Robert Durst, Real Estate Scion and Convicted Killer, Dies at 78

His attorney confirmed to CBS News that he died in prison.

Robert Durst, the New York City real estate heir who was convicted of murdering his friend Susan Berman, has died in prison, his attorney confirmed to CBS News. He was 78.

His attorney, Chip Lewis, said the death was believed to be due to "natural causes associated with the litany of medical issues we had repeatedly reported to the court over the last couple of years."

Durst was convicted in September and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in October.  Durst was believed to have killed Berman at her Los Angeles-area home in 2000 to prevent her from incriminating him in the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Kathie. After decades as an unsolved case, Durst was just charged with his wife's murder in October.

Durst was acquitted in 2001 in the killing of another friend in Galveston, Texas.

Durst became a national sensation after the 2015 HBO documentary The Jinx, which chronicled his involvement in the three cases. At the end of the documentary, he appeared to confess to the crimes that he had been implicated in, being caught on a mic while in the bathroom saying to himself, "There it is. You're caught. Killed them all, of course."

He had several medical issues while in court, including testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this year, and was briefly on a ventilator.

This story was originally published by CBS News on Jan. 10, 2021 at 2:15 p.m. ET.

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