Robert Durst’s wife Kathie Durst predicted he would kill her, friend testifies
Nancy Dillon
In a chilling phone call just weeks before she disappeared, Robert Durst’s first wife Kathie predicted her own demise and pleaded with a friend to avenge it, the friend told jurors Thursday.
“Should anything happen to me, you make sure you don’t let the bastard get away with it,” Kathie allegedly told pal Marion Watlington, according to the Bermuda-based doctor’s testimony.
Kathie also claimed she’d been brutally battered by Durst and wanted out of the toxic marriage, the friend said on the sixth day of Durst’s murder trial in Los Angeles.
“She told me she had been beaten up by her husband to the point she had gone to the hospital and they had taken pictures to document her injuries,” Watlington testified, recalling the January 1982 conversation.
“I was extremely worried for her. She said she wanted to get a divorce, and I was worried that she would be in further danger of being beaten by him and possibly lose her life,” the friend said.
Under cross-examination, Watlington admitted Kathie also was worried Durst’s powerful father Seymour Durst “was going to kill her.”
Prosecutors loudly objected to the line of questioning, leading the judge to twice instruct jurors they could only consider such testimony to determine Kathie’s “state of mind.”
“You may not consider testimony that Kathie feared Seymour Durst would kill her as evidence that Seymour Durst killed Kathie,” Judge Mark Windham told the 12 main jurors and 11 alternates.
“You may only consider it for the limited purpose of assessing the credibly of Kathie Durst’s other statements,” he said.
Durst, 76, has pleaded not guilty to charges he murdered his best friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles in 2000 to keep her from telling New York authorities what she knew about Kathie’s disappearance.
Prosecutors claim Durst killed Kathie during a “nasty” breakup, enlisted Berman to help cover his tracks and then shot Berman in the back of her head to guarantee her silence.
Kathie’s brother Jim McCormack and sister Virginia McKeon also testified Thursday, telling jurors they have no doubt their missing sister is dead.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that she died Jan. 31, 1982,” McCormack said of the sister whose body has never been found.
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.
“Bob insisted she get up. Kathie wanted to continue the conversation. He got impatient. He went out and then he came back very quickly (and) he grabbed Kathie by the top of her head," McCormack said, using his hands to mimic someone jerking his hair.
"She went with the yank,” McCormack said.
“Did anybody do anything to try to stop (him)?” L.A. County Deputy District Attorney John Lewin asked.
“The way it happened, it was so spontaneous and unexpected, you really go into a temporary state of shock," McCormack said, comparing the incident to a “lightning bolt.”
“I was literally in shock,” he said. “She grabbed the coat, and she turned and said something to the effect, ‘It’s alright, Jim.’ And she went out the door.”
Asked about Durst’s demeanor during the outburst, he said his brother-in-law was furious.
“(It was) anger at Kathie not jumping when he said jump,” he said.
Robert Durst married Kathie McCormack (later Durst) in 1973 and she was last seen alive on January 31, 1982. According to Durst, his wife got on a Metro-North train near their home in South Salem, New York and headed to their Upper West Side apartment, but she never arrived. Durst did not report his wife missing until Feb. 5, 1982.
The cover of the Daily News on Feb. 9, 1982 shows Kathie Durst four days after she was reported missing. The headline reads, "Wife Missing: 100g Reward ... Real Estate tycoon's son asks for search."
On Dec. 24, 2000, Robert Durst's close college friend Susan Berman was found fatally shot in the back of the head in her Los Angeles home. Suspicion surrounded Durst because Westchester County investigators planned to speak with Berman about Kathie's disappearance. An anonymous letter was also sent to Beverly Hills Police Department telling them there was a "cadaver" at Berman's home, and the letter misspelled Beverly Hills as "Beverley."
On Sept. 28, 2001, Robert Durst killed his 71-year-old neighbor Morris Black (inset) by shooting him in the head. Both Durst and the murder victim lived in this house at the same time in Galveston, Texas.
