Robert Durst sentenced to life in prison for murder of Susan Berman
Robert Durst will never spend another day as a free man — even as prosecutors try to tie another killing to the cold-blooded New York real estate scion.
Durst was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Thursday for shooting his friend Susan Berman, execution style, in 2000 in Los Angeles.
Justice had finally caught up to the 78-year-old on Sept. 17, when he was convicted of gunning down Berman in cold blood to silence her because she knew too much about the death of his first wife, Kathie Durst.
Robert has long been suspected of killing Kathie in 1982. Two weeks after the guilty verdict, the Westchester County district attorney announced she would pursue charges against Durst in that case.
Prosecutors said Durst, an eccentric member of a prominent and wealthy New York City real estate development family, killed Berman because she helped him cover up Kathie’s murder 18 years earlier.
Durst slunk down in his wheelchair throughout Thursday’s sentencing hearing, including when Judge Mark Windham delivered the sentence.
He did not speak on Thursday, but Berman’s loved ones did.
“It has been a daily, soul-consuming and crushing experience,” said Sareb Kaufman, whose father was Berman’s boyfriend.
Berman’s family, along with prosecutors, attempted to convince Durst to confess to Kathie’s murder at the hearing. Durst, appearing in person, said nothing. His defense team said it would appeal the conviction.
Durst was never charged with any crimes related to his wife’s disappearance — but Los Angeles County prosecutors told the jury this summer that he killed the 29-year-old college student in their South Salem, N.Y., home, and “disposed of her body,” likely in New Jersey’s infamous Pine Barrens. Kathie’s remains have never been found.
The family of Kathie Durst, whose maiden name was McCormack, had hoped to present statements to the court Thursday about their loss, but prosecutors denied the request.
Attorney Robert Abrams said the McCormack family was disappointed and declined to attend the sentencing.
“The family is not going to go travel 3,000 miles to be a prop in some Hollywood production and sit there and not be able to make their victim impact statements,” Abrams said. “This is not some movie where it’s gross spectacle. This is their lives, and they’ve suffered for 40 years.”
Durst’s body count also includes Morris Black, who was shot to death in Texas in 2001. Durst admitted killing Black but claimed self-defense. He was acquitted of murder but convicted of evidence tampering for dismembering Black with an ax, saw and knives and dumping the parts in Galveston Bay. Black’s head was never recovered.
In the Berman murder, prosecutors cited testimony from Nick Chavin, a Durst pal who once told authorities that he had asked Durst about his possible involvement in the 55-year-old woman’s murder.
“And [Durst] said, ‘I had to. It was her or me. I had no choice,’” Chavin said in 2017.
Durst’s sordid past was the subject of a 2015 HBO documentary “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.” He was detained in 2015 in New Orleans while attempting to flee to Cuba.
The sprawling murder trial took more than 18 months to complete. It began just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and was delayed multiple times before its Sept. 17 conclusion.
After the sentencing, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin referred to Durst as a “narcissistic psychopath” who deserved the worst the law could throw at him.
“He’s 78 years old,” Lewin said. “He’s been walking around for a long time. He had a lot more of a life ... Kathie didn’t make 30. On balance, considering what he’s done, he got a lot more of a life than he was entitled to.”
With News Wire Services
