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<v Speaker 1>Caalarogus Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Saturday, December

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<v Speaker 1>twenty seventh, twenty twenty five, continuing our twelve Crimes of

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas series. Yesterday we wrapped up the John Benet Ramsey case.

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<v Speaker 1>Today and tomorrow a billionaire heir who got away with

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<v Speaker 1>murder for forty years because justice isn't black or white,

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<v Speaker 1>It's green. Robert Durst born April twelfth, nineteen forty three,

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<v Speaker 1>eldest son of Seymour Durst, whose family owned one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most powerful real estate empires in Manhattan, the Durst

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<v Speaker 1>Organization skyscrapers billions of dollars old money New York Royalty.

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<v Speaker 1>Three people connected to Robert Durst ended up dead, his

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<v Speaker 1>wife Kathy, who vanished in nineteen eighty two and was

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<v Speaker 1>never found. His best friend Susan Berman, shot execution style

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<v Speaker 1>on Christmas Eve two thousand. His neighbor, Morris Black, dismembered

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<v Speaker 1>and dumped in Galls Elveston Bay in two thousand and one.

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<v Speaker 1>For decades, Durst walked free, money, bought the best lawyers, status,

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<v Speaker 1>deflected suspicion, connections, made problems disappear. The system that's supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to protect victims instead protected him. Then came a documentary,

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<v Speaker 1>an HBO series called The Jinx and a hot microphone

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<v Speaker 1>that caught Robert Durst whispering to himself in a bathroom,

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<v Speaker 1>what the hell did I do? Killed them? All of course,

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<v Speaker 1>killed them all of course. September twenty twenty one, Durst

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<v Speaker 1>was finally convicted of murdering Susan Berman, sentenced to life

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<v Speaker 1>without parole, charged with Kathy's murder. Shortly after January tenth,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty two, he died in prison at seventy eight

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<v Speaker 1>years old. Took his secrets to the grave, never revealed

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<v Speaker 1>where Kathy's body is buried. I'm reed, Carter, This is

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<v Speaker 1>Celebrity Trials Today, Part one. Cormick Durst, twenty nine years old,

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<v Speaker 1>three months from becoming a doctor, told her friends exactly

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<v Speaker 1>what would happen if she disappeared. Then she disappeared. Someone

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<v Speaker 1>has to say her name. Kathleen McCormick was born June fifteenth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifty two. Grew up in New Hyde Park, Long Island,

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<v Speaker 1>working class family. Her father was a telephone company account

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<v Speaker 1>representative World War II veteran. Her mother, Anne, would live

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<v Speaker 1>to be one hundred and two years old, dying in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty fifteen, still not knowing what happened to her youngest daughter.

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<v Speaker 1>Cathy was driven, ambitious, went to nursing school first, then

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<v Speaker 1>decided that wasn't enough. She wanted to be a doctor,

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<v Speaker 1>a pediatrician, help babies and children. She enrolled at Albert

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<v Speaker 1>Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, fourth year student

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<v Speaker 1>three months from graduating when she vanished. In nineteen seventy one,

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<v Speaker 1>Cathy was twenty years old, working in Manhattan, living in

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<v Speaker 1>a walk up apartment. Met a man at a party,

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Durst, twenty eight years old, longish hair, intense, wealthy,

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<v Speaker 1>beyond imagination. The attraction was immediate. After two dates, Durst

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<v Speaker 1>invited Kathy to move into his house in Vermont. She did.

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<v Speaker 1>They opened a health food store together called All Good

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<v Speaker 1>Things Hippy Dream, But Durst's father had other plans. Seymour

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<v Speaker 1>Durst pressured his son to return to New York, joined

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<v Speaker 1>the family business, stopped playing bohemian, so they moved to Manhattan.

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<v Speaker 1>Got married on April twelfth, nineteen seventy three, Durst's thirtieth birthday.

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<v Speaker 1>Kathy was twenty. The wedding gift was an entry into

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<v Speaker 1>one of New York's wealthiest families, but something was wrong

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<v Speaker 1>from the beginning. Cathy's friends and family describe a controlling,

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<v Speaker 1>abusive husband, a man who dictated what she wore, where

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<v Speaker 1>she went, who she saw, A man whose temper flared

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<v Speaker 1>without warning. Eleanor Joy Schwank, Kathy's nursing school classmate, received

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<v Speaker 1>phone calls Kathy telling her Bobby is really violent. Schwank

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<v Speaker 1>said she never witnessed it herself, but Kathy told her

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<v Speaker 1>it was physical. At a McCormick family gathering, Durst yanked

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<v Speaker 1>Kathy by the hair because she wasn't ready to leave

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<v Speaker 1>in front of her family. Didn't care who saw. Another time,

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<v Speaker 1>he stormed into their apartment where Cathy was talking with

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<v Speaker 1>friends and kicked an acquaintance in the face. That man

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<v Speaker 1>later sued Durst and settled. Three weeks before Cathy disappeared,

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<v Speaker 1>she was treated at Jacoby Medical Center in the bronx bruises,

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<v Speaker 1>head injuries facial trauma suffered during an argument with her husband.

