GUILTY CA - Susan Berman, 55, fatally shot, Los Angeles, 23 Dec 2000

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Judge orders Robert Durst to stand trial in murder of friend

February 26, 2019

"LOS ANGELES — Robert Durst, the New York real estate heir who was the subject of a television documentary series, was ordered Thursday to stand trial for the murder of his close friend in Los Angeles 18 years ago.

A judge ruled that there’s enough evidence to try the eccentric 75-year-old multimillionaire for the point-blank shooting of Susan Berman at her home. Durst has pleaded not guilty...."

Judge orders Robert Durst to stand trial in murder of friend | Hermann Herald
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from the article above:

Durst remains jailed without bail and was ordered back to court Nov. 8 for arraignment. The murder charge against him includes the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and killing a witness to a crime. There is also an allegation that he personally used a handgun to carry out the murder.


So I'm guessing there is no hearing on May 14th & trial does not start 9/3...

edited to add: @gitana1 - could you find the case # on this one for me? TIA! :)
 
Robert Durst faces new lawsuit in death of first wife

March 22,2019

"NEW YORK – The legal saga surrounding real estate scion Robert Durst found yet another venue Friday, as a new lawsuit accused him of killing his first wife in New York and disposing of her body in 1982.

The wrongful death claim, filed in state court, came two years after a judge declared Kathleen Durst legally dead. It accuses Durst of killing the woman in their suburban New York City home after she threatened to divorce him.

Durst for decades has denied involvement in his first wife's death. But the lawsuit claims he has made "multiple admissions" to the killing, including remarks featured in a sensational HBO documentary that examined Kathleen Durst's disappearance and two other killings for which Durst was charged...."

Robert Durst faces new lawsuit in death of first wife
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Estate of late Robert Durst wife sues him for wrongful death, implicates his famous family

MAR 22, 2019

"The estate of Robert Durst’s first wife has sued him for her wrongful death -- and alleges other members of the Durst family conspired to cover up her killing.

Only Robert Durst is a defendant in the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.

But the papers filed by Kathie Durst’s estate say Robert’s late father, legendary developer Seymour Durst, worked with others in his company and the Durst family to hide Kathie’s death...."

Estate of late Robert Durst wife sues him for wrongful death, implicates his famous family
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Robert Durst murdered wife Kathie after being told to 'take care of the problem' by his dad, while his family covered up the killing and spread lies that victim, 29, was a drug-addicted cheater, claim court docs

"Robert Durst has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit by the sister of his first wife Kathleen 'Kathie' Durst, who vanished without a trace on January 31, 1982

Kathie's body has never been found and Durst has never been charged or convicted of his first wife's murder

Carol Bamonte, who is the administrator of her late sister's estate, claims in her court filing that the Durst family helped to cover up Kathie's murder

It is also claimed that just before she died, Kathie threatened to expose the illegal practices of the Durst Organization

Durst's father Seymour then told his son to 'get rid of the problem' just before Kathie's death

Bob Durst did not have anything to do with Kathy Durst's disappearance and he did not kill Susan Berman and he doesn't know who did,' said Durst's lawyer ..."

Robert Durst murdered wife Kathie after being told to 'take care of the problem' by his dad | Daily Mail Online
 
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Going to bump this up for @gitana1 for a L.A. County case # - please? :)
 
Bumping up again for @gitana1 - could you get me the case # on this case please? TIA! :)
 
Robert Durst’s HBO ‘confession’ wasn’t what it seemed. Here’s what happened

APR 25, 2019

"It was in the dramatic final moments of the HBO documentary “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” that New York real estate scion Robert Durst is heard mumbling: “Killed them all, of course.”

To some, his comments served as a confession to a series of killings of people close to Durst, crimes he has denied committing. And soon after the show aired, Durst was arrested in a long-ago L.A. killing.

But what did Durst actually say on the HBO show, and how relevant will it be in his upcoming trial? Information provided to the court last year raised serious questions about his comment, and that could become an issue going forward....

