a missing wife a killed confidante and a
butchered neighbor have everyone
wondering how the trial of this American
businessman will proceed welcome to
watchmojo.com 10 crucial facts you
should know about the Robert Durst
murder investigation number 10 who is
Robert Durst born in 1943 into a wealthy
family Robert Durst reportedly witnessed
his mother’s death when he was 7 years
old a claim his brother Douglas has
since called into question Robert and
Douglass’s fierce sibling rivalry later
intensified when their father chose
Douglass over Robert as his successor to
the family real estate business in 1994
this unsurprisingly caused a falling-out
within the family and eventually led
Robert to permanently break ties
following a series of peculiar events
however it’s for the disappearance of
his wife in the 1980s and the suspicious
deaths of a longtime friend and a
neighbor in the 2000s that got the
attention of the media and kept Robert
Durst in the spotlight in 2015 an HBO
documentary then claimed to have
uncovered more evidence linking Durst to
the crimes which included a shocking hot
mic confession number 9 what happened to
Durst wife after marrying 19 year old
dental hygienist Cathleen mcCormick in
1973 Durst and his wife relocated to
Vermont and set up a health food store
McCormick’s close friends including her
sister and lawyer claimed that Durst was
physically abusive towards her in the
years leading up to her disappearance
On January 31st 1982
I don’t know I think she was afraid of
this
several days passed before Durst even
reported her missing and he alleged that
the last time he’d seen his wife was
when he put her on the train in the
evening of that January day McCormick’s
body was never recovered her whereabouts
never discovered and she was declared
legally dead in 2001 however 14 years
later
Durst appeared to admit to her murder
via an audio recording aired on the jinx
a documentary miniseries that was
broadcast on HBO number 8 what happened
to Durst’s longtime friend in 2000
investigators were given an anonymous
yet unsubstantiated tip regarding the
location of Durst’s wife’s body which
subsequently reopened the investigation
into the McCormick case detectives then
proceeded to contact one of Durst’s
closest friends and confidants crime
author Susan Berman but before they
could do so she was found dead from a
gunshot wound to the head in her living
room in December of that same year
thanks to an anonymous letter that
alerted police to her death although
it’s believed to be Durst handwriting in
the letter police were never able to
prove it furthermore Berman was the
daughter of a famous Las Vegas crime
boss and rumors suggested her death
might have been a mob related hit number
7 what happened to Durst’s neighbor once
McCormick’s case was reopened Durst went
into hiding eventually settling in
Galveston Texas it was there that he
assumed a new identity as a mute woman
named Dorothy seiner however in the fall
of 2001 a human torso belonging to Durst
71 year old neighbor Morris black was
discovered floating in Galveston Bay by
a local boy Durst was arrested but
posted $300,000 bail then missed a court
hearing after fleeing the state he was
eventually caught in Pennsylvania while
shoplifting despite the fact that he had
hundreds of dollars on him at the
subsequent trial Durst claimed that he
and black had gotten into a scuffle over
Durst’s gun which black allegedly used
to
Retin Durst this fight resulted in black
getting shot in the face
panicked and thinking no one would
believe his claim of self-defense
Durst admitted to chopping up blacks
body it all goes to the man State of
Mind it all goes to his intent his
defense team suggested that Durst was
thrown into something like an
out-of-body experience while intoxicated
in addition to suffering symptoms from
Asperger syndrome acquitted of the
murder
Durst still had to do jail time for bond
jumping evidence tampering and taking an
armed weapon across state lines number
six has Durst been arrested on March
14th 2015 FBI agents arrested Durst in
New Orleans on first-degree murder
charges as authorities in Los Angeles
issued an extradition warrant in
connection with the murder of Susan
Berman prior to his New Orleans arrest
Durst was arrested in July 2014 after he
turned himself in to police he had
exposed himself at a CVS drugstore in
Houston and urinated on a rack of candy
though he later pled no contest and was
fined a total of five hundred dollars
number five
can you believe what’s on TV written by
Andrew Jarecki Mark’s Merlin and Zachary
Stewart Pontiac and directed by Joey
this 2015 HBO documentary miniseries
investigates the disappearance of
Durst’s wife Kathleen McCormack and the
deaths of Susan Berman and Morris black
the filmmakers spent years researching
the life of Durst including his
upbringing the disappearance of his wife
and the trial for Morris blacks murder
the show was extremely well received but
gained even more attention thanks to
Durst’s arrest on first-degree murder
charges the day before the final episode
aired on TV the jinx has been of special
interest to authorities the public and
the people involved in the crimes he’s
been linked to due to new evidence
featured in the miniseries number four
has Durst explained his actions prior to
2015
Durst had only been questioned but never
