# The Jinx: Robert Durst **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** documentary-bio\ **Created:** [March 16, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089 "2015-03-16T00:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/21 "2015-03-16T22:03:40Z")
I assume there is discussion about the filmmakers’ decision to not take action, i.e., turn in Durst months ago? Does it seem they wanted to give the film a big open? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/22 "2015-03-16T23:56:51Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I assume there is discussion about the filmmakers’ decision to not take action, i.e., turn in Durst months ago? Does it seem they wanted to give the film a big open? The producers turned over all their evidence to the police months ago. Not sure how much more action there was to take. Speculation is that the timing of this most recent arrest is because the police felt Durst would flee as soon as the finale aired. From the link posted upthread: > [@](#): > > **At what point did you turn over the evidence you’d found to law enforcement, in terms of the letter to Susan Berman and the audio from the bathroom?** > > Jarecki: Obviously, we’d spoken to them about the details of the case. We need to be careful about how much we describe about the details of the case, so what we’ll say about that is we provided the relevant evidence to law enforcement some months ago, and it’s been in their court. And obviously they’ve got their own timetable for how to address it. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/23 "2015-03-17T00:00:42Z")
How is his “confession” meaningful at all, legally speaking? Rappers brag about killing people; this doesn’t lead to arrests. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/24 "2015-03-17T00:09:25Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > The producers turned over all their evidence to the police months ago. Not sure how much more action there was to take. > > Speculation is that the timing of this most recent arrest is because the police felt Durst would flee as soon as the finale aired. > > From the link posted upthread: Helpful. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/25 "2015-03-17T00:16:44Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > How is his “confession” meaningful at all, legally speaking? > > Rappers brag about killing people; this doesn’t lead to arrests. There is a crap load of evidence here about a specific murder. There is a huge distinction between that and a song about murders in a general sense. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/26 "2015-03-17T14:24:32Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > Rappers brag about killing people; this doesn’t lead to arrests. **Hajario** is right, but also: rappers get arrested all the time and their raps are used against them in the criminal proceedings, often by confused (white) prosecutors who wouldn’t know a quotation of a Jay-Z lyric from a confession of drug dealing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/27 "2015-03-17T15:22:45Z")
I never heard of the show until the story on NPR yesterday. > [@hajario](#): > > Why in the world would he agree to be interviewed? Nothing good could have come of it and he had everything to lose. It’s because he gave the green light that the damning evidence was found. I started a thread a while back, with rules about committing crimes. Rule Number One: _Don’t tell anybody!_ (That might have been Rule #2 as well. I don’t remember.) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/28 "2015-03-17T16:15:20Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Why in the world would he agree to be interviewed? Nothing good could have come of it and he had everything to lose. It’s because he gave the green light that the damning evidence was found. This is a guy who got pinched for shoplifting a sandwich when he had $500 in his pocket. Some people have a compulsion to put themselves in unnecessary peril. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/29 "2015-03-17T16:49:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I never heard of the show until the story on NPR yesterday. > > I started a thread a while back, with rules about committing crimes. Rule Number One: _Don’t tell anybody!_ (That might have been Rule #2 as well. I don’t remember.) Bob Durst was told by his own legal counsel not to speak with reporters or anyone else about any of these events, even after he was found not guilty of killing the guy he dismembered. He just couldn’t help himself. He had to open his mouth and tell his story. Don’t know if it was his conscience gnawing at him or boldening arrogance. Probably a combination of the two. It’ll be interesting to see if his legal team can get his ass out the sling this time. ---
**Author:** ![Austin41](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@Austin41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Austin41)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/30 "2015-03-18T00:01:59Z")
I have a friend at work who was living in Galveston in 2000, she remembers the Morris Black story, naturally, who wouldn’t right. I got interested in The Jinx when HBO first started advertising for it. So I’ve been watching since the first episode and I would google for more info after each Sunday night’s airing. Completely insanely fascinating, especially that he sought out Jarecki after seeing Jarecki’s movie starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst “All Good Things.” I think Durst wants to be caught, wants to be held accountable, wants to confess. I think he wants to come clean before he dies. And this is his way of doing it, showboating, taking the lead back in a sense from younger brother Douglas. I don’t know of course. But I do want him to tell us all, what happened to Kathie. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/31 "2015-03-18T03:30:26Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > \ > Why in the world would he agree to be interviewed? Nothing good could have come of it and he had everything to lose. It’s because he gave the green light that the damning evidence was found. You are certainly right. But do you really want to ask why he did that or anything else that he did? The show is jam packed full of things he did that were completely bizarre and only two types of people would ever do them. Things like: taking an alias that is a lady he went to high school with and who is still living dressing up as a lady to better assume this disguise having $50,000 in cash in a car and two loaded guns and going into a grocery store and stealing a sandwhich. I mean, you really want to ask why he would do these kinds of things? 99 percent of the people who would do those things (like take an alias and dress up as a woman and take the name of a living woman who you went to school with are straight-up batshit crazy. The other one percent are brilliantly diabolical and can plan out their crimes in brilliant detail and throw in some crazy actions so that if they get caught, a lawyer could get the off with an insanity plea. Or … maybe he just likes to dress up in womens’ clothes and concocted these murders and taking a female alias just so he could dress up in womens’ clothes. If it didn’t work out, he could always get off cuz he must be crazy. This guy is some kind of genius. Don’t you think? When I grow up … Oh wait! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/32 "2015-03-18T03:34:39Z")
