CALIFORNIA

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

B

Robert Durst will testify

in his trial against the charge

that he killed his close

friend, his lawyers said Tues-

day as they revealed a new

line of defense: that Durst

discovered the dead body of

Susan Berman after she was

shot in the head in her Los

Angeles home, and that he

fled out of fear.

Attorney Dick DeGuerin

told jurors in his long-

awaited opening statements

that Durst not only was in

Los Angeles around the time

of Berman’s slaying just be-

fore Christmas in 2000, he

was at the scene.

“When Bob showed up

and found her dead, he pan-

icked,” DeGuerin said in a

crowded eighth-floor court-

room near Los Angeles In-

ternational Airport. “He

wrote the anonymous letter

so her body would be found,

and he ran,” DeGuerin said,

referring to the so-called

“cadaver note” that alerted

Beverly Hills police to

Berman’s dead body.

“He’s run away all his

life,” DeGuerin added.

The Los Angeles County

district attorney’s office has

alleged that Durst, the heir

to a Manhattan real estate

fortune, killed Berman ei-

ther on the night of Dec. 22 or

the morning of Dec. 23 in

2000. Prosecutors contend
      that Durst killed Berman to
      prevent her from spilling in-
      criminating information
      about the 1982 disappear-
      ance of his first wife, Kath-
      leen, whose body was never
      found.
      The defense’s presenta-
      tion Tuesday came after a
      three-day opening state-
      ment by Deputy Dist. Atty.
      John Lewin, who portrayed
      Durst as a triple-murderer
      for allegedly killing his first
      wife, his close friend Ber-
      man, and his neighbor in
      Galveston, Texas, Morris
      Black. Durst was acquitted
      in Black’s killing in 2003
      after claiming self-defense,
      though he admitted dis-
      membering Black’s body in a
      fearful panic and disposing
      of his limbs in the Gulf of
      Mexico.
      DeGuerin, who led the
      successful defense of Durst
      in Galveston, began Tues-
      day by showing the 12 jurors
      and 11 alternates a white
      card with the Greek letter pi.
      The letter also is a legal
      shorthand for the plaintiff or
      prosecution, DeGuerin ex-
      plained.
      “The reason I have this in
      front of you is to tell you: You
      haven’t heard the whole
      story. You’ve heard the pros-
      ecution side,” DeGuerin

Durst

found

body,

lawyer

says

The real estate heir

discovered his friend

Susan Berman dead

and fled out of fear,

his defense argues.

By Matt Hamilton

[SeeDurst,B4]

The Los Angeles Board of
Education on Tuesday de-
clared a state of emergency,
giving Supt. Austin Beutner
the authority to take actions
needed to close schools if
necessary in response to the
coronavirus outbreak.
The action is seen as a
precaution that would allow
Beutner to act quickly as the
need arises in the nation’s
second-largest school dis-
trict. As of Tuesday night,
there were no plans to close
schools and no individual di-
agnosed with COVID-19 had
a connection to an L.A. Uni-
fied school, according to the
district.
“What we’re asking for is
emergency authority,” Beut-
ner told the Board of Educa-
tion before its unanimous
vote. “That does not neces-
sarily mean that there will be
emergency action today, to-
morrow or a week from now.
This will allow us to take all
appropriate action as the
facts and circumstances
could change quickly.”
Some schools and school
systems, mainly in Northern
California, have gone well
beyond planning.
After a Catholic school
student and a custodian
tested positive for the co-
ronavirus, the Archdiocese
of San Francisco shuttered
all 90 of its schools in Marin,
San Francisco and San Ma-
teo counties from Wednes-
day until March 25, the arch-

LAUSD SUPT. Austin Beutner walks with Menlo Elementary students and their parents in October, when no

one thought twice about holding hands. So far, no one with COVID-19 has a connection to LAUSD schools.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

LAUSD

boosts

defenses

in virus

battle

Superintendent

Austin Beutner gets

emergency powers

allowing him to close

schools if necessary.

By Howard Blume
and Sonali Kohli

[SeeSchools,B2]

I

could see the frus-

tration building on

my neighborhood

NextDoor page:

Costco had run out

of toilet paper — again.

