Westchester DA releases report on murder of Robert Durst’s wife Kathie
Dying is one way to get away with murder.
The Westchester DA’s Office released its final investigative report into the murder of Robert Durst’s first wife, Kathleen, on Wednesday before closing and sealing the case now that Durst is dead.
Durst, 78, died on Jan. 10, just a few months after being sentenced to life in prison for the execution-style killing of his longtime pal Susan Berman and before being tried for the 1982 murder of Kathie. Evidence and statements brought forth in Berman’s trial enabled Westchester DA Mimi Rocah to indict Durst in November, but prosecutors won’t get their day in court.
“Nothing can provide the transparency of a public trial,” Rocah said Wednesday. The report is her office’s attempt “to provide as much transparency as possible” and lay out what the trial argument might have looked like.
The report compiles a smattering of public statements from Durst, evidence brought forth by the 2015 HBO doc “The Jinx” and various other investigations conducted in the 40 years since Kathie’s murder. Much of the juicy details remain secret, only given to the grand jury that indicted Durst — and that information died with him.
Kathie’s body was never found, nor was a murder weapo💖n, and there still are no witnesses to her death. Rocah has to close and seal the case once she rece🍰ives Durst’s death certificate.
That means we may never know what happened to Kathie Durst.
“In the end, I hope that the charges that were filed in this case send a powerful message that no one is above the law and༒ no victim’s case should be forgotten,” the DA and former MSNBC legal analyst said.
Durst had been sick before his death and was placed on a ventilator in late 2021 after being hospi♒taliz𓄧ed with COVID-19.
He had previously claimed he drove his wife to the train station and later spoke to her on the phone on the day she vanished, but later admitted in “The Jinx” that he made those details up.
