Aaron Silverman
Senior HTF Member
I was thinking of watching The Jinx for Watchathon week, but now I feel like it'd just be a rehash of stuff I've already read about in this thread. Keep those articles coming! 
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'The Jinx - The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst' on HBO (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Ken H
- Start date
Ken H
Second Unit
From The New York Times
Robert Durst Indicted on Gun Charges in New Orleans
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
APRIL 8, 2015
Robert A. Durst, the estranged member of a prominent Manhattan real estate family, will not be going to Los Angeles anytime soon to face murder charges.
Mr. Durst, who turns 72 next week, was formally indicted on Wednesday on state gun charges in New Orleans. He remains in a psychiatric jail outside that city. The United States attorney in New Orleans also filed a federal gun charge against him this week.
But while the case in Louisiana plays out, prosecutors and investigators from California will be in New York next week to interview additional witnesses as part of their expanding investigation into what they now believe was Mr. Durst’s execution-style murder of a close confidante, Susan Berman, in Los Angeles 15 years ago.
Mr. Durst’s lawyers contend that the charges in New Orleans are part of a collaborative effort by the authorities to allow Los Angeles to continue to prepare their case while depriving the defense of its right to learn what evidence they have.
“We’ve got the tail wagging the dog,” Chip Lewis, one of Mr. Durst’s lawyers, said. “The arrest in New Orleans is nothing but a product of the Los Angeles arrest warrant.
Last year, the district attorney in Los Angeles reopened the investigation into Ms. Berman’s 2000 murder in her Benedict Canyon home. Initially, investigators quietly interviewed her friends and family, hoping that Mr. Durst would not get wind of their renewed interest.
But when Mr. Durst traveled to New Orleans last month, the authorities in Los Angeles feared that he was about to flee the country. They prepared a murder warrant, but Mr. Durst was arrested on March 14 on local gun charges after the authorities found a .38-caliber revolver, as well as five ounces of marijuana, in his hotel room.
In the last two weeks, the lead prosecutor for the Berman case, John Lewin, contacted members of Mr. Durst’s family, and his old friends in New York, to set up interviews next week, according to four people who spoke either to the prosecutor or to investigators.
Dick DeGuerin, the lawyer leading Mr. Durst’s defense, said he was eager to get to Los Angeles to fight the murder charge.
“I don’t think they have a case,” Mr. DeGuerin said on Wednesday. “I’m confident that there’s nothing new other than this TV show that claimed to be a documentary but was really an effort to trap Bob into saying something that would seem to incriminate him.”
Mr. DeGuerin was referring to a six-part HBO documentary, “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.” During the series finale, which aired on March 15, Mr. Durst is heard making what seems to be a confession to several murders.
New evidence turned up by the filmmakers helped prompt new interest in the Berman case, as well as in the 1982 disappearance of Mr. Durst’s first wife, Kathleen Durst.
Mr. Durst has long been estranged from his family, who own a dozen skyscrapers in Manhattan.
He learned in 2000 that the authorities had reopened the investigation into his wife’s disappearance. The following year, he was arrested in Galveston, Tex., where he had gone to hide, on charges of murdering and dismembering a neighbor. He claimed it was an accident that happened in self-defense. The jury believed him.
Investigators now believe that Mr. Durst, who was living in Houston and is worth an estimated $110 million, decided to go on the run again after the airing of the fifth episode of “The Jinx,” which raised questions about his role in Ms. Berman’s death.
On March 10, Mr. Durst packed a 2005 Camry with five suitcases and drove from Houston to New Orleans, where he booked a room under an alias at the JW Marriott on Canal Street.
The next day, the authorities in Los Angeles obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Durst on murder charges.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation went to the Marriott on March 14, inquiring whether Mr. Durst had a room under any one of 11 aliases he was known to have used. The desk clerk turned up nothing, but then Mr. Durst entered the lobby.
The agents subsequently arrested him and seized from his room a fake Texas identification card, the revolver, marijuana, $45,000 in cash and a latex mask with salt-and-pepper hair.
The indictment on Wednesday charged Mr. Durst with possession of a handgun by a felon and possession of a weapon while in the possession of an illegal substance. He faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted of those charges.
Mr. Durst’s lawyers have challenged his arrest in New Orleans and sought immediate extradition to Los Angeles. They say that the gun and other items were illegally seized by the F.B.I. agents hours before the authorities obtained a search warrant.
At a preliminary hearing earlier this month, Mr. DeGuerin’s attempt to cross-examine the federal agents was stymied by the agents’ failure to appear in court.
The magistrate hearing the case had set a contempt hearing for Thursday. But the district attorney’s decision to indict Mr. Durst now eliminates the need for that hearing.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in New Orleans also filed gun charges against Mr. Durst.
It now appears that Mr. Durst will remain in Louisiana for some time to answer the gun charges. He may not get to Los Angeles to answer the murder charge until that matter is resolved. His lawyers do not get to learn about the murder case against him until he is arraigned in Los Angeles.
“Just because he’s the monster du jour,” Mr. DeGuerin said, “it doesn’t mean you should deprive him of his constitutional rights.”
But the prosecutor’s strategy may be to break Mr. Durst’s spirit, said Craig Mordock, a criminal defense lawyer in New Orleans who is not involved in the case.
“A gun charge is very easy to prosecute,” Mr. Mordock said. “The goal is to break his desire to fight the murder charge knowing that he has to go back to Louisiana, win or lose.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/nyregion/robert-durst-indicted-on-gun-charges-in-new-orleans.html
Robert Durst Indicted on Gun Charges in New Orleans
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
APRIL 8, 2015
Robert A. Durst, the estranged member of a prominent Manhattan real estate family, will not be going to Los Angeles anytime soon to face murder charges.
Mr. Durst, who turns 72 next week, was formally indicted on Wednesday on state gun charges in New Orleans. He remains in a psychiatric jail outside that city. The United States attorney in New Orleans also filed a federal gun charge against him this week.
But while the case in Louisiana plays out, prosecutors and investigators from California will be in New York next week to interview additional witnesses as part of their expanding investigation into what they now believe was Mr. Durst’s execution-style murder of a close confidante, Susan Berman, in Los Angeles 15 years ago.
Mr. Durst’s lawyers contend that the charges in New Orleans are part of a collaborative effort by the authorities to allow Los Angeles to continue to prepare their case while depriving the defense of its right to learn what evidence they have.
“We’ve got the tail wagging the dog,” Chip Lewis, one of Mr. Durst’s lawyers, said. “The arrest in New Orleans is nothing but a product of the Los Angeles arrest warrant.
Last year, the district attorney in Los Angeles reopened the investigation into Ms. Berman’s 2000 murder in her Benedict Canyon home. Initially, investigators quietly interviewed her friends and family, hoping that Mr. Durst would not get wind of their renewed interest.
But when Mr. Durst traveled to New Orleans last month, the authorities in Los Angeles feared that he was about to flee the country. They prepared a murder warrant, but Mr. Durst was arrested on March 14 on local gun charges after the authorities found a .38-caliber revolver, as well as five ounces of marijuana, in his hotel room.
In the last two weeks, the lead prosecutor for the Berman case, John Lewin, contacted members of Mr. Durst’s family, and his old friends in New York, to set up interviews next week, according to four people who spoke either to the prosecutor or to investigators.
Dick DeGuerin, the lawyer leading Mr. Durst’s defense, said he was eager to get to Los Angeles to fight the murder charge.
“I don’t think they have a case,” Mr. DeGuerin said on Wednesday. “I’m confident that there’s nothing new other than this TV show that claimed to be a documentary but was really an effort to trap Bob into saying something that would seem to incriminate him.”
Mr. DeGuerin was referring to a six-part HBO documentary, “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.” During the series finale, which aired on March 15, Mr. Durst is heard making what seems to be a confession to several murders.
New evidence turned up by the filmmakers helped prompt new interest in the Berman case, as well as in the 1982 disappearance of Mr. Durst’s first wife, Kathleen Durst.
Mr. Durst has long been estranged from his family, who own a dozen skyscrapers in Manhattan.
He learned in 2000 that the authorities had reopened the investigation into his wife’s disappearance. The following year, he was arrested in Galveston, Tex., where he had gone to hide, on charges of murdering and dismembering a neighbor. He claimed it was an accident that happened in self-defense. The jury believed him.
Investigators now believe that Mr. Durst, who was living in Houston and is worth an estimated $110 million, decided to go on the run again after the airing of the fifth episode of “The Jinx,” which raised questions about his role in Ms. Berman’s death.
On March 10, Mr. Durst packed a 2005 Camry with five suitcases and drove from Houston to New Orleans, where he booked a room under an alias at the JW Marriott on Canal Street.
The next day, the authorities in Los Angeles obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Durst on murder charges.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation went to the Marriott on March 14, inquiring whether Mr. Durst had a room under any one of 11 aliases he was known to have used. The desk clerk turned up nothing, but then Mr. Durst entered the lobby.
The agents subsequently arrested him and seized from his room a fake Texas identification card, the revolver, marijuana, $45,000 in cash and a latex mask with salt-and-pepper hair.
The indictment on Wednesday charged Mr. Durst with possession of a handgun by a felon and possession of a weapon while in the possession of an illegal substance. He faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted of those charges.
Mr. Durst’s lawyers have challenged his arrest in New Orleans and sought immediate extradition to Los Angeles. They say that the gun and other items were illegally seized by the F.B.I. agents hours before the authorities obtained a search warrant.
At a preliminary hearing earlier this month, Mr. DeGuerin’s attempt to cross-examine the federal agents was stymied by the agents’ failure to appear in court.
The magistrate hearing the case had set a contempt hearing for Thursday. But the district attorney’s decision to indict Mr. Durst now eliminates the need for that hearing.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in New Orleans also filed gun charges against Mr. Durst.