In the finale, Durst mumbles a comment on a hot microphone during a bathroom break, which some have interpreted as a confession to multiple murders. “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,” Durst says, according to “The Jinx.”

But as The Times reported last year, prosecutors played raw audio from the recording, which indicated that the miniseries’ producers spliced together statements out of order. Durst first mumbles, “Killed them all, of course” and makes several other comments before later uttering, “What the hell did I do?”

“It was edited and taken out of order,” noted Dick DeGuerin, Durst’s lead attorney.

“Yes,” replied the judge, “it appears it was.”

Some viewers considered the comment a confession to killing three people: Berman, his wife, and his onetime neighbor in Galveston, Texas....

What is next in the case?

After many delays, the trial is expected to begin in September.

Durst’s attorneys have suggested in court documents that they will file a motion to suppress evidence obtained from the documentary."

Robert Durst’s HBO ‘confession’ wasn’t what it seemed. Here’s what happened
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Will The Jinx Be a Reliable Witness at Robert Durst’s Upcoming Trial?
Durst’s defense team plans to call attention to the ways in which the HBO docuseries allegedly manipulated that chilling bathroom confession.

APRIL 24, 2019

Will The Jinx Be a Reliable Witness at Robert Durst’s Upcoming Trial?
 
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YESorNO said:
In the finale, Durst mumbles a comment on a hot microphone during a bathroom break, which some have interpreted as a confession to multiple murders. “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,” Durst says, according to “The Jinx.”

But as The Times reported last year, prosecutors played raw audio from the recording, which indicated that the miniseries’ producers spliced together statements out of order. Durst first mumbles, “Killed them all, of course” and makes several other comments before later uttering, “What the hell did I do?” Robert Durst’s HBO ‘confession’ wasn’t what it seemed. Here’s what happened
Click to expand...
RSBM & BBM

Interesting, compared to what was reported in The New York Times (posted by JerseyGirl) which IMO puts a very different slant on it:

In Mr. Durst’s case, he began his bathroom soliloquy with perhaps his most damning statement: “There it is, you’re caught.”

As Durst Murder Case Goes Forward, HBO’s Film Will Also Be on Trial
 
Robert Durst’s murder trial postponed to January, sparking worry from Kathie Durst’s brother

MAY 17, 2019

"Millionaire Manhattan real estate scion Robert Durst has won a four-month postponement of his murder trial, the Daily News has learned.

The trial previously set for September now has a new start date of Jan. 13, a source with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Judge Mark Windham agreed to the delay after defense lawyers raised concerns about the volume of evidence in the case and conflicts with attorney schedules...."

Robert Durst’s murder trial postponed to January, sparking worry from Kathie Durst’s brother

NY - NY - Kathleen Durst, 29, South Salem, 31 January 1982
 
DA Wants Jury in Robert Durst Case to Hear About `Cadaver Note’

JULY 10, 2019

"In court papers released Wednesday, Los Angeles County prosecutors urged the judge in the upcoming murder trial of New York real estate scion Robert Durst to allow them to present testimony from handwriting experts about an anonymous “cadaver note” mailed after the December 2000 killing of his friend, who was shot once in the back of the head in her Benedict Canyon home.

Prosecutors — objecting to a defense’s motion to exclude handwriting and handprinting evidence — argue that the “internationally renowned experts” concluded Durst wrote the note with the word “cadaver” and the address of his slain friend, Susan Berman, along with an envelope that was addressed to Beverly Hills police and postmarked a day before the 55-year-old woman’s body was discovered....

A hearing is set next Wednesday on the issue as Durst, 76, awaits trial on a charge that he murdered Berman, whose body was found in her home on Christmas Eve 2000...."

https://mynewsla.com/crime/2019/07/10/da-wants-jury-in-robert-durst-case-to-hear-about-cadaver-note/
 
@gitana1 - could you please look up the case # for me - Los Angeles County?

