Robert Durst: The Real Estate Heir's Criminal Legacy

Robert Alan Durst, born April 12, 1943, in New York City, died on January 10, 2022, at a hospital in Stockton, California. The 78-year-old real estate heir—whose father, Seymour Durst, built one of America's most prominent property empires—spent his final years behind bars, convicted of a single murder despite decades of suspicion surrounding his role in three deaths.

Contrary to widespread public perception, Durst was never convicted of triple murder. The distinction matters: it reflects how money, legal maneuvering, and circumstantial evidence shaped one of America's most sensational criminal cases.

**The Three Deaths**

Durst's name became linked to three victims across three decades and three states. The first was his wife.

Kathleen "Kathie" McCormack, 29, vanished on January 31, 1982, from her New York home. Durst claimed she had taken a train into Manhattan. Police found no body, no definitive evidence of foul play. McCormack was declared legally dead in 2017, 35 years after her disappearance. Durst was not charged with her murder until October 2021—months after his conviction in another case—but he died before standing trial.

The second victim was Susan Berman, a 55-year-old writer and Durst's closest friend. On December 23, 2000, Berman was shot point-blank in the back of the head at her Los Angeles-area home. Days later, police received an anonymous letter directing them to Berman's body; the envelope bore a handwritten "cadaver" note in handwriting later matched to Durst. Prosecutors alleged Durst killed Berman to silence her about the McCormack disappearance.

Durst was convicted of Berman's murder in September 2021 and sentenced to life without parole in October 2021. This remains his only murder conviction.