It now appears that Mr. Durst will remain in Louisiana for some time to answer the gun charges. He may not get to Los Angeles to answer the murder charge until that matter is resolved. His lawyers do not get to learn about the murder case against him until he is arraigned in Los Angeles.
“Just because he’s the monster du jour,” Mr. DeGuerin said, “it doesn’t mean you should deprive him of his constitutional rights.”
But the prosecutor’s strategy may be to break Mr. Durst’s spirit, said Craig Mordock, a criminal defense lawyer in New Orleans who is not involved in the case.
“A gun charge is very easy to prosecute,” Mr. Mordock said. “The goal is to break his desire to fight the murder charge knowing that he has to go back to Louisiana, win or lose.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/nyregion/robert-durst-indicted-on-gun-charges-in-new-orleans.html
Ken H
Second Unit
In another bizarre, but not surprising development, Robert Durst has reached out to the media once again.
Shortly after his arrest in New Orleans, LA Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske (see some of her Durst related stories posted earlier in this topic) wrote to Durst while in he was in jail on March 25th, sending him a "very open ended letter, just saying if there's anything you'd like to say just write back".
Durst replied with a two page letter. He started off by saying he read her byline from 2008-2011, mentioned where he lived in LA and an apartment complex he bought there, and briefly ranted about LA traffic. He then goes on to say he's interested in opera and pro football, and the reason LA doesn't have a pro football team is because "Your politicos and business leaders have chosen to fight rather than to agree to disagree".
He mentions the surgery for his hydrocephalus saying "if I was going to let some guy drill into my head, there was no place I would be willing to go ahead other than the Houston Medical Center and I left LA".
He stated he "said nothing about charges, crimes, or trials", and tells her it's OK if she uses any of this, to make that clear.
In closing he says he's sure she knows what her abilities are to visit him when he gets to LA, and if any of this gets published to please copy him.
Here's the actual letter, which today Durst attorney Richard DeGuerin said looks authentic to him and as long it doesn't discuss the facts, legal plans or strategy, he has no problem with it - http://documents.latimes.com/letter-times-reporter-apparently-robert-durst/
You just can't make this stuff up.
Shortly after his arrest in New Orleans, LA Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske (see some of her Durst related stories posted earlier in this topic) wrote to Durst while in he was in jail on March 25th, sending him a "very open ended letter, just saying if there's anything you'd like to say just write back".
Durst replied with a two page letter. He started off by saying he read her byline from 2008-2011, mentioned where he lived in LA and an apartment complex he bought there, and briefly ranted about LA traffic. He then goes on to say he's interested in opera and pro football, and the reason LA doesn't have a pro football team is because "Your politicos and business leaders have chosen to fight rather than to agree to disagree".
He mentions the surgery for his hydrocephalus saying "if I was going to let some guy drill into my head, there was no place I would be willing to go ahead other than the Houston Medical Center and I left LA".
He stated he "said nothing about charges, crimes, or trials", and tells her it's OK if she uses any of this, to make that clear.
In closing he says he's sure she knows what her abilities are to visit him when he gets to LA, and if any of this gets published to please copy him.
Here's the actual letter, which today Durst attorney Richard DeGuerin said looks authentic to him and as long it doesn't discuss the facts, legal plans or strategy, he has no problem with it - http://documents.latimes.com/letter-times-reporter-apparently-robert-durst/
You just can't make this stuff up.
Ken H
Second Unit
From The LA Times
Robert Durst charged in handgun case
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
April 10, 2015
Robert Durst was formally charged Friday by a federal grand jury in New Orleans with illegally possessing a handgun.
Friday's indictment alleges Durst violated the federal gun-control act by possessing a firearm after being convicted of prior felonies.
This week, federal prosecutors filed a complaint outlining the charge, which they brought after FBI agents who stopped Durst at a hotel March 14 found a .38 revolver in his room.
Durst, 71, subject of the recent HBO documentary series "The Jinx," now faces criminal charges in three cases. In California, he is wanted in connection with the 2000 slaying of friend Susan Berman, who was shot in the head in her Benedict Canyon home. In New Orleans, in addition to the federal charge, Durst faces two state weapons charges.
He has waived extradition to California and even offered to pay transportation costs, according to his attorneys. But prosecutors in New Orleans have fought to keep him there - and so far, they are succeeding.
Durst is being held without bond at the medical unit of Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, about 70 miles west of New Orleans. He is due back in federal court at 2 p.m. Tuesday. He s not expected to appear back in state court until May 7.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-charged-in-handgun-case-20150410-story.html
Legal observers said federal charges may have a better chance of conviction as federal law in this area is broader than Louisiana's. It's also unknown if double jeopardy would be an issue or not, based on potential unique elements of the state and federal statutes.
Durst will turn 72 while in jail on Sunday.
Robert Durst charged in handgun case
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
April 10, 2015
Robert Durst was formally charged Friday by a federal grand jury in New Orleans with illegally possessing a handgun.
Friday's indictment alleges Durst violated the federal gun-control act by possessing a firearm after being convicted of prior felonies.
This week, federal prosecutors filed a complaint outlining the charge, which they brought after FBI agents who stopped Durst at a hotel March 14 found a .38 revolver in his room.
Durst, 71, subject of the recent HBO documentary series "The Jinx," now faces criminal charges in three cases. In California, he is wanted in connection with the 2000 slaying of friend Susan Berman, who was shot in the head in her Benedict Canyon home. In New Orleans, in addition to the federal charge, Durst faces two state weapons charges.
He has waived extradition to California and even offered to pay transportation costs, according to his attorneys. But prosecutors in New Orleans have fought to keep him there - and so far, they are succeeding.
Durst is being held without bond at the medical unit of Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, about 70 miles west of New Orleans. He is due back in federal court at 2 p.m. Tuesday. He s not expected to appear back in state court until May 7.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-charged-in-handgun-case-20150410-story.html
Legal observers said federal charges may have a better chance of conviction as federal law in this area is broader than Louisiana's. It's also unknown if double jeopardy would be an issue or not, based on potential unique elements of the state and federal statutes.
Durst will turn 72 while in jail on Sunday.
Ken H
Second Unit
A couple of updates, one being that last Wednesday April 14th Durst was charged in Federal court with of possessing a gun after a felony conviction. He plead not guilty and a court date of June 22 was set. The Federal charge carries a possible 10 year jail term. This means the other charges he faces, the New Orleans gun and drug charges, and the California murder charge, will have to wait.
The other update is that Durst's legal team demanded the return of $161,000 seized after his arrest. In court papers filed Thursday April 16th, lawyers said the cash "is not needed as evidence, is not contraband, and is not subject to forfeiture" and should be returned.
As if he needs it......
The other update is that Durst's legal team demanded the return of $161,000 seized after his arrest. In court papers filed Thursday April 16th, lawyers said the cash "is not needed as evidence, is not contraband, and is not subject to forfeiture" and should be returned.
As if he needs it......
Ken H
Second Unit
Excerpted from Reuters
April 21, 2015
The trial of real estate scion and accused murderer Robert Durst on a federal weapons charge in New Orleans has been delayed until September after his lawyers requested more time to prepare his defense, court records show.
Durst's lawyers had sought his speedy extradition to Los Angeles County, where prosecutors want him in connection with the 2000 killing of a longtime friend, Susan Berman, in a case recently chronicled in the HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst."
But by asking for an extension in the weapons case, in which Durst has pleaded not guilty to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Durst's lawyers appear to have conceded he will be in Louisiana for the foreseeable future.
The request for more time was granted on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Helen Berrigan, with a new trial date set for Sept. 21, court records show.
The 72-year-old Durst, who remains incarcerated pending trial, is due in court on May 7 on separate Louisiana state charges of possessing a weapon as a felon and carrying a gun with a controlled substance.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Alan Crosby)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/21/us-usa-durst-idUSKBN0NC26U20150421
I wonder why the Louisiana case is proceeding. Maybe they have to appear to move forward to comply with state law? It seems unlikely Durst could be prosecuted by both state and federal authorities at the same time.
April 21, 2015
The trial of real estate scion and accused murderer Robert Durst on a federal weapons charge in New Orleans has been delayed until September after his lawyers requested more time to prepare his defense, court records show.
Durst's lawyers had sought his speedy extradition to Los Angeles County, where prosecutors want him in connection with the 2000 killing of a longtime friend, Susan Berman, in a case recently chronicled in the HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst."
But by asking for an extension in the weapons case, in which Durst has pleaded not guilty to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Durst's lawyers appear to have conceded he will be in Louisiana for the foreseeable future.
The request for more time was granted on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Helen Berrigan, with a new trial date set for Sept. 21, court records show.
The 72-year-old Durst, who remains incarcerated pending trial, is due in court on May 7 on separate Louisiana state charges of possessing a weapon as a felon and carrying a gun with a controlled substance.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Alan Crosby)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/21/us-usa-durst-idUSKBN0NC26U20150421
I wonder why the Louisiana case is proceeding. Maybe they have to appear to move forward to comply with state law? It seems unlikely Durst could be prosecuted by both state and federal authorities at the same time.
Ken H
Second Unit
From NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Robert Durst's state gun case dropped by New Orleans DA Leon Cannizzaro's office
Ken Daley, April 23,2015
Robert Durst's state weapons case was dropped Thursday (April 23), as Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office decided not to prosecute charges that had been pursued for more than a month.
Assistant District Attorneys Laura Rodrigue and Robert Freeman filed the decision in Criminal District Court Judge Franz Zibilich's section. Rodrigue told the judge the decision was made in deference to a federal gun case in New Orleans against Durst, but declined further comment.
The state reserved the right to reinstitute the case anytime within the six-year statute of limitations on the charges, but Rodrigue told the judge, "The case is now closed, as far as the state charges are concerned."
