GUILTY CA - Susan Berman, 55, fatally shot, Los Angeles, 23 Dec 2000

[Chelly]

Durst is back on the stand this morning. Today he is in a different outfit: white dress shirt over his standard white with yellow trimmed t shirt, grey suit jacket, khaki slacks.
Lewin is questioning Durst again about the gun-grabbing incident that resulted in Morris Black's murder.

 

[Chelly]

Cathy Russon
@cathyrusson
36m
#RobertDurst is back in his suit today. The catheter must be out.
@LawCrimeNetwork
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hKctfPyrNAY

 

[taylorss]

FYI Durst said on direct that the S Salem house was about 1200 sq ft, “300 of which was in the basement, it was the second bedroom”

There’s been conflicting testimony on what the basement space was like. Durst tries to say other times that there was no basement at all. But it sounds like there was plenty of room to work. Ruth Mayer testified she saw a blue light in the basement window in the two days after Kathie disappeared, & never otherwise.

 

[taylorss]

Omg Lewin came out swinging today heh heh

 

[katydid23]

VT - VT - Lynne Kathryn Schulze, 18, Middlebury, 10 Dec 1971

In 2015, authorities announced they were looking at Robert Durst as a possible suspect in Lynne's disappearance. He and his wife, Kathleen, owned All the Good Things in 1971.

Kathleen Durst disappeared from New York City in 1982, and Robert is considered the prime suspect in her case, but he has never faced charges connected to it. A photo of him is posted with this case summary.

Investigators have ruled him out as a suspect in the 1997 disappearance of Kristen Modafferi from San Francisco, California, but he's being considered in the disappearance of Karen Mitchell from Eureka, California that same year.

Robert was charged with the 2001 Texas homicide of Morris Black. He claimed he murdered Black in self-defense, and was acquitted in 2003. In 2015, he was charged with murder in the 2000 shooting death of Susan Berman.

=======================

Interesting that police considered Durst a suspect in a coed's murder, who went missing in front of his health food store back in 1971.
Then he was looked at for 2 other missing women. He very well may be a serial killer. Well, he is a serial killer, if you count the 3 he is testifying to in this trial now.

 

[katydid23]

============

Durst trial day13 cross exam:


Durst said Pirro stopped going after him after his Galveston arrest. And stopped talking about him


Lewin says ‘but wasn’t there a gag order by the judge in Texas?’


Oops



WOW—the final clip shown by Lewin today was very damning. Holy Moley!


It is an audio, with transcript, of Durst in jail, speaking with his wife. Calls recorded of course. Which makes this such a stupid conversation for him to have—


I have to listen to the beginning again of this last portion because I had a phone call and missed the start—But somehow, he was recording himself telling his version of events, and sending them to his wife and other male friend—so they would ‘grade’ his performance.


And Durst is asking “ Do I sound believable? Is my tone of voice right? Does it seem truthful? Please listen carefully and tell me what you think, I need your help/…” etc etc…

I wonder if he was recording his practice sessions with attorneys maybe? I dont get how he would have a recorder? Maybe he just spoke into the phone and had her record it and listen back?

 

[Niner]

for Monday, Aug. 30th:

Cathy Russon
@cathyrusson
·
15h
#RobertDurst - WATCH LIVE at 9am PT/12pm ET. Day 12 of the defendant on the stand.

#RobertDurst is back in his suit today. The catheter must be out.



John Lewin asks Durst about his prior testimony that he grabbed the gun from Morris Black, on the top, on the barrel but the animations shows underneath.



Lewin: Did you intentionally shoot Morris Black in self-defense or was the discharge of the gun an accident?
Durst: It was in self-defense.

Durst then clarifies that he was defending himself against Morris Black, "and Morris accidentally got shot."

