Prosecutor exposes lies, questions Durst's credibility

3 years ago 295

LOS ANGELES – Robert Durst said helium profoundly regretted telling his beingness communicative to filmmakers successful hopes of restoring his reputation.

If a Los Angeles authoritative keeps exposing lies Durst told implicit the years, the New York existent property heir connected proceedings for execution whitethorn privation helium hadn't taken a accidental to entreaty straight to jurors successful his bid for acquittal.

Durst testified nether cross-examination Tuesday that helium lied nether oath successful the past and would bash it again to forestall incriminating himself. But helium said helium hadn't lied — astatine slightest up to that constituent — during his 5 days of ongoing grounds successful Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Under questioning from Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, who relished the imaginable of grilling Durst and prepared a 200-page outline for questioning, the multimillionaire acknowledged determination are immoderate acts helium would ne'er travel cleanable about.

“If you’ve said you’ve taken an oath to archer the information but you’ve besides conscionable told america that you would prevarication if you needed to, tin you archer maine however that would not destruct your credibility?” Lewin asked.

“Because what I’m saying is mostly the truth,” Durst said. “There are definite things I would prevarication about, definite precise important things.”

Durst said helium would ne'er admit sidesplitting Susan Berman — adjacent if helium had done so.

“'Did you termination Susan Berman?' is strictly a hypothetical,” Durst said. “I did not termination Susan Berman. But if I had, I would prevarication astir it.”

Durst, 78, has pleaded not blameworthy to execution successful the point-blank shooting of Berman, his longtime confidante, successful her Los Angeles home. Durst said helium recovered a lifeless Berman lying connected a chamber level erstwhile helium showed up for a planned sojourn conscionable earlier Christmas successful 2000.

Playing clips of interviews Durst gave filmmakers, an interrogation conducted aft Durst's apprehension successful New Orleans successful 2015, and clips from his testimony, Lewin got Durst to admit respective lies helium told implicit the years.

Prosecutors accidental Durst silenced Berman arsenic she prepared to talk with New York authorities astir the disappearance of his wife, Kathie, successful 1982 and however she provided a mendacious alibi for him. They besides accidental helium murdered a neighbour who discovered his existent individuality erstwhile helium was hiding from authorities successful Galveston, Texas, successful 2001.

Robert Durst has ne'er been charged with a transgression successful his wife’s disappearance and has denied sidesplitting her.

He was acquitted of execution successful Morris Black’s decease aft helium testified helium fatally changeable the antheral during a conflict for a gun. He was convicted of destroying grounds for chopping up the man’s assemblage and tossing it retired to sea.

If helium had killed his woman and murdered Morris Black, Durst said helium wouldn't admit those crimes.

Testifying astatine proceedings is incredibly risky for a defendant, and astir lawyers won't enactment their clients connected the stand. Durst's grounds Tuesday showed that a past of lies and inconsistent stories had made him vulnerable.

“You don’t conscionable marque up lies for the involvement of lying,” Lewin said. “You prevarication successful peculiar erstwhile determination is simply a crushed for you to lie. And, mostly speaking successful this context, erstwhile it relates to incriminating evidence, correct?”

Durst agreed.

In questions from his ain lawyer, Durst said helium had not confessed to immoderate killings erstwhile helium was captured speaking to himself connected a unrecorded microphone aft filming a documentary astir his beingness and the deaths of radical adjacent to him.

In the climactic country of “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” helium could beryllium heard successful a bath muttering: "What the hellhole did I do? Killed them all, of course.”

Durst, who had conscionable been caught connected video successful a prevarication astir a enactment directing constabulary to Berman’s “cadaver,” explained that the mic hadn't captured his afloat thought.

“What I did not accidental retired large or, possibly I said precise softly, is: ‘They’ll each deliberation I killed them all, of course,'” helium testified.

Many viewers interpreted the remarks, which were edited unneurotic by the filmmakers for a melodramatic decision to the six-part HBO series, arsenic an admission.

Authorities arrested Durst the nighttime earlier the finale aired successful March 2015 due to the fact that they expected him to fly aft the “gotcha” infinitesimal and the unexpected dialog that followed.

Durst testified helium had been readying to termination himself with a weapon erstwhile FBI agents apprehended him successful the lobby of a New Orleans hotel, wherever helium was registered nether an alias.

When pressed by Lewin astir the note, Durst said helium had to prevarication due to the fact that different it was wide helium was contiguous erstwhile Berman died.

“Well, it’s worse than that," Lewin said. “You antecedently said connected aggregate occasions that quote, 'That’s a enactment lone the slayer could person written.'”

Durst said it was a enactment fed to him by the film's shaper that helium repeated again successful an interrogation successful 2015 by Lewin.

“Seriously?” Lewin said successful a remark stricken from the grounds aft an objection from the defense.

Durst reached retired to filmmaker Andrew Jarecki successful the hopes of burnishing his estimation aft becoming a pariah pursuing the Texas case.

Despite being the scion of a New York developer, helium was rejected by condominium associations successful New York, Houston and California, helium said. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art wanted him to marque a donation anonymously.

Jarecki had made “All Good Things," a diagnostic movie based connected Durst's beingness starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst.

Durst hoped he'd beryllium treated sympathetically.

Despite proposal from his lawyers and “everybody” not to springiness a bid of interviews for the movie project, Durst ignored them all.

He said helium was precocious connected methamphetamine and repeatedly lied during the interviews. He had assured Jarecki helium was being honorable due to the fact that things would spell “very, precise wrong” if helium wasn't truthful.

When Lewin suggested that his lies to the filmmakers and astatine proceedings were coming backmost to haunt him, Durst said lone that everything helium did with Jarecki was a mistake.

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