Durst, the wealthy New York real estate heir suspected in a 15-year-old California murder, has been jailed in Louisiana since his March 14 arrest at the Canal Street J.W. Marriott. Federal agents who detained Durst at the behest of Los Angeles homicide detectives said they found a loaded gun and more than 5 ounces of marijuana in Durst's hotel room, which led to New Orleans grand jury indictments in both state and federal court.
The federal case, charging Durst with illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, remains intact. The 72-year-old Durst faces a 10-year sentence in that case, scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 22. Durst was indicted April 10 in federal court and pleaded not guilty April 14.
But the state case, in which Durst was charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and illegal possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance, is over before its next scheduled hearing on May 7. Durst was indicted by the Orleans Parish grand jury on April 8.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman, spokesman for Cannizzaro's office, said the decision was reached in concert with the office of U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite.
"It has always been a priority of District Attorney Cannizzaro to maintain a close working relationship with our federal law enforcement partners," Bowman said. "Working in conjunction with the United States Attorney's Office, it was determined that the Durst matter would be prosecuted in federal court. Accordingly, this morning, the district attorney's office dismissed the pending state charges."
But he said the office "specifically reserved our right to look at those charges again upon conclusion of Durst's case in federal court."
Durst's lead defense attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said by telephone from his Houston office that he welcomed the decision. "It means we're not fighting on two fronts," DeGuerin said. "It makes sense that the federal prosecutors are taking the lead in this. After all, it was the FBI that arrested him in the first place."
Durst is prohibited from possessing a firearm since two federal felony convictions in Pennsylvania were recorded on Oct. 25, 2004. Durst was found guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on charges of possessing a firearm while under indictment and possessing a firearm while a fugitive from justice. At the time of his Pennsylvania arrest, authorities said Durst was on the run after jumping bail in a Texas murder case for which he was acquitted in 2003.
Durst, painted as a flight risk by prosecutors because of his $100 million fortune and history of bail-jumping, has been held without bond on the Louisiana gun charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon said earlier this month in federal court that the government would seek to have Durst detained if the state charges were dismissed.
"We're looking forward to our day in federal court in New Orleans," DeGuerin said Thursday.
Zibilich ordered that all evidence in the case under the district attorney's custody be secured. Durst's attorneys had a motion pending in state court to examine the evidence, which now will be transferred to federal authorities. DeGuerin said he could not comment on that matter until receiving a copy of Zibilich's court order.
The federal gun case has put an indefinite hold on Durst's extradition to California, where Los Angeles police are waiting to book him with first-degree murder in the 2000 shooting death of writer Susan Berman.
Durst's links to three suspected murders most recently were outlined in the HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst." Through DeGuerin, Durst has denied responsibility for Berman's death.
In 2003, DeGuerin helped Durst win acquittal by a Texas jury on a charge that he murdered his Galveston neighbor, Morris Black, two years earlier.
Durst admitted to shooting Black and dismembering his body, most of which later washed up inside trash bags in Galveston Bay. Durst was acquitted after asserting that he shot Black in self-defense. Black's head never was recovered.
Durst also has been suspected in the still-unsolved disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst, who vanished from the couple's New York estate in 1982.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/04/robert_dursts_state_gun_case_d.html
I guess this means Durst will have to try and get his $161,000 back from the feds.
Robert Durst's state gun case dropped by New Orleans DA Leon Cannizzaro's office
Ken Daley, April 23,2015
Robert Durst's state weapons case was dropped Thursday (April 23), as Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office decided not to prosecute charges that had been pursued for more than a month.
Assistant District Attorneys Laura Rodrigue and Robert Freeman filed the decision in Criminal District Court Judge Franz Zibilich's section. Rodrigue told the judge the decision was made in deference to a federal gun case in New Orleans against Durst, but declined further comment.
The state reserved the right to reinstitute the case anytime within the six-year statute of limitations on the charges, but Rodrigue told the judge, "The case is now closed, as far as the state charges are concerned."
Durst, the wealthy New York real estate heir suspected in a 15-year-old California murder, has been jailed in Louisiana since his March 14 arrest at the Canal Street J.W. Marriott. Federal agents who detained Durst at the behest of Los Angeles homicide detectives said they found a loaded gun and more than 5 ounces of marijuana in Durst's hotel room, which led to New Orleans grand jury indictments in both state and federal court.
The federal case, charging Durst with illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, remains intact. The 72-year-old Durst faces a 10-year sentence in that case, scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 22. Durst was indicted April 10 in federal court and pleaded not guilty April 14.
But the state case, in which Durst was charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and illegal possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance, is over before its next scheduled hearing on May 7. Durst was indicted by the Orleans Parish grand jury on April 8.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman, spokesman for Cannizzaro's office, said the decision was reached in concert with the office of U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite.
"It has always been a priority of District Attorney Cannizzaro to maintain a close working relationship with our federal law enforcement partners," Bowman said. "Working in conjunction with the United States Attorney's Office, it was determined that the Durst matter would be prosecuted in federal court. Accordingly, this morning, the district attorney's office dismissed the pending state charges."
But he said the office "specifically reserved our right to look at those charges again upon conclusion of Durst's case in federal court."
Durst's lead defense attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said by telephone from his Houston office that he welcomed the decision. "It means we're not fighting on two fronts," DeGuerin said. "It makes sense that the federal prosecutors are taking the lead in this. After all, it was the FBI that arrested him in the first place."
Durst is prohibited from possessing a firearm since two federal felony convictions in Pennsylvania were recorded on Oct. 25, 2004. Durst was found guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on charges of possessing a firearm while under indictment and possessing a firearm while a fugitive from justice. At the time of his Pennsylvania arrest, authorities said Durst was on the run after jumping bail in a Texas murder case for which he was acquitted in 2003.
Durst, painted as a flight risk by prosecutors because of his $100 million fortune and history of bail-jumping, has been held without bond on the Louisiana gun charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McMahon said earlier this month in federal court that the government would seek to have Durst detained if the state charges were dismissed.
"We're looking forward to our day in federal court in New Orleans," DeGuerin said Thursday.
Zibilich ordered that all evidence in the case under the district attorney's custody be secured. Durst's attorneys had a motion pending in state court to examine the evidence, which now will be transferred to federal authorities. DeGuerin said he could not comment on that matter until receiving a copy of Zibilich's court order.
The federal gun case has put an indefinite hold on Durst's extradition to California, where Los Angeles police are waiting to book him with first-degree murder in the 2000 shooting death of writer Susan Berman.
Durst's links to three suspected murders most recently were outlined in the HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst." Through DeGuerin, Durst has denied responsibility for Berman's death.
In 2003, DeGuerin helped Durst win acquittal by a Texas jury on a charge that he murdered his Galveston neighbor, Morris Black, two years earlier.
Durst admitted to shooting Black and dismembering his body, most of which later washed up inside trash bags in Galveston Bay. Durst was acquitted after asserting that he shot Black in self-defense. Black's head never was recovered.
Durst also has been suspected in the still-unsolved disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst, who vanished from the couple's New York estate in 1982.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/04/robert_dursts_state_gun_case_d.html
I guess this means Durst will have to try and get his $161,000 back from the feds.
Ken H
Second Unit
A couple of new items of interest today.
First off, Robert Durst's brother younger Douglas, the one who runs the family real estate business, dropped a lawsuit against the director of The Jinx, Andrew Jarecki.
Jarecki had obtained sealed video court depositions from the years long lawsuit that Robert Durst filed for his share of the family fortune. The suit was against Douglas, the Durst family trusts, and trustees. It was finally settled in 2006 when Robert was awarded $65 million in exchange for dropping all claims, and included a ruling that all the testimony was to be sealed. One of the video depositions, as seen in The Jinx, was an extremely unbecoming one of Debrah Lee Charatan, Robert's second wife.
The suit brought by Douglas wanted Jarecki to disclose how he came into possession of the supposedly sealed testimony. Apparently Douglas believed if Robert was responsible for the availability of the deposition, the court might hold Robert in contempt and make him return the $65 million.
It's now known how the sealed info was obtained by Jarecki - New York Times reporter Charles Bagli, who appeared in The Jinx, was quoted as saying the video footage was found among the 60+ boxes of personal items that Robert had been storing at a friend’s house in Orange County, NY. When The Jinx was in production, Robert told Jarecki about the boxes and said it was fine to examine and use the materials for The Jinx, but he forgot the video depositions were there! Maybe that's when the water on the brain symptoms started showing up?
It remains to be seen if Douglas and the family trusts will file suit or otherwise push to have the court make Robert give back the money. With the FBI estimate of Robert's worth over $100, it looks like he could easily afford to pay back the $65 million and still be completely loaded to the tune of over $35 million. We shall see.
Secondly, now that Durst is going to be tried in federal court, he’ll be moved to a federal prison. A federal court order says "The Marshal's Service has made all necessary arrangements and is fully prepared to place defendant in custody pursuant to the federal detainer at an appropriate federal contracted facility within the Eastern District".
Houston lawyer Brian W. Wice says there is a “big” different between federal jails and state jails – “federal jails are usually a little nicer”. I say it's always nice to see our federal tax dollars hard at work!
First off, Robert Durst's brother younger Douglas, the one who runs the family real estate business, dropped a lawsuit against the director of The Jinx, Andrew Jarecki.
Jarecki had obtained sealed video court depositions from the years long lawsuit that Robert Durst filed for his share of the family fortune. The suit was against Douglas, the Durst family trusts, and trustees. It was finally settled in 2006 when Robert was awarded $65 million in exchange for dropping all claims, and included a ruling that all the testimony was to be sealed. One of the video depositions, as seen in The Jinx, was an extremely unbecoming one of Debrah Lee Charatan, Robert's second wife.
The suit brought by Douglas wanted Jarecki to disclose how he came into possession of the supposedly sealed testimony. Apparently Douglas believed if Robert was responsible for the availability of the deposition, the court might hold Robert in contempt and make him return the $65 million.
