Journalist recalls strange lunch with Robert Durst days before arrest

Durst hoped to get his side of the story out before the finale of “the Jinx”

Croissant Brioche, the restaurant where Vanessa Leggett met Robert Durst and Robert Durst
Croissant Brioche, the restaurant where Vanessa Leggett met Robert Durst and Robert Durst

“Most people don’t realize how heavy the human head is,” Robert Durst told a Houston journalist over lunch just days before his most recent arrest for the alleged murder of Susan Berman. Their conversation was every bit as bizarre as you might expect.

“A few weeks before his March arrest in New Orleans, Durst sat across from me at his favorite restaurant near Rice University in Houston. It was a meeting he had tried to set up since the previous fall, when he’d sent me a request to connect on LinkedIn,” Vanessa Leggett wrote in an Esquire piece.

Over the lunch, Durst reportedly detailed a litany of medical conditions and ordered a ham-less ham-and-cheese sandwich (“I’ll have a ham and cheese sandwich on a croissant. Hold the ham.”).

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He had contacted Leggett for writing advice. Apparently, he knew how HBO’s “the Jinx” would end (with him mumbling “I killed them all.”) and wanted to get his side of the story out. Leggett was not interested in writing the piece, but did suggest that he write something himself similar to Monica Lewinsky’s Vanity Fair piece.

“He certainly did not seem worried. To me, he appeared wistfully reflective, his slow blinking and reptilian smile calling to mind an iguana in repose,” Legget recalls. “An hour into our meeting, Durst said, ‘Well, this has been very helpful.’” Seconds later, he was gone. [Esquire]Christopher Cameron