TX - Trial of Robert Durst in the murder of Morris Black

[Rosebutter]

Batman's Mommy, You mentioned this -- Also, it is evident that he has substantial ties to the underworld. How else is he able to buy large amounts of marijuana and get all these fake IDs? From people that are in that business would be my guess...

I suppose anybody with $ can get anything they want fairly easy. I thought getting caught with 5 ounces of marijuana was more than one would normally buy from someone on the street, but yet not really all that much considering that is about all he probably does all day. He could easily buy that much almost anywhere in the country these days. In the 70's and 80's I figured that was why he had a connection to Northern California, well, other than there are also many places to bury a body!

 

[luckyseven]

Is Robert Durst tied to other cold cases? FBI is investigating

The FBI is asking detectives across the country to dust off their cold case murder files and see whether millionaire heir Robert Durst could be connected to any other unsolved crimes.

Durst, the focus of HBO’s true crime documentary series “The Jinx,” was charged with first-degree murder this week in the 2000 killing of his longtime confidante, Susan Berman.

Now the FBI is putting out a call to local authorities to examine cold cases in locations near where Durst lived over the past five decades, a U.S. law enforcement official said. Unsolved cases in Vermont, upstate New York, the San Francisco Bay area and Southern California are among those getting a new look, the official said.

Durst’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said it’s a sign that authorities are desperate.

“They seem to be going to such great lengths to pin something else on him,” DeGuerin said. “They must not have much of a case to begin with.”

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

I finally finished The Jinx series. :woot:

I rewound and watched the ending from where Jarecki started showing RD the letters about 3 times. Wow. Just wow!

Something else that stood out to me in one of the episodes, I think it may have been episode 5. RD is talking about how "if you live in Texas" that there is a lot more leeway when it comes to killing someone in your home. I can't remember his exact wording, but he was attempting to explain something about the self defense. I missed the point he was making because when he said it, the first thing I thought was, "Did he move to Texas so if he was ever accused of killing someone he could claim self defense?" I think I might look into other unexplained missing persons from that area.....

Also, it is evident that he has substantial ties to the underworld. How else is he able to buy large amounts of marijuana and get all these fake IDs? From people that are in that business would be my guess....:moo:

I don't think that is why he moved there but it definitely helped him in the end. I think he went there to hide and it was as far away as he could get from NY. Remember that he intial moved there and played a mute woman. His intent was to hide. But I would not be surprised if he had killed more people.

 

[Boodles]

This is the supposed source about the Black/Durst relationship..."in light of new, recently uncovered information involving alleged murderer and real estate heir Robert Durst, Investigation Discovery (ID) announced today it will air a special presentation of the hit series, VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL, based on a February 2002 article about Durst in Vanity Fair magazine by writer Ned Zeman."

This special presentation of VANITY FAIR CONFIDENTIAL premieres Sunday, March 22 at 7PM ET, and will be accompanied by a live Twitter chat with private investigator Bobbi Bacha, who uncovered key, previously unknown information about the relationship between Black and Durst during her investigation of Black’s murder. Viewers can join the conversation by following @DiscoveryID and using #VanityFairConfidential
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/03/17/id-to-premiere-vanity-fair-confidential-the-robert-durst-story-on-sunday-march-22/376421/

 

[Ray_of_hope]

Spoiler Alert so don't read if you plan on viewing the series "The Jinx". I can't understand why California PD didn't find the now infamous envelope in Susan Berman's home. The cadaver letter had already been received by the police and Susan had very few things in her home. Seems sloppy to me.

 

[Boodles]

Spoiler Alert so don't read if you plan on viewing the series "The Jinx". I can't understand why California PD didn't find the now infamous envelope in Susan Berman's home. The cadaver letter had already been received by the police and Susan had very few things in her home. Seems sloppy to me.

I think Durst is too smart to have made that blunder unknowingly. The printing and (mis)spelling are identical. If there's matching DNA, check. If not, it seems all too convenient for Jarecki to have stumbled upon this years later. But maybe Durst did write both and it's just his way of playing "catch me catch me," thinking his attorneys will somehow take care of its admission as evidence.

I think he loves playing games with the various parties involved. He knew that mic was hot.

 

[katydid23]

If I wanted to open a Susan Berman thread, where should it be? Upcoming trials?

