# The Jinx: Robert Durst
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089
**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:** 13
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/41 "2015-03-27T20:19:41Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> 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.
I just finished watching it and I wonder that too. I wish they’d given a little more info about what happened to his mom, was that a suicide or a murder? His father seemed bizarrely unemotional, calling his son in to watch her jump instead of helping her or calling 911. Maybe his father was also a sociopath and passed it on to his son?
I’m not a professional psychologist but have stayed at the Holiday Inn and I think Durst might be a textbook sociopath. I don’t think he ever once referred to Kathie Durst as “my wife” or any other pet name that normal people use. He always referred to her by name as if she was a mere acquaintance. He also seemed to not care about her disappearance any more than if she was a sock lost behind the couch. Granted they’d been fighting a lot when she disappeared, most normal people would be full of all kinds of mixed emotions.
Same kind of thing with Susan Berman who was supposedly his best friend for many years.
Regarding the sandwich theft and asking to be interviewed, I felt it was a cat and mouse game. He was playing with “society”, thinking he was too smart to get caught and probably enjoying the exhilaration of seeing just how close he could come to revealing himself without getting caught. Of course he wasn’t in fact smarter than everybody else because even after getting caught talking to himself with a live microphone the time he was rehearsing an answer for Jarecki, he didn’t learn from that mistake and kept talking to himself in the bathroom with a live mic on.
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### Author:  [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2015, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/42 "2015-03-29T05:11:37Z")
Was that the Holiday Inn that gives out fake diplomas in Professional Psychology? Or was it in Delusional Debauchery? I’ve always wanted one of them.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/43 "2015-05-18T19:50:47Z")
> [@hajario](#):
>
> The LAPD really fucked the dog on this one. It’s unbelievable that they didn’t go through that box of possessions and that they didn’t compare the Cadaver Note writing to other examples like the rental agreement that the documentations found.
I agree that someone investigating should have noticed the similarities between the envelope and the Cadaver note, but I also should point out Durst was not sought or even speculated to be a suspect in her killing. It was surmised right away it was a mob hit and it appears the investigation focused on that aspect, so Durst’s letter wouldn’t have raised much interest.
I just finished the series last night (I’m always late to the ball). I really don’t know what to think. I believe the ramblings will be of little consequence legally, and I am baffled how the film crew was able to handle evidence and basically proceed with their own investigation before handing everything off to authorities. The Times piece and the reality of what has happened don’t seem to sync, and I just don’t get how there’s not some level of obstruction of justice or something in there. And I’m not entirely certain there’s a strong enough case to convict Durst, even if I am certain the guy is a sociopathic murderer.
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### Author:  [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/44 "2015-05-21T14:28:07Z")
It’s a coincidence that prior to watching this I had watched another US TV show about how to spot body language of people who are lying.
Durst keeps a poker face pretty well during the whole series, but one of the scenes in the last episode has Durst saying to the police something like “you can put me in California at the time of the murder but you can’t put me in LA, right?”, and then the exact same ‘secret’ smile that the