Moment raging Robert Durst, 78, denies killing his friend Susan Berman as he takes the stand at murder trial
AN angry Robert Durst insisted he did not kill his best friend Susan Berman in a charged court appearance in Los Angeles on Monday.
“Did you kill Susan Berman?” Durst’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, directly asked the frail real estate heir, 78.
“No,” Durst answered strongly.
“Do you know who did?” DeGuerin then asked Durst.
“No, I do not,” Durst replied.
The 78-year-old is charged with killing Berman, who was fatally shot in her home in Los Angeles, California, in December 2000.
Prosecutors allege that Berman was going to give police information about Durst's first wife, Kathleen McCormack, who disappeared in 1982 and was never found.
They claim Berman provided an alibi for Durst after he killed his first wife and that he silenced her to keep her from telling police what she knew about McCormack’s disappearance.
He was arrested on a warrant for Berman’s death in New Orleans in 2015 on the same day the final episode of The Jinx, an HBO documentary series about him, aired.
His trial didn’t begin until early 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to a halt until it resumed in May.
Durst took the witness stand in his own defense on Monday, testifying while sitting in a wheelchair.
He seemingly struggled to hear DeGuerin as he asked Durst questions and used a tablet that showed a live transcription in a video of the proceedings.
According to CNN, Durst has “serious health conditions, including bladder cancer, prior esophageal cancer, malnutrition, coronary artery disease with drug-eluting stents, atrial fibrillation, and chronic kidney disease.”
But he was able to strongly answer that he was not responsible for Berman’s death.
Durst has never been charged in connection with his wife’s disappearance and has denied having anything to do with her death as well.
He has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge in the Berman case.
However, in the HBO documentary series, Durst appeared to say, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”
His attorneys claim the comments were edited.
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