Thanks in advance! :)
 
Wednesday, July 17th:
*Motions Hearing (@ am PT) – CA – Susan Berman (55) (Dec. 24, 2000, Beverly Hills) – *Robert Durst (75/57 @ time of crime) arrested (3/14/15) extradited (11/1/16 from Indiana prison to Calif.) & charged with 1st degree murder includes the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait & killing a witness to a crime. There is also an allegation that he personally used a handgun to carry out the murder. Plead not guilty. Held without bond. LA County
Trial set for 1/13/20
Was serving a 7 year federal prison term for illegal possession of a revolver at the time of his New Orleans’ arrest.
12/27/18: Prosecutors want jurors in Durst's murder trial to hear about the 2001 killing & dismemberment of a Texas neighbor for which he was acquitted. In a lengthy court filing objecting to a defense motion to exclude evidence about Morris Black's killing, prosecutors contend that the manner of the two killings were "eerily similar" and that both victims were slain inside a residence they each considered to be safe while they were "either completely or largely helpless in their ability to defend themselves." A hearing on the defense's request is set Jan. 14.
1/14/19 Update: Los Angeles County prosecutors, in a newly filed motion, are pushing for jurors in Durst's murder trial to hear about the 2001 killing & dismemberment of a Texas neighbor for which he was acquitted. In their latest court filing, submitted Friday & scheduled to be argued before a judge on Tuesday (1/14/19), prosecutors allege that the defense -- which has moved to exclude evidence about Morris Black's killing -- is seeking to "blindfold jurors in their search for the truth.'' Superior Court Judge Mark E. Windham ruled that prosecutors could use evidence from the Texas case at trial. In explaining his ruling, Windham said the killings of Black and Berman seemed “to be intertwined,” noting that both were killed while Durst was living on the lam. “He changes his identity, he leaves town, and two people are killed,” the judge said. Next pretrial hearing on May 14. Trial is set for 9/3/19.
2/21/19 Update: Preliminary hearing held. A judge ruled that there’s enough evidence to try the eccentric 75-year-old multimillionaire for the point-blank shooting of Susan Berman at her home. Durst has pleaded not guilty. Durst was ordered back to court Nov. 8, 2019 for arraignment. 5/17/19: Motion for continuance granted. Trial now will tart 1/13/20.
7/10/19 Update: In court papers released Wednesday, L.A. County prosecutors urged the judge to allow them to present testimony from handwriting experts about an anonymous “cadaver note” mailed after the December 2000 killing of his friend, who was shot once in the back of the head in her Benedict Canyon home. Prosecutors objected to defense’s motion to exclude handwriting ^ handprinting evidence — arguing that the “internationally renowned experts” concluded Durst wrote the note with the word “cadaver” & address on envelope. A hearing is set next Wednesday, 7/17 on the issue.
 
Judge in Durst murder case rules jurors may consider handwriting evidence


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jurors in real estate scion Robert Durst's trial for murder may consider handwriting evidence that prosecutors say implicates him in the killing of his longtime friend, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Wednesday.

But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Windham told prosecutors their handwriting experts will have to explain their methodology before they can tell jurors whether they think Durst wrote a potentially incriminating note.
[.....]
Prosecutors have suggested in court papers that Durst, after killing Berman, sent the note hoping her body would be discovered quickly enough for the Jewish writer to receive a burial consistent with her faith.
 
Durst Taunts In-Laws for Belated Suit on Wife’s Death

July 25, 2019

"MANHATTAN (CN) – A wrongful-death lawsuit for the 1982 disappearance of Robert Durst’s first wife is 35 years too late, attorneys for the real estate scion argued Thursday before a New York judge.

Durst, the real estate heir who seemingly confessed to killing first-wife Kathleen in the final of episode of the 2015 HBO documentary series “The Jinx,” got hit with the lawsuit earlier this year by his former sister-in-law, Carol Bamonte.

At a hearing today before Justice Paul Goetz in Manhattan County Supreme Court, lawyers for the family said there is no question as to whether Durst killed Kathleen, who hasn’t been seen since 1982.

“He’s a serial murderer who should not be rewarded for covering up a crime long enough so that the he can defeat the statute of limitations,” Abrams Fensterman attorney Robert Abrams told the court.