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<v Speaker 1>She refused to file charges. Kathy wanted children, Durst didn't.

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<v Speaker 1>According to friends, He pressured her into having an abortion

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<v Speaker 1>in the late nineteen seventies, Durst later claimed the child

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't his anyway. By nineteen eighty two, the marriage was

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<v Speaker 1>over in everything but paperwork. Kathy was preparing divorce documents.

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<v Speaker 1>She was about to become a doctor, would be able

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<v Speaker 1>to support herself, wouldn't need Durst's money anymore, and Robert

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<v Speaker 1>Durst was losing control. Cathy told her friends something chilling,

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<v Speaker 1>something specific, something that would haunt investigators for forty years.

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<v Speaker 1>If anything happens to me, don't let Bob get away

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<v Speaker 1>with it. She knew. She knew exactly what her husband

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<v Speaker 1>was capable of, knew exactly what might happen, told the

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<v Speaker 1>people closest to her to watch out, to not let

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<v Speaker 1>him escape consequences, and then, on January thirty first, nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty two, Kathy McCormick Durst vanished from the face of

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<v Speaker 1>the earth. January thirty first, nineteen eighty two, Sunday evening,

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<v Speaker 1>Kathy attended a dinner party at the home of her

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<v Speaker 1>closest friend, Gilbert Najami, in Newtown, Connecticut. Najami noticed something

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<v Speaker 1>strange immediately. Kathy was wearing sweatpants, casual clothes that wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>like her. Kathy usually dressed up took care of her appearance,

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<v Speaker 1>but that night she looked disheveled, upset. Around seven pm,

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<v Speaker 1>Kathy received a phone call from her husband. They argued.

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<v Speaker 1>Whatever Robert said on that call, it rattled her. The

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<v Speaker 1>rest of the evening, Kathy talked to Najami about her

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<v Speaker 1>failing marriage, about the abuse, about her fears. Then Kathy

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<v Speaker 1>said something to her best friend that Najami never forgot,

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<v Speaker 1>asked her to investigate if anything happened to her. If

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<v Speaker 1>anything happened to her, investigate. Kathy left the party, said

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<v Speaker 1>she was returning to the couple's cottage on Hoyt Street

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<v Speaker 1>in South Salem, New York, a small town about an

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<v Speaker 1>hour north of Manhattan. According to Robert Durst, here's what

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<v Speaker 1>happened next. He drove Kathy to the Katona train station,

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<v Speaker 1>boarded a train to Manhattan, headed for their penthouse apartment.

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<v Speaker 1>He spoke to her on a payphone later that night.

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<v Speaker 1>She confirmed she'd arrived safely. That was the last time

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<v Speaker 1>anyone ever saw Kathy McCormick Durst. But here's the problem

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<v Speaker 1>with Robert Durst's story. It was a lie, all of it.

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<v Speaker 1>Kathy never arrived in Manhattan, never got on that train.

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<v Speaker 1>The doorman at their building never saw her. Nobody saw

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<v Speaker 1>her after she left Gilbert Njami's house. The next day,

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<v Speaker 1>February first, someone called Albert Einstein College of Medicine. A

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<v Speaker 1>woman's voice claimed to be Kathy Durst said she was

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<v Speaker 1>sick and wouldn't be attending classes that week. That call

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<v Speaker 1>was critical. It made investigators believe Kathy had made it

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<v Speaker 1>back to Manhattan was alive on February first, directed the

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<v Speaker 1>entire investigation toward the city instead of where Kathy was

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<v Speaker 1>actually last seen. South Salem. Prosecutors would later argue that

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<v Speaker 1>call was made by Susan Berman, Durst's best friend from UCLA,

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<v Speaker 1>posing as Kathy, creating an alibi for Robert eighteen years

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<v Speaker 1>before Berman herself would be murdered. Robert Durst didn't report

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<v Speaker 1>his wife missing until February fifth, five days after she vanished,

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<v Speaker 1>only called police after the medical school dean contacted him

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<v Speaker 1>wondering why Kathy hadn't been to class all week. When

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<v Speaker 1>police asked Durst about the delay, he said he figured

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<v Speaker 1>she was out someplace having fun, suggested maybe drug use

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<v Speaker 1>was to blame. It hadn't occurred to me that anything

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<v Speaker 1>had happened to her. His wife of nine years disappears

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<v Speaker 1>for five days, doesn't show up to the medical school.