It's now known how the sealed info was obtained by Jarecki - New York Times reporter Charles Bagli, who appeared in The Jinx, was quoted as saying the video footage was found among the 60+ boxes of personal items that Robert had been storing at a friend’s house in Orange County, NY. When The Jinx was in production, Robert told Jarecki about the boxes and said it was fine to examine and use the materials for The Jinx, but he forgot the video depositions were there! Maybe that's when the water on the brain symptoms started showing up?
It remains to be seen if Douglas and the family trusts will file suit or otherwise push to have the court make Robert give back the money. With the FBI estimate of Robert's worth over $100, it looks like he could easily afford to pay back the $65 million and still be completely loaded to the tune of over $35 million. We shall see.
Secondly, now that Durst is going to be tried in federal court, he’ll be moved to a federal prison. A federal court order says "The Marshal's Service has made all necessary arrangements and is fully prepared to place defendant in custody pursuant to the federal detainer at an appropriate federal contracted facility within the Eastern District".
Houston lawyer Brian W. Wice says there is a “big” different between federal jails and state jails – “federal jails are usually a little nicer”. I say it's always nice to see our federal tax dollars hard at work!
Ken H
Second Unit
More news.
1) Durst was moved to to a jail in St. Charles Parish, about 25 miles away from New Orleans. U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan signed an order Monday to move him from a prison 70 miles away from the city. Apparently there is no Federal facility suitable or close enough, so Louisiana will accommodate Durst for the Federal charges.
2) Excerpted from The New Orleans Advocate
By Matt Sledge, May 1, 2015
FBI alleges romantic link to person with funds
The FBI believes Robert Durst is “romantically linked” to a New York woman who sent him a package containing $117,000 shortly before his arrest in New Orleans in March.
The details contained in a March search warrant for the package add one more mystery to the many surrounding Durst, the estranged member of a wealthy New York real estate family who is facing federal gun charges in New Orleans and a (Califiornia) state charge of murdering longtime friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles in 2000.
After the airing of the second-to-last episode of a recent HBO documentary miniseries about Durst — an episode that law enforcement authorities believe prompted his departure from Houston under an assumed identity — a Campbell Hall, New York, woman who is not his wife leapt into action to help him. But Susan Giordano, who has previously been described simply as a longtime friend of Durst, disputes the agency’s characterization of the pair’s relationship as romantic.
“We were just good friends. We still are,” she said Thursday. “I don’t know where they got that. We’ve been friends for decades. Like I said, we’re just really close friends.”
Giordano told authorities that she mailed the package at Durst’s request. The money came from Durst’s apartment and was not hers, she said. The package was sent on March 12, four days after the airing of the fifth episode of HBO’s “The Jinx.”
Giordano also admitted to attempting to cancel the package’s delivery the morning of March 15 — the morning after Durst’s arrest.
Giordano claims her decision to have the package’s delivery canceled just hours after the arrest was a coincidence. She said she recalled the package because she believed Durst was on the move to New York for his April 12 birthday. She said she did not become aware of his capture until the afternoon of March 15.
“It just so happened that (filmmaker Andrew Jarecki) aired (the series’ final episodes)” at that time, she said. “It was bad timing.”
Giordano said she was interviewed for “The Jinx” but did not watch it. “I got cut,” she said.
FBI agents arrested Durst on March 14 after spotting him in the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel on Canal Street. When agents entered his hotel after the arrest, they found on a table next to his bed a piece of hotel stationery with the handwritten letters “UPS” and a series of tracking numbers.
On March 17, FBI agents stopped the package from being returned to New York and seized it, storing it at the agency’s New Orleans offices.
The next day, law enforcement officials interviewed Giordano in New York. According to the search warrant, “After the package was seized, (FBI Special Agent William) Williams learned from a special agent with the New York division of the FBI that Susan Giordano is romantically linked to Robert Durst.”
New Orleans Detective Christopher Harris obtained a warrant to open the package on the night of March 19. Investigators suspected they might find weapons, credit cards, masks, maps or fake IDs — similar to items found in Durst’s hotel room — inside the 16-pound brown cardboard box. Instead, prosecutors later revealed in court, they discovered $117,000.
Police in New York also seized a trove of Durst’s personal records from the cellar of Giordano’s house in New York last month. Giordano told The New York Times that she was sent the files (~3 years ago) by Durst’s wife, Debrah Lee Charatan. The paper reported later in March that the relationship between Durst and Charatan, who have never lived together and essentially functioned as business partners, has grown even more distant in recent years.
Giordano said she has retained a lawyer in New York and has been fully cooperative with authorities.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” she said. “I’ve met with anybody who would meet with me.”
http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/12250175-172/fbi-believes-robert-durst-is
And with that in mind...
3) Excerpted from the New York Post
By Julia Marsh, May 1, 2015
Millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst may soon be scrounging for money.
The Post has learned his brother, real estate giant Douglas Durst, settled a lawsuit against filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, confirming that Robert was the source of leaked materials about the family for “The Jinx,” the HBO documentary that led to the accused killer’s recent arrest.
The deal, inked Thursday, means Douglas can move to freeze $74 million of his older sibling’s $100 million fortune.
A source told The Post during litigation seeking to determine Jarecki’s sources that if Douglas could prove Robert Durst leaked the information, “the next step is freezing his money.”
Douglas’ lawyer, Charles Moerdler, said his client is mulling his next move.
The money is tied to a 2006 court deal that paid Robert to cut ties with the multibillion-dollar family business, The Durst Organization.
The hit could affect Robert’s ability to pay a team of top-notch defense attorneys to fight pending gun and murder charges — at least without selling off some real estate.
The HBO documentary showed how Robert’s top-dollar Texas legal team was able to win acquittal on charges that he killed his neighbor (although he did admit to dismembering the body, putting it in plastic bags and throwing it in Galveston Bay, in 2001).
Robert Durst, 72, has been locked in a New Orleans jail since his March 14 arrest, when FBI agents found a revolver and marijuana in his hotel room. He’s also facing possible extradition to California to face charges that he killed his longtime friend Susan Berman after she’d been contacted by the Westchester County DA.
Before Berman’s December 2000 murder, the DA had reopened the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Robert Durst’s wife Kathleen in 1982.
Douglas Durst, 70, withdrew the Manhattan Supreme Court suit against Jarecki after The New York Times published an article in March revealing that Robert gave Jarecki “unrestricted access” to a trove of 60 boxes stored at a friend’s home.
The trove included confidential family information aired in the HBO series.
http://nypost.com/2015/05/01/brother-could-freeze-robert-dursts-millions-following-legal-deal/
It's been public knowledge since the story by Charles V. Bagli in the New York Times on March 21st, the 'friend' is Susan Giordano, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of a roll she takes as Durst's legal woes play out. I'm betting Andrew Jarecki is kicking himself now for not including her in The Jinx. Maybe he threw Durst a bone, or cut a deal with Durst, by intentionally excluding her?
Now I wonder if Douglas goes after the money? I'd guess he's having the lawyers go over the trial documents, and if they think he'd be successfully, he'll go for it.
This also might mean Robert's wife Debrah Lee Charatan would get sucked back in, to handle the real estate and legal transactions he may need. I'll bet she'd be thrilled with that! I'm also wondering if there is a possibility that Robert & Debrah got divorced sometime after the money stopped flowing from him - which would account for her distancing herself. It's been reported Debrah is currently living with one of Robert's NYC real estate lawyers - Steven I. Holm. Mr Holm is a Co-Managing Partner of Levy Holm Pellegrino & Drath LLP, a commercial real estate law firm that receives a 5 star peer rating on Lawyers.com. If Durst & Chartran were divorced, she could be compelled to testify against him, which as his wife can not be done.
How ironic if Debrah turned on Durst because he cut her off financially? That, combined with the same possible reason Susan Berman was going to talk to the Westchester DA's office, would make a nice tidy ending to this sad, sad story.
1) Durst was moved to to a jail in St. Charles Parish, about 25 miles away from New Orleans. U.S. District Judge Helen Berrigan signed an order Monday to move him from a prison 70 miles away from the city. Apparently there is no Federal facility suitable or close enough, so Louisiana will accommodate Durst for the Federal charges.
2) Excerpted from The New Orleans Advocate
By Matt Sledge, May 1, 2015
FBI alleges romantic link to person with funds
The FBI believes Robert Durst is “romantically linked” to a New York woman who sent him a package containing $117,000 shortly before his arrest in New Orleans in March.
The details contained in a March search warrant for the package add one more mystery to the many surrounding Durst, the estranged member of a wealthy New York real estate family who is facing federal gun charges in New Orleans and a (Califiornia) state charge of murdering longtime friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles in 2000.
After the airing of the second-to-last episode of a recent HBO documentary miniseries about Durst — an episode that law enforcement authorities believe prompted his departure from Houston under an assumed identity — a Campbell Hall, New York, woman who is not his wife leapt into action to help him. But Susan Giordano, who has previously been described simply as a longtime friend of Durst, disputes the agency’s characterization of the pair’s relationship as romantic.
“We were just good friends. We still are,” she said Thursday. “I don’t know where they got that. We’ve been friends for decades. Like I said, we’re just really close friends.”
Giordano told authorities that she mailed the package at Durst’s request. The money came from Durst’s apartment and was not hers, she said. The package was sent on March 12, four days after the airing of the fifth episode of HBO’s “The Jinx.”
Giordano also admitted to attempting to cancel the package’s delivery the morning of March 15 — the morning after Durst’s arrest.
Giordano claims her decision to have the package’s delivery canceled just hours after the arrest was a coincidence. She said she recalled the package because she believed Durst was on the move to New York for his April 12 birthday. She said she did not become aware of his capture until the afternoon of March 15.
“It just so happened that (filmmaker Andrew Jarecki) aired (the series’ final episodes)” at that time, she said. “It was bad timing.”
