The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murders (14 page)

Although Durst was not considered a suspect in Berman’s murder it is coincidental that in the weeks before her death she had been contacted by the New York State police who intended to
interview her over the 1982 disappearance of Kathleen McCormack, Durst’s first wife. She had also told
New York
magazine that she had information which would “blow the top off
things”, although she did not expand upon this claim. Did the killer of McCormack act to prevent Berman spilling the beans? It is also interesting to note that shortly before Berman was
murdered she had received a second cheque from Durst, again for $25,000.

With Berman ready to blast the case wide open, the media once again prepared to feast on the scandal which all expected to surround the Durst family, particularly Robert. More theories emerged
regarding the disappearance of McCormack, and also the murder of Berman. No one missed the link between Berman being ready to divulge information likely to lead to the killer of her friend Kathleen
McCormack and her own sudden death; surely whoever had dealt with McCormack had dealt with Berman. Things were hotting up again for Durst and being under pressure was not his strong point; he had
found in the past it could push him over the edge.

Another friend of McCormack, Ellen Strauss, also believes that it was Durst who killed Berman. She claims Berman was very particular about who she would let into her house and that in terms of
men, Durst was one of the few who would be allowed in. Strauss believes that the motive for Berman’s killing was that she assisted Durst in the cover-up of his wife’s disappearance.

As more and more stories emerged regarding the two crimes it was Najamy, McCormack’s close friend, who cast further suspicion on Durst. In a magazine article she theorized that she thought
it was Berman who had called into the Dean’s office the day after her disappearance, not McCormack, and that the money Berman received from Durst was nothing short of hush money for keeping
the events secret. Why would anyone call into the Dean’s office to report such a non-event as a missed day through sickness? Her murder arose out of the fact that Berman was pushing for more
money to keep the deadly secret. This explains the fact that the killer did not have to break in and why he was able to shoot Berman in the back of the skull. It was a fine theory but one for which
once again there was no supporting evidence.

Since his marriage to Charatan, Durst had expanded his real estate portfolio, buying and renting houses in all parts of America, including Texas and a number in New Orleans; he had also started
cross-dressing and living as a number of alter egos. His marriage had become one of convenience and it afforded him the freedom to travel and live as he wanted. The continual media intrusion had
left him tired and he wanted to live in obscurity for a while, out of the police and public gaze.

One of Durst’s many bolt holes was a modest four-unit apartment on Avenue K in Galveston. When in residence here he adopted the name Dorothy Ciner and dressed accordingly, with cheap
dresses and a wig. To avoid having to speak he had lead people to believe that he had a bad throat infection and insisted on communicating via written notes. The landlord who looked after the
apartment noted that the woman wore a wig and had glasses which were held together with sticking plaster, and although he hadn’t seen her frequently at the apartment he was aware she had a
male visitor called Robert Durst, although not surprisingly he had never seen them both at the same time.

Across the hallway from Durst, alias Dorothy Ciner, lived a 71-year-old man called Morris Black. Known to be a bit cranky and a bit fast with his temper, he should have fitted in well with
Durst. Black had been estranged from his family for years and had lived in various parts of the United States, but now he seemed more content by himself, having few visitors. He had a conviction
for threatening to blow up a utility company after they had presented him with what he thought was an excessive bill. He did, on the other hand, have a charitable nature – when he found a
cheap source of reading glasses on the Internet he purchased five cases of them and then gave them to the Jesse Tree, a Galveston-based charitable organization, instructing them to distribute the
glasses to those who most needed them. During the time that Durst occupied the cheap apartment in Galveston he and Black became acquainted, a move which would cost Black dearly.

On 30 September 2001, a 13-year-old boy fishing from a jetty near his home overlooking Galveston Bay, spotted something unusual floating in the water. He called to his father who initially
thought the object was a dead pig, however on closer inspection it became obvious that it was in fact the headless, limbless torso of a man or woman. Later the same day other residents in the area
saw bin liners being washed up in the surf, which on police inspection were seen to contain the legs and arms which belonged to the torso, the head however remaining strangely elusive. On emptying
the bags they revealed other items of interest: a plastic sheath for a bow saw, a receipt from a local hardware store and a local newspaper with a mailing address of 2213 Avenue K, Galveston. A
matter of days later another bin liner was washed up on the shore, this one containing a .22 calibre automatic pistol with two loaded clips. With the arms of the man now in the hands of forensic
experts the police were quickly able to establish from fingerprints that the man whose remains had been washed ashore was Morris Black, a fact which tied in nicely with the mailing address on the
newspaper. If Black had not been convicted of a minor misdemeanour his identity may never have been established. His head, which remains missing, would have been the only other piece of the jigsaw
which could have conclusively determined his identity.

The police department immediately despatched officers to Black’s address at Avenue K where they found an apartment covered in bloodstains. On closer inspection the bloody smears led out of
Black’s apartment and across the hall to an adjacent dwelling, the home of one Ms Dorothy Ciner, alias Durst. Inside the apartment they discovered a pair of bloodstained boots and a bloody
knife. Other traces of blood could be seen on the kitchen floor and on the living-room carpet. The elusive Ms Ciner was nowhere to be seen, although police checks revealed that there was another Ms
Ciner who lived in another state – not the one they were looking for but one who had known Durst while at school, but had not been in contact with him for years. The police were now
suspicious of the Dorothy Ciner who lived in Galveston – everyone who knew her believed there was something not quite right about her, not to mention her strange association with Durst, a
famous, wealthy, New York real estate magnate.

