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Robert Durst Dead at 78, Convicted Killer and Real Estate Heir Dies in Custody
Convicted killer Robert Durst has died at the age of 78, his lawyer Chip Lewis confirmed in a statement on Monday, January 10.
“Mr. Durst passed away early this morning while in the custody of the California Department of Corrections. We understand that his death was due to natural causes associated with the litany of medical issues we had repeatedly reported to the court over the last couple of years. We will issue no further statements and will not entertain any questions out of respect,” Lewis tells In Touch, following Durst’s hospitalization in October 2021 for COVID-19. Durst died on Monday after going into cardiac arrest.
The real estate heir was sentenced to life in prison that same month for the first-degree murder of his friend, Susan Berman, who was fatally shot in her Los Angeles home back in 2000. The trial began in March 2020 but had to be postponed for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic causing court closures. The trial resumed in May 2021.
Durst, who was the son of late New York real estate mogul Seymour Durst and brother of commercial developer Douglas Durst, made headlines again when it was decided he would remain behind bars without the possibility of parole.
Prior to his death and just one week after his sentencing last year, Durst was charged by a grand jury in Westchester Country for the murder of his first wife, Kathie Durst, who mysteriously vanished near their home in 1982.
Her body was never found, leading some to wonder if Berman could have known details about his former spouse’s disappearance. Durst was also suspected to be involved in the death and dismemberment of his neighbor Morris Black in Texas back in 2000, all of which was further explored in the six-part HBO docuseries The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst in 2015.
Following news of his death, his estranged brother Douglas Durst, who had a restraining order against the convicted killer, is speaking out in a statement to In Touch.
“Bob lived a sad, painful and tragic life,” Douglas says. “We hope his death brings some closure to those he hurt.”
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