What do the 1982 disappearance of Kathleen McCormack, the 2000 execution of Susan Berman, and the 2001 dismemberment of Morris Black all have in common?
A man named Robert Durst was a suspect in all three cases. His story is now going to be explored in a six-part documentary on HBO titled The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.
Here's how the New York Times describes Durst's history:
He was investigated, but never charged, in the mysterious disappearance of his young, beautiful first wife and the mob-like execution of a close friend in Los Angeles. He beheaded a cantankerous neighbor in Texas in what he described as an act of self-defense, cross-dressed to conceal his identity and then escaped the police, whose nationwide manhunt took them to Northern California, then New Orleans and, finally, Bethlehem, Pa., where Mr. Durst had gone to college.
As the Times notes, the only murder for which Durst was charged was the most recent one, the grisly dismemberment of Morris, his neighbor in Galveston, Texas. He was acquitted after arguing that chopping up his neighbor’s body with a saw was an act of self-defense.
The HBO documentary is directed by Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling. They're also the director/producer team behind All Good Things, a 2010 film starring Kirsten Dunst and Ryan Gosling that is loosely based on Durst's life.
Durst and his family have long been on bad terms, as Capital explains. In 2014, for example, Durst ended up in court for violating the restraining order his family has against him.
Perhaps given their estrangement from Robert, not to mention their anger over how they were portrayed in the 2010 film, it's understandable that they weren't willing to go on record for Jarecki's documentary.
"Given that Robert is likely underwriting the film, it should rival the great works of propaganda," the family's spokesperson told the New York Times.
However, the filmmakers say they do not accept funding from the subjects of their films.
Cooperation is something else, though. And as you'll see in the trailer above, Durst appears to be very involved in the film.
As HitFix notes, HBO seems to be targeting the millions of fans of Serial, the insanely popular true-crime drama released in weekly installments from This American Life.
The Jinx airs this February on HBO.