Giordano said she was interviewed for “The Jinx” but did not watch it. “I got cut,” she said.
FBI agents arrested Durst on March 14 after spotting him in the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel on Canal Street. When agents entered his hotel after the arrest, they found on a table next to his bed a piece of hotel stationery with the handwritten letters “UPS” and a series of tracking numbers.
On March 17, FBI agents stopped the package from being returned to New York and seized it, storing it at the agency’s New Orleans offices.
The next day, law enforcement officials interviewed Giordano in New York. According to the search warrant, “After the package was seized, (FBI Special Agent William) Williams learned from a special agent with the New York division of the FBI that Susan Giordano is romantically linked to Robert Durst.”
New Orleans Detective Christopher Harris obtained a warrant to open the package on the night of March 19. Investigators suspected they might find weapons, credit cards, masks, maps or fake IDs — similar to items found in Durst’s hotel room — inside the 16-pound brown cardboard box. Instead, prosecutors later revealed in court, they discovered $117,000.
Police in New York also seized a trove of Durst’s personal records from the cellar of Giordano’s house in New York last month. Giordano told The New York Times that she was sent the files (~3 years ago) by Durst’s wife, Debrah Lee Charatan. The paper reported later in March that the relationship between Durst and Charatan, who have never lived together and essentially functioned as business partners, has grown even more distant in recent years.
Giordano said she has retained a lawyer in New York and has been fully cooperative with authorities.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” she said. “I’ve met with anybody who would meet with me.”
http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/12250175-172/fbi-believes-robert-durst-is
And with that in mind...
3) Excerpted from the New York Post
By Julia Marsh, May 1, 2015
Millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst may soon be scrounging for money.
The Post has learned his brother, real estate giant Douglas Durst, settled a lawsuit against filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, confirming that Robert was the source of leaked materials about the family for “The Jinx,” the HBO documentary that led to the accused killer’s recent arrest.
The deal, inked Thursday, means Douglas can move to freeze $74 million of his older sibling’s $100 million fortune.
A source told The Post during litigation seeking to determine Jarecki’s sources that if Douglas could prove Robert Durst leaked the information, “the next step is freezing his money.”
Douglas’ lawyer, Charles Moerdler, said his client is mulling his next move.
The money is tied to a 2006 court deal that paid Robert to cut ties with the multibillion-dollar family business, The Durst Organization.
The hit could affect Robert’s ability to pay a team of top-notch defense attorneys to fight pending gun and murder charges — at least without selling off some real estate.
The HBO documentary showed how Robert’s top-dollar Texas legal team was able to win acquittal on charges that he killed his neighbor (although he did admit to dismembering the body, putting it in plastic bags and throwing it in Galveston Bay, in 2001).
Robert Durst, 72, has been locked in a New Orleans jail since his March 14 arrest, when FBI agents found a revolver and marijuana in his hotel room. He’s also facing possible extradition to California to face charges that he killed his longtime friend Susan Berman after she’d been contacted by the Westchester County DA.
Before Berman’s December 2000 murder, the DA had reopened the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Robert Durst’s wife Kathleen in 1982.
Douglas Durst, 70, withdrew the Manhattan Supreme Court suit against Jarecki after The New York Times published an article in March revealing that Robert gave Jarecki “unrestricted access” to a trove of 60 boxes stored at a friend’s home.
The trove included confidential family information aired in the HBO series.
http://nypost.com/2015/05/01/brother-could-freeze-robert-dursts-millions-following-legal-deal/
It's been public knowledge since the story by Charles V. Bagli in the New York Times on March 21st, the 'friend' is Susan Giordano, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of a roll she takes as Durst's legal woes play out. I'm betting Andrew Jarecki is kicking himself now for not including her in The Jinx. Maybe he threw Durst a bone, or cut a deal with Durst, by intentionally excluding her?
Now I wonder if Douglas goes after the money? I'd guess he's having the lawyers go over the trial documents, and if they think he'd be successfully, he'll go for it.
This also might mean Robert's wife Debrah Lee Charatan would get sucked back in, to handle the real estate and legal transactions he may need. I'll bet she'd be thrilled with that! I'm also wondering if there is a possibility that Robert & Debrah got divorced sometime after the money stopped flowing from him - which would account for her distancing herself. It's been reported Debrah is currently living with one of Robert's NYC real estate lawyers - Steven I. Holm. Mr Holm is a Co-Managing Partner of Levy Holm Pellegrino & Drath LLP, a commercial real estate law firm that receives a 5 star peer rating on Lawyers.com. If Durst & Chartran were divorced, she could be compelled to testify against him, which as his wife can not be done.
How ironic if Debrah turned on Durst because he cut her off financially? That, combined with the same possible reason Susan Berman was going to talk to the Westchester DA's office, would make a nice tidy ending to this sad, sad story.
Ken H
Second Unit
Things have slowed down on the Durst front, but there are a few new developments in the last week.
Robert Durst and his legal team will call on the expertise of a former U.S. Attorney with Louisiana ties in his attempt to beat federal weapons charges, court records indicate. Durst's lawyers said they intend to introduce testimony from Don DeGabrielle, an Louisiana State University law school graduate whose resume also lists experience as an FBI agent and state and federal prosecutor in New Orleans. DeGabrielle served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas in Houston from 2006 to 2008, and now works for the Houston offices of the Chaffe McCall law firm. DeGabrielle "will opine on federal law enforcement procedures relative to arrest, inventory and search" in future filings by Durst's team, as they seek to have a judge bar evidence seized in a search of Durst's room at the J.W. Marriott on Canal Street in March.
Video has surfaced of Durst's bizarre urinating in public incident at a CVS drugstore in Houston last July. He pleaded no contest to criminal mischief charges in December and was ordered to pay restitution to CVS. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/robert-durst-peeing-video_n_7231772.html
When Durst was moved into the St. Charles Parish's Nelson Coleman Correctional Center, it was based on two things. One is that the St. Charles facility is where defendants being held on federal charges in the New Orleans area are typically placed. The other is that Durst's lawyers made the request in a motion on April 27th, different from when they previously asked that Durst remain at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, about 70 miles away from New Orleans. The St. Charles facility is about 25 miles away from New Orleans. Durst's legal team said they received "assurances" from federal authorities that Durst will remain in Louisiana until the federal case against him is resolved, and that any medical issues afflicting the 72-year-old would be tended to at the St. Charles Parish jail, Hunt or local hospitals.
Robert Durst and his legal team will call on the expertise of a former U.S. Attorney with Louisiana ties in his attempt to beat federal weapons charges, court records indicate. Durst's lawyers said they intend to introduce testimony from Don DeGabrielle, an Louisiana State University law school graduate whose resume also lists experience as an FBI agent and state and federal prosecutor in New Orleans. DeGabrielle served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas in Houston from 2006 to 2008, and now works for the Houston offices of the Chaffe McCall law firm. DeGabrielle "will opine on federal law enforcement procedures relative to arrest, inventory and search" in future filings by Durst's team, as they seek to have a judge bar evidence seized in a search of Durst's room at the J.W. Marriott on Canal Street in March.
Video has surfaced of Durst's bizarre urinating in public incident at a CVS drugstore in Houston last July. He pleaded no contest to criminal mischief charges in December and was ordered to pay restitution to CVS. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/robert-durst-peeing-video_n_7231772.html
When Durst was moved into the St. Charles Parish's Nelson Coleman Correctional Center, it was based on two things. One is that the St. Charles facility is where defendants being held on federal charges in the New Orleans area are typically placed. The other is that Durst's lawyers made the request in a motion on April 27th, different from when they previously asked that Durst remain at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, about 70 miles away from New Orleans. The St. Charles facility is about 25 miles away from New Orleans. Durst's legal team said they received "assurances" from federal authorities that Durst will remain in Louisiana until the federal case against him is resolved, and that any medical issues afflicting the 72-year-old would be tended to at the St. Charles Parish jail, Hunt or local hospitals.
Ken H
Second Unit
Although the scheduled September 22nd federal trial date is still a ways off, Durst's legal team is always on the job.....
Robert Durst: L.A. cops arrested millionaire because of 'The Jinx'
From NOLA.com by Andy Grimm, June 4, 2015
Robert Durst's arrest in a New Orleans hotel in March was the product of hype from the HBO mini-series "The Jinx," and not new evidence Durst was behind the death of Susan Berman in 2000, the millionaire's lawyers said in court filings Thursday June 4.
Durst's arrest took place on the eve of the finale of the six-part documentary was no coincidence, the attorneys said in a 55-page motion seeking to throw out evidence found in Durst's hotel room at the J.W. Marriott hotel on Canal Street.
Police in Los Angeles had sought a warrant for Durst's arrest just days after the cliffhanger fifth episode of "The Jinx" teased a confrontation in which the show's producers would show Durst a copy of a letter directing police to a "cadaver" at Berman's home.
As millions of viewers waited in suspense for the finale, "The California authorities who had been investigating Berman's murder were on edge as well, but for different reasons," Durst's lawyers wrote.
"They were hurriedly planning to arrest Durst before the final episode. They were crafting a dramatic moment of their own."
U.S. Marshals tracked Durst to the Marriott on March 14, where they questioned the millionaire in the lobby before conducting an "inventory search" of his room that turned up a loaded handgun and a small quantity of marijuana.
The final episode of the TV show aired the following night, and Durst's lawyers claim, the evidence used to get the California warrant was hardly the bombshell portrayed by "The Jinx" producers or Los Angeles detectives: the letter and handwriting comparisons linking the note to Durst had been known for years.
"The producers and the California authorities thus accomplished together what neither could have done alone," Durst's lawyers wrote. "The publicity from the arrest gave the producers a welcome ratings bump, and the artful editing of the show made it seem as though California's case against Durst was based on information far more substantial than the actual evidence on hand."
