2020-03-30_People

Robert

Durst

in Court

MILLIONAIRE

MURDER TRIAL

THE REAL ESTATE HEIR FACES CHARGES THAT

HE KILLED FRIEND SUSAN BERMAN BECAUSE SHE

KNEW TOO MUCH ABOUT HIS MISSING WIFE

By CHRISTINE PELISEK and STEVE HELLING

H

unched over and slow-

ly shuffling his feet, real

estate heir Robert Durst

made his way into the

packed Los Angeles Supe-

rior Court on March 4 and

suddenly stopped in front

of the crowd. In the tense

silence Durst—charged

with first-degree murder

in the fatal 2000 shooting

of his close friend Susan

Berman—stood blank-faced, scanning

faces before fist-bumping his defense

attorney Dick DeGuerin. But despite

his cocky self-assuredness, the eccen-

tric millionaire may finally be facing a

moment of truth. “When I read about

Bobby Durst, I think about Susan Ber-

man,” says Berman’s friend, retired New

York City publicist Liz Rosenberg. “I re-

sent she is not portrayed in her full-tilt

fabulousness. I hope justice is served,

and if Bobby committed the crime, he

should certainly pay for it.”

Whether or not Durst committed

the crime is the question now before a

jury of eight women and four men, in

a trial expected to call more than 100

witnesses and span at least five months.

Although Judge Mark E. Windham ad-

journed the trial March 15 because of

corona virus concerns, it is scheduled to

resume sometime in April, and Durst,

76, is expected to testify on his own

behalf. His defense team has already

laid out stunning new claims: namely,

WHAT DID

SHE KNOW?

Durst (at

trial March 4)

allegedly

shared his

secrets with

Berman (with

him at left).

48 March 30, 2020

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM RIGHT: COURTESY HBO(2); ETIENNE

LAURENT/GETTY IMAGES; ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

P13DUR2A.indd 48 FINAL 3/17/20 12:20 AM