Kathie Durst Disappearance Before Westchester Grand Jury: Report

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — A grand jury in Westchester County is hearing witnesses in the cold case of Kathleen Durst, who disappeared in 1982, News12 reporter Tara Rosenblum reported.

Her husband, eccentric billionaire Robert Durst, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing longtime friend Susan Berman in her California home just over two decades ago — because, prosecutors said, he wanted to stop her from talking to investigators about Kathie Durst.

Shortly after the verdict in the Berman case, Kathie Durst's family issued a statement in which they said, "Today, more than ever before, it is clear that she was murdered by Robert Durst in Westchester County, New York, on January 31, 1982. The evidence is overwhelming. Although Durst has now been rightly convicted of killing Susan Berman, who helped him conceal the truth about Kathie's death, the McCormack family is still waiting for justice. Kathie is still waiting for justice.

"The justice system in Los Angeles has finally served the Berman family. It is now time for Westchester to do the same for the McCormack family and charge Durst for the murder of his wife, Kathie, which occurred almost 40 years ago. They have had interviews, statements and documents for months."

Durst has been behind bars since March 14, 2015, when he was taken into custody in a New Orleans hotel room hours before the airing of the final episode of the six-part HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst," which examined the disappearance of Kathie Durst and the deaths of Berman and Morris Black, a neighbor whose body Durst cut up after an fatal argument in Texas while he was hiding from investigators.

Attorneys for Durst, 78, have vowed to appeal his conviction for the killing of Berman, who was shot in the back of the head just before Christmas Eve 2000.

Durst has long been estranged from his real estate-rich family, which is known for ownership of a series of New York City skyscrapers including an investment in the World Trade Center. He split with the family when his younger brother was placed in charge of the family business, leading to a drawn-out legal battle and ultimately reached a settlement in which the family reportedly paid him $60 million to $65 million.

READ ALSO:

• 'Killed Them All,' Mutters Real Estate Heir Arrested for Beverly Hills Murder
• Fox's 'Judge Jeanine' Predicted Robert Durst's Arrest Before the End of 'Jinx' on HBO

Reporter Terri Vermeulen Keith of City News Service, a Patch partner, contributed to this report.