Robert Durst: New York millionaire found guilty of murdering his best friend

Robert Durst spins in place in his wheelchair in court. Credit: AP/Press Association Images

The multimillionaire New York real estate heir Robert Durst has been convicted of killing his best friend Susan Berman.

Durst, who faces a mandatory life term without parole when sentenced on October 18, was yesterday found guilty of first degree murder after a jury in Los Angeles deliberated for around seven hours over three days.In 2000, Ms Berman was shot at point-blank range in the back of the head in her Beverley Hills home as she prepared to tell police how she helped cover up Durst’s wife’s killing.

Robert Durst in court earlier this month Credit: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/AP/Pool

Ms Berman, the daughter of a Las Vegas mobster, was Durst’s long-time confidante who told friends she provided a false alibi for him after his wife vanished.

Durst, 78, was not in court for the verdict- but was instead in isolation in prison after being exposed to a person infected with coronavirus.

Prosecutors painted a portrait of a rich narcissist who did not think the laws applied to him and ruthlessly disposed of people who stood in his way.

They interlaced evidence of Ms Berman’s killing with Kathie Durst’s suspected death in 1982 and the 2001 killing of a tenant in a Texas flophouse where Robert Durst holed up while on the run from New York authorities.

The saga took on new life after the New York real estate heir participated in a HBO documentary that connected him to Ms Berman’s killing.

Robert Durst in a 2017 court appearance Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File

Durst was arrested in 2015 while hiding out in a New Orleans hotel on the eve of the airing of the final episode of “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst”, in which he was confronted with incriminating evidence and made what prosecutors said was a confession.

Durst could be heard muttering to himself on a live microphone in a bathroom: “There it is. You’re caught.”

His decision to testify in his own defence- hoping for a repeat of his acquittal in the Texas killing- backfired as he was forced to admit lying under oath, made damning admissions and had his credibility destroyed when questioned by the prosecutor.

Defence lawyer David Chesnoff said on Friday they believed there was “substantial reasonable doubt” and were disappointed in the verdict.

He said Durst would pursue all avenues of appeal.