He has never been prosecuted in connection with his wife’s disappearance, despite extensive investigations by the New York Police Department, the New York State Police, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, and other law enforcement authorities. During his legal representation, he claimed that there were no weapons, fingerprints, or fibres connecting him to his death and abduction.
Following the announcement of the conviction on Friday, the family of Mr. Durst’s wife released a statement urging authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death as well. While Durst has been found guilty of the murder of Susan Berman, who assisted him in concealing the truth about Cathy McCormack’s death, the McCormack family continues to seek justice, according to a statement from the McCormack family.
Kathy McCormack and Mr. Durst were married in 1973, after a brief courtship.
Mr. Durst acknowledged in interviews with the filmmakers that the relationship had devolved into argument, scuffles, and more scuffles as time went on. Kathy McCormack Durst vanished without a trace on January 31, 1982, after an escalation of domestic abuse in her husband.
During the following tabloid frenzy, Ms. Burman, a journalist, acted as Mr. Durst’s point of contact with the media. Prosecutors said that they had confided in Ms Burman, who had assisted her in evading capture by the police. The prosecution claims that it was Ms Berman who made a key phone call pretending to be Mrs Durst, giving the impression that she was still alive and diverting investigators’ attention away from the real murder scene.
The disappearance of Kathy McCormack Durst has long been a mystery, and it remains at the heart of the investigation into Mr. Durst’s activities.
The trial heard evidence that Ms. Durst had been detained at Ms. Berman’s house in December 2000, which was introduced throughout the course of the trial. Mr. Durst maintained his denial that he was also in Los Angeles at the time of his murder for almost two decades. Ms. Berman’s house, on the outskirts of Beverly Hills, had been the subject of an anonymous letter delivered to the police department, informing authorities of the existence of a “corpse.” He also disputed that he was the originator of the note.
The evidence presented by document examiners, who had determined that Mr. Durst was the author of the note, was hotly contested by Mr. Durst’s attorneys at the hearing that took place before to the hearing. The late actress’ friend Emily Altman, in answer to Mr. Levine’s inquiries, said that Mr. Durst had informed him he was in Beverly Hills at the time of Ms. Berman’s death, as per the Ny Times.
