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Robert Durst indicates he will take plea deal in murder case
Heir was charged with murdering his friend Susan Berman in 2000
Robert Durst, the New York City real estate scion accused of murdering his friend and confidante Susan Berman 16 years ago, told prosecutors in 2015 he may accept a plea deal rather than face trial.
Los Angeles prosecutors have released the transcript of a three-hour long interview with Durst that was conducted in March 2015. Towards the end of interview, he appears to tell prosecutor John Lewin he would like to negotiate a plea.
In the transcript reviewed by the New York Times, Lewin tells Durst [TRDataCustom] he is “unlikely to ever be a free man again.” Durst responds by saying, “So if I was to accept that, I’m not going to be out of prison — now, the question is, where do I want to spend my time?”
He goes on to say “I’m going to be, you know, assuming we can come up with something.” Before bailiffs led Dust away, he is recorded as saying “I’m not going to say to you, ‘John, this is it,’ without my lawyer agreeing.” Durst did not have an attorney present, and he did not speak with Lewin again, according to the Times. In the transcript he also appears to accept that prosecutors want to know the location of the body of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, who went missing in 1982, to offer comfort to her 102-year-old mother, Ann McCormack.
“Oh, I would love to make Ann McCormack happy,” Dust said, according to the paper.
Prosecutors say Durst killed Berman, who for years acted as his unofficial spokesperson, in 2000 to keep her from revealing details about the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen.
At his arraignment in An Los Angeles Court last month, Durst pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is currently serving a seven-year prison term for unrelated weapons charges.
Durst, who was acquitted in 2003 over the death of his neighbor Morris Black in Texas, was the subject of HBO docu-drama “the Jinx.” He admitted killing multiple people, but has since said in the recent interview he was high on methamphetamine during the filming. [NYT] — Miriam Hall