Durst Extradition To LA Delayed Due To Charges In New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (CBSLA.com) — The extradition of millionaire Robert Durst to Los Angeles may face delays due to murder charges after he appeared to admit guilt while wired to a microphone.
The 71-year-old has been suspected in three murders in more than one state, but has never been convicted.
The real estate heir, whose story inspired the HBO true-crime series 'The Jinx', was arrested in New Orleans in connection to a cold case murder in L.A., the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Department reported.
A handgun was discovered in Durst's hotel room in New Orleans, and his attorney now says his client may face charges of capital murder in Louisiana before heading back to Los Angeles to face the murder charges.
The capital murder charge may carry with it the possibility of the death penalty.
FBI agents detained Durst in the lobby of the hotel, believing he was preparing to flee to Cuba.
The producers of 'The Jinx' claimed to have captured a potentially key piece of audio by Durst, who evidently left his microphone on as he went to the restroom after an interview. The audio is of a male voice.
"There it is. You're caught. What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."
The crew did not immediately realize what had been recorded, according to 'The Jinx' director, Andrew Jarecki.
"It wasn't until months later that we had an editor, listening to material that we had just sort of left behind, thinking 'well, now we've got to listen to everything we've got before we finish the series'," Jarecki said.
The audio was handed over to the LAPD, but only months later was Durst arrested.
Durst is accused of killing longtime friend Susan Berman in 2000.
Berman was friends with Durst's first wife Kathleen, who had vanished in 1982, and served as his publicist in the aftermath of Kathleen's disappearance. She was also about to be interviewed by police about Kathleen's disappearance nearly 20 years earlier, at the time of her death.
Jim McCormick, the brother of Durst's first wife, says he believes the walls are starting to fall in on the millionaire.
"In my heart, I thought, Bob is eliminating witnesses, and people who have knowledge of Kathy's passing," McCormick said.
Durst's attorney, Richard DeGuerin, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse on Monday.
"We came here to waive jurisdiction and to go back to California and to get it on," DeGuerin said of the murder charges. "Bob Durst didn't kill Susan Berman, he is ready to end all the rumor and speculation, and have a trial."
Durst had previously been acquitted of murder charges related to the death of his neighbor in 2003.