Abrams said the wrongful-death suit against Durst was properly commenced within two years of the date in which Kathleen was legally declared deceased by the New York County Surrogate’s Court pursuant to New York’s Estates, Powers & Trusts Law...

Durst’s criminal trial on Berman’s death is slated to begin in Los Angeles Superior Court next year."

Durst Taunts In-Laws for Belated Suit on Wife’s Death
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NY - NY - Kathleen Durst, 29, South Salem, 31 January 1982
 
EXCLUSIVE: Inside Robert Durst's hospital jail cell littered with novels and New Yorker magazines, a food tray with boiled eggs, an ad for bagels and lox from NYC's Zabar's and urine-stained sheets where the 76-year-old awaits trial for murder

30 July 2019

"Robert Durst is awaiting trial on the medical ward of Los Angeles Twin Towers Correctional Facility, charged with killing his friend Susan Berman in 2000

The 76-year-old's room is littered with classic literature including War and Peace and highbrow mags, including the New Yorker

An ad for specialty food store Zabar's, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan hangs close to another ad for the Lupe Tortilla chain of Tex-Mex restaurants in Texas

The reminders of good food are in sharp contrast with the grim-looking jail chow seen by Durst's bed – boiled eggs, corn flakes, apple sauce, crackers, apple cranberry juice and milk

Durst's only access to light from the outside world is a narrow window above his urine-stained hospital bed, which is flanked by a breathing apparatus

Durst has been ill since suffering esophageal cancer in 2007 and more recently was hit by hydrocephalus, a build up of fluid on the brain..."

Photos reveal the state of millionaire Robert Durst's messy jail cell | Daily Mail Online

16672012-7266281-The_76_year_old_s_room_is_littered_with_classic_literature_highb-a-2_1564494860099.jpg


16672016-7266281-Novels_piled_high_in_one_corner_of_the_cell_include_Tolstoy_s_Wa-a-3_1564494860099.jpg


16672104-7266281-One_page_on_the_wall_is_the_Times_obituary_of_San_Francisco_priv-a-5_1564494860104.jpg

(One page on the wall is the Times' obituary of San Francisco private detective David Fechheimer from April 3 this year, which mentions how the investigator handled a case involving Durst)
 
Too Late for Sister-in-Law to Sue Robert Durst

August 7, 2019

"MANHATTAN (CN) – A wrongful-death lawsuit for the disappearance of Robert Durst’s first wife is 35 years too late, a New York judge ruled Monday.

Durst, the real estate heir who ostensibly confessed on a hot lapel microphone in the finale episode of the 2015 HBO documentary series “The Jinx,” got hit with the lawsuit earlier this year by Carol Bamonte, the sister of his first wife, Kathleen.

Though Kathleen disappeared without a trace in 1982, relatives only began the process of having her declared decease a year after Durst’s “Jinx” bombshell.

“What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,” Durst had said when left alone in an interview room, apparently forgetful of the microphone.

Though Bamonte insisted that she brought the suit within two years of the certificate declaring Kathleen dead, Justice Paul Goetz found this too late Monday.

“It is well-established both under the plain language of the statute and the relevant case law, that the wrongful death claims accrues at the time of the decedent’s death,” Goetz wrote. “Given that Kathleen Durst died in 1982 and this action was not commenced until 2019, defendant has met his prima facie burden of showing that the action is time-barred.”

Robert Abrams, an attorney for Bamonte with Abrams Fensterman, voiced disappointment but said he remains “encouraged that Robert Durst will eventually be charged and convicted for Kathie’s murder in New York state.”...

Durst’s criminal trial on Berman’s death is slated to begin in Los Angeles Superior Court next year.

Abrams maintained in his filing that the Los Angeles prosecutor will be required to prove that Robert Durst killed Kathleen Durst in order to charge Berman’s death as a special circumstances murder of a witness under California Penal Code Section 190.2."

Too Late for Sister-in-Law to Sue Robert Durst
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Robert Durst Successfully Defends Against Lawsuit Accusing Him of Killing His Wife

August 7, 2019

Robert Durst Successfully Defends Against Lawsuit Accusing Him of Killing His Wife
 
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