bizarre life was the subject of the HBO series The Jinx, was convicted on Friday of murdering his best friend nearly two decades ago in Beverly Hills.

The 78-year-old multimillionaire was not in the Los Angeles courtroom when the verdict was read, after months of testimony, including by Durst himself, and seven hours of jury deliberation.

“It’s not his choice to be away, he would want to be here,” said one of his defense attorneys, noting that Durst was “in isolation” after being exposed to COVID-19.

Susan Berman’s shooting death sentence appears to ensure that Durst – who is already serving a seven-year sentence on a firearms charge and has numerous health issues – spends the rest of his life behind bars.

It is a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for the prodigal son of a billion-dollar estate dynasty now ruled by a younger brother who has testified that he has a mortal fear of the accused.

Durst has never been charged or tried for the disappearance and presumed death of his first wife, Kathie McCormack, a medical student who disappeared in 1982 amid marital turmoil.

He was also acquitted of the murder of a Texas neighbor in 2003 after a jury accepted his argument that he killed the man in self-defense before slicing up the body and throwing it in the Bay of Galveston.

McCormack’s family welcomed the verdict and demanded that Durst stand trial for his murder.

“The Los Angeles justice system has finally served the Berman family. Now is the time for Westchester to do the same for the McCormack family and indict Durst for the murder of his wife, Kathie, which took place almost 40 years ago. They have had interviews, statements and documents for months, ”the family said in a statement.

“The Los Angeles deputy prosecutors’ closing arguments should remove any doubt. It’s bizarre and unacceptable that Durst was put on trial for killing an accomplice before being held responsible for Kathie’s murder.

Pool / Getty

Prosecutors argued that Durst killed Berman, the daughter of a Las Vegas perpetrator, because she knew too much about Kathie’s disappearance. Berman, 55, was killed just an hour before a scheduled meeting with law enforcement in which she had to admit giving Durst a false alibi.

Durst denied killing his wife and claimed he just discovered Berman’s body on his bedroom floor with a gunshot wound to the back of his head.

During his time on the witness stand last month, Durst admitted that even though he was Berman’s killer, he would never comply.

“‘Did you kill Susan Berman? “Is strictly hypothetical,” he said. “I didn’t kill Susan Berman. But if I had, I would be lying about it.

Los Angeles County Superior Court

The long trial, delayed by 14 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, found Durst lied to investigators five times as they investigate his involvement in the deaths of the two women over the years. His lawyer said that although “Durst’s compass does not point north” he was not a murderer.

Beverly Hills Police received a disturbing note with the word “Corpse” on it before Berman died, and the handwriting strongly resembled another note Durst had sent them with the word “Beverly Hills.” Durst has long denied sending the letter when confronted about it, but he admitted in court documents and in his trial testimony that he did indeed mail it.

“I find it hard to believe myself that I would write the letter and have not killed Susan Berman,” he said.

Pool / Getty

Durst was caught on a hot mic making seemingly incriminating comments while filming the 2015 HBO documentary The Jinx: ” What did I do ? Killed them all, of course. Here it is. You are taken. He was right. I was wrong. ”Durst said he was“ rich in meth ”as he sat for interviews, and the scandalous audio has since been revealed as a compilation of several clips.

But the documentary wasn’t Durst’s only damning moment. Nick Chavin, a friend of the Dursts and Bermans, said during the trial that Durst said of Berman: “It was her or me. I had no choice. “