He was the true property inheritor who many suspected was chargeable for the loss of life of his first spouse, Kathleen McCormack Durst, when she vanished underneath suspicious circumstances in 1982. Then, in 2021, he was discovered responsible of killing his buddy and confidant, Susan Berman, and sentenced to life behind bars. How Robert Durst died ought to come as some consolation to the households of his victims although there are nonetheless a variety of questions left unanswered.
Durst was born in New York Metropolis on April 12, 1943, right into a rich household identified for its actual property empire. Durst’s father Seymour Durst was a outstanding property developer and the pinnacle of The Durst Group. The household was exceptionally prosperous and the younger Durst attended prestigious colleges, together with the Horace Mann College in New York Metropolis and Lehigh College in Pennsylvania, the place he graduated with a level in economics.
His connection to a number of suspicious deaths was the topic of The Jinx documentary sequence by Andrew Jarecki. Within the sequence’ last moments, he seemingly confesses to a few murders on a reside mic whereas within the toilet: “There it’s. You’re caught. … What the hell did I do? Killed all of them, after all.” (The quotes have been later revealed to have been manipulated for dramatic impact however the manufacturing.) Right here’s the story of how Robert Durst died.
How did Robert Durst die?
Robert Durst’s well being had been deteriorating for a while throughout the Berman trial, for which he was ultimately discovered responsible of her homicide. He had bladder most cancers and two days after his sentencing, he contracted COVID and was hospitalized. He later died, age 78, of pure causes resulting from quite a lot of well being points in 2022.
Durst’s trial had already been delayed 14 months due to the pandemic, and his trial legal professional Dick DeGuerin described him as being “very, very sick”; the worst he’s appeared in 20 years of representing him. Based on NPR, “Durst entered the courtroom with a wide-eyed vacant stare. Close to the top of the listening to, after Berman’s family members advised the choose how her loss of life upended their lives, Durst coughed arduous after which appeared to battle to breathe. His chest heaved and he pulled his masks down beneath his mouth and commenced to gulp for air.”
Durst was arrested in 2015 in reference to the homicide of his buddy Susan Berman, who was discovered shot to loss of life in her Los Angeles house in 2000. Durst was accused of killing Berman to stop her from revealing details about Kathleen McCormack Durst’s disappearance. He was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to life imprisonment with out parole.
Robert Durst left behind a mighty fortune
Durst’s internet value was estimated to be $100 million, per the New York Occasions, which is a drop within the ocean in comparison with that of the Durst empire—Forbes journal estimates the household’s fortune at $8.1 billion. The Durst household owns extra than 16 million sq. toes of actual property in New York and Philadelphia, together with a ten % stake in One World Commerce Middle.
He left his fortune to Debrah Lee Charatan, his spouse on the time of his loss of life. Sarcastically, the day of Charatan’s listening to to develop into the executor of his property fell on the fortieth anniversary of his first spouse Kathie Durst’s disappearance, who was declared legally useless in 2017.
In 2022, Kathie Durst’s household sought greater than $100 million from Durst’s property and widow in a wrongful loss of life go well with. Robert Abrams, the household’s legal professional, claimed Charatan quietly married Durst in 2000 to assist him evade authorities after the investigation into Kathie Durst’s disappearance was reopened.
Abrams stated the go well with is an “essential step towards justice for Kathie and towards exposing the corruption that allowed Robert Durst to go unpunished,” including that when Charatan was appointed executor, she would “apparently search to gather the steadiness of her husband’s curiosity within the Durst household Trusts, which we consider was promised to Ms. Charatan in trade for serving to Robert Durst evade justice in reference to the murders of Kathie, Susan Berman, and Morris Black.”
He additionally advised the Related Press: “We’re not about to let Debrah Charatan dissolve the belief and get tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} extra. You don’t get tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in America for masking up a homicide.”
The Jinx — Half Two airs its finale on Sunday, Could 26 at 9 pm ET on HBO and Max.
