'Killed Them All,' Admits Real Estate Heir Suspected in Multiple Murders

New York City real estate heir Robert Durst, the subject of a six-part HBO documentary investigating accusations he killed at least three people over a 20-year span, awaited extradition to California today after his arrest at a New Orleans hotel on a Los Angeles warrant for suspected murder, authorities said.

Durst was taken into custody Saturday night by FBI agents at the Marriott Hotel in New Orleans’ French Quarter, where he reportedly was staying under the alias “Everett Ward,” according to a variety of media reports.

Durst is a suspect in the December 2000 execution-style shooting death of his close friend Susan Berman, whose body was found on Christmas Eve in her Benedict Canyon home.

Authorities believe Durst killed Berman because prosecutors in the New York City suburbs of Westchester County were about to interview her about the disappearance of Durst’s first wife, Kathleen “Kathie” McCormack Durst in 1982 while she was in the process of divorcing him.

Durst’s arrest came several hours before tonight’s airing of the last installment of the six-part HBO documentary, “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.”

During its filming, Durst gave virtually unfettered access to producers Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling. That included hours of taped interviews.

The series follows Jarecki as he cultivates a bond with the reclusive Durst and tries to get to the bottom of the rumors about Durst’s allegedly violent criminal past.

In tonight’s series-concluding broadcast, Durst was caught on microphone saying to himself, “Killed them all, of course.”

He also was caught saying “There it is, you’re caught,” and “What a disaster,” the reports said.

In addition to being a suspect in Kathie McCormack’s disappearance and the death of Berman, Durst also admitted to killing and dissecting the body Morris Black, a man who lived across from him in Galveston, Texas, where Durst fled while authorities were trying to make a case against him in both cases.

Durst went to trial in Black’s death -- after a nationwide manhunt located him in Pennsylvania because he tried to shoplift a sandwich -- but he was acquitted by a jury that deemed Black’s death accidental and in self- defense.

Tonight’s episode of “The Jinx,” featured Durst being confronted with handwriting resemblances between the envelope of a letter sent to Berman in 1999 and an anonymous note sent to Beverly Hills police in December 2000 that there was a dead body in Berman’s home.

In the show, Durst admitted he wrote on the envelope, but said he didn’t send the note to police. He couldn’t say, however, say which one of the signatures was his, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Investigators in cooperation with the Major Crimes Section of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office secured a warrant for Durst’s arrest, police said.

Some of those investigators have spent close to 15 years on the Berman case, authorities said.

Arrangements are being made to seek Durst’s extradition from Louisiana to California, according to the LAPD.

Durst -- expected in a New Orleans court Monday for an extradition hearing -- will not fight extradition to Los Angeles, according to his attorney, Chip Lewis.

“As a result of investigative leads and additional evidence that has come to light in the past year, investigators have identified Robert Durst as the person responsible for Ms. Berman’s death,” the LAPD said.

HBO issued a statement lauding the documentary’s producers.

“We simply cannot say enough about the brilliant job that Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling did in producing ‘The Jinx.’ Years in the making, their thorough research and dogged reporting reignited interest in Robert Durst’s story with the public and law enforcement,” according to the network.

Durst’s brother Douglas, chairman of the Durst Organization, issued a statement today expressing his family’s relief and gratitude over the arrest.

“We are relieved and also grateful to everyone who assisted in the arrest of Robert Durst,” Douglas Durst said. “We hope he will finally be held accountable for all he has done.”

• City News Service
• (Photo of Robert Durst, screenshot from Click2Houston.com video on Youtube)