Robert Durst, a New York real estate mogul, has been convicted of murdering his longtime friend Susan Berman. After deliberating for approximately seven hours over three days, a Los Angeles jury determined on Friday that Durst committed a first degree murder.
Durst first gained notoriety after the unsolved 1982 disappearance of his wife Kathleen. Durst was never charged in Kathleen’s disappearance, as her body was never found, but justice appears to have finally caught up to him.
Read more about the cases involving Durst below.
Robert Durst Murders Susan Berman
Robert Durst is suspected of killing three people in three different states, as reported by The Guardian.
He murdered Berman, the daughter of a Las Vegas mobster, because she knew how he killed his wife and told friends about it.
Durst would have probably never been convicted had it not been for HBO’s The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst documentary. In the series, Durst made several self-incriminating statements.
At the trial, Durst denied killing his wife and Berman, but said he would lie if he did.
Robert Durst Murders Morris Black
Robert Durst killed and dismembered his 71-year-old Galveston neighbor Morris Black in September 2001.
Though he has admitted to murdering Black, he maintained at his trial in Galveston, Texas that the death was an accident — and won.
The jury in that trial apparently believed Durst when he said that he accidentally shot Black during a struggle, panicked and then cut up her body.
As BuzzFeed News noted, "although the Galveston jury acquitted Durst and he couldn’t be prosecuted again for that crime, Los Angeles prosecutors were allowed to present evidence from that case to establish motive for Berman’s killing."
‘The Jinx’ Filmmaker Speaks Out
Andrew Jarecki, who created The Jinx, welcomed Durst’s conviction.
"My reaction to the verdict was to be extremely relieved. I was obviously very gratified because this has been an incredibly long process," he told The Washington Post.
"Bob is dangerous and had been wandering around for a very long time without ever being held accountable," Jarecki added.
Both defense attorneys and prosecutors say that Jarecki’s documentary miniseries was key to convicting Durst.
Nonetheless, the defense team will seek to appeal the conviction, according to The Washington Post.
Robert Durst Net Worth
Born in 1943, Robert Durst is the son of real estate magnate Seymour Durst.
The 78-year-old’s family has been wealthy and influential for generations, according to Fox Business, which reported that Robert’s brother Douglas and his nephew Jody currently run the Durst Organization.
The family’s net worth is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $ 8 billion — Robert Durst’s stake in the family company was bought out back in 2015.
The Durst family reportedly owns more than 16 million square feet of real estate in New York and Philadelphia.
