Robert Durst's Murder Case Has Been Reopened Because of "The Jinx"

Since the airing of The Jinx, investigators from Los Angeles, New York, and the FBI have begun re-interviewing key witnesses in multiple cases.

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Complex Original

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If you were addicted to the Serial podcast, but haven't been watching The Jinx, it's about damn time that you start. Andrew Jarecki's documentary about the various unsolved murder cases that real estate mega-heir Robert Durst—who became the first billionaire fugitive in U.S. history when he fled a Texas murder trial—aired its fifth installment last night. And this morning the The New York Times reports that the Los Angeles district attorney has reopened its investigation into the 2000 killing of Susan Berman, one of Durst's friends.

In last night's episode, Berman's stepson called the producer to let them know that he'd found a letter from Durst to Berman from 1999. The lettering on the envelope appears to be identical to an anonymous note that was sent to the Beverly Hills Police Department in 20000 alerting them to a "cadaver" at Berman's house. Additionally, Beverly Hills is misspelled as “Beverley” on both notes. 

Durst told the Times that he didn’t have the “faintest idea” who killed Berman, nor does he know what happened to his first wife, Kathleen, who disappeared in 1982. Kathleen has been declared legally dead. If you're not paying close attention, that's murders and missing persons in Texas, California, and New York, all with the same billionaire as a suspect. Time to make like the FBI, the district attorney's of LA, and the NYPD, and catch up on The Jinx—if you haven't already.

Robert Durst is the oldest son of the NYC billionaire skyscraper magnate Seymour Durst. Robert severed ties with his family after his father turned the company over to his younger brother Douglas Durst. As revealed in the first episode, fearing for his safety, Douglas hired a bodyguard to travel with him to his brother's Texas trial.

Since the airing of The Jinx, investigators from Los Angeles, New York, and the FBI have begun re-interviewing key witnesses in both Berman's murder and Kathleen Durst's disappearance. The sixth and final episode of The Jinx airs this upcoming Sunday.

 

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