Durst, 71, the subject of a six-part HBO documentary series called
"The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst," was picked up by a
filmmaker's microphone saying he "killed them all," apparently
acknowledging his crimes, in footage that aired on Sunday.
He was arrested on Saturday by FBI agents at a New Orleans hotel,
where he was staying under an alias and was deemed a risk to flee
the country, after Los Angeles County issued a warrant for his
arrest in the 2000 killing of longtime friend Susan Berman.
A revolver and a stash of marijuana were found in his room,
according to police documents.
Durst was formally charged on Monday with first-degree murder in the
killing of Berman, and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Long estranged from his powerful family with its major New York real
estate holdings, the eccentric Durst was acquitted in 2003 in the
dismemberment and killing of a male neighbor in Texas, and was a
suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Kathleen Durst, in 1982.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Mar/18/images/ads/current/Hallies_sda_010615.png) In Texas on Tuesday, Houston police searched a condominium owned by
Durst, local television station ABC 13 reported, citing Durst's
attorney, Chip Lewis.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck told reporters on Tuesday his
department's 15-year investigation into Berman's death had been
delayed by the "legal maneuverings" of Durst and his lawyers.
"We are glad that we have finally come to a point where we can
request to have Mr. Durst extradited to California, to Los Angeles,
so he can face a jury of his peers in the homicide of Susan Berman,"
Beck said.
'EVERYONE CLAPPED'
Ellen Strauss, a friend of Kathleen Durst, told CNN she watched the
end of the HBO series with Kathleen Durst's family, and they were
pleased with his apparent admission, which legal experts say
probably will be admissible in court.
"We were listening so closely, everyone leaning forward in their
chair," she said. "We took it in. Everyone clapped."
Durst's apparent admission, uttered while still wearing a microphone
as he used the bathroom, has not swayed the Westchester County
District Attorney's Office in New York to look afresh at Kathleen
Durst's disappearance, which remains an open case, a spokesman said.
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"That doesn't change anything at this point," spokesman Lucian
Chalfen said.
Before Durst can be tried in California, his legal troubles in New
Orleans, where he was booked on two weapons charges, must be
resolved.
On Tuesday, a New Orleans judge set a hearing for Monday to
determine whether Durst is a flight risk and whether he should be
granted bond, said Christopher Bowman, spokesman for the Orleans
Parish District Attorney's Office.
A Louisiana appellate court on Tuesday granted Durst's request to be
transferred from a New Orleans jail to a lockup outside of town so
he can be better treated for unspecified medical conditions, the
Times-Picayune newspaper reported.
If granted bond, he would likely face extradition to California
before being given the opportunity to go free.
Durst's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, told reporters outside a New
Orleans courthouse on Tuesday that he is eager to get his client to
California to contest the murder charge.
"Bob Durst did not kill Susan Berman, he doesn't know who did," he
said. "The warrant that was issued in California was issued because
of a television show and not because of facts."
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans; Additional reporting
by Alex Dobuzinskis and Sharon Bernstein in Los Angeles and Suzannah
Gonzales in Chicago; Editing by Mary Milliken, Mohammad Zargham and
Will Dunham)
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