Robert Durst’s Estranged Brother Says ‘He’d Like to Murder Me’

Douglas Durst’s testimony is the latest in the long-delayed trial of Robert Durst, after it was paused for 14 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The prosecution alleges that Robert murdered his friend, Susan Berman, and one other man in a cover up to hide the murder of his wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst.

Douglas Durst, who serves as chairman of the Durst Organization and oversees the Durst family’s $5 billion real estate empire, said he hadn’t spoken to his brother since the mid-1990s. 

The younger Durst chronicled how he feared his brother’s anger over his decision to work with the McCormack family and friends during Kathleen’s disappearance. He also said that upon his brother’s departure from the family company, Robert Durst was angry over an inheritance settlement for tens of millions of dollars.

“My brother, when he gets angry, he gets extremely angry,” Douglas Durst said. 

Douglas testified that his brother had allegedly discussed his own murder, alluding to conversations Robert had made in a 2001 phone call recorded in a Pennsylvania jail, which the prosecution has alleged constitute Robert speaking in code about killing his own brother. 

Under questioning by the defense attorney, Douglas Durst admitted that he had asked his father that he helm the billion-dollar real estate business, not Robert.

With his face partially obscured by a green mask, Douglas testified that it was difficult for him to speak about his brother and that he only attended the trial under threat of subpoena. 

“First, I am frightened,” said Douglas. “And I also feel sorry for him, for the situation that we’re in. I would have done anything to avoid it. But I’m just here because I’ve been subpoenaed.” 

Douglas testified that his brother offered a reward for the location of his wife after her disappearance, but did not ask the family for help. Under cross-examination by the defense, the attorney tried to poke holes in Douglas’ previous statements. Douglas had previously stated his father had made every effort to find Kathleen, and said he knew his brother had hired a private investigator.

He also testified that Kathleen told him she wanted to divorce Robert ahead of her disappearance in 1982.

Nearly 20 years later, Berman was fatally shot in the back of the head in her Los Angeles home in December 2000. The prosecution alleges that Berman provided an alibi for Robert after he killed his wife, and that Robert killed Berman to cover-up the original murder. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge. 

The septuagenarian heir to a commercial real estate empire is not charged with the murder of his wife and his friend, Morris Black. (Durst was acquitted of killing Black in 2003).

Robert was caught in a New Orleans hotel in 2015 after an HBO miniseries drew national attention to the alleged murders. He was arrested on the eve of the finale of the six-part documentary series, “The Jinx,” which chronicled the alleged murders. The series included confidential videotaped depositions that Douglas sued director Andrew Jarecki over, though he dropped the case in April 2015, when it was revealed that Robert provided it to the director.) 

In 2016, Douglas told Commercial Observer that, “it’s a relief that my brother is in jail and will be there for a while.”