The police ran a check on Durst’s name and established that he was the driver of a silver Honda CRV mini SUV, registered under his own name in Texas. Just nine days after Black’s
body had been discovered a cruising police patrol car spotted the silver Honda and pursued the car until he was able to get the driver to pull over. From descriptions provided the officer realized
that the driver was Robert Durst and as he leaned in towards the car he chillingly noted the bow saw lying in the passenger side foot well. The patrolman concluded a speedy arrest and back at the
station Durst was officially charged with the murder of Morris Black. Durst was not a co-operative detainee and refused to answer any questions without the presence of his lawyer. After much debate
the charges against Durst were officially listed and the police authority intended, on the evidence they had secured, to pursue a prosecution against Durst. Surprisingly, given the nature of the
crime – the suspect had after all dismembered the body after the murder – Durst was given bail of $300,000, a lot of money in Galveston terms but loose change in Durst’s world.
His estranged wife Deborah Charatan posted the bail money through a bond agent. The arraignment was set for 16 October 2001, and with the date set Durst was allowed to leave.

During Durst’s detention the police examined the Silver Honda and found a 9mm pistol hidden in the boot space, the same calibre as the weapon used to kill Susan Berman.

The prosecution and the police were in no doubt that Durst was guilty of Black’s murder, but what they could not fathom out was a motive. They speculated that Black may have established
that Ms Ciner was in fact Durst and had threatened to expose him. They were both known to have short tempers – perhaps there was a clash of personalities. But neither these nor any other
theories seemed sufficiently good enough reasons for someone to indulge in the type of crime and cover-up that Durst was suspected of. The prosecution would now have to spend a significant amount
of their time trying to establish Durst’s motives for murder.

For the media this was another major story – not only was Durst part of one of New York’s most prestigious families, he also had history. His wife had gone missing and had never been
found, and his so-called best friend, to whom he had paid several instalments of money, had been murdered in the most mysterious of circumstances. Susan Berman had been murdered and it was assumed
by all, including the police, that Kathleen Durst had met the same fate, except that her body had been better disposed of. Durst’s lawyers would have a difficult time defending these latest
charges – the jury, who were still out there waiting to be selected, would have to have been living in a sealed box not to have read and seen the reports on Durst’s complex history.

For a while though this would not be a matter anyone would have to worry about, for on the day of the arraignment Durst simply did not show up – he had jumped bail and disappeared again.
The hunt was back on and this time the police and the media were keen to see him apprehended – he had almost certainly killed one person and was suspected of a further two. Durst most
certainly could be dangerous.

The prosecution meanwhile were able to review the results of Black’s autopsy. It revealed that 71-year-old Black had endured a particularly violent attack and although he had suffered a
heart attack during the assault it was not that which had killed him. He had been severely beaten, as evidenced by the extensive bruising on his chest, elbows, back and shoulders, and had also
suffered four breaks to the bone in his upper right arm. The cause of death was established as being brought on by a large amount of blood which had entered his lungs, the trauma of which led to
his heart attack. The autopsy also revealed a more chilling side to the murder – the killer had attempted to chop off Black’s fingers, presumably in a bid to avoid his identity being
revealed. For whatever reason, the killer then changed his mind and decided to remove the arms, the legs and the head, which to this day has never been recovered.

With Durst on the loose the police were painfully aware now of just what type of person they were dealing with. A shooter can perform his task at a distance, it is impersonal and the perpetrator
need not necessarily face the results of his actions. Black’s murder demonstrated that the killer was unaffected by the sight of vast amounts of blood and was happy to dispense violence in
close-quarter combat. Durst’s erratic behaviour and propensity for sudden bouts of anger meant he was very much a potential danger to the public; he had to be found before he exploded
again.

The media ran story after story and his face was plastered across the screens and newspapers of America, but there was one flaw in this high-profile manhunt – there were no photographs of
Durst dressed as woman, the disguise he had favoured while trying to blend into the background. In a bid to further enhance their own chances of a scoop the newspapers began to indulge in
investigations of their own. The
Galveston County Daily News
hired a private investigator to track him down, or uncover any reportable facts. As well as having residences all across the
United States Durst was also prone to using aliases, amongst others Robert Deal Jezowski. His residences were identified as being in Los Angeles, Pasadena, and a number in New York, Coral Gables,
Florida, San Francisco and Trinidad, California. Investigation of phone records revealed that Durst also had places in Dallas and New Orleans. The investigator visited New Orleans and interviewed
the landlord of the property there who said the occupier of the property was a man who dressed as a woman and who called himself Diane Winn, again claiming to be mute, either to avoid having to get
into potentially awkward conversations or to avoid being identified as a man. Although it would appear that Durst did not pass easily for a woman; most people who came across him while
cross-dressing seemed to see through the disguise immediately.

The investigator acting on behalf of the newspaper made sure that whatever he found he passed to the police authorities immediately. The New Orleans property was subsequently raided by the
police who found a number of items of interest, including a wig, a video tape recording of a news program regarding the disappearance of Kathleen Durst and a silver medallion which had been
bequeathed to Durst in Susan Berman’s will. The medallion had once belonged to Davie Berman and therefore one imagines that it was of great sentimental value, perhaps a small indication of
the real friendship that existed between the two. Also found in the apartment were the keys to the silver Honda in which Durst had previously been arrested. Other information soon came to light
which showed that after Durst had jumped bail he had made his way to Mobile, Alabama, where he had rented a red Chevrolet Corsica, and in a further twist to the story, Durst was now using the name
Morris Black, using both Black’s driving licence and Medicare card as identification. In order to make himself look like a 70-year-old man he had now shaved his head and his eyebrows.

The trail ran cold after it was shown that Durst had moved on from Mobile, Alabama, to Piano, Texas, where he visited a friend who was able to confirm that Durst was now dressing as a woman
again. Where he went after Texas is not known but when he did eventually resurface it was in typical Durst dramatic style.