Robert Durst
Real estate heir Robert Durst appears in a New York criminal courtroom on Dec. 10, 2014, for his trial on charges of trespassing on property owned by his estranged family. Reuters

Real estate heir Robert Durst will attend a preliminary court hearing in New Orleans Monday to face weapons charges. The 71-year-old Houston resident, who also faces murder charges in connection with the 2000 death of friend Susan Berman, is being held under suicide watch in Orleans Parish’s mental ward, 70 miles away from where the hearing will be held, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities arrested Durst March 14 in New Orleans after Los Angeles prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for first-degree murder charges. Durst was found to be in possession of a gun and a small amount of marijuana. His lawyers will argue Durst’s possession of the gun did not constitute a felony offense, that he was arrested illegally on the weapons charges and that authorities timed his arrest to coincide with the season finale of the hit HBO documentary series “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” which explored Durst’s possible involvement in multiple murders.

Durst waived extradition and will face murder charges in Los Angeles. However, he must remain in New Orleans to face the weapons charges, according to NBC New York.

The makers of the HBO documentary uncovered a letter written to authorities after Berman’s death that bore distinct similarities to Durst’s handwriting. When confronted with the letter, Durst denied he was responsible for Berman’s murder. However, he later appeared to confess to the crime while he spoke into a live microphone while using the bathroom.

“There it is. You’re caught. What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course,” Durst said in captured audio that aired at the finale’s end, according to the AP.

Durst has been linked to the 1982 disappearance of his wife Kathie as well as Berman’s execution-style murder as she prepared to provide authorities with information on Durst’s wife, but he has never been found guilty. Durst was also acquitted in the 2001 murder of his neighbor, Morris Black, who was found dismembered in Galveston Bay that year.

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