US millionaire Robert Durst sentenced to life in prison for murder
78-year-old American millionaire Robert Durst was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday local time in California after he was found guilty last month by a jury of the murder of a girlfriend of his in 2000. A 2015 HBO documentary shed new light on the case. According to the prosecutors, Durst, who comes from a very wealthy real estate dynasty, has two other murders on his conscience.
The judge handed down the verdict after a jury found it proven that Durst shot his close friend Susan Berman in the head in 2000. He allegedly did this to prevent Berman from testifying about the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack. The millionaire is a suspect in that missing person case but was never prosecuted. Durst allegedly got rid of Berman so she couldn’t tell her that she had helped him cover up his wife’s murder.
In 2015, Durst was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Berman. Just hours after that, the final episode aired in the HBO documentary about him, “The Jinx: The Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst.” During the recording, Durst talked about the murders when he thought there were no microphones on.
Third murder
The prosecutors underlined in court last month the importance of the documentary for the prosecution of Durst. “If they hadn’t conducted those interviews, we wouldn’t be where we are,” Chief Prosecutor John Lewin said. A letter from the wealthy American and an audio recording from his friend were also used as evidence.
Prosecutors say Durst committed the third murder in 2001 when he went into hiding in Texas. He would have killed his neighbor when he recognized him and then chopped his body into pieces. Durst argued that it was self-defense and was eventually acquitted in that case.
