'Justice' for Murdered Friend Prompted Witness To Come Forward in Robert Durst Case

LOS ANGELES, CA -- A Hollywood film producer who was close friends with a woman allegedly killed by Robert Durst testified Thursday that the quest for "justice" compelled her to come forward and tell prosecutors she had 30-year- old information that could be useful at the New York real estate scion's trial.

Lynda Obst -- testifying for a second day at a pretrial hearing in Los Angeles -- said she was fearful of Durst, but realized after watching an episode of the HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst" that she had to contact the District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the real estate heir for the December 2000 murder of writer Susan Berman.

Obst said the documentary series triggered a memory of Berman telling her that she once called Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York at Durst's request and pretended to be Durst's presumed-dead wife, who was a student at the school, apparently in order to help him avoid police scrutiny.

Prosecutors allege that Durst shot Berman in the back of the head at her Benedict Canyon home to prevent her from telling what she knew about the 1982 disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen.

Obst was among a handful of witnesses to testify this week at conditional hearings, which are videotaped proceedings for witnesses who might not be alive before the start of a preliminary hearing or trial. The Durst trial is expected to take place next year and the judge will have to decide if the pretrial testimony is admissible.

Obst, 67, was questioned Thursday by a defense attorney who suggested that her recollection of the Berman statement was the result of suggestibility, confusion or a "false memory."

The witness responded that she had no doubt about her testimony. "There's no possibility" the memory was faulty, Obst said.

For a second day, Obst said she feared Durst and was reluctant to become involved in the case.

"He's known to kill witnesses," she said.

Durst, 74, denies any involvement in Berman's death and insists he has no information about his first wife's disappearance.

The judge scheduled additional conditional hearings to start July 24.

Obst's testimony, if allowed at trial, could be a critical piece of evidence for prosecutors, who contend the defendant killed Berman because police in New York were about to interview her in a reopened probe into the disappearance of Kathie Durst.

Obst, whose name had not been publicly released as a witness in the case until she was called to testify Wednesday, said she and Berman worked closely together for five years while trying to develop Berman's memoir "Easy Street" into a movie.

Obst testified that Berman "once told me she called Albert Einstein medical center for (Durst) and said she was Kathie."

Her testimony dove-tailed with that given in February by a now-85-year- old doctor at the college who said he received a call on Feb. 1, 1982, from a woman claiming to be Kathie Durst, but he couldn't say positively it was actually Durst on the line. The woman on the phone said she was ill and would not show up at the school that day to begin a medical clerkship, Dr. Albert Kuperman said in February.

Kathie Durst went missing Jan. 31, 1982.

Obst said she never understood the significance Berman's comment until 2015, when she watched an episode of HBO's documentary series that talked about the mysterious phone call to the medical school. She said her heart immediately began to race and she began feeling terrified, because she "assumed that everyone knew" Berman was the one who made the phone call.

"I was afraid I might have important information," said Obst, who appeared in a separate episode of "The Jinx."

She consulted with an attorney and others who convinced her to contact prosecutors, Obst said.

Obst testified that after learning of Berman's murder by reading a newspaper, she immediately suspected Durst.

"I find the defendant a very scary person," Obst said.

Asked why, she responded, "He kills witnesses."

The prosecution has raised concerns that some witnesses in the case might be killed before they can testify.

Obst said Thursday her experience as a pretrial witness and the attendant publicity has not been welcome.

"It is not good for a movie producer to be associated with a murder trial," she said.

Asked why she was testifying, she responded, "For justice."

Defense attorneys have objected to the idea that their client -- who was in a wheelchair but is now up and walking -- could be a threat to anyone, particularly since allegations of wrongdoing against him suggest he has always acted alone.

The murder charge against Durst includes the special circumstance allegation of murder of a witness and murder while lying in wait, along with gun use allegations. However, the District Attorney's Office does not plan to seek the death penalty.

Durst was arrested March 14, 2015, in a New Orleans hotel room, hours before the airing of the final episode of "The Jinx," which examined the disappearance of his wife in 1982 and the killings of Berman and the 2001 dismemberment murder of Durst's Texas neighbor, Morris Black. Durst was tried but acquitted of Black's murder.

On the documentary series finale, which aired the day after his arrest, Durst was caught on microphone saying to himself, "Killed them all, of course." He also was caught on microphone saying, "There it is, you're caught," and "What a disaster."

During a New Orleans jailhouse interview with Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, Durst said he was "on meth" while the documentary was being filmed and that he didn't heed his attorneys' advice not to be interviewed for the series.

He has been long estranged from his real-estate-rich family, known for ownership of a series of New York City skyscrapers -- including an investment in the World Trade Center. Durst split with the family when his younger brother was placed in charge of the family business, leading to a drawn-out legal battle.

According to various media reports, Durst ultimately reached a settlement under which the family paid him $60 million to $65 million.

-- City News Service, photo courtesy of HBO