charged in the cases of his wife’s
disappearance and the killing of his
close friend several years later however
in the final episode of the documentary
the jinx Durst is caught muttering a
monologue to himself on a hot mic while
alone in the bathroom What did he say
kill them all Horsch Durst’s attorney
has stated the words might mean nothing
regardless the damning piece of audio
was found two years after the interview
was taped and all collected material
evidence was given over to authorities
after 2013 number three is there any
other evidence against Durst detectives
were alerted to the body of Susan Berman
when they were sent an anonymous letter
in the last episode of the Jake’s
director Andrew Jarecki confronts jurist
with the letter he had penned to Berman
the year before she died and the
anonymous letter that had been sent to
police the letter in question was found
among Berman’s possessions by her
son-in-law the writing style and
inaccurate spelling of the word Beverly
are eerily similar and though Durst
denies pinning the anonymous letter he
was unable to point out which of the
letters was the one he wrote when they
were increased in size and this not the
audio recording is what prompted law
enforcement to arrest him number two how
did Durst avoid earlier jail time in a
shocking turn of events Durst was found
not guilty in the death of Morris black
despite the fact that he admitted to
accidentally shooting black chopping up
his body and disposing of it in the bay
jurors later revealed that the
prosecution team had not made a good
enough case and that there was
reasonable doubt about how the crime in
question happened the fact that there
were only two viable witnesses one of
whom was dead did not help matters and
thus Durst was not convicted though he
did plead guilty to other lesser charges
number one how will this end
following his march 2015 arrest Durst
was scheduled to stand trial for the
murder of Susan Berman in California if
found guilty he could face the death
penalty
it will once again rest on the shoulders
of the prosecution team to gather the
evidence and state their case to the
jurors a bigger question will surround
admissible evidence in the case with a
judge set to decide whether or not
jurors will hear Durst’s private
monologue that was recorded while he was
using hotel facilities and then featured
in the jinx I think it’s likely the only
legal question will be sort of the
sanctity of that tape meaning where was
it who had control of it could it have
been manipulated is it accurate did
these facts surprise you to vote for
which new story is covered next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
[Music]
butchered neighbor have everyone
wondering how the trial of this American
businessman will proceed welcome to
watchmojo.com 10 crucial facts you
should know about the Robert Durst
murder investigation number 10 who is
Robert Durst born in 1943 into a wealthy
family Robert Durst reportedly witnessed
his mother’s death when he was 7 years
old a claim his brother Douglas has
since called into question Robert and
Douglass’s fierce sibling rivalry later
intensified when their father chose
Douglass over Robert as his successor to
the family real estate business in 1994
this unsurprisingly caused a falling-out
within the family and eventually led
Robert to permanently break ties
following a series of peculiar events
however it’s for the disappearance of
his wife in the 1980s and the suspicious
deaths of a longtime friend and a
neighbor in the 2000s that got the
attention of the media and kept Robert
Durst in the spotlight in 2015 an HBO
documentary then claimed to have
uncovered more evidence linking Durst to
the crimes which included a shocking hot
mic confession number 9 what happened to
Durst wife after marrying 19 year old
dental hygienist Cathleen mcCormick in
1973 Durst and his wife relocated to
Vermont and set up a health food store
McCormick’s close friends including her
sister and lawyer claimed that Durst was
physically abusive towards her in the
years leading up to her disappearance
On January 31st 1982
I don’t know I think she was afraid of
this
several days passed before Durst even
reported her missing and he alleged that
the last time he’d seen his wife was
when he put her on the train in the
evening of that January day McCormick’s
body was never recovered her whereabouts
never discovered and she was declared
legally dead in 2001 however 14 years
later
Durst appeared to admit to her murder
via an audio recording aired on the jinx
a documentary miniseries that was
broadcast on HBO number 8 what happened
to Durst’s longtime friend in 2000
investigators were given an anonymous
yet unsubstantiated tip regarding the
location of Durst’s wife’s body which
subsequently reopened the investigation
into the McCormick case detectives then
proceeded to contact one of Durst’s
closest friends and confidants crime
author Susan Berman but before they
could do so she was found dead from a
gunshot wound to the head in her living
room in December of that same year
thanks to an anonymous letter that
alerted police to her death although
it’s believed to be Durst handwriting in
the letter police were never able to
prove it furthermore Berman was the
daughter of a famous Las Vegas crime
boss and rumors suggested her death
might have been a mob related hit number