On Sept. 30, 2001, fishermen found the torso, arms and legs of Morris Black in Texas' Galveston Bay, but the head was never found. On Oct. 9, 2001, Robert Durst was arrested on murder charges, after discovering a bow saw, 9-mm. gun and marijuana in his car, however, he was released the next day after posting $300,000 bail.
On Oct. 16, 2001, Robert Durst skipped his arraignment hearing and became a fugitive. He was found in Bethlehem, Pa. on Nov. 30, 2001 after security cameras at a Wegman's supermarket caught him attempting to steal a $5.99 chicken salad sandwich.
The cover of the New York Daily News on Dec. 1, 2001 shows Robert Durst being handcuffed after being caught by police. The headline reads, "Nabbed: Millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst caught stealing sandwich."
When he was apprehended by police officers after attempting to shoplift at Wegman's, cops found $27,000 in cash, guns and Black's driver's license in his car. This photo of evidence was used in the murder trial of Morris Black in 2003.
While Robert Durst (c) has been suspected of murder on three separate occasions - the disappearance of his first wife Kathleen McCormack in 1982, the murder of Susan Berman in 2000, and the murder of his neighbor Morris Black in 2001 - his involvement in the latter was the only one proven, and he was arrested for Black murder on October 9, 2001. He went to trial in 2003, but was later acquitted of murder. He did, however, serve three years for bail jumping back in 2001.
In 2003, Robert Durst went on trial for the murder of his neighbor Morris Black. Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin claimed that Durst killed Black out of self-defense. In this photo, Durst demonstrates how Morris Black handled a gun during a testimony at his trial on Oct. 23, 2003, in Galveston, Texas.
One of the pieces of evidence used during the trial was this bow saw that Durst used to dismember Black. Durst admittedly killed his neighbor, Morris Black, cutting up his body and dumping the remains in Galveston Bay.
On Nov. 11, 2003, Durst was acquitted of the murder of Morris Black after 26 hours of deliberations over five days because he was argued that they both struggled for the gun and he was acting in self-defense. Durst and his lawyer also added that he suffered from a form of autism known as Asperger's syndrome. Here, Durst reacts, relieved after hearing his not guilty verdict.
The day after Robert Durst was acquitted of the murder of Morris Black, the Daily News ran this cover on Nov. 12, 2003 which read, "Millionaire cross-dresser Durst shot a man, chopped up his body -- and beat the rap. So Bobby, where's the head?" referring to the fact that Morris Black's head was never found, while the rest of his body was discovered.
In 2004, Durst pleaded guilty to two counts of bond jumping and one count of evidence tampering. He received a five-year sentence but was paroled in 2005. In Dec. 2005, Durst violated parole and returned to jail. Here, Durst is escorted into the courtroom for a parole revocation hearing held by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Jan. 13, 2006, in Houston. He was released again from jail on March 1, 2006
In 2015, Durst became the subject of a HBO docuseries, "The Jinx," which explored the disappearance of his wife Kathie, the murder of his friend Susan Berman and the 2001 murder of his neighbor Morris Black.
In the final episode of the "The Jinx," Durst apparently admitted to murders, mumbling that he "killed them all," while he was unaware that his microphone was still on. He was also heard whispering to himself, "There it is. You're caught," Durst was arrested in New Orleans on March 12, 2105 on a first-degree warrant related to homicide investigations.
Durst’s defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin grilled McCormack about Kathie’s history of cocaine use and suggested on cross-examination that she had trouble completing a neurology clerkship due to her party lifestyle.
McCormack said he was “aware” of some cocaine use but wasn’t “judgmental,” especially considering his sister was on the cusp of graduating from medical school, “excited” to become a pediatrician and planning a 90th birthday party for their grandmother when she vanished.
He said it was easier to “draw a correlation” between any alleged struggles Kathie was having and the domestic abuse she endured.
He said his sister’s marriage went from “mutual love” to something with many “levels” of abuse after Durst demanded she terminate a pregnancy she wanted to keep.
“Kathie was forced to have an abortion under threat of a divorce,” McCormack testified.
