Hurricane Harvey has delayed Robert Durst’s California murder trial for six months after the defense attorney’s Houston office was flooded.
On Wednesday the real estate scion agreed to move the preliminary hearing date to April 16, 2018, the New York Daily News reported.
“I hadn’t planned to allow any delay, but because of events in Houston, it is necessary for me to delay the case,” Los Angeles judge Mark Windham said.
Durst stands on trial for the murder of his friend Susan Berman. Prosecutors allege he killed after she threatened to reveal information about the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst. He was arrested in New Orleans in 2015.
Kathleen’s brother told the Daily News that he is frustrated about the delay. “But the bottom line is, I’ve already waited 35-and-a-half years for closure and justice, if I have to wait an extra six months, so be it,” he said.
Kathleen’s sisters also filed a $100 million lawsuit against Durst over her disappearance. [NYDN] — Konrad Putzier