Durst was charged in New Orleans with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Those charges were dropped after he was charged with similar counts in federal court, and Durst has remained in federal custody in Louisiana since. His lawyers have said they are eager for their client to return to California to face the murder charges.
Durst's lawyers said FBI agents questioned in the Marriott lobby and his hotel room for the 72-year-old Durst without reading him his rights, and did not have a warrant when they began a search of his room that lasted more than an hour.
They were hurriedly planning to arrest Durst before the final episode.
When they filed for a warrant after the FBI agents that first encountered Durst had "inventoried" the items in his room-- including the .38-caliber pistol in the pocket of a jacket in his closet-- the warrant application sought almost exactly the items found in Durst's room. Detectives also noted in their application handwriting experts had identified Durst as the likely author of the "cadaver" note police received shortly after Berman's body was discovered-- but failed to note that at least one expert had identified another suspect as the writer. Durst's lawyers also noted that handwriting analysis in general is unreliable.
Durst, a millionaire estranged from a family of prominent New York real estate investors, has a crack legal team and has beaten murder charges once before-- in a case where he admitted shooting his elderly neighbor, Morris Black.
Jurors acquitted Durst of murder. At trial, Durst said he shot Black while struggling with a pistol during an argument; his lawyers said Durst's mild autism was a reason he subsequently panicked and chopped up Black's body and threw it into Galveston Bay.
But Durst pleaded guilty to felony charges for jumping bond and carrying a weapon while under indictment, convictions that bar him from possessing a firearm.
Attempting to block evidence obtained in a search is a routine defense tactic, but veteran New Orleans defense lawyer Tim Meche said nothing in the 55-page motion to suppress is likely to sway a judge to throw out evidence obtained in the search.
"I didn't see anything in there that jumped out at me" as a breach of Durst's rights-- at least not one common to many criminal investigations. In hunting or a high-profile suspect, it seems investigators were especially cautious, Meche said. "There are all kinds of exceptions to everything now in the 4th Amendment arena," Meche said. "This was the FBI chasing Robert Durst, they weren't going to screw that up." Meche said a more likely course for Durst to beat the gun charge is to exploit one of the exceptions that allow a convicted felon to have a firearm. "You can say that you armed yourself because you were in immediate need to defend yourself," Meche said. "He could say that he thought he was being pursued, something like that. He's got some good lawyers, and that's where I would see this going."
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/06/robert_durst_jinx_search_warra.html
Robert Durst: L.A. cops arrested millionaire because of 'The Jinx'
From NOLA.com by Andy Grimm, June 4, 2015
Robert Durst's arrest in a New Orleans hotel in March was the product of hype from the HBO mini-series "The Jinx," and not new evidence Durst was behind the death of Susan Berman in 2000, the millionaire's lawyers said in court filings Thursday June 4.
Durst's arrest took place on the eve of the finale of the six-part documentary was no coincidence, the attorneys said in a 55-page motion seeking to throw out evidence found in Durst's hotel room at the J.W. Marriott hotel on Canal Street.
Police in Los Angeles had sought a warrant for Durst's arrest just days after the cliffhanger fifth episode of "The Jinx" teased a confrontation in which the show's producers would show Durst a copy of a letter directing police to a "cadaver" at Berman's home.
As millions of viewers waited in suspense for the finale, "The California authorities who had been investigating Berman's murder were on edge as well, but for different reasons," Durst's lawyers wrote.
"They were hurriedly planning to arrest Durst before the final episode. They were crafting a dramatic moment of their own."
U.S. Marshals tracked Durst to the Marriott on March 14, where they questioned the millionaire in the lobby before conducting an "inventory search" of his room that turned up a loaded handgun and a small quantity of marijuana.
The final episode of the TV show aired the following night, and Durst's lawyers claim, the evidence used to get the California warrant was hardly the bombshell portrayed by "The Jinx" producers or Los Angeles detectives: the letter and handwriting comparisons linking the note to Durst had been known for years.
"The producers and the California authorities thus accomplished together what neither could have done alone," Durst's lawyers wrote. "The publicity from the arrest gave the producers a welcome ratings bump, and the artful editing of the show made it seem as though California's case against Durst was based on information far more substantial than the actual evidence on hand."
Durst was charged in New Orleans with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Those charges were dropped after he was charged with similar counts in federal court, and Durst has remained in federal custody in Louisiana since. His lawyers have said they are eager for their client to return to California to face the murder charges.
Durst's lawyers said FBI agents questioned in the Marriott lobby and his hotel room for the 72-year-old Durst without reading him his rights, and did not have a warrant when they began a search of his room that lasted more than an hour.
They were hurriedly planning to arrest Durst before the final episode.
When they filed for a warrant after the FBI agents that first encountered Durst had "inventoried" the items in his room-- including the .38-caliber pistol in the pocket of a jacket in his closet-- the warrant application sought almost exactly the items found in Durst's room. Detectives also noted in their application handwriting experts had identified Durst as the likely author of the "cadaver" note police received shortly after Berman's body was discovered-- but failed to note that at least one expert had identified another suspect as the writer. Durst's lawyers also noted that handwriting analysis in general is unreliable.
Durst, a millionaire estranged from a family of prominent New York real estate investors, has a crack legal team and has beaten murder charges once before-- in a case where he admitted shooting his elderly neighbor, Morris Black.
Jurors acquitted Durst of murder. At trial, Durst said he shot Black while struggling with a pistol during an argument; his lawyers said Durst's mild autism was a reason he subsequently panicked and chopped up Black's body and threw it into Galveston Bay.
But Durst pleaded guilty to felony charges for jumping bond and carrying a weapon while under indictment, convictions that bar him from possessing a firearm.
Attempting to block evidence obtained in a search is a routine defense tactic, but veteran New Orleans defense lawyer Tim Meche said nothing in the 55-page motion to suppress is likely to sway a judge to throw out evidence obtained in the search.
"I didn't see anything in there that jumped out at me" as a breach of Durst's rights-- at least not one common to many criminal investigations. In hunting or a high-profile suspect, it seems investigators were especially cautious, Meche said. "There are all kinds of exceptions to everything now in the 4th Amendment arena," Meche said. "This was the FBI chasing Robert Durst, they weren't going to screw that up." Meche said a more likely course for Durst to beat the gun charge is to exploit one of the exceptions that allow a convicted felon to have a firearm. "You can say that you armed yourself because you were in immediate need to defend yourself," Meche said. "He could say that he thought he was being pursued, something like that. He's got some good lawyers, and that's where I would see this going."
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/06/robert_durst_jinx_search_warra.html
Ken H
Second Unit
From The Hollywood Reporter, by Michael O'Connell, 6/10/2015
Emmys: 'The Jinx' Creators Break Silence, Call Robert Durst "Not Just a Random Killer. He's a Strategic Killer"
Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling have been lying low since March, when Robert Durst, the subject of their startling six-part HBO documentary, was arrested in New Orleans on the eve of the show's finale and accused of being a serial killer — thanks in no small part to the revelations uncovered in The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.
Citing their potential role as witnesses in Durst's trial in Los Angeles for the 2000 murder of mob heiress Susan Berman — for which no court date has been set and Durst is being held without bond in Louisiana, where he first faces a federal weapons charge for a revolver found at the time of his arrest — the documentarians have remained quiet until now.
"To try the case in the media, or for us to provide some pseudo-expert opinions about how the legal process is going to go, is only going to confuse people and go beyond our sphere of expertise," explains Jarecki, recently breaking that silence in an interview with THR. Jarecki, 52, who wrote, directed and produced the series, and Smerling, 52, who wrote, produced and served as cinematographer, talked about the controversy that has swirled around their project, the strange, chilling charisma of The Jinx's central character and when they first believed he was guilty of murder.
I’ve imagined you both in witness protection since the finale.
MARC SMERLING It’s sort of been like that. (Laughs.)
The Jinx initially was intended as a documentary feature. How did it become an HBO series?
SMERLING We were suffering trying to make a two-hour movie. Every time we cut it down, we lost some of the delicious pieces — the moments with Bob that raised it above just a murder story. At the same time, we were watching Homeland, House of Cards and these series stretching one crime over entire seasons. That's what we needed: the ability to live in a structured piece of storytelling of these three murders but with time to focus on other things. We threw a pilot together and did a chalkboard outline of six episodes. The second episode introduced this kind of sympathetic, funny, interesting guy who confounds the audience. It subverts your expectations. Every subsequent episode turns it over again until he reveals himself.
ANDREW JARECKI We built the series before anyone saw it. The emotional through line for us was our connection to the family of [first victim] Kathie Durst. We had become close with them when we were making All Good Things, interviewed them and the police, and put together a sort of documentary about the story to show [the actors]. These people were so destroyed by what happened to their sister and daughter. It was really hard to ignore. Bob became kind of a burlesque figure — the unusual behavior, dressing as a woman, burping, all of the ticks and that background of wealth and privilege. He’s a fascinating character, but the big thing for the audience of The Jinx, I think, is seeing Kathie’s niece who looks so much like her and tells how this family has been torn asunder. Getting closure for that family was one of the things that drove us through getting this done.
At what point did you decide Durst was guilty?
JARECKI People think it's a joke to give Bob the benefit of the doubt. As soon as you hear that he chopped up his neighbor, nobody wants to hear the nuances of whether or not he killed his wife, accidentally killed his wife and got rid of the body or if some drug dealers broke in during the middle of the night and secreted his wife away — which is what he'd like us to believe. But when he reached out to me [after Jarecki made the 2010 fictionalized Durst story All Good Things], I felt like I had to give Bob the benefit of the doubt. You had to give him a safe place to tell his story. But the moment where that changed was our finding that letter in the same handwriting [as an anonymous letter alerting police to Berman's body].
