Robert Durst, real estate heir convicted of murder, dies at 78

Robert Durst, the millionaire real estate heir who was convicted of murder last year after decades of speculation, died in prison on Monday at the age of 78.

Durst’s attorney Chip Lewis confirmed his death at the San Joaquin General Hospital, The New York Times reported. According to Lewis, Durst went into cardiac arrest and could not be revived.

Durst was sentenced to life in prison without parole in October for the murder of Susan Berman. Prosecutors accused Durst of killing Berman because she planned to inform authorities of the phony alibi she provided for him when his wife Kathie Durst disappeared in 1982.

Not long after he was sentenced to life in prison, Robert Durst was indicted by a grand jury in New York for the murder of Kathie Durst. He had continually denied being involved in his wife’s disappearance.

Robert Durst was born into one of the wealthiest New York real estate empires, the oldest of four children. When he was 7, his mother died after falling from the roof of their home, an event he may have witnessed, according to the Times. Early in his life, he operated a health foods store before rejoining his family’s company.

His marriage to Kathie Durst was tumultuous, the Times noted, with the two often getting into public fights. Her family claimed that he once forced her to get an abortion.

Kathie Durst once reportedly told a friend, “If anything happens to me, don’t let Bob get away with it.”

Throughout his life, Robert Durst was involved in or suspected of being involved in the deaths of three people: Kathie Durst, Susan Berman and his neighbor Morris Black in 2001. Black’s body was found dismembered in Texas after he was allegedly killed by a gunshot wound. Robert Durst was acquitted in the case after claiming he had killed Black in self-defense.

During the filming of an HBO miniseries, Robert Durst was being interviewed by producers when he went into a bathroom. Thinking that his microphone was turned off, he could be heard saying to himself, “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”