> [@Austin41](#): > > I have a friend at work who was living in Galveston in 2000, she remembers the Morris Black story, naturally, who wouldn’t right. I got interested in The Jinx when HBO first started advertising for it. So I’ve been watching since the first episode and I would google for more info after each Sunday night’s airing. Completely insanely fascinating, especially that he sought out Jarecki after seeing Jarecki’s movie starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst “All Good Things.” I think Durst wants to be caught, wants to be held accountable, wants to confess. I think he wants to come clean before he dies. And this is his way of doing it, showboating, taking the lead back in a sense from younger brother Douglas. I don’t know of course. But I do want him to tell us all, what happened to Kathie. The one problem with his coming clean in this way is that he will have to spend his dying days in the pen with some very big and very nasty men who need to have ass sex with anyone they can and Robert Durst is a sure thing for ass sex. I don’t think I’d ever want to be in that position. I don’t think very much of ass sex. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/33 "2015-03-19T12:43:12Z")
> [@Austin41](#): > > I have a friend at work who was living in Galveston in 2000, she remembers the Morris Black story, naturally, who wouldn’t right. I got interested in The Jinx when HBO first started advertising for it. So I’ve been watching since the first episode and I would google for more info after each Sunday night’s airing. Completely insanely fascinating, especially that he sought out Jarecki after seeing Jarecki’s movie starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst “All Good Things.” I think Durst wants to be caught, wants to be held accountable, wants to confess. I think he wants to come clean before he dies. And this is his way of doing it, showboating, taking the lead back in a sense from younger brother Douglas. I don’t know of course. But I do want him to tell us all, what happened to Kathie. Did you run into anything about a connection between Black and the Durst family business back east? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/34 "2015-03-19T17:05:14Z")
I just finished watching this. Holy shit, what a story. I found the story about his mother’s (apparent) suicide, his reactions at the funeral, and his father’s emotional distance afterwards to be interesting. Could it be that his general oddness, and his ability to kill and dismember in cold blood could have been the results of that? I’m not excusing him, just really curious. The whole “mother’s untimely and violent death creates serial killer” thing is very similar to the show _Dexter_, making me wonder if this kind of thing is common in the backgrounds of serial murderers, and that that’s where the writers got Dexter’s backstory. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/35 "2015-03-19T19:46:16Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > This is a guy who got pinched for shoplifting a sandwich when he had $500 in his pocket. Some people have a compulsion to put themselves in unnecessary peril. And $38,000 in cash in his trunk. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/36 "2015-03-20T01:47:44Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Why in the world would he ever agree to be interviewed? The film makers do give their opinions and the opinions of others in several diff points of this film. I believe their point is that he feels neglected. He feels that he was the smarter and more deserving of the two brothers and that he was passed over and the business and the responsibilities were given to his younger brother. That is what has been making him crazy for all these years. Anyway, that seems to me to be the point that is festering at him and causing him to go nuts. Oh well, if you are interested, I think that is the cause of all his crazy behavior. I also think that he has finally gotten caught and will now go to the pen and he will now spend the rest of his years in prison. Although, many people have thought that in the past but he has always managed to wriggle out of things some how. That decision in Texas was just a beauty. Don’t you think? It was a miracle of the justice system. I couldn’t hardly believe that. What a miracle! I sure would love to know just how much that cost him. Wouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/37 "2015-03-24T17:44:43Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Did you run into anything about a connection between Black and the Durst family business back east? I just saw the VFC episode again…here’s the deal (according to them): In the last 5 minutes they introduce a Private Investigator who says she was hired by a Galveston newspaper…could be just an obscure weekly, I didn’t catch the name. Then they cut to the judge of the Galveston trial who says that the issue of a prior relationship between Durst and Black wasn’t brought up. Then the PI says she contacted Morris Black’s brother Harry’s wife back east and according to her Harry did have a connection to the Durst family business as a contractor for them. She said that when Morris was killed he feared for his own life. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/38 "2015-03-25T06:22:47Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Bob Durst was told by his own legal counsel not to speak with reporters or anyone else about any of these events, even after he was found not guilty of killing the guy he dismembered. He just couldn’t help himself. He had to open his mouth and tell his story. Don’t know if it was his conscience gnawing at him or boldening arrogance. Probably a combination of the two. > > It’ll be interesting to see if his legal team can get his ass out the sling this time. Anything is possible. But it is highly doubtful. However, I’d just like to say this was one of the most entertaining, informative and truly excellent documentaries I’ve ever seen and I hope that anyone who may be interested will take a look at this thing. It posed so many questions and successfully answered many of them too. So very rare to encounter such a wonderful work of art. - documentary or not. It was great! ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/39 "2015-03-25T12:53:14Z")
Conan: [Robert Durst Alert!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjMLAU0XStk) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/40 "2015-03-25T17:27:19Z")
_Capturing the Friedmans_ is another really good documentary directed by Andrew Jarecki. If you liked _The Jinx_ you might want to check it out. > **[Capturing the Friedmans (2003) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342172/)** > > Capturing the Friedmans: Directed by Andrew Jarecki. With Arnold Friedman, Elaine Friedman, David Friedman, Seth Friedman. Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089.md?page=3)