SMERLING I always found it so hard to reconcile that Bob had been so close to three tragedies. But as journalists, we try to draw out the truth by neutralizing your perspective. Once we saw the letter, we couldn't neutralize our perspective anymore.
Were you ever concerned for your safety?
JARECKI Murder is one possibility to solving a problem — you always had to be attentive to that. But the man, in our view, is not just a random killer. He's a strategic killer and won't put himself at risk unless he thinks there's an upside. I think we were doing what Bob wanted us to do. He came to me knowing what we didn't know at the time: that he killed all three of those people. What drove him to reach out to filmmakers and say, "I want my story to be told?" I think this compulsion to confess is a driver for him. It's a release he was looking for.
There was some criticism about the timetable for production, what you knew when and at what time you delivered evidence to the police. Do you want to clear any of that up?
JARECKI We were really straightforward about it at the time. We had given the evidence to the authorities two years before the show aired. And we thought that it was responsible and appropriate. And there was so much heat around the show, the natural instinct of the press would include trying to figure out if we were making a spectacle of it. That's not what we did.
Are you going to be called as witnesses?
JARECKI The reason we’re not talking to press now is that there’s a live case being prepared, and we’re going to be witnesses in that case. To try the case in the media, or for us to provide some pseudo-expert opinions about how the legal process is going to go, is only going to confuse people and go beyond our sphere of expertise. We’re just trying to be respectful of the process for everyone. Ultimately, Bob has to get a fair hearing and the victims have to be respected. This will be a real thorough, thoughtful process with lots of people weighing in.
Have there been any new developments on your end since the finale and Durst's arrest?
SMERLING We're as in the dark as anyone. We've been able to put it aside and work on some other things. It will come alive again if Los Angeles decides to try him, but right now we're turning our attention to other projects.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/emmys-jinx-creators-break-silence-801240
Emmys: 'The Jinx' Creators Break Silence, Call Robert Durst "Not Just a Random Killer. He's a Strategic Killer"
Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling have been lying low since March, when Robert Durst, the subject of their startling six-part HBO documentary, was arrested in New Orleans on the eve of the show's finale and accused of being a serial killer — thanks in no small part to the revelations uncovered in The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.
Citing their potential role as witnesses in Durst's trial in Los Angeles for the 2000 murder of mob heiress Susan Berman — for which no court date has been set and Durst is being held without bond in Louisiana, where he first faces a federal weapons charge for a revolver found at the time of his arrest — the documentarians have remained quiet until now.
"To try the case in the media, or for us to provide some pseudo-expert opinions about how the legal process is going to go, is only going to confuse people and go beyond our sphere of expertise," explains Jarecki, recently breaking that silence in an interview with THR. Jarecki, 52, who wrote, directed and produced the series, and Smerling, 52, who wrote, produced and served as cinematographer, talked about the controversy that has swirled around their project, the strange, chilling charisma of The Jinx's central character and when they first believed he was guilty of murder.
I’ve imagined you both in witness protection since the finale.
MARC SMERLING It’s sort of been like that. (Laughs.)
The Jinx initially was intended as a documentary feature. How did it become an HBO series?
SMERLING We were suffering trying to make a two-hour movie. Every time we cut it down, we lost some of the delicious pieces — the moments with Bob that raised it above just a murder story. At the same time, we were watching Homeland, House of Cards and these series stretching one crime over entire seasons. That's what we needed: the ability to live in a structured piece of storytelling of these three murders but with time to focus on other things. We threw a pilot together and did a chalkboard outline of six episodes. The second episode introduced this kind of sympathetic, funny, interesting guy who confounds the audience. It subverts your expectations. Every subsequent episode turns it over again until he reveals himself.
ANDREW JARECKI We built the series before anyone saw it. The emotional through line for us was our connection to the family of [first victim] Kathie Durst. We had become close with them when we were making All Good Things, interviewed them and the police, and put together a sort of documentary about the story to show [the actors]. These people were so destroyed by what happened to their sister and daughter. It was really hard to ignore. Bob became kind of a burlesque figure — the unusual behavior, dressing as a woman, burping, all of the ticks and that background of wealth and privilege. He’s a fascinating character, but the big thing for the audience of The Jinx, I think, is seeing Kathie’s niece who looks so much like her and tells how this family has been torn asunder. Getting closure for that family was one of the things that drove us through getting this done.
At what point did you decide Durst was guilty?
JARECKI People think it's a joke to give Bob the benefit of the doubt. As soon as you hear that he chopped up his neighbor, nobody wants to hear the nuances of whether or not he killed his wife, accidentally killed his wife and got rid of the body or if some drug dealers broke in during the middle of the night and secreted his wife away — which is what he'd like us to believe. But when he reached out to me [after Jarecki made the 2010 fictionalized Durst story All Good Things], I felt like I had to give Bob the benefit of the doubt. You had to give him a safe place to tell his story. But the moment where that changed was our finding that letter in the same handwriting [as an anonymous letter alerting police to Berman's body].
SMERLING I always found it so hard to reconcile that Bob had been so close to three tragedies. But as journalists, we try to draw out the truth by neutralizing your perspective. Once we saw the letter, we couldn't neutralize our perspective anymore.
Were you ever concerned for your safety?
JARECKI Murder is one possibility to solving a problem — you always had to be attentive to that. But the man, in our view, is not just a random killer. He's a strategic killer and won't put himself at risk unless he thinks there's an upside. I think we were doing what Bob wanted us to do. He came to me knowing what we didn't know at the time: that he killed all three of those people. What drove him to reach out to filmmakers and say, "I want my story to be told?" I think this compulsion to confess is a driver for him. It's a release he was looking for.
There was some criticism about the timetable for production, what you knew when and at what time you delivered evidence to the police. Do you want to clear any of that up?
JARECKI We were really straightforward about it at the time. We had given the evidence to the authorities two years before the show aired. And we thought that it was responsible and appropriate. And there was so much heat around the show, the natural instinct of the press would include trying to figure out if we were making a spectacle of it. That's not what we did.
Are you going to be called as witnesses?
JARECKI The reason we’re not talking to press now is that there’s a live case being prepared, and we’re going to be witnesses in that case. To try the case in the media, or for us to provide some pseudo-expert opinions about how the legal process is going to go, is only going to confuse people and go beyond our sphere of expertise. We’re just trying to be respectful of the process for everyone. Ultimately, Bob has to get a fair hearing and the victims have to be respected. This will be a real thorough, thoughtful process with lots of people weighing in.
Have there been any new developments on your end since the finale and Durst's arrest?
SMERLING We're as in the dark as anyone. We've been able to put it aside and work on some other things. It will come alive again if Los Angeles decides to try him, but right now we're turning our attention to other projects.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/emmys-jinx-creators-break-silence-801240
Ken H
Second Unit
Quite the spin. Although Jarecki and Smerling were asked here indirectly about the timeline discrepancy they chose to instead restate when they gave evidence to the authorities, which was already addressed satisfactorily.
Here is the New York Times interview on March 16 that first called out the question of whether the 2013 arrest of Robert Durst for violating the order of protection by walking on his brother Douglas’s brownstone steps happened after the second interview, which was how it was portrayed in The Jinx. According to the dates given in interviews from the producers, the second interview happened before the arrest.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/the-jinx-ending-robert-durst-andrew-jarecki/?_r=0
Having given this some thought, I don't believe it really matters and would hope it was a mistake in the editing room that didn't get caught before the program aired.
The problem is creditability. Did they use bad judgement and alter the timeline for dramatic effect? If so, I think a simple mea culpa could have ended the controversy.
Now, the can of worms is still open. Will this affect possible Emmy nominations? Will this affect perception of their future work?
Ken H
Second Unit
From The New York Post, Leonard Greene, June 11, 2015
Family of pot-loving Robert Durst eyes medical-marijuana bid
The Durst family real-estate empire — which weeded out pot-loving killer Robert Durst from its ranks — is teaming up with a major hospital trade association in a bid to legally grow and dispense medical marijuana.
Durst, 72, has been locked in a New Orleans jail since his March 14 arrest, when FBI agents found a revolver and marijuana in his hotel room, his latest in a string of pot-fueled follies.
Durst also is facing extradition to California to face charges that he killed his longtime friend Susan Berman after she’d been contacted by the Westchester County DA, who was investigating the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s wife, Kathleen.
Durst had testified that he kept five pounds of high-grade marijuana in the freezer of his home in Galveston, Texas, where his self-defense stance helped him beat a murder rap in the shooting death of a neighbor.
Now the empire — headed by estranged brother Douglas Durst — that ousted the one-time murder suspect wants a piece of the pot action.
It is joining with the Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents nearly 250 hospitals and health-care facilities in the state, for the high purpose of growing and selling weed to medically qualified customers. The newly formed partnership would have the hospital group’s for-profit subsidiary handling the medical details as Douglas Durst deals with the logistics of manufacturing, production and distribution. “We know what our expertise is,” said GNYHA Ventures president Lee Perlman. “We needed to find a partner that had the infrastructure and the capital to make this very special.”
It helped that the Durst Organization was familiar with growing things other than tall buildings.
The real-estate company also owns and operates McEnroe Organic Farm in Dutchess County, although a company spokesman, Jordan Barowitz, said marijuana would not be grown there if the company wins the bid. “It was that agricultural experience that was the impetus of our interest in the application,” Barowitz said.
Also bidding is the North Shore LIJ medical system. Industry watchers said the two hospital bids are signs that the medical-marijuana field is gaining respectability.
Winning bids are expected to be announced next month.
http://nypost.com/2015/06/11/estate-of-pot-loving-robert-durst-eyes-medical-marijuana-bid/
Family of pot-loving Robert Durst eyes medical-marijuana bid
The Durst family real-estate empire — which weeded out pot-loving killer Robert Durst from its ranks — is teaming up with a major hospital trade association in a bid to legally grow and dispense medical marijuana.