7 what happened to Durst’s neighbor once
McCormick’s case was reopened Durst went
into hiding eventually settling in
Galveston Texas it was there that he
assumed a new identity as a mute woman
named Dorothy seiner however in the fall
of 2001 a human torso belonging to Durst
71 year old neighbor Morris black was
discovered floating in Galveston Bay by
a local boy Durst was arrested but
posted $300,000 bail then missed a court
hearing after fleeing the state he was
eventually caught in Pennsylvania while
shoplifting despite the fact that he had
hundreds of dollars on him at the
subsequent trial Durst claimed that he
and black had gotten into a scuffle over
Durst’s gun which black allegedly used
to
Retin Durst this fight resulted in black
getting shot in the face
panicked and thinking no one would
believe his claim of self-defense
Durst admitted to chopping up blacks
body it all goes to the man State of
Mind it all goes to his intent his
defense team suggested that Durst was
thrown into something like an
out-of-body experience while intoxicated
in addition to suffering symptoms from
Asperger syndrome acquitted of the
murder
Durst still had to do jail time for bond
jumping evidence tampering and taking an
armed weapon across state lines number
six has Durst been arrested on March
14th 2015 FBI agents arrested Durst in
New Orleans on first-degree murder
charges as authorities in Los Angeles
issued an extradition warrant in
connection with the murder of Susan
Berman prior to his New Orleans arrest
Durst was arrested in July 2014 after he
turned himself in to police he had
exposed himself at a CVS drugstore in
Houston and urinated on a rack of candy
though he later pled no contest and was
fined a total of five hundred dollars
number five
can you believe what’s on TV written by
Andrew Jarecki Mark’s Merlin and Zachary
Stewart Pontiac and directed by Joey
this 2015 HBO documentary miniseries
investigates the disappearance of
Durst’s wife Kathleen McCormack and the
deaths of Susan Berman and Morris black
the filmmakers spent years researching
the life of Durst including his
upbringing the disappearance of his wife
and the trial for Morris blacks murder
the show was extremely well received but
gained even more attention thanks to
Durst’s arrest on first-degree murder
charges the day before the final episode
aired on TV the jinx has been of special
interest to authorities the public and
the people involved in the crimes he’s
been linked to due to new evidence
featured in the miniseries number four
has Durst explained his actions prior to
2015
Durst had only been questioned but never
charged in the cases of his wife’s
disappearance and the killing of his
close friend several years later however
in the final episode of the documentary
the jinx Durst is caught muttering a
monologue to himself on a hot mic while
alone in the bathroom What did he say
kill them all Horsch Durst’s attorney
has stated the words might mean nothing
regardless the damning piece of audio
was found two years after the interview
was taped and all collected material
evidence was given over to authorities
after 2013 number three is there any
other evidence against Durst detectives
were alerted to the body of Susan Berman
when they were sent an anonymous letter
in the last episode of the Jake’s
director Andrew Jarecki confronts jurist
with the letter he had penned to Berman
the year before she died and the
anonymous letter that had been sent to
police the letter in question was found
among Berman’s possessions by her
son-in-law the writing style and
inaccurate spelling of the word Beverly
are eerily similar and though Durst
denies pinning the anonymous letter he
was unable to point out which of the
letters was the one he wrote when they
were increased in size and this not the
audio recording is what prompted law
enforcement to arrest him number two how
did Durst avoid earlier jail time in a
shocking turn of events Durst was found
not guilty in the death of Morris black
despite the fact that he admitted to
accidentally shooting black chopping up
his body and disposing of it in the bay
jurors later revealed that the
prosecution team had not made a good
enough case and that there was
reasonable doubt about how the crime in
question happened the fact that there
were only two viable witnesses one of
whom was dead did not help matters and
thus Durst was not convicted though he
did plead guilty to other lesser charges
number one how will this end
following his march 2015 arrest Durst
was scheduled to stand trial for the
murder of Susan Berman in California if
found guilty he could face the death
penalty
it will once again rest on the shoulders
of the prosecution team to gather the
evidence and state their case to the
jurors a bigger question will surround
admissible evidence in the case with a
judge set to decide whether or not
jurors will hear Durst’s private
monologue that was recorded while he was
using hotel facilities and then featured
in the jinx I think it’s likely the only
legal question will be sort of the
sanctity of that tape meaning where was
it who had control of it could it have
been manipulated is it accurate did
these facts surprise you to vote for
which new story is covered next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
[Music]
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