 

[rainwater]

This was in the Las Vegas newspaper on Thursday, March 19, 2015. Norm Clarke is a widely read columnist for the paper. The first article in his column is about Susan Berman's murder.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/norm-clarke/mystery-mob-princess-slaying-resurfaces

 

[TexMex]

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/03/robert-durst-murders-wife-susie-berman

Bobby. That’s what they called him back when he was still hobnobbing with Jackie Onassis and making seven-figure deals and flying off to Paris and Saint-Tropez. The name stuck even during the bad old days, in the early 1980s, when he and his lovely young wife, Kathie, were no longer the happy couple they’d once been. By then Kathie’s complaints about Bobby—that he regularly brutalized her, physically and psychologically—were an open secret among their friends and neighbors. “If something ever happens to me,” she’d say, over and over, like a mantra, “don’t let Bobby get away with it.” The marriage had devolved into acrimony and violence, and Kathie wanted out. Then, just like that, on or around January 31, 1982, she vanished.

 

[TexMex]

http://variety.com/2015/tv/columns/with-robert-durst-the-media-gets-its-21st-century-o-j-1201456283/

Thanks to “The Jinx,” the Durst story is irresistible, but other factors should be noted in the wave of coverage that can be anticipated. For starters, the major networks’ primetime newsmagazines no longer really have any appetite for significant news anymore, operating almost exclusively as inexpensive true-crime dramas that churn out salacious murders and lurid “Did he or didn’t he kill his wife?” mysteries.

Moreover, the media have changed and proliferated considerably during the intervening years. Fox News and MSNBC were just joining the cable-news race in the mid-1990s, and MSNBC — in the midst of an identity crisis thanks to sluggish ratings — is currently casting about for a new direction, which might explain why there was a particularly heavy dose of Durst on the channel this week.

 

[Luvrosco]

I saw the Dateline show last night. Nothing knew,except I am concerned that Michael Jackson's former lawyer said he thinks he could still get off for this.

 

[TexMex]

I saw the Dateline show last night. Nothing knew,except I am concerned that Michael Jackson's former lawyer said he thinks he could still get off for this.

They also named the prosecutor...someone specializing in cold cases...
IMO DeGuerin would be wise to hire someone like Thomas Mesereau to help in LA. He is a fine lawyer

 

[TexMex]

For a first-time offender, the charge of illegally carrying a weapon in the presence of a controlled substance carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a maximum of 20 years, according to Orleans Parish district attorney's office spokesman Christopher Bowman.

But for someone with a felony record, the maximum penalty could be life in prison, Bowman said.

Bowman declined to say Thursday whether his office plans to prosecute Durst before he is extradited to California.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-oakland-woman-20150319-story.html

 

[TexMex]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/articl.../investment-firm-backed-by-robert-durst-grows

The second wife of Robert Durst has built a lucrative business investing in apartment buildings across the city, in part with millions of dollars from her husband's $65 million fortune.
Debrah Lee Charatan and her son Bennat Charatan Berger (who is Mr. Durst's stepson) founded real estate investment firm BCB Property Management. The company is doubling its headquarters at 27 Union Square West to 8,000 square feet. It moved to Union Square from midtown at 515 Madison Ave., at the corner of East 53rd Street, a year ago.
The firm is paying hefty rents for its office space, in the $60s per square foot. But with financial backing from Mr. Durst, and a string of successful deals, it appears to have reached the ranks of accomplished landlords that can afford to pay for premium office space.

Founded in 2008, the company has completed a series of big deals. Last year, Ms. Charatan and Mr. Berger sold 250 Pacific St. in Cobble Hill and 234 Union Ave. in Williamsburg for $21.15 million, more than double what it paid for the two buildings in 2011. Late last year, the mother-and-son team struck gold again when they sold 61-63 E. 125th St. for $7 million. According to property records, BCB Property Management purchased those properties for about $3 million.

 

[future criminologist]

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/03/robert-durst-murders-wife-susie-berman

Bobby. That’s what they called him back when he was still hobnobbing with Jackie Onassis and making seven-figure deals and flying off to Paris and Saint-Tropez. The name stuck even during the bad old days, in the early 1980s, when he and his lovely young wife, Kathie, were no longer the happy couple they’d once been. By then Kathie’s complaints about Bobby—that he regularly brutalized her, physically and psychologically—were an open secret among their friends and neighbors. “If something ever happens to me,” she’d say, over and over, like a mantra, “don’t let Bobby get away with it.” The marriage had devolved into acrimony and violence, and Kathie wanted out. Then, just like that, on or around January 31, 1982, she vanished.

