Robert Durst

Robert Alan Durst, better known as Robert Durst, was a serial killer and real-estate heir in the United States.

What was the Net worth of Robert Durst?

Robert Durst was a convicted murderer and real estate tycoon who died in 2022 with a net worth of $65 million. He rose to prominence after the mysterious abduction of his wife Kathleen in 1982, and later for the murders of his acquaintance Susan Berman and his neighbor Morris Black. Durst is now incarcerated at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, where he is serving a life sentence.

Durst was the brother of billionaire commercial developer Douglas Durst and the son of New York real estate entrepreneur Seymour Durst. “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” a 2014 HBO documentary, is about Durst. Robert Durst died in detention at a California Department of Corrections health care facility on January 10, 2022, at the age of 78.

Early Years and Eduacation

Robert Durst was born in New York City, New York, on April 12, 1943, and grew up in Scarsdale. Tommy, Douglas, and Wendy are his siblings, and he is the eldest of Bernice and real estate billionaire Seymour’s four children. Durst’s mother died when he was seven years old after falling from his home’s roof.

Durst attended Scarsdale High School as a teenager. Robert went on to Lehigh University, where he was a member of the varsity lacrosse team and the student paper’s business manager. He enrolled in a doctoral program at UCLA after graduating in 1965. He eventually dropped out and moved back to New York in 1969.

Career of Robert Durst

Durst opened a modest food business in Vermont called All Good Things after becoming dissatisfied with his father’s job at the Durst Organization. After his father persuaded him to work for his organization, he shuttered the shop a few years later. Durst’s father, however, decided to nominate his other son, Douglas, to take over the company due to Durst’s irresponsible behavior. Durst eventually sued for his half of the family fortune, believing he was entitled to it.

The absence of Kathleen McCormack, Kathleen McCormack, Kathleen McCormack, Kathleen McCormack, Kathleen
In 1971, Durst met Kathleen McCormack, a dental hygienist. The two were living together by the following year, first in Durst’s Vermont house and then in Manhattan. In April of 1973, they married. McCormack unexpectedly vanished over a decade later, in early 1982. Durst stated that after a fight with her, he put McCormack on a commuter train before going home and turning in. Gilberte Najamy, McCormack’s friend, was expecting her at a pub and was anxious when she didn’t show there.

Robert Durst and his wife, Debrah Lee Charatan
Robert Durst and his wife, Debrah Lee Charatan. (Source: @thesun)

Durst filed a missing person’s report later that week. Three weeks later, the superintendent of their building discovered McCormack’s belongings in the garbage compactor. McCormack had requested a $250,000 divorce settlement from Durst prior to her disappearance; instead, Durst cancelled her credit card, erased her name from their joint bank account, and refused to pay for her medical school tuition. McCormack had also been to the hospital for facial bruises that her spouse was said to have caused.

Durst divorced his wife eight years after she vanished, claiming spousal abandonment. Later, McCormack’s mother attempted to sue Durst for murdering her daughter and denying them the chance to bury her. In May of 2021, the disappearance was categorized as a homicide after a revived criminal investigation and more lawsuits. Durst was officially charged with her murder in October.

Susan Berman’s Murder and Life Sentence

Susan Berman, a friend of Durst’s, was found slain in her Los Angeles home on Christmas Eve 2000. Berman had previously assisted in the creation of Durst’s public alibi in the disappearance of his wife. Durst was last seen in California a few days before the murder and flew back to New York the night before Berman’s body was discovered. Cathy Scott, an investigative journalist, claims that Durst murdered Berman because she knew too much about McCormack’s abduction.

Robert Durst was charged with the murder of Susan Berman and arrested
Robert Durst was charged with the murder of Susan Berman and arrested. (Source: @nypost)

FBI investigators apprehended Durst in March of 2015. Durst was convicted of Berman’s first-degree murder in September 2021, after multiple delays, retrials, and hospitalizations due to purported medical crises on his behalf. He was sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of release in October. Durst tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after and was placed on a ventilator in severe condition.

Murder of Morris Black

Durst was arrested in Galveston, Texas, in October 2001, after body pieces belonging to his neighbor Morris Black were discovered floating in the bay. Two pistols, marijuana, $37,000 in cash, Black’s driver’s license, and directions to Gilberte Najamy’s residence were discovered in Durst’s rented car. Durst was tried in 2003 for the murder of Black.

Robert Durst, an American murderer, serial killer, and real-estate heir
Robert Durst, an American murderer, serial killer, and real-estate heir. (Source: @bbc.co.uk )

He claimed self-defense and said he killed Black accidently during a scuffle over a firearm. He also confessed to dismembering Black’s body and disposing of the pieces in Galveston Bay. However, because Black’s head was never found, the jury acquitted Durst because to a lack of forensic evidence. Durst pleaded guilty to two counts of bail jumping and one count of evidence tampering in December 2004. He was sentenced to five years in prison, which was later reduced to three years, and he was released on parole in 2005. He was returned to prison after violating his parole terms shortly after, then freed again in 2006.

“The Jinx”

“The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” was a six-part HBO documentary about Durst that aired in 2015. The film detailed the disappearance of McCormack and the murder of Black, as well as the circumstantial evidence linking Durst to Berman’s murder. Against his lawyers’ and wife Deborah Charatan’s advice, Durst conducted numerous interviews for the film and gave the filmmakers unfettered access to his personal records. Durst’s microphone picks up admissions of culpability in his killings near the end of the video, when he appears to assume he is no longer being recorded.

Facts

  • He graduated with a degree in Economics from Lehigh University where he played varsity lacrosse.
  • He was rearrested in March of 2015 on a first-degree murder warrant.
  • Ryan Gosling played a fictionalized version of Durst in the 2010 film All Good Things.
  • He first gained media attention in the 1980s when his wife disappeared.
  • He died of cardiac arrest at the San Joaquin General Hospital in Stockton, California on 10th January 2022, at age 78.

Quick Facts About Robert Durst

Celebrated NameRobert Durst
Age78 Years
Nick NameRobert
Birth NameRobert Alan Durst
Birth Date1943-04-12
GenderMale
ProfessionAmerican Convict Serial Killer
NationalityAmerican
Birth NationAmerica
Place Of BirthNew York City, U.S.
EthnicityAmerican-white
ReligionJewish
RaceWhite
HoroscopeAries
FatherSeymour Durst
Mother3
UniversityUniversity of California
Marital StatusMarried
SpouseDebrah Lee Charatan (m. 2000-2022), Kathleen McCormack (m. 1973)
Sexual OrientationStraight
Source of WealthReal-estate heir career
Net Worth$65 million
Height1.68 m
Weight70 kg
Hair ColorGrey
Eye ColorDark brown
Body TypeAverage
LinksWikipedia