Robert Durst loses mistrial bid in murder of his best friend

Millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst will not get a pandemic pass.

A Los Angeles judge denied his mistrial bid Tuesday after his long-awaited jury trial for the 2000 murder of his best friend Susan Berman was suspended March 16 due to coronavirus concerns.

Judge Mark Windham ruled that Durst’s right to a fair trial has not been compromised by the extended hiatus and can reasonably resume July 27 in a larger courtroom in Inglewood with new social distancing measures.

He set a pretrial motions hearing for July 17 to possibly resume discussion on the matter.

Durst’s lead defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin spoke to the Daily News after Tuesday’s ruling and said he’s not sure he’ll be able to attend if the trial starts before current pandemic conditions improve.

“I’m under strict orders by my doctor not to travel or be anyplace where there’s a point of contagion, like a courtroom or courthouse, no matter how many measures you take,” the 79-year-old trial attorney said. “With my underlying condition, it would be a death sentence to get COVID.”

DeGuerin has long represented Durst and helped him an acquittal when the Manhattan real estate scion was charged with murdering his 71-year-old neighbor Morris Black in Galveston.

Durst is on trial for allegedly murdering Berman execution-style in her Los Angeles bungalow to keep her from speaking to New York prosecutors about his missing first wife, Kathie Durst.

Prosecutors claim Durst was an abusive husband who killed Kathie in 1982 and later drafted Berman to help him cover his tracks. They allege Durst murdered Berman 18 years later to guarantee her silence amid a renewed investigation.

Kathie’s brother James McCormack said Tuesday he was heartened by the judge’s decision to move ahead with the trial.

“I totally support the decision. It’s in the interest of closure and justice for the Berman family and ultimately the McCormack family. It’s the only decision that makes sense. It’s not about Bob. He’s been getting away with murder for far too long,” he told the Daily News.

”Durst’s defense has pulled out every arrow in their quiver, but they’re missing the mark. Justice needs to be served. It’s been 38 years of a miscarriage of justice, and finally, finally, we should see some closure and justice. We can’t deny Bob his due process, of course, even though he’s denied it to us. But this the right decision from a very fair, straight-down-the-line judge,” he said.

McCormack was one of the witnesses who testified before the trial went on hiatus. He told the jurors he’s confident his outgoing, family-oriented sister met a violent end when she vanished without a trace nearly 40 years ago.

”There’s no doubt in my mind that she died Jan. 31, 1982,” McCormack said of Kathie.

He described his former brother-in-law as a “cold,” controlling and physically abusive husband and said he once witnessed Durst violently yank Kathie out of a family Christmas party by her hair.