Robert Durst, Subject of HBO's The Jinx, Arrested in New Orleans
Insane liar and murder suspect Robert Durst has been arrested in New Orleans on a warrant issued in Los Angeles County, NBC News reports.
The New York Times reports that Durst, 71, was arrested by deputies from the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office around 11 p.m. on Saturday night and is being held without bond.
Durst was acquitted on a self-defense claim after being tried for the fall 2001 murder of his neighbor, Morris Black, who was found dismembered.
Last week, the Times reported that the district attorney in Los Angeles had reopened an investigation into the December 2000 killing of Durst's friend Susan Berman, connecting it to the disappearance of Durst's wife in New York. The investigation was possibly spurred, the Times reports, by new evidence discovered in the course of reporting the HBO documentary The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.
According to the Times, Durst was a suspect in Berman's death, but police were not able to place him in Los Angeles at the time of her murder; Durst was also suspected to be the author of an anonymous letter sent to the Beverly Hills Police Department informing them of a "cadaver" at Berman's home. From the Times:
In a scene during the "Jinx" episode on Sunday, Ms. Berman's stepson, Sareb Kaufman, calls the documentary's producer Marc Smerling to say that he had discovered a 1999 letter from Mr. Durst to Ms. Berman among the boxes of her belongings in his apartment.
Comparing the two notes, a visibly shaken Mr. Kaufman notes that the block lettering used on the envelope of the newly discovered letter appears to be identical to the lettering on the "cadaver" note. And Beverly Hills is misspelled as "Beverley" on both notes.
The series finale of The Jinx airs tonight. A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told the Times that FBI agents participated in Saturday night's arrest.
Update, 11:50 a.m. – The Los Angeles Times reports that the arrest warrant states only that Durst is accused of first-degree murder. However: "a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told The Times it is the Berman slaying."
Berman—who reportedly acted as an "informal spokesman" for Durst after his wife's 1982 disappearance—was found on Christmas Eve, 2000 with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Update, 1:20 p.m. – The New York Times reports that Durst appeared at the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Sunday morning. Judge Juana Lombard scheduled an extradition for Monday. Durst's lawyer, Chip B. Lewis, told the Times, "We're waiving extradition so that we can get back to Los Angeles so that we can get back and fight the charges."
Update, 3:25 p.m. – NBC News reports that Durst was arrested in the lobby of the JW Marriott hotel, where Durst had registered "under a false name with a fake ID, having paid for the room in cash."
[Photo credit: AP Images]