TX - Trial of Robert Durst in the murder of Morris Black

[Sleuth13]

Just started digging into this one - I heard HBO did a spot on him called Jinx. Will check that out this weekend. Sounds like he's that narcissistic/sociopath combo...SCARY STUFF!!

 

[TexMex]

Just started digging into this one - I heard HBO did a spot on him called Jinx. Will check that out this weekend. Sounds like he's that narcissistic/sociopath combo...SCARY STUFF!!

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

 

[Boodles]

For a first-time offender, the charge of illegally carrying a weapon in the presence of a controlled substance carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a maximum of 20 years, according to Orleans Parish district attorney's office spokesman Christopher Bowman.

But for someone with a felony record, the maximum penalty could be life in prison, Bowman said.

Bowman declined to say Thursday whether his office plans to prosecute Durst before he is extradited to California.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-oakland-woman-20150319-story.html

Good to know! Even without a felony record, these charges should take care of the remainder of his lifetime. I don't think they'll get him for Berman's murder. If it was that straightforward, he would have already been convicted, IMO.

He's dangerous and needs to be locked up.

 

[Wishbone]

With Robert Durst, the Media Gets Its 21st-Century O.J.

Thanks to “The Jinx,” the Durst story is irresistible, but other factors should be noted in the wave of coverage that can be anticipated. For starters, the major networks’ primetime newsmagazines no longer really have any appetite for significant news anymore, operating almost exclusively as inexpensive true-crime dramas that churn out salacious murders and lurid “Did he or didn’t he kill his wife?” mysteries.

t’s notable, too, that the Simpson and Durst cases each became entrenched in the public consciousness via jaw-dropping televised moments — the slow-speed White Bronco chase and Durst’s open-mic monologue that, whether or not it’s used in a courtroom, certainly sounded like an admission of guilt.
The main difference, frankly, is that while Simpson’s Bronco helped lead the media further down a tabloid path, Durst arrives at a moment where an expanded horde of news outlets are already dug in, hungry and waiting to great him with open arms.
http://variety.com/2015/tv/columns/with-robert-durst-the-media-gets-its-21st-century-o-j-1201456283/

 

[Rosebutter]

I'm sorry if this has been posted earlier, I have looked through lots of the thread, but I had some surgery and a bad back in the last two weeks and been on a bit of pain medication. I just wanted to make sure you all saw the composite sketch that was drawn of the person last seen with Karen Mitchell in Eureka, CA. Here is the link.

http://gawker.com/the-other-disappearances-connected-to-robert-durst-1691889568 Gee does it look like Durst much??

Also I did read an article yesterday that talked about the shoe store Karen Mitchell worked at during the time of her disappearance. It was Annie's at the Bayshore Mall and her aunt who owned the store said she had seen Durst in her store dressed as a women on several occasions. I don't think he fooled anyone with his Roberta look.

 

[dotr]

I'm sorry if this has been posted earlier, I have looked through lots of the thread, but I had some surgery and a bad back in the last two weeks and been on a bit of pain medication. I just wanted to make sure you all saw the composite sketch that was drawn of the person last seen with Karen Mitchell in Eureka, CA. Here is the link.

http://gawker.com/the-other-disappearances-connected-to-robert-durst-1691889568 Gee does it look like Durst much??

Also I did read an article yesterday that talked about the shoe store Karen Mitchell worked at during the time of her disappearance. It was Annie's at the Bayshore Mall and her aunt who owned the store said she had seen Durst in her store dressed as a women on several occasions. I don't think he fooled anyone with his Roberta look.

Back surgery sucks , hope you feel better soon!

 

[future criminologist]

Just started digging into this one - I heard HBO did a spot on him called Jinx. Will check that out this weekend. Sounds like he's that narcissistic/sociopath combo...SCARY STUFF!!

I thought we were all here because the Jinx brought this stuff up again and pretty much fueled his arrest. It's been in all the articles. Nevertheless you HAVE to watch it - murderer or not, the man is fascinating to watch, especially if you're into the psychological aspect of it. There is so much going on in it.

 

[future criminologist]

I'm sorry if this has been posted earlier, I have looked through lots of the thread, but I had some surgery and a bad back in the last two weeks and been on a bit of pain medication. I just wanted to make sure you all saw the composite sketch that was drawn of the person last seen with Karen Mitchell in Eureka, CA. Here is the link.

http://gawker.com/the-other-disappearances-connected-to-robert-durst-1691889568 Gee does it look like Durst much??