Here's a note for all law enforcement: If a woman starts off a sentence with her friends and loved ones with "If something ever happens to me..."...BELIEVE THEM. I don't know why that detective blew this off as just superfluous female chatter. Women don't tell people this for no reason! I can't think of a single time when a woman told her friends this, was later murdered, and the husband WASN'T the killer

 

[future criminologist]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/articl.../investment-firm-backed-by-robert-durst-grows

The second wife of Robert Durst has built a lucrative business investing in apartment buildings across the city, in part with millions of dollars from her husband's $65 million fortune.
Debrah Lee Charatan and her son Bennat Charatan Berger (who is Mr. Durst's stepson) founded real estate investment firm BCB Property Management. The company is doubling its headquarters at 27 Union Square West to 8,000 square feet. It moved to Union Square from midtown at 515 Madison Ave., at the corner of East 53rd Street, a year ago.
The firm is paying hefty rents for its office space, in the $60s per square foot. But with financial backing from Mr. Durst, and a string of successful deals, it appears to have reached the ranks of accomplished landlords that can afford to pay for premium office space.

Founded in 2008, the company has completed a series of big deals. Last year, Ms. Charatan and Mr. Berger sold 250 Pacific St. in Cobble Hill and 234 Union Ave. in Williamsburg for $21.15 million, more than double what it paid for the two buildings in 2011. Late last year, the mother-and-son team struck gold again when they sold 61-63 E. 125th St. for $7 million. According to property records, BCB Property Management purchased those properties for about $3 million.

I would still love to know how these investments with Bobby and Deborah impacted the Durst family holdings, and if they've ever been competitors with the Douglas Durst for property. I would bet good money that Bobby allied himself with Deborah just to stick it to Douglas.

 

[future criminologist]

I saw the Dateline show last night. Nothing knew,except I am concerned that Michael Jackson's former lawyer said he thinks he could still get off for this.

OJ was found not guilty in LA county. That dumb-dumb jury in Galveston believed him. Durst's attorneys are GOOD. I'm not totally set on this being a "slam dunk" yet.

 

[future criminologist]

Then how come years ago CA LE said the evidence concerning the cadaver letter was inconclusive?

Because the LAPD sucks and they probably didn't want to pay the money for a good handwriting analyst on an old case.

 

[future criminologist]

Why don't you think he will be that lucky again?

From the looks of the Galveston jury, they seem...sheltered? A little naive? Trusting? I don't know but I've lived in L.A. before and I think the culture there makes people far more cynical and quicker on the ball, so to speak. I think so much more is known now about Durst's background that the Galveston jury just didn't have back then - much less media attention, less internet, etc. that I think the L.A. jury knows better than to trust him so easily. But that's just IMO. They did acquit O.J. after all, and hung on Phil Spector and Rodney Alcala a couple times I think?
If he gets 20 years, I'm ok with that. I know he needs to answer for all his crimes, but we all know he'll never see the electric chair, he's old and in poor health, and CA is not like Texas where they execute someone every few days - they haven't executed anyone in CA in years I don't think. As long as he dies in prison and is off the street, and maybe in exchange for a lesser sentence he tells the McCormacks where Kathie's body is, and 'fesses up to his other crimes. That's at least the offer I would make if I were the D.A. I know we all want to throw the book at him and make him pay for all his crimes to the fullest extent possible, but we all know that realistically won't happen to someone of his age and status.

 

[future criminologist]

They probably didn't have the DNA evidence. DNA testing has made great progress over the years. If he licked the envelope they may have been able to find DNA now.

It also depends on how well this evidence was preserved. I don't trust the LAPD on this. I am thinking of an episode of "Cold Justice" in which they went back to a case and retested the DNA with new technology that wasn't available to them, only to find out that there were too many DNA contributors for the evidence to not have been contaminated at the scene, and this would allow the defense to introduce so much reasonable doubt that it would never be brought to trial. The two investigators were crying when they had to tell the victim's family this, that they knew who did it but unless he confessed, he'd never be put behind bars for it.