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Robert Durst, subject of HBO’s The Jinx, arrested for decades-old murder

The Jinx.
The Jinx.
(HBO)

  1. Robert Durst, subject of HBO's six-part documentary miniseries The Jinx, which concludes tonight, has been arrested in New Orleans for the unsolved murder of Susan Berman, reports the New York Times.
  2. Although no one has yet been able to charge Durst with the murder of his friend Berman, new evidence, brought to light in last week's episode of The Jinx, might have been enough to convince authorities to pursue the connection.
  3. According to ABC, Durst's attorney, Chip Lewis, maintains Durst's innocence.

Who is Robert Durst?

Though he has laid low for the past few years, Robert Durst, 71, of the wealthy New York–area real estate family, has been thrust back into the public spotlight. That's because Durst — who has been notoriously tight-lipped about granting interviews ever since he was acquitted of the 2001 murder of his Texas neighbor Morris Black — granted filmmaker Andrew Jarecki about 25 hours of sit-down interviews for The Jinx.

The six-part series explores Durst's possible connections to Berman's 2000 murder, as well as the 1982 disappearance of his then-wife, Kathie. Though many have continued to believe Durst was behind both crimes, he had yet to be charged in either case.

That is, until Saturday, when, just before 4:30 pm, he was arrested at the JW Marriott Hotel in New Orleans. According to Los Angeles channel ABC 7, authorities believed Durst was planning to flee to Cuba.

What new evidence was uncovered?

According to the New York Times, while making The Jinx, Jarecki uncovered new evidence linking Durst to Berman's death. The producers turned this information over to the Los Angeles district attorney more than a year ago, reports the Times.

The evidence director Andrew Jarecki discovered was a letter believed to be sent from Durst to Berman in the year before her murder. The address contained the word "BEVERLEY," misspelled and written in block lettering.

The writing, according to Jarecki, and Berman's stepson, Sareb Kaufman, who discovered the letter, bears a striking resemblance to what authorities call "the cadaver note" — a letter sent to authorities alerting them to Berman's dead body.

And in the finale of the miniseries, Jarecki caught Durst saying he "killed them all" on a hot microphone when Durst didn't think he was being interviewed.

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