Durst, 72, has been locked in a New Orleans jail since his March 14 arrest, when FBI agents found a revolver and marijuana in his hotel room, his latest in a string of pot-fueled follies.
Durst also is facing extradition to California to face charges that he killed his longtime friend Susan Berman after she’d been contacted by the Westchester County DA, who was investigating the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s wife, Kathleen.
Durst had testified that he kept five pounds of high-grade marijuana in the freezer of his home in Galveston, Texas, where his self-defense stance helped him beat a murder rap in the shooting death of a neighbor.
Now the empire — headed by estranged brother Douglas Durst — that ousted the one-time murder suspect wants a piece of the pot action.
It is joining with the Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents nearly 250 hospitals and health-care facilities in the state, for the high purpose of growing and selling weed to medically qualified customers. The newly formed partnership would have the hospital group’s for-profit subsidiary handling the medical details as Douglas Durst deals with the logistics of manufacturing, production and distribution. “We know what our expertise is,” said GNYHA Ventures president Lee Perlman. “We needed to find a partner that had the infrastructure and the capital to make this very special.”
It helped that the Durst Organization was familiar with growing things other than tall buildings.
The real-estate company also owns and operates McEnroe Organic Farm in Dutchess County, although a company spokesman, Jordan Barowitz, said marijuana would not be grown there if the company wins the bid. “It was that agricultural experience that was the impetus of our interest in the application,” Barowitz said.
Also bidding is the North Shore LIJ medical system. Industry watchers said the two hospital bids are signs that the medical-marijuana field is gaining respectability.
Winning bids are expected to be announced next month.
http://nypost.com/2015/06/11/estate-of-pot-loving-robert-durst-eyes-medical-marijuana-bid/
Ken H
Second Unit
More Jinx?
Perhaps lost in the 6/10/15 Hollywood Reporter interview above, Jinx producers Jarecki & Smerling say if Durst is tried in LA, the project will come back alive. Other sources also say HBO is interested in the story of Durst behind bars. And although I can't remember where, it seems that I read the producers have already been filming various Durst related footage since his arrest in New Orleans.
Also from the Hollywood Reporter, Law & Order creator Dick Wolf says he's interested in bringing back the series on a limited basis, and the Robert Durst storyline would be a main reason why. The L&O franchise previously had (2 or 3?) episodes based on the disappearance of Durst's first wife Kathie. Another report in February of this year from Deadline.com before Durstmania, says NBC was already looking at a 10 episode run and previous cast members Chris Noth and Sam Waterston have been approached.
Perhaps lost in the 6/10/15 Hollywood Reporter interview above, Jinx producers Jarecki & Smerling say if Durst is tried in LA, the project will come back alive. Other sources also say HBO is interested in the story of Durst behind bars. And although I can't remember where, it seems that I read the producers have already been filming various Durst related footage since his arrest in New Orleans.
Also from the Hollywood Reporter, Law & Order creator Dick Wolf says he's interested in bringing back the series on a limited basis, and the Robert Durst storyline would be a main reason why. The L&O franchise previously had (2 or 3?) episodes based on the disappearance of Durst's first wife Kathie. Another report in February of this year from Deadline.com before Durstmania, says NBC was already looking at a 10 episode run and previous cast members Chris Noth and Sam Waterston have been approached.
Ken H
Second Unit
Excerpted from Jezebel.com by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
Jinxed Again: Jeanine Pirro Writing Robert Durst Tell-All
Jeanine Pirro, the bulldog former Westchester County DA-turned-TV star who went after Robert Durst for the cold-case alleged murder of his wife, is about to drop a book on the topic, and you know you can’t hardly wait.
Titled He Killed Them All: Robert Durst And My Quest For Justice, the the self-touted “definitive insider’s account” will cover all she learned in her years-long investigation of the alleged killer, including topics she explored in HBO’s hit miniseries The Jinx. According to EW, it’s out November 3, which is a damn shame, because was there ever a book more suited to your summer reading list?
The title refers to the shocker final scene of The Jinx, when Durst mumbled to himself on a hot mic, “killed them all, of course,” a rant widely received as tantamount to an admission of murdering his wife, Kathie Durst, as well as his close friend Susan Berman and neighbor Morris Black. He was arrested the day before the episode aired on HBO last March.
“As the former District Attorney who first kicked the Robert Durst beehive,” said Pirro in a statement, “I am thrilled to finally tell the full story behind my mission: I want this man, who became my nemesis, tried and convicted for murder.”
Jinxed Again: Jeanine Pirro Writing Robert Durst Tell-All
Jeanine Pirro, the bulldog former Westchester County DA-turned-TV star who went after Robert Durst for the cold-case alleged murder of his wife, is about to drop a book on the topic, and you know you can’t hardly wait.
Titled He Killed Them All: Robert Durst And My Quest For Justice, the the self-touted “definitive insider’s account” will cover all she learned in her years-long investigation of the alleged killer, including topics she explored in HBO’s hit miniseries The Jinx. According to EW, it’s out November 3, which is a damn shame, because was there ever a book more suited to your summer reading list?
The title refers to the shocker final scene of The Jinx, when Durst mumbled to himself on a hot mic, “killed them all, of course,” a rant widely received as tantamount to an admission of murdering his wife, Kathie Durst, as well as his close friend Susan Berman and neighbor Morris Black. He was arrested the day before the episode aired on HBO last March.
“As the former District Attorney who first kicked the Robert Durst beehive,” said Pirro in a statement, “I am thrilled to finally tell the full story behind my mission: I want this man, who became my nemesis, tried and convicted for murder.”
Ken H
Second Unit
The Houston Chronicle reported an HBO spokeswoman said "Jinx" director Andrew Jarecki and producer Marc Smerling had told the network they were working on another project to update the Durst case and there was "every likelihood" there could be additional episodes. The spokeswoman said Monday (6/22/15) she had no information about what the additional episodes would be based upon.Ken H said:
davidmatychuk
Senior HTF Member
Has anyone else here pointed out that the Blu-Ray of "All Good Things", Mr, Jarecki's 2010 fictionalized version of the Durst case (starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst) has a commentary track with Mr. Durst and Mr. Jarecki? I just noticed that it's there, so I've never listened to it, but I'll definitely be giving it a hearing (so to speak) soon.
Ken H
Second Unit
No, but it was mentioned in an 'All Good Things' review thread here at HTF when it was released back in 2011. Adam Gregorich said it sounded really creepy. Let us know what you think.davidmatychuk said:
Ken H
Second Unit
A few new developments:
- In Oakland, CA, a cadaver dog got a 'hit' in the basement of the house Kristen Modafferi lived in. Modafferi's parents paid for the search as they are still trying to find out what happened to their daughter, who disappeared in 1997. Durst's name came up in the case in 2003 because it was discovered he lived in the Bay Area at the same time as Modafferi's disappearance. The same also happened in 2003 with the Eureka, CA disappearance of Karen Mitchell in 1997, as he lived in nearby Trinidad, CA at the time.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/New-Evidence-Emerges-in-1997-Oakland-Cold-Case-of-Kristen-Modafferi-309961811.html
- Freelance writer and reporter Vanessa Leggett, previously well known for being the longest incarcerated reporter in the US for refusing to disclose research related to a criminal investigation, was contacted on LinkedIn by Robert Durst a few weeks before the end of The Jinx, and his March arrest in New Orleans. Durst and Leggett lived in the same neighborhood in Houston, and first met in December 2013 outside the infamous CVS where in July 2014 he would urinate on a candy rack. They discussed their respective battles with the government—his for his last suspected murder, hers for the First Amendment, and agreed to meet for coffee sometime. When they finally met in March of this year, Leggett said he asked her advice on how to respond to The Jinx, as he expected to be besieged with requests for interviews after the final episodes were aired.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a35948/robert-durst-croissants-lunch/
- An NBC Dateline report on 'Robert Durst: The Lost Years' appeared on June 19th, and is now available on line. It covers the years between Durst's acquittal in 2003 for the murder of Morris Black and his March 2015 arrest in New Orleans for the murder of Susan Berman. Most notable for interviews with Durst long time friends Stewart and Emily Altman.
http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/video/full-episode-robert-durst-the-lost-years-471778371677
- In Oakland, CA, a cadaver dog got a 'hit' in the basement of the house Kristen Modafferi lived in. Modafferi's parents paid for the search as they are still trying to find out what happened to their daughter, who disappeared in 1997. Durst's name came up in the case in 2003 because it was discovered he lived in the Bay Area at the same time as Modafferi's disappearance. The same also happened in 2003 with the Eureka, CA disappearance of Karen Mitchell in 1997, as he lived in nearby Trinidad, CA at the time.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/New-Evidence-Emerges-in-1997-Oakland-Cold-Case-of-Kristen-Modafferi-309961811.html
- Freelance writer and reporter Vanessa Leggett, previously well known for being the longest incarcerated reporter in the US for refusing to disclose research related to a criminal investigation, was contacted on LinkedIn by Robert Durst a few weeks before the end of The Jinx, and his March arrest in New Orleans. Durst and Leggett lived in the same neighborhood in Houston, and first met in December 2013 outside the infamous CVS where in July 2014 he would urinate on a candy rack. They discussed their respective battles with the government—his for his last suspected murder, hers for the First Amendment, and agreed to meet for coffee sometime. When they finally met in March of this year, Leggett said he asked her advice on how to respond to The Jinx, as he expected to be besieged with requests for interviews after the final episodes were aired.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a35948/robert-durst-croissants-lunch/
- An NBC Dateline report on 'Robert Durst: The Lost Years' appeared on June 19th, and is now available on line. It covers the years between Durst's acquittal in 2003 for the murder of Morris Black and his March 2015 arrest in New Orleans for the murder of Susan Berman. Most notable for interviews with Durst long time friends Stewart and Emily Altman.
http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/video/full-episode-robert-durst-the-lost-years-471778371677
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