(LOS ANGELES) — Robert Durst, the wealthy New York real estate heir and failed fugitive dogged for decades with suspicion in the disappearance and deaths of those around him before he was convicted last year of killing his best friend, has died. He was 78.
Durst died of natural causes Monday in a hospital outside the California prison where he was serving a life sentence, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Durst had been held in a hospital lockup in Stockton due to a litany of ailments.
Durst was convicted in September of shooting Susan Berman at point-blank range at her Los Angeles home in 2000. He was sentenced Oct. 14 to life in prison without parole.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]
Durst had long been suspected of killing his wife, Kathie, who went missing in New York 1982 and was declared legally dead decades later.
But only after Los Angeles prosecutors proved he silenced Berman to prevent her from telling police she helped cover up Kathie’s killing was Durst indicted by a New York grand jury in November for second-degree murder in his wife’s death.
Westchester County prosecutors, who had been trying to get Durst transferred there to face the charge, said they planned to reveal new details about the case in coming days.
“After 40 years spent seeking justice for her death, I know how upsetting this news must be for Kathleen Durst’s family,” District Attorney Miriam Rocah said in a statement. “We had hoped to allow them the opportunity to see Mr. Durst finally face charges for Kathleen’s murder because we know that all families never stop wanting closure, justice and accountability.”
Los Angeles prosecutors told jurors Durst also got away with murder in Texas after shooting a man who discovered his identity when he was hiding out in Galveston in 2001. Durst was acquitted of murder in that case in 2003, after testifying he shot the man as they struggled for a gun.
Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said Los Angeles jurors told…
Source : time
