Robert Durst, the obscenely wealth real estate scion and subject of the 2015 HBO documentary miniseries The Jinx, was convicted of murder earlier this month.
The verdict, which came after about seven and a half hours of deliberations, was the latest act in a case that spanned almost four decades. It began in the wealthy precincts of New York with the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Durst's first wife, Kathie, in 1982 and concluded with his conviction for the killing two decades ago of Susan Berman, a friend who prosecutors said helped him cover up his wife's disappearance and death.
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The jury also found that special circumstances had been proven in connection to the death of Ms. Berman, determining that Mr. Durst had been "lying in wait" for her and that he had been "killing a witness" because he feared she would reveal what she knew about the disappearance of his wife.
If you're not familiar with the story of Robert Durst, that excerpt will give a slight idea of what happened here. The son of a powerful New York City real estate mogul, Durst was conveniently adjacent to several disappearances and brutal murders over the course of several decades — including one where he impressively did admit on the stand to decapitating someone and hiding their body but was still rich enough to convince the jury that he was innocent. In 2015, Durst agreed to sit down with filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, who was working on a documentary for HBO about Mr. Durst's life and the string of tragedies that conveniently seemed to follow him. At one point, Durst went to the bathroom with his lav mic still attached to his shirt. The camera was still rolling, capturing the audio as Durst muttered to himself, "You're caught! …. What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." Oops.
Robert Durst Found Guilty of Murder After Decades of Suspicion [Charles V. Bagli / The New York Times]
Full disclosure: I also write for Wirecutter, which is part of the New York Times Company, which also publishes The New York Times.