Also I did read an article yesterday that talked about the shoe store Karen Mitchell worked at during the time of her disappearance. It was Annie's at the Bayshore Mall and her aunt who owned the store said she had seen Durst in her store dressed as a women on several occasions. I don't think he fooled anyone with his Roberta look.

I buy that he's involved - he was clearly lurking around this girl - but the sketch and the police have made particular note of what a prominent nose the suspect had, and Durst does not have that nose at all. I keep coming back to that part of it.

 

[time]

I'm sorry if this has been posted earlier, I have looked through lots of the thread, but I had some surgery and a bad back in the last two weeks and been on a bit of pain medication. I just wanted to make sure you all saw the composite sketch that was drawn of the person last seen with Karen Mitchell in Eureka, CA. Here is the link.

http://gawker.com/the-other-disappearances-connected-to-robert-durst-1691889568 Gee does it look like Durst much??

Also I did read an article yesterday that talked about the shoe store Karen Mitchell worked at during the time of her disappearance. It was Annie's at the Bayshore Mall and her aunt who owned the store said she had seen Durst in her store dressed as a women on several occasions. I don't think he fooled anyone with his Roberta look.

Sorry if this has been posted here already, but the article link in your link above eventually leads back to a WS post. Here it is (the original article written in 2003 appears to be unavailable)

Hey Up2, It didn't survive, but here's the article that started the whole discussion on the possible connection between Karen and Durst: http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/082503/a0125durst.html

Jury selection tomorrow in Scarsdale man's murder trial
By JONATHAN BANDLER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 25, 2003)

Suspicion in his wife's disappearance has hounded Robert Durst for more than two decades. It intensified when his best friend was shot to death in Los Angeles three years ago — and grew even more when he admitted killing a cantankerous neighbor in Texas and was accused of chopping up his body and setting it adrift in Galveston Bay.

Now, as the 60-year-old Scarsdale native and scion of a Manhattan real estate empire goes on trial in that Galveston killing, investigators in northern California are taking a close look at Durst, suspecting he might have played a role in the disappearance of two teenage girls there in 1997 — 18-year-old Kristen Modafferi in San Francisco and 16-year-old Karen Mitchell in Eureka...

...Information linking Durst to the two California cases was first reported in publicity material for the paperback edition of "A Deadly Secret," writer Matt Berkbeck's book about the Durst saga that will be published next week.

Five months before Mitchell disappeared, Modafferi vanished after leaving her waitress job at a San Francisco coffee shop, headed for Land's End Beach on San Francisco Bay in Oakland. One of the original detectives in that case, John Bradley, is now an investigator with the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and has spent the past several months investigating Durst's ties to northern California. He said information he has obtained put Durst in the area at least on the weekend before Modafferi disappeared and on the day that Mitchell went missing, although Parris said he was still looking into whether Durst was in Eureka that day.

Bradley, too, sees similarities between Durst and the sketch in the Mitchell case, but is even more intrigued by the description of the car. Although Durst had a green Ford Explorer in northern California at the time, a drug user and prostitute who reported Durst befriended her told authorities she only knew him to drive a light blue car, Bradley said...

I hope all is well with you! :loser:

 

[future criminologist]

What I've been thinking about this morning re: the legal case against him:

Okay, so I'm probably being influenced by the fact that I live in Boston where we have not one but TWO huge murder trials going on at the same time: the Aaron Hernandez murder trial and the Tsarnaev marathon bombing trial. In both, there has been the issue of whether or not past crimes/associates can be brought up by either side and discussed in terms of motive. The judge has been very diligent about keeping Dzohar's older brother out of it, which has hampered the defense's argument that he was following his brother's lead. In the Hernandez trial, the other things that Hernandez has been accused of doing - past shootings, etc - play a role in the prosecution's contention of motive. Also, the defense is trying to claim that Hernandez and Lloyd were such good friends, and Hernandez could not have possibly killed his friend.

Anyway, this makes me think of legal strategy for the Berman case. Durst and Berman were longtime friends, which makes motive a big factor in this. The prosecution's motive is contingent upon how much info the judge allows in about the Kathie Durst case, a case for which he has not been tried, only suspected, because otherwise Durst would have no known motive to kill her. Without motive, what they have is a mostly circumstantial case, and a victim with mob ties in her past and debts with many people that will definitely introduce reasonable doubt to the jury. So the D.A.'s case, really, hinges on what they are allowed to intimate about his involvement in Kathie's disappearance - which means they are essentially trying two cases at the same time, because they need to also convince the jury that killing Kathie created that motive to cover it up. Then in a way you're sort of forcing the NY DA's hand in bringing charges against him for Kathie's case, are you not?

 

[Wishbone]

"48 Hours" Presents: The Bizarre Saga of Robert Durst

March 19, 2015, 4:26 PM|New details in the investigation into a millionaire surrounded by wealth and death. The real story behind the headlines. Erin Moriarty reports Saturday, March 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. [Time approximate due to the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament on CBS]
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/preview-48-hours-presents-the-bizarre-saga-of-robert-durst/

 

[TexMex]

Good to know! Even without a felony record, these charges should take care of the remainder of his lifetime. I don't think they'll get him for Berman's murder. If it was that straightforward, he would have already been convicted, IMO.

He's dangerous and needs to be locked up.

Agree

 

[Hiandmighty]

For a first-time offender, the charge of illegally carrying a weapon in the presence of a controlled substance carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a maximum of 20 years, according to Orleans Parish district attorney's office spokesman Christopher Bowman.

But for someone with a felony record, the maximum penalty could be life in prison, Bowman said.

Bowman declined to say Thursday whether his office plans to prosecute Durst before he is extradited to California.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-oakland-woman-20150319-story.html

It may be that Durst ends up dying in jail because of these other things and not the murders.

 

[TexMex]

It may be that Durst ends up dying in jail because of these other things and not the murders.

Yes. These are pretty straightforward charges. Put him on trial and lock him up
The prospect of proving he was in Los Angeles, at the Berman house and shooting Susan...15 years ago sounds dubious to me

 

[time]

I buy that he's involved - he was clearly lurking around this girl - but the sketch and the police have made particular note of what a prominent nose the suspect had, and Durst does not have that nose at all. I keep coming back to that part of it.

Agree with you as I thought the same. Odd thought, maybe it was part of a disguise since he is known for that.

 

[Hiandmighty]

Yes. These are pretty straightforward charges. Put him on trial and lock him up
The prospect of proving he was in Los Angeles, at the Berman house and shooting Susan...15 years ago sounds dubious to me

That is what I think should happen too. Get this man off the streets with the easiest way for the DA to ensure he gets in jail. I don't care at this point what for. Just get him in jail.

 

[Wishbone]

Robert Durst questioned for 3 hours without an attorney, lawyer says

High-powered defense attorney Dick DeGuerin made the claim in an interview with CBS.
Millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst’s lawyer claims a Los Angeles prosecutor grilled his creepy client for three hours without him present.
“A prosecutor came out here and took him aside and, you know, questioned him for three hours,” DeGuerin told “48 Hours Presents” in an episode that airs Saturday.
“I would have hoped they would not try to trick him without his lawyer present.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...ned-3-hours-attorney-lawyer-article-1.2157013

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Robert Durst questioned for 3 hours without an attorney, lawyer says

High-powered defense attorney Dick DeGuerin made the claim in an interview with CBS.
Millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst’s lawyer claims a Los Angeles prosecutor grilled his creepy client for three hours without him present.
“A prosecutor came out here and took him aside and, you know, questioned him for three hours,” DeGuerin told “48 Hours Presents” in an episode that airs Saturday.
“I would have hoped they would not try to trick him without his lawyer present.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...ned-3-hours-attorney-lawyer-article-1.2157013

I don't believe that. I just don't. My guess is that Durst wanted to talk if he did.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

That is what I think should happen too. Get this man off the streets with the easiest way for the DA to ensure he gets in jail. I don't care at this point what for. Just get him in jail.

Not me. They have him in CA. They have good evidence on him. Circumstantial but a heck of a lot of it. I say they go for murder charges first and then bring him back to NO if for some reason he is not convicted but I believe he will be.

 

[Wishbone]

Lawyers: Millionaire Robert Durst Illegally Arrested
NEW ORLEANS — Mar 20, 2015, 3:18 PM ET
By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press

Millionaire Robert Durst was illegally arrested on charges that he murdered a woman in California, as well as drug and weapons charges filed in New Orleans, attorneys said in court papers Friday.
In the papers filed at the State Criminal District Court in New Orleans, William Gibbens and Dick DeGuerin asked a magistrate judge to schedule a preliminary hearing so that they can prove that there is no probable cause to keep Durst jailed. They say he should be released.
The judge agreed to schedule that hearing during another court appearance by Durst on Monday in New Orleans.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment...aire-robert-durst-illegally-arrested-29788978