Crime & Justice

Robert Durst Ordered to Stand Trial for 2000 Murder

JUSTICE COMES

A Los Angeles judge ruled that prosecutors had enough evidence to go to trial for the murder of Susan Berman.

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A Los Angeles judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors presented enough evidence to bring 75-year-old real estate heir Robert Durst to trial for the alleged murder of his best friend, the New York Daily News reports. Durst is accused of killing Susan Berman in an “execution-style murder” inside Berman’s home in December 2000. Berman was found dead on Christmas Eve after police received a postcard alerting them about the body. A 2015 HBO docuseries, The Jinx, pointed out similarities between the Berman postcard and another postcard Durst sent. Prosecutors alleged that Durst killed Berman in order to keep her from “meeting with New York authorities to discuss the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst.” Durst pleaded not guilty to Berman’s murder and could face life in prison without parole if convicted. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Windham also deemed previous statements from Berman about helping Durst in his “alibi related to [Kathleen]” admissible in court. Kathleen McCormack Durst went missing in 1982 and was never found. Durst previously admitted to killing and dismembering a man in Texas in 2001 but was acquitted by a jury after he claimed it was self-defense. The HBO docuseries caught a live mic alleged confession from Durst during filming. “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,” he said to himself while he went to the bathroom.

Read it at New York Daily News