Lewin asked Durst why he didn't call 911 when Morris Black was shot. He said he left his cellphone in his car because he'd plan to go jogging and it was too "clunky" for his pocket. Lewin whips out a Nokia 6160 that he (Lewin) bought, that was same phone Durst had



Lewin points out that Durst couldn't call 911 when Morris Black was shot or when he says he found Susan Berman's body claiming he didn't have his cell phone on him.

Lewin: You say you left your cell phone on the plane & didn't have at Susan's house & left your phone in your car when Morris Black was shot. "Would you agree that is a convenient explanation why you didn't have a cell phone on you to call 911?"

Court getting ready to resume following the morning break.

Judge plans to have closing arguments State: 9/8 & half of 9/9. Defense begins late 9/9 then long weekend. They'll come back on 9/13 and defense will conclude their closing, the state rebuttal closing into midday on the 9/14. Jury begin deliberations 9/14

DDA Lewin questioning Robert Durst about him saying he dismembered Morris Black “the hard way.” Durst says he does not remember doing it and he drank a fifth of Jack Daniels while dismembering Black.

Lewin showing Durst a fifth of Jack Daniels when asking him how much he weighed at the time. Durst says he weighed his max of 150. He says he remembers drinking the JF and taking lots of showers

Lewin asks “wouldn’t drinking a fifth of JD put you on your back? He says no. Lewin asks about the fact no liquor bottles were found in his apartment.

Now Lewin asks Durst whether he triple bagged Morris Black’s body parts. He said “that is what the forensics say. I don’t think I had that many bags.”

Earlier Lewin showed a cell phone he purchased that was the same as Durst's in Galveston. NOW he pulls out a fifth of Jack Daniels.



Durst said after Morris Black's death, he bought a fifth of Jack Daniels and drank it while dismembering Morris Black. Lewin asked how much he weighed, Durst says 150 lbs

Lewin: can you explain Mr. Durst why Morris Black’s head is the only body part that wasn’t found? Durst: No. Durst says he dumped everything in the same spot and did not go swimming around to find Morris Black’s head

Durst answering q’s about a quilt he took to a dry cleaner in New Orleans. He said he bought a Jackson Pollock quilt at a charity auction. He said he dropped off the quilt at a dry cleaner in NOLA. “There was no red stain.”

Lewin plays a jailhouse call between Durst and his wife Debrah Charatan in Oct. 2015 where Durst says depending on how this trial goes, he may confirm @JudgeJeanine
theory that Douglas Durst helped him cover up Kathie's death.

link: https://twitter.com/cathyrusson

 

[Niner]

Tuesday, August 31st:
*Trial continues (Day 52) (@ 9am PT) – CA – Susan Berman (55) (Dec. 24, 2000, Beverly Hills) – *Robert Alan Durst (57 @ time of crime/72/now 78) arrested (3/14/15) extradited (11/1/16 from Indiana prison to Calif.) & charged with 1st degree murder. Plead not guilty. $4M Bond.
Was serving a 7 year federal prison term for illegal possession of a revolver at the time of his New Orleans’ arrest.
Trial began on 2/11/20 with pretrial motions & jury selection started on 2/19/20. Trial started on 3/4/20. Jury: 8 women & 4 men. 11 alternates. (1 alternate excused on 5/18/21) Now 10 alternates. (1 juror (#3) excused for medical reasons on 7/8/21). Now 9 alternates. Another juror excused (8/19/21) due to scheduling. Now 8 alternates. (Trial expected to last 5 months). Trial stopped 3/16/20 due COVID-19 & will restart on 7/27/20 & retrial was to restart on 4/12/21 continued to 5/17/21 continued to 5/18/21. No court on Fridays.
State rested their case on Tuesday (8/3/21). Defense has 2, possibly 3 witnesses (one is the defendant) & thinks 2 weeks for their case & will begin their case on 8/3/21 afternoon. Judge Windham denies the defense motion for mistrial based on their client's health & inability to testify on 8/2/21. Judge denies defense motion for judgment of acquittal.
Upcoming schedule: Thursday, 8/26 ending 4pm, Tuesday, 8/31 ending 2:45pm, Thurs. 9/2-DARK, 9/6-DARK/Labor Day, Tues, 9/7-DARK/ Jewish Holiday & Thurs, 9/16 (if still going) DARK/Yom Kippur. Closing arguments begin 9/8 & jury should have case the week of 9/14/21.
Jury Selection from 2/19/20 thru 3/3/20 (Days 1-8) & Trial Days 1-6 (3/4/20 thru 3/12/20) & Court info from 3/16/20 thru 5/12/21 & Trial Days 1-50 (5/18/21 thru 8/26/21) reference post #639 here:
CA - Susan Berman, 55, fatally shot, Los Angeles, 23 Dec 2000 *Arrest*
8/30/21 Monday, Trial Day 51: Defense witness: Robert Durst still on cross-exam by John Lewin. Lewin played a jailhouse call between Durst & his wife Debrah Charatan from 10/2015. Trial continues on 8/31/21.
Judge plans to have closing arguments State: 9/8 & half of 9/9. Defense begins late 9/9 then long weekend. They'll come back on 9/13 and defense will conclude their closing, the state rebuttal closing into midday on the 9/14. Jury begin deliberations 9/14.