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<v Speaker 1>She was three months from graduating, and it didn't occur

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<v Speaker 1>to him that anything had happened. Make it make sense,

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<v Speaker 1>Gilbert Najami started calling police immediately after Kathy missed their

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<v Speaker 1>scheduled meeting. She knew something was wrong. She'd heard Cathy

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<v Speaker 1>say to investigate if anything happened, and now something had happened.

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<v Speaker 1>But police focused on Manhattan because that's where Durst said

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<v Speaker 1>Kathy was headed. That's where the phone call to the

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<v Speaker 1>medical school came from. The investigation was derailed from day

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<v Speaker 1>one by durst'slies. The cottage in South Salem. Police didn't

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<v Speaker 1>conduct a thorough search, didn't treat it like a crime scene,

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<v Speaker 1>just accepted Durst's word that Kathy had left for the

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<v Speaker 1>train station. Najami took matters into her own hands. Every week,

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<v Speaker 1>she drove to the Durst's cottage, went through their garbage,

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<v Speaker 1>found some of Kathy's belongings that had been discarded, found

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<v Speaker 1>handwritten notes from Robert. She collected everything, built her own file.

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<v Speaker 1>Then something strange happened. Najami's home was burglarized another friend

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<v Speaker 1>of Kathy's was also burglarized. The files they'd been keeping

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<v Speaker 1>about Kathy's case were among the items stolen. Those burglaries

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<v Speaker 1>remain unsolved. The files were never recovered. Robert Durst sold

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<v Speaker 1>the South Salem cottage in nineteen ninety Whatever evidence might

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<v Speaker 1>have been there, whatever might have explained what ha happened

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<v Speaker 1>to Cathy, was gone. For seventeen years, the case went cold.

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<v Speaker 1>Kathy McCormick Durst was simply missing, presumed dead but never proven,

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<v Speaker 1>never found, never explained, and Robert Durst went on living

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<v Speaker 1>his life inheriting millions when his father died in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety five, drifting across the country using aliases disguises, living

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<v Speaker 1>among the homeless, sometimes wealthy beyond measure, but hiding from

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<v Speaker 1>the world until nineteen ninety nine, when a state police

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<v Speaker 1>investigator named Joseph Bessera received a tip and decided to

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<v Speaker 1>take another look at the twenty year old disappearance of

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<v Speaker 1>a medical student who'd warned her friends exactly what would happen.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll be right back with what happened when investigators reopened

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<v Speaker 1>the case in nineteen ninety nine, and the Christmas Eve

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<v Speaker 1>murder that followed. Just one year later, nineteen ninety nine,

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<v Speaker 1>New York State Police investigator Joseph Bessera received a tip

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<v Speaker 1>about Kathy Durst's nineteen eighty two disappearance. Someone claimed to

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<v Speaker 1>know what had happened. Bessara started digging. He discovered what

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<v Speaker 1>Gilbert Najami and Cathy's family had known for seventeen years.

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<v Speaker 1>The original investigation was botched. Police accepted Durst's story at

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<v Speaker 1>face value, never properly searched the South Salem cottage, never

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<v Speaker 1>treated Robert as the obvious suspect he was. Bessarah interviewed

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<v Speaker 1>witnesses again, found that stories had changed over the years.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people were willing to talk now who hadn't been before.

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<v Speaker 1>The case needed another look. In November two thousand, the

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<v Speaker 1>investigation became public. Media attention returned to Robert Durst. The

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<v Speaker 1>name that had faded from headlines was suddenly everywhere again.

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<v Speaker 1>The wealthy heir, the missing wife, the questions that never

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<v Speaker 1>got answered, and Robert Durst panicked. The same month the

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<v Speaker 1>investigation went public, Durst rented a three hundred dollar a

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<v Speaker 1>month apartment in Galveston, Texas, a crummy fourplex in a

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<v Speaker 1>run down neighborhood halfway between the Gulf of Mexico and

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<v Speaker 1>Galveston Bay, a place where nobody would recognize a Manhattan

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<v Speaker 1>real estate air But Durst didn't rent the apartment as himself.

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<v Speaker 1>He assumed the identity of Dorothy Sinner, a real woman,

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<v Speaker 1>his former classmate from Scarsdale High School class of nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty one. She hadn't seen him in forty years, had

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<v Speaker 1>no idea he was using her name. Dorothy Sinner was

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<v Speaker 1>a mute woman. That's what Durst told his landlord, communicated

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<v Speaker 1>through handwritten notes. Wore women's clothing, a wig, dresses, high heels,

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<v Speaker 1>complete disguise. The wealthy heir to a billion dollar real

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<v Speaker 1>estate empire was living in a three hundred dollar apartment

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<v Speaker 1>dressed as a mute woman because investigators were finally asking

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<v Speaker 1>questions about his missing wife. On December eleventh, two thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>while hiding in Galveston, Durst secretly married New York real

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<v Speaker 1>estate broker Deborah Cheriton. They'd been dating on and off

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<v Speaker 1>for years. The marriage was kept quiet, no announcement, no celebration,

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<v Speaker 1>just paperwork. Two weeks later, investigators wanted to interview Susan Berman,

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<v Speaker 1>Durst's best friend from UCLA, the mobster's daughter who'd served

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<v Speaker 1>as his unofficial spokesperson after Cathy disappeared in nineteen eighty two,

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<v Speaker 1>the woman prosecutors believe made that fake phone call to

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<v Speaker 1>the medical school. Berman was going to talk to police. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>after eighteen years, she knew something. Everyone was sure of it.

