New York real estate heir Robert Durst in court on March 4, 2020 in Los Angeles, California (Photo Credit: Etienne Laurent-Pool | Getty Images)
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
The Jinx: Part Two premiered on April 21, 2024, on Max, further delving into the case of New York real estate heir Robert Durst. The six-part sequel comes nine years after the acclaimed documentary series was first released. Part two further explores Durst’s conviction in Susan Berman’s murder and alleged involvement in his wife Kathie McCormack’s disappearance. It comprises more interviews with witnesses, prosecutors, and others involved in the case.
Durst’s infamous conviction for the murder of his close friend Susan Berman got him a life sentence in prison. According to The New York Times, he shot Berman execution-style inside her Benedict Canyon home in Los Angeles in 2000. He faced charges fifteen years later after he tipped off the police. Prosecutors believed he committed the crime, fearing his close confidante would tell authorities the truth behind his first wife’s death.
Shortly after his conviction, Robert Durst died of natural causes on January 10, 2022. Durst’s cause of death was a cardiac arrest. His demise came he contracted COVID-19, which aggravated his already existing health problems.
Robert Durst’s cause of death: Was he in prison at the time of death & why?
Robert Durst’s cause of death was a cardiac arrest. According to The New York Times, Durst’s health conditions were declining in the months after his September 2021 murder conviction. He received a life sentence in October and later contracted the COVID-19 virus, which worsened his already existing health problems. The convicted murderer went into cardiac arrest on January 10, 2022. Medical professionals failed to revive him, following which the 78-year-old died.
NPR and AP News stated that Durst was in a state prison hospital facility in Stockton at the time of his death. This medical facility is located outside the California prison where he was serving a life term for Susan Berman’s murder. The Department of Corrections and his lawyer, Chip Lewis, revealed authorities had been holding him in the Stockton facility because of his failing health. Lewis stated that Durst’s cause of death was natural causes.
Robert Durst’s legal battles began in the early 2000s when he faced charges in the murder of his neighbor, Morris Black. According to Today.com, a jury acquitted him of the crime in 2003 after he claimed that Black’s shooting death was an accident. It happened in 2001 while Durst was hiding out in Galveston, Texas, as a mute woman, per The New York Times. Prosecutors had alleged he shot the elderly man who had learned about his true identity, per AP News.
Per Today.com, Durst said he shot Black in an act of self-defense during a physical altercation between them. The incident occurred in a room in his boarding house. He did admit to cutting up the victim’s body and disposing of the parts in garbage bags in Texas’ Galveston Bay. He claimed that he panicked and disposed of the victim’s body, thinking no one would believe what had actually transpired. Despite the confession, the trial resulted in his acquittal.
For decades, the real estate heir was a suspect in the disappearance of his first wife, Kathie McCormack Durst. Kathie disappeared on January 31, 1982, from their home in South Salem, New York, per The New York Times. She vanished after they had a fight and was declared legally dead after Durst divorced her eight years later. Authorities have never found her body.
However, after Robert Durst’s conviction in Susan Berman’s murder, prosecutors in LA successfully secured an indictment. In November 2022, a New York grand jury indicted him on a second-degree murder charge in Kathie McCormack’s death, per AP News. Prosecutors proved that Durst used his money and influence to hide McCormack’s alleged murder. They claimed he had silenced Berman, who knew the truth. It was the same truth that led to her death.
While Robert Durst has never openly confessed to murdering any of the victims, there has been debate about an alleged confession. Today.com reported that while filming the first season of HBO’s The Jinx, Durst may have admitted to the murders in April 2012.
Durst’s so-called confession came while they were filming the season finale. On one occasion, he had a heated discussion with the series director, Andrew Jarecki. After this, Durst left for the bathroom with his microphone still on. When he was alone in the bathroom, the microphone recorded him saying, “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
Additionally, Durst’s close friend Nick Chavin’s testimony from the convicted murderer’s 2021 trial in The Jinx: Part Two has been mentioned. Chavin had testified in court that in 2014 the defendant admitted to him about murdering Susan Berman. Part Two featured Chavin’s testimony, according to which Durst said to him how he had to murder Berman. The accused had told him, “I had to. It was her or me. I had no choice.”
The Jinx: Part Two is now available to stream on Max.
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