Durst, as most people know, is believed to have murdered his first wife, Kathie McCormack Durst, back in 1982 and either dumped or had somebody dump her body in an undisclosed location. Her body was never found. He was considered the prime suspect because he was very controlling of Kathie and did not at all support her ambition to become a pediatrician. She was just months from getting her M.D. when she disappeared after a party in early 1982. No doubt he wasn't going to let her have the life she wanted. Reportedly Durst had been cheating on her with Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, and had been involved with her for three years. Durst had a separate apartment. However, there was no evidence connecting him at all with Kathie's disappearance.
Years went by with Durst seemingly disappearing off the radar. Then Durst was connected to the death of mob daughter and writer Susan Berman. They had been friends for many decades, since they attended college at U.C.L.A. A paper trail, including car rentals, found him going from Eureka, California, (where he is allegedly linked to one or murders in the region) to L.A. at the time of Berman's death. Most observers believe she knew too much about Kathie's murder and tipped off authorities. Durst is alleged to have shot her in the back of the head to make sure she never talked again. He is scheduled to go on trial for her murder on January 13, 2020.
I had followed his saga for years, especially during his trial and acquittal for the murder of Morris Black, who Durst shot, dismembered, and dumped Black's body parts in Galveston Bay, Texas, back in 2001. I made a bunch of posts and links to the case because it was so fascinating the same way the despicable T. Cullen Davis case was. Durst admitted he killed Black, but he said it was in "self-defense." Obviously it wasn't, but Black's head was never recovered in the search, and therefore the jury could not determine whether Black was indeed killed in a struggle or was shot in the head like Berman was, which would have indicated premeditation or at least a crime of passion. The biggest problem with the Black case was the defense made sure the only options the jury had were either Murder One or acquittal. This was in fact a second-degree murder case or manslaughter, with the added crime of abusing a corpse, and, if those options had been made available to the jury, Durst would no doubt have been convicted. The jury felt without the head, they had no choice but to acquit this guilty man. It was a slightly less outrageous acquittal than the cases of O.J. Simpson or T. Cullen Davis, but it was still an injustice regardless.
HBO's The Jinx covered all this in its excellent documentary of a couple of years ago and featured the added bonus of recording Durst muttering he "killed them all" while in the men's room. This admission helped in getting Durst tried for the murder of Susan Berman. It remains to be seen whether he gets away with this murder or if he finally gets convicted, assuming he is still alive in January.
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