How are we supposed to

survive COVID-19 with-

out 60 rolls of toilet

paper socked away in

the closet?

Thank goodness Costco seems to

restock every morning. And since

managing a medical crisis by hoarding

toilet paper made no sense to me, I

joined the hordes at my local Costco

last weekend to see what I was missing.

I got there a few minutes before the

store opened, and every single space in

the parking lot was already taken.

People had been queuing up for hours,

desperate for a chance to purchase the

two giant packages of toilet paper that

each shopper was allowed.

“Why do we do this? It’s a panic,”

said the stylish woman I approached in

the parking lot as she and her husband

were cramming

Toilet paper fills important role

OK, laugh. But to many nervous folks, it means order and cleanliness.

CUSTOMERS LINE up to buy toilet paper and other goods at a Costco

in Northridge. People around the world are responding the same way.

Sandy BanksLos Angeles Times

SANDY BANKS

[SeeBanks,B2]

UCLA, USC

are shifting to

online classes

Campus officials say

they want to be

proactive to protect

public health. B

Rain to linger

through Friday

Showers come after

the L.A. area’s 10th-

driest February. B

Gilroy officers’

actions upheld

D.A. backs police

shooting of gunman

at garlic festival. B

Lottery......................B

I don’t know

what former

L.A. City

Councilman

Mitchell

Englander

and his bud-

dies were

thinking when

they went to

Las Vegas in 2017.

A councilman, two city

staffers, a businessperson, a

real estate developer and a

lobbyist travel to Sin City.

Knowing how L.A. works,

what would you guess they

were up to?

They’re big fans of Car-

rot Top?

I don’t think so, and

neither does the U.S. attor-

ney.

You probably know by

now that on Monday, Eng-

lander — who in 2018

abruptly and somewhat

mysteriously quit his job as

the L.A. City Councilman

representing the North-

western San Fernando

Valley — surrendered to

federal authorities in con-

nection with what hap-

pened on that Vegas trip. He

was slapped with seven

criminal charges related to

an ongoing City Hall corrup-

tion probe.

If the indictment is accu-

rate, it’s hard to believe the

arrogance of Englander and

his pals. It’s not like they

had traveled to Mongolia;

they were just a few hours

from home, where someone

might have spotted them.

Englander’s trip to

Las Vegas lived up

to ‘Sin City’ name

MITCHELL ENGLANDER’S Las Vegas trip with a

businessman reeks of corruption, Steve Lopez writes.

Al Seib Los Angeles Times

STEVE LOPEZ

[SeeLopez, B5]

Just a week ago, Los An-
geles City Councilman John
Lee was smiling ear to ear in
a roomful of cheering and
clapping supporters after
the first round of election re-
sults showed him with a
strong lead over his rival, Lo-
raine Lundquist.
Now Lee is facing calls to
resign, even as votes remain
to be tallied in the race.
The reason: Lee con-
firmed Monday that he was
on a Las Vegas trip where a
businessman allegedly lav-

ished his then-boss, Mitchell

Englander, with cash and

other illicit perks. He dis-

closed the information

hours after Englander sur-

rendered to federal author-

ities, outraging critics who

said voters should have been

told about the FBI investiga-

tion before election day.

“I understand the Justice

Department doesn’t want to

bring out things about can-

didates right before an elec-

tion, but it would have made

a big difference if people had

known about this,” said

Chatsworth resident Rich-

ard Mathews, a Lundquist

supporter who drafted a pe-

tition calling for Lee to step

down.

Englander, a former

councilman, is facing crimi-

nal charges of obstructing a

federal investigation into al-

legations that he accepted

cash, hotel rooms, costly

meals and the services of a

female escort during 2017

trips to Vegas and Palm

Springs from an unnamed

businessman. He pleaded

not guilty and is scheduled

to appear again in court lat-

er this week.

The federal indictment

unsealed Monday said that

Englander was accompa-

COUNCILMAN JOHN LEEin 2019. Lee was chief of staff to former Councilman
Mitchell Englander, who faces criminal charges. Lee has not been accused.

Liz MoughonLos Angeles Times

His former boss indicted,

Lee faces calls to resign

By Emily Alpert Reyes
and David Zahniser

[SeeLee, B5]