A NY real estate heir pleaded guilty in New Orleans on Wednesday to a weapons charge and agreed to an 85-month prison sentence, a move that could usher in his extradition to California to face murder charges. He will be transported to California by mid-August, Los Angeles authorities said.
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Millionaire Robert Durst – the focus of the HBO documentary “The Jinx” – has been in limbo over suspected crimes for almost a year now. Susan Berman, the daughter of a Las Vegas gangster, took it upon herself to handle the media on Durst’s behalf at that time and, according to Durst’s detractors, may have learned more secrets than Durst was comfortable letting her hold on to.
DeGuerin’s statement Wednesday said, “Bob Durst did not kill Susan Berman and doesn’t know who did, and he’s eager to get to California to prove it. His legal team has been working to “clear the decks” of other investigations so he can get to California as soon as possible”.
Durst ignored his attorneys’ advice and served as the subject of the Emmy-winning HBO documentary series The Jinx, which focused on the disappearance of Durst’s first wife Kathleen and the murder of Berman.
The series explored the mysterious disappearance of Durst’s wife, Kathy, in 1982, as well as the 2000 killing of Berman, who was found shot in her Benedict Canyon home. The family came after him with a $100 million lawsuit, but Durst’s lawyer said the window to sue had been closed.
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Durst’s high-profile lead criminal defence attorney, Dick DeGuerin, has argued that the audio was not a confession, just Durst’s commentary on how his accusers see him. He was formally arrested early on the day of the broadcast. He was convicted of killing Black, was acquitted, so none of the charges stuck, so when viewers heard him say, at a time when he thought his microphone was off, that he “killed them all, of course”, it was a little unsettling. You’re caught! What the hell did I do? Durst, 72, had faced charges pertaining to a handgun that was found when he was arrested for murder in March 2015.
