Robert Durst, Subject of HBO's 'The Jinx,' Charged With 1982 Murder of Wife

Robert Durst has officially been charged with the death of his former wife Kathie Durst. Kathie vanished in 1982. Robert has been a longstanding suspect in the case. The charge came down on Friday, Oct. 22, just a week after Robert was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his friend Susan Berman. 

Berman was shot in 2000 and police say she was preparing to give investigators information regarding Robert's role in Kathie's disappearance and murder. She reportedly helped cover up Kathie's murder and was intending to tell authorities about her own role. Berman and Robert were longtime friends.

Nick Chavin, a friend of Robert's, testified once in 2017 that Robert confessed to the murder of Berman over dinner. "I had to, it was her or me. I had no choice," he says Robert told him, per the LA Times.

The prosecutors in the case believe that killed Kathie and enlisted Berman's help with an alibi. Robert allegedly asked Berman to pose as Kathie in a phone call to her medical school dean in order to make it appear that Kathie was still alive. 

NBC News reports that Kathie was 29 when she vanished on Jan. 31, 1982. Kathie's body was never found. Kathie's family requested that she be declared legally dead in 2017. In 1990, Robert divorced Kathie, citing abandonment.

Robert was not charged in her disappearance until recently, though there have been multiple attempts since her disappearance to close the case. Kathie's case was first reopened in 1999. At the time, authorities searched the couple's home, and a nearby lake.

The reason for the change occurred after a jury last week began hearing witness testimony regarding the case. A source familiar with the ordeal told The Associated Press, though they do not have the authority to speak publicly regarding the matter. 

Robert has not been having the best of luck. He was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and placed on a ventilator due to difficulties with his breathing. The real estate mogul has also had a slew of other medical issues over the years.