Robert Durst, subject of HBO series, arrested on murder charges
Robert Durst, the subject of HBO series, "The Jinx," about his suspected involvement in three murders, has been arrested in New Orleans on an extradition warrant out of Los Angeles. Durst's attorney confirms the charges are for murder.
Durst was taken into custody just before 11:00pm last night at the JW Marriott in New Orleans. He's being held on a first degree warrant out of Los Angeles County by the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office.
Durst will not fight extradition back to Los Angeles, his attorney Chip Lewis tells Eyewitness News. Lewis hopes to get Durst before a magistrate judge in New Orleans tomorrow to start the process of extradition. He then plans to fully fight the charges in Los Angeles.
The HBO series is exploring Durst's 2003 murder trial in Galveston and two other unsolved suspected killings of two women who were close to Durst, including his wife Kathy Durst and his long-time friend Susan Berman out of Los Angeles. The series led to a never-before-seen letter discovered by Berman's stepson Sareb Kaufman. Kaufman told ABC News she believes Durst sent the letter to Berman a year before her death, and claims it carries similarities to an anonymous note sent to police by Berman's killer.
That handwritten letter was recently handed over to authorities in California who reopened their investigation into the 2000 death of Berman.
"I actually ordered a handwriting sample for a comparison back during the (2003 trial) at the request of Los Angeles police," said Galveston Judge Susan Criss. "I don't know why it took so long to get that comparison to figure out that he's the one that wrote that."
Durst was found not guilty in Galveston even after he admitted that he dismembered his neighbor's body and threw it into a waterway. Judge Criss oversaw that trial in Galveston
"I could not be more pleased about this," Criss told Eyewitness News about Durst's new arrest. "I do think this will stick. It's amazing how many times the ball has been dropped when he's been suspected of murder. But I'm hopeful for this one to stick especially so that the families can have closure."
The last episode of the six-part series airs Sunday.
