Durst - whose life and case was made famous by the HBO miniseries “The Jinx” - has been accused of killing his first wife, Kathleen “Kathie” Durst after she suddenly disappeared at their home in New York, in Westchester County, in 1982. Her body has never been located.
With Durst’s murder trial resuming after a 14-month delay due to COVID-19, lawyers are now saying that the real estate heir’s brother and father may have assisted him in making her disappear.
Cathy Russon, an executive producer for the Law & Crime Network, tweeted that attorneys representing the family of Kathleen Durst are alleging that his brother, Douglas, and father, Seymour, aided in the cover-up of her disappearance and murder.
In a statement, the Durst family said it was “appalled” by the claim from Robert Abrams, the attorney for Kathleen Durst’s family.
“Mr. Abrams is a member of the cottage industry that seeks to personally profit off of Robert’s victims, even if it involves disrupting the prosecution of the murder of Susan Berman,” Jason Barowitz, a spokesman for the family, told the New York Post.
“The truth is that the Durst family is appalled by Robert’s actions and has cooperated with authorities to help ensure justice is served,” Barowitz continued. “These allegations are false and have been repeatedly debunked.”
Durst was not in the courtroom on Monday, May 17, after he reportedly refused to get in the jail transport to take him to court. He’s reportedly being treated for bladder cancer and his attorneys allege that he is in need of “urgent” hospitalization.
Durst, age 78, has been jailed since 2015 on charges he shot and killed his friend Susan Berman in her Los Angeles home in 2000.
Kathleen "Kathie" Durst, who graduated from Western Connecticut State with a nursing degree in 1978, disappeared from the couple's Northern Westchester home, located in South Salem, after an argument in 1982 and according to New York State Police investigator Joseph C. Becerra, both his division and the Westchester District Attorney's office are still looking into her disappearance, The New York Times reported.
Durst married Kathie McCormack in 1972 when he was 27 and she was only 19.
Durst, a Scarsdale High School graduate, remains in prison in Los Angeles on murder charges. He has also been linked to several other murders, outside of his first wife. Since his arrest, he has repeatedly denied the charges.
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