KEY POINTS

  • Real estate heir Robert Durst has a jury of eight women and four men as he faces trial for the murder of his friend, Susan Berman
  • The "cadaver" note Durst admitted to writing is expected to be used as key evidence during the trial
  • Durst is also linked to the disappearance of his wife, Kathie Durst

Robert Durst’s future will lie in the hands of an eight-woman, four-man jury that also includes 11 alternate jurors. The New York millionaire was charged with murdering a friend in 2000. There are also two other deaths surrounding the real estate heir.

According to NBC-owned KNBC, the jurors are expected to see at least three to four days of opening statements in Durst’s controversial trial. Durst was caught on microphone talking to himself, saying “Killed them all, of course.”

Durst’s supposed confession of multiple murders was aired in the finale of HBO’s “The Jinx,” a documentary of the real estate mogul son’s past. He was imprisoned on March 14, 2015 but his defense attorney David Chesnoff reiterated that there are no existing evidence such as blood or fingerprints linked to Durst.

Deputy district attorney John Lewin said Durst killed Susan Berman, a long-time friend, due to her alleged willingness to speak to investigators about the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s wife, Kathie Durst.

Durst was also accused of killing his neighbor, Morris Black. The former initially went missing and was later found in Pennsylvania. A Texas jury acquitted him for the death and dismemberment of black following Durst’s statements that said he acted out of self-defense.

According to BuzzFeed News, Houston lawyers Chip Lewis and Dick DeGuerin are still part of Durst’s current defense team. The said lawyers convinced the Texas jury trying Durst for Black’s death about their client’s innocence.

While Durst will be tried this time for the death of Berman, it is expected that Kathie’s disappearance will also be raised. Prosecutors are expected to once again rekindle the issue on Berman getting killed because she knew the truth about Kathie, whose body was never found.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the “cadaver” note that is expected to play a key role in Durst’s trial.

In 2000, at the time of Berman’s death, Beverly Hills police received a note with the word “cadaver” and Berman’s address on it. The anonymous piece of paper was the same as Durst’s office stationery.

Durst denied for years that he wrote the note, the Associated Press reported. In December, the defense team filed a motion admitting that Durst was the one who wrote the anonymous note that led police to Berman’s body.

DeGuerin has been insisting that the motion did not mean Durst killed Berman as his client never publicly denied or admitted to writing the note.

Durst’s current trial is expected to last for up to five months.

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