Real estate heir Robert Durst sentenced to life in prison for California murder

Oct 14 (Reuters) – A California judge on Thursday sentenced real estate heir Robert Durst to lifestyle in jail with no the possibility of parole for murdering his ideal good friend Susan Berman in 2000, in a very long-delayed punishment for a man who mainly evaded the law above 39 yrs.

Durst, 78 and in inadequate wellbeing, appeared dejected and was slumped in his wheelchair during the listening to, unshaven and matted in his Los Angeles County jail uniform.

A a great deal much more confident and sturdy Durst had defiantly jousted with filmmakers in a 2015 documentary sequence when he appeared to inadvertently confess to murder on microphone.

Durst, a multimillionaire whose grandfather launched one of New York City’s leading actual estate providers, was long a suspect but under no circumstances billed in the disappearance of his wife Kathleen McCormack, who went missing in New York in 1982.

Survivors of Berman who spoke at the listening to pleaded with Durst to reveal where by he hid his wife’s entire body, declaring it may grant him a probability at some redemption.

“He should allow us know where by Kathie’s physique is so her relatives can get some closure,” reported David Berman, the victim’s cousin.

Susan Berman’s family members expressed some remorse on her behalf, as proof from the trial indicated Berman served supply Durst with a phony alibi in McCormack’s disappearance. Prosecutors alleged that Durst killed Berman since he feared she would lastly reveal what she realized to authorities.

Very last month a jury identified Durst responsible of shooting Berman, 55, in the again of the head in her Beverly Hills dwelling. The jury also uncovered him responsible of the exclusive instances of lying in wait and killing a witness, which have a mandatory existence sentence with no the probability of parole.

Exceptional Court docket Judge Mark Windham, who pronounced the sentence, also denied a protection ask for for a new trial, indicating there was “mind-boggling proof of guilt” that was established numerous times in excess of.

The trial arrived 6 many years following Durst’s apparent confession was aired in the HBO tv documentary sequence “The Jinx,” in which Durst, who was nonetheless carrying a reside microphone just after an interview, went into a toilet and reported to himself, “What the hell did I do? … Killed them all, of course.”

Durst was only on trial for killing Berman in California, but prosecutors argued he murdered 3 people today: his lacking wife, Berman and a neighbor in Texas who uncovered his id when Durst was hiding from the regulation. Durst was earlier acquitted of the Texas circumstance regardless of admitting to dismembering the man’s physique.

The McCormack family has urged prosecutors in Westchester County, New York, to prosecute Durst for her murder.

Westchester County District Legal professional Mimi Rocah reopened the scenario in Might, shortly immediately after taking office. Her business declined to remark on Thursday.

Reporting by Daniel Trotta Extra reporting by Dan Whitcomb
Modifying by Jonathan Oatis, Aurora Ellis and Cynthia Osterman

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