Los Angeles (CNN)A Los Angeles jury found 

Robert Durst, the notorious subject of the

HBO series "The Jinx," guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of his best friend, Susan
Berman, more than 20 years ago.

Durst has been charged with the first-degree murder of Berman in 2000 at her Beverly
Hills home, hours before she was set to talk to investigators about the mysterious
disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, who was last seen in 1982.
McCormack Durst was declared legally dead in 2017. Her body has not been found and
no one has been charged in the case.
Jurors also agreed the crime met 'special circumstances' in California law, which would
allow Durst to be sentenced to life without parole, for the murder of a witness to a crime,
lying in wait and using a firearm in the murder.
California has a moratorium on the death penalty. Durst's sentencing hearing is
scheduled for October 18.
"The jury's decision demonstrates how our legal system can work to hold accountable
people regardless of their wealth and status in life," District Attorney George Gascón said. "I
want to commend our prosecution team and investigators for their diligent work to ultimately
bring justice for those who have been waiting more than 20 years."

close dia log

Durst, 78, took the stand in his defense during the sensational trial in Los Angeles County
Superior Court. He denied killing Berman and said he found her on the floor of her bedroom
with a fatal gunshot to the back of the head.
Defense Attorney Dick DeGuerin said he was very disappointed by the verdict.
"We fought hard, but we came in second," he said.
Durst was not in court to hear the verdict due to recent exposure to someone with Covid-19.
He remains in quarantine after one of his drivers tested positive for the coronavirus,
DeGuerin said.
He said he was unable to reach Durst to relay the verdict to him.
"We are extremely gratified and appreciative of the verdict that the jury reached in this
case," lead prosecutor John Lewin said afterward. He called Durst a "narcissistic
psychopath" and added, "He got a lot more of a life than he was entitled to."

People listen as the verdict is read in court on Friday, September 17, 2021.
The judge ordered the jurors' personal identifying information would be sealed for privacy
and safety. It is up to the jurors whether they choose to discuss any deliberations or verdict.
Durst's testimony spanned three weeks, with much of the cross-examination devolving into
contentious sparring with prosecutor Lewin.
Prosecutors allege Durst shot Berman in the head. They said Durst confided to Berman he
had killed Kathleen, and she helped him cover his tracks.
On the stand, Durst denied murdering his first wife and, later, Berman. But under cross-
examination, Durst testified he would perjure himself if he had killed them. Lewin prompted
Durst to admit he perjured himself five times during the trial, which resumed in May after a
14-month delay due to the pandemic.
There was little physical evidence in Berman's unsolved death. There were no people who
witnessed the shooting and no murder weapon.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Habib Balian pointed to one of the state's strongest
witnesses, a longtime friend of both Durst and Berman, Nick Chavin, who testified the
defendant had told him, "It was her or me," referring to Berman. "I had no choice."
"Those nine words sum up the entire case," Balian told jurors.
Another key piece of evidence was the so-called "cadaver" note, a cryptic letter sent to
police with Berman's address and the word "cadaver" in caps that led detectives to her
body.
In the 2015 HBO documentary "The Jinx," Durst said the letter could have been sent only
by Berman's killer. Defense lawyers had previously denied Durst wrote the note, and they
unsuccessfully tried to exclude from trial handwriting evidence about it.
Filmmakers confronted Durst with another letter he once mailed Berman, with nearly
identical handwriting to the "cadaver" note. In both, Beverly Hills was misspelled as
"BEVERLEY."
In a court filing, lawyers for the real estate mogul late last year reversed course and
acknowledged Durst penned the anonymous note. "This does not change the fact that Bob
Durst did not kill Susan Berman," DeGuerin said at the time.
Durst's second murder trial is one more chapter in an unusual life that reached mass
audiences through "The Jinx" miniseries.
He was arrested in New Orleans the night before the airing of the final episode of the
miniseries. In its final moments, Durst went into the bathroom, apparently not realizing his
mic was still on, and made a series of comments that became infamous.
"There it is. You're caught," he said in a series of seemingly unrelated sentences. "He was
right. I was wrong."
"What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course," he said in what was widely interpreted by
viewers as a confession. But transcripts of the audio recording in court revealed that the
quotes were spliced and edited to be in a different order and context, The New York Times
has reported. Durst has said he was "high on meth" during the taping of the documentary.
Durst's health has deteriorated since the documentary. He is thin and hunched over and
speaks in a whispery voice. Durst has bladder cancer and has undergone multiple
surgeries, including the insertion of a shunt in his head to relieve pressure on his brain.
CNN's Alexandra Meeks, Ray Sanchez, Stella Chan and Steve Almasy contributed to
this report.

SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION
There was little physical evidence in Berman's unsolved death. There were no people
who witnessed the shooting and no murder weapon.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Habib Balian pointed to one of the state's strongest
witnesses, a longtime friend of both Durst and Berman, Nick Chavin, who testified the
defendant had told him, "It was her or me," referring to Berman. "I had no choice."
"Those nine words sum up the entire case," Balian told jurors.
Another key piece of evidence was the so-called "cadaver" note, a cryptic letter sent to
police with Berman's address and the word "cadaver" in caps that led detectives to her
body.

SUMMARY
Los Angeles jury found Robert Durst, the notorious subject of the HBO series "The
Jinx," guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of his best friend, Susan Berman,
more than 20 years ago.

Durst has been charged with the first-degree murder of Berman in 2000 at her
Beverly Hills home, hours before she was set to talk to investigators about the
mysterious disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack Durst, who was
last seen in 1982.

Prosecutors allege Durst shot Berman in the head. They said Durst confided to
Berman he had killed Kathleen, and she helped him cover his tracks.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Habib Balian pointed to one of the state's
strongest witnesses, a longtime friend of both Durst and Berman, Nick Chavin,
who testified the defendant had told him, "It was her or me," referring to
Berman.

In the 2015 HBO documentary "The Jinx," Durst said the letter could have been
sent only by Berman's killer.

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