NEW YORK CITY — A trail of bizarre deaths and a still-unsolved disappearance led to Robert Durst during his life — and likely will fuel more investigative journeys after his death.
Durst, 78, died Monday in a California prison, the New York Times first reported. His attorney told the Associated Press it was from natural causes.
His incarceration came after his murder conviction last year — the culmination of long-time suspicions swirling around the New York City real estate scion that were documented in the HBO documentary series “The Jinx.”
Durst in the series proved a compelling figure: a slight man with a gravelly voice who gave often bewildering answers about his strange life, which began as the heir to a real estate empire in the city.
His first wife Kathie vanished in the 1980s — a disappearance that prompted suspicions he had killed her.
While ducking out of public view in 2001, he boarded in a Galveston, Texas home with a man who later discovered his identity.
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The man died after being shot during an argument with Durst, who dismembered the body. But a Texas jury acquitted him of murder after Durst testified he shot the man in self-defense.
Durst eventually was convicted of murdering his friend and confidante Susan Berman in California during 2000. Prosecutors argued Durst killed Berman because she helped cover up Kathie’s killing and threatened to talk to investigators.
The Berman conviction was in part helped by “The Jinx” filmmakers, whose investigation uncovered an incriminating letter. Durst, in a stunning — but still controversial — final scene to the series appeared to confess to murders while being unaware he was being recorded.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Durst, 78, died Monday in a California prison, the New York Times first reported. His attorney told the Associated Press it was from natural causes.
His incarceration came after his murder conviction last year — the culmination of long-time suspicions swirling around the New York City real estate scion that were documented in the HBO documentary series “The Jinx.”
