Real estate heir Robert Durst on trial for murder
Durst is accused of killing a friend 20 years ago and was recorded saying 'I killed them all, of course' in 2015 documentary. Jacqui Heinrich reports.
In an unexpected move Thursday, a Los Angeles court adjourned New York real estate tycoon Robert Durst's murder trial before he was expected to give his own testimony.
There was no immediate explanation as to why the trial in the murder of Durst's best friend, Susan Berman, ended early after the court heard from testimony from false memory expert Elizabeth Loft. The case will resume on Monday at 2 p.m. ET.
Durst, 78, is charged with killing Berman, who was shot in the back of the head in her Los Angeles home in December 2000.
Robert Durst seen wrapped in blanket during trial on June 14, 2021. (Fox News pool)
REAL ESTATE SCION ROBERT DURST EXPECTED TO TESTIFY IN OWN DEFENSE
Durst was also charged with killing his Galveston, Texas neighbor Morris Black while in hiding there after Berman's killing. During his 2003 murder trial, he said Black was accidentally killed in a struggle after entering Durst's apartment with a gun. He admitted to dismembering and disposing of Black's body. The jury acquitted him of murder.
It took nearly 15 years for police to arrest the New York real estate heir in Berman's killing and another five to bring him to trial, which was further delayed over the last year due to COVID-19.
Robert Durst sits in a police vehicle as he leaves a courthouse in New Orleans, Louisiana March 17, 2015. (REUTERS/Lee Celano)
There is also speculation that Durst may be involved in the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Kathleen "Kathie" Durst, who was 29 at the time, though he has never been formally charged in connection to her death. Authorities declared Kathie Durst dead in 2017.
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Durst has pleaded not guilty to murdering Berman. Prosecutors say he attempted to silence Berman before she could tell police she helped him cover up the killing of his wife in 1982.
The homicide trial involving Susan Berman is ongoing in California, and New York recently reopened its investigation into Kathie Durst's disappearance.
Fox News' Laura Prabucki contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.
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