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<v Speaker 1>She'd helped Durst cover up Cathy's disappearance, and now she

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<v Speaker 1>was going to tell investigators what really happened. Susan Berman

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<v Speaker 1>never made it to that interview. December twenty third, two thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>the day before Christmas Eve, someone walked into Susan Berman's

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<v Speaker 1>home in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles. Found her in the

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<v Speaker 1>living room, raised a gun, put it to the back

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<v Speaker 1>of her head, pulled the trigger, execution style, close range

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<v Speaker 1>single gunshot professional clean. The next day, Christmas Eve two thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>Berman's neighbors noticed her three dogs running loose. Her back

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<v Speaker 1>door was wide open. They called police. Officers found Susan

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<v Speaker 1>Berman's body inside. She was fifty five years old, author,

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<v Speaker 1>crime writer, ironically daughter of David Berman, a major organized

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<v Speaker 1>crime figure who dominated illegal gambling in depression era Minneapolis

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<v Speaker 1>and later ran the Flamingo Hotel. And Casino in Las Vegas.

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<v Speaker 1>Susan Berman had been killed just days before she was

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<v Speaker 1>scheduled to talk to investigators about Kathy Durst's disappearance. Coincidence.

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Durst expected people to believe it was, But a

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<v Speaker 1>few days after the body was discovered, the Beverly Hills

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<v Speaker 1>Police Department received a letter block letters, single word cadaver

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<v Speaker 1>and an address Susan Berman's address, with one notable error.

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<v Speaker 1>The sender misspelled Beverly Hills as Beverly Hills with an

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<v Speaker 1>extra E. That misspelling would prove critical fifteen years later.

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<v Speaker 1>Investigators suspected Durst immediately. The timing was too convenient. His

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<v Speaker 1>best friend murdered right before she was going to talk

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<v Speaker 1>the woman who helped him cover up his wife's disappearance.

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<v Speaker 1>But they couldn't prove it. No witnesses, no DNA at

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<v Speaker 1>the scene, just a dead woman and an anonymous letter.

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Durst remained free, remained hiding in Galveston, remained dressed

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<v Speaker 1>as Dorothy Sinner, and nine months later he would kill again.

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<v Speaker 1>That's part one of our Robert Durst Special. Kathy McCormick Durst,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty nine years old, met a student three months from

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<v Speaker 1>becoming a pediatrician, told her friends, if anything happens to me,

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<v Speaker 1>don't let Bob get away with it. January thirty first,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty two, she disappeared. Her body has never been found.

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<v Speaker 1>Susan Berman, fifty five years old, crime writer, daughter of

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<v Speaker 1>a mobster, best friend to Robert Durst since their UCLA

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<v Speaker 1>days helped cover up Kathy's disappearance. Was about to talk

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<v Speaker 1>to investigators. December twenty third, two thousand, shot execution style

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<v Speaker 1>in her home the day before Christmas Eve. Two women

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<v Speaker 1>connected to one man, both dead or missing, and Robert

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<v Speaker 1>Durst walking free hiding in Texas, dressed as a mute

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<v Speaker 1>woman named Dorothy Senner living in a three hundred dollars

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<v Speaker 1>apartment while owning properties worth millions. Tomorrow, Part two, Morris Black,

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<v Speaker 1>The Jinx, The Bathroom Confession, and the Verdict that took

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<v Speaker 1>forty years to deliver. Kathy mcmick Durst would be seventy

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<v Speaker 1>three years old today. Should have been a doctor for

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<v Speaker 1>forty years, should have helped thousands of children, should have

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<v Speaker 1>had a career, a family, a life. Instead, she's been

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<v Speaker 1>missing for forty three years. Her mother died at one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and two. Never knowing what happened. Her brother Jim

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<v Speaker 1>has spent decades fighting for justice. Her body has never

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<v Speaker 1>been recovered. Robert Durst never told anyone where she is.

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<v Speaker 1>Died with that secret. Rest in peace, Cathy. Someone has

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<v Speaker 1>to say your name. I'm reed, Carter. See you tomorrow

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<v Speaker 1>for part two. This is Celebrity Trials.