 

[Tortoise]

Wow, talk about save the best to last. He said to his wife in a recorded call in 2015 that if this trial went badly for him he would say Douglas helped him hide Kathy's body. Lewin is right to call it a confession, and Durst was actually speechless. Durst must have misunderstood the charges at that time I reckon, he was trying to work out which trial he was referring to in the call.

Lewin is going to call a guy, [Seb?] I think it might be Susan's son, who visited him in jail because Durst denies he told him a completely different version of killing Morris Black.

Durst also said in a jail call with his wife that he had intended to 'Igor' Douglas, whom he referred to as BM. Durst said BM stands for bowel movement.

Completely non-credible explanation for having Gilberta's address written down on hotel notepaper in his car, with the two guns and a bag full of ammunition. Said he had loads of contacts with him, but the notepaper proves he wrote it down 20 years after last seeing her. It also looks as if his plan was to kill a cop when he went to his glove compartment for his ID, because there was no ID in the glove compartment but there was a gun.

He's shown himself to be a psychopath. When he talks about a plea deal in 2015 he's talking about which state is going to have him, his final dilemma was how to avoid the death penalty. Not sure if I knew this before, my memory is rusty.

 

[taylorss]

OMG OMG that was amazing - literally amazing, could not believe what was happening & it went on & on OMG…. that was like all the dreams of everyone who’s ever followed Durst all rolled into one. After like a week of mr nice guy, Lewin came out swinging like Ali and did not let up for a moment. You could see the life draining quickly out of Durst, DeGuerin trying desperately to derail it with no chance of success …. I was srsly worried someone on defense side would pull a fire alarm!!

Will Durst even return for more?! No doubt his attys insisted he stand trial even tho his goose was cooked because there’s no $ for them in a plea deal …. but now they’ve had their payday. At this point I will not be at all surprised if they seek to settle w a plea & put an end to this.

Cuz coming up will be Jarecki - tho everyone knows what he’ll say, it’ll be excruciating for Bobby Dogpoo. And also Sareb Kaufman, (like you said Tortoise, that’s his name) to tell how Bobby Death not only gave a completely diff story on Morris Black (one that sounded like premed murder IMO, but still surely a lie), but also befriended & manipulated the loving, grieving stepson of his lifelong friend Susan Berman who he’d just murdered…

That was so amazing I thought I had to be kidding myself that Lewin was REALLY tearing it up like that… so finally looked up his record - he is 16-0 on his “cold cases” since becoming a cold case expert.

 

[dizzychick]

FYI Durst said on direct that the S Salem house was about 1200 sq ft, “300 of which was in the basement, it was the second bedroom”

There’s been conflicting testimony on what the basement space was like. Durst tries to say other times that there was no basement at all. But it sounds like there was plenty of room to work. Ruth Mayer testified she saw a blue light in the basement window in the two days after Kathie disappeared, & never otherwise.

did anyone ever figure out what that blue light could have been? All I can think of is a blow torch but surely not e-gads..

 

[dizzychick]

OMG OMG that was amazing - literally amazing, could not believe what was happening & it went on & on OMG…. that was like all the dreams of everyone who’s ever followed Durst all rolled into one. After like a week of mr nice guy, Lewin came out swinging like Ali and did not let up for a moment. You could see the life draining quickly out of Durst, DeGuerin trying desperately to derail it with no chance of success …. I was srsly worried someone on defense side would pull a fire alarm!!

Will Durst even return for more?! No doubt his attys insisted he stand trial even tho his goose was cooked because there’s no $ for them in a plea deal …. but now they’ve had their payday. At this point I will not be at all surprised if they seek to settle w a plea & put an end to this.

Cuz coming up will be Jarecki - tho everyone knows what he’ll say, it’ll be excruciating for Bobby Dogpoo. And also Sareb Kaufman, (like you said Tortoise, that’s his name) to tell how Bobby Death not only gave a completely diff story on Morris Black (one that sounded like premed murder IMO, but still surely a lie), but also befriended & manipulated the loving, grieving stepson of his lifelong friend Susan Berman who he’d just murdered…

That was so amazing I thought I had to be kidding myself that Lewin was REALLY tearing it up like that… so finally looked up his record - he is 16-0 on his “cold cases” since becoming a cold case expert.

I read somewhere Deguren got 10 million for this, which i think is a tad bet high for what I have seen him do... hope he got his money up front cause Durst will be blaiming him, the judge and everyone else once he hears GUILTY AS SIN lol

 

[taylorss]

Among the jaw-dropping highlights from yesterday- First big shock came when Lewin baited Bobby D into showing his hideous true face with a contentious exchange about whether Susan used the term ‘staycation’ in 2000 even tho it wasn’t invented yet. Bobby D got pissed enough to cook up what he thought was a real clever retort… and his face, words & manner were just inhumanly disgusting.

Later Lewin was setting BD up to impeach his inconsistent statement that the Black murder scene wasn’t that bloody. Of course BD takes the bait & digs in, no one is going to challenge him! and repeats it wasn’t that bloody. ‘Was it bloodier than the Susan Berman crime scene?’ Lewin asked. Oooh!! BD didn’t like that but he had to answer so he stewed & angrily croaked out something or other about the Berman scene when he found it. ‘Was it bloodier than the Kathie crime scene?’ Lewin asked !!! OMG

Later came the topic of a bowsaw, always hovering around this case because Bobby D’s skill with a bowsaw is what really points to his suspected career as a serial killer. BD’s terror at discussing bowsaws said it all. There’s been all these random references & odd appearances of bowsaws throughout- but I NEVER expected Lewin to actually go there, putting all the pieces together & confronting on it!!! OMG never would’ve thought he could do it cuz there’s nothing approaching hard evidence - but he had Durp so on the ropes that BD’s response itself was all the evidence needed.

ok this place is not my blog lol so I’ll stop - just needed to vent a bit cuz I can’t hold it all in!

 

[taylorss]

did anyone ever figure out what that blue light could have been? All I can think of is a blow torch but surely not e-gads..

I’ve wondered that too! The only idea I’ve ever seen is that blue light is involved in the use of luminol, the chemical that detects the presence of blood- not exactly sure how this would play out here, why is BD lighting up the blood he’s mucking around in, but it’s the only suggestion I know.

Demonstrations - Luminol

 

[katydid23]

Among the jaw-dropping highlights from yesterday- First big shock came when Lewin baited Bobby D into showing his hideous true face with a contentious exchange about whether Susan used the term ‘staycation’ in 2000 even tho it wasn’t invented yet. Bobby D got pissed enough to cook up what he thought was a real clever retort… and his face, words & manner were just inhumanly disgusting.

Later Lewin was setting BD up to impeach his inconsistent statement that the Black murder scene wasn’t that bloody. Of course BD takes the bait & digs in, no one is going to challenge him! and repeats it wasn’t that bloody. ‘Was it bloodier than the Susan Berman crime scene?’ Lewin asked. Oooh!! BD didn’t like that but he had to answer so he stewed & angrily croaked out something or other about the Berman scene when he found it. ‘Was it bloodier than the Kathie crime scene?’ Lewin asked !!! OMG

Later came the topic of a bowsaw, always hovering around this case because Bobby D’s skill with a bowsaw is what really points to his suspected career as a serial killer. BD’s terror at discussing bowsaws said it all. There’s been all these random references & odd appearances of bowsaws throughout- but I NEVER expected Lewin to actually go there, putting all the pieces together & confronting on it!!! OMG never would’ve thought he could do it cuz there’s nothing approaching hard evidence - but he had Durp so on the ropes that BD’s response itself was all the evidence needed.

ok this place is not my blog lol so I’ll stop - just needed to vent a bit cuz I can’t hold it all in!

No, I love it. I felt the same way.

How about when Lewin asked him if he called his brother BM instead of Douglas because it meant Bowel Movement. And by the end of their exchange it became evident it was true.

And then he continued, and showed us that Robert had been planning to "Igor" his brother---which was his bobism for killing him. And Igor was the name of all of his dogs, some of whom went mysteriously missing---and it seems like he would kill them when he had the urge to do so. When he'd replace it he'd name the replacement dog Igor .

So he spoke in code about wanting to 'Igorize' his brother, BM at some point.

It became really clear that he was a serial killer and he had more victims on his hit list.

 

[katydid23]

I’ve wondered that too! The only idea I’ve ever seen is that blue light is involved in the use of luminol, the chemical that detects the presence of blood- not exactly sure how this would play out here, why is BD lighting up the blood he’s mucking around in, but it’s the only suggestion I know.

Demonstrations - Luminol

What gives off a blue light?
". Artificial sources of blue light include fluorescent light, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, LEDs, flat screen LED televisions, computer monitors, smart phones and tablet screens.

 

[Tortoise]

I think I might have to watch yesterday all over again. Durst looked like a rabbit in the headlights at certain points.

 

[Tortoise]

And the suspense when Lewin was trying to get him to admit everything! That was movie quality.

 

[katydid23]

And the suspense when Lewin was trying to get him to admit everything! That was movie quality.

Yes, and Lewin was finally able to rattle Bob enough to bring out his dark side, as he flashed a bit of anger a few times.

The last 10 days, Durst was able to be the quirky, odd old man, that seemed strange but harmless, like the drunk uncle at Thanksgiving. He cracked a few jokes and even made the judge laugh. But today we saw flashes of the real Bob, the one that bought the bowsaw to cut up the body and cram it in garbage bags.

 

[taylorss]

I think I might have to watch yesterday all over again. Durst looked like a rabbit in the headlights at certain points.

I just wish that showdown had come on a Friday so I could watch it over & over all weekend!! I want like two devices at once to hear his ongoing testimony & replay highlights simultaneously. Durst’s whole appearance here, starting with direct, has been the best thing I’ve ever seen on TV!

Ok have to say I’m not normally this nuts - this particular serial-killing subhuman bothers me like few others, & even beyond that he creates great tv - esp squaring off against Lewin, who it seems has perfected a fake doofus personality that narcissistic freaks fall for hook, line & sinker.

it was clear this confrontation would be epic from the moment Lewin kicked off that 2015 interview - by racing to New Orleans from LA the second he heard BD was caught & getting there before sunrise & before Durst’s lawyers.