search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

HGTV’s “Mr. Flip It” gets four years in jail for $10M fraudHGTV’s “Mr. Flip It” gets four years in jail for $10M fraudLawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aLawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aTrump accused of making false statements about $50M Chicago tower loanTrump accused of making false statements about $50M Chicago tower loanH-E-B snags 21 acres in Celina, hinting at development boomH-E-B snags 21 acres in Celina, hinting at development boom
New York

Witness claims Robert Durst confessed to Berman murder

Real estate heir allegedly made admission in 2014

Robert Durst in New Orleans
Robert Durst in New Orleans

An advertising executive claims Robert Durst confessed to murdering his friend Susan Berman during a 2014 after-dinner conversation.

“I had to. It was her or me. I had no choice,” the executive, Nick Chavin, recalled Durst saying.

Chavin, who was a long-time friend of both Durst and Berman, gave a deposition in the murder case, which has yet to go to trial. Prosecutors had kept Chavin’s identity secret until the deposition, citing fears that Durst might have him murdered to prevent him from testifying.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Chavin also claimed Berman had told him Durst had admitted to murdering his first wife, Kathleen.

Durst, once the heir apparent to the namesake family real estate company, was arrested in New Orleans in 2015 after an HBO documentary recorded him muttering what could be construed as a murder confession. (Durst claimed he was nonsensical at the time because he was high on meth.) He is facing trial in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors allege Durst murdered Berman in 2000 to prevent her from spilling information about the disappearance of his first wife in 1982.

Chavin claimed that Durst was the best man at his wedding, and that he helped Chavin get advertising work for the Durst Organization. [LATimes] — Konrad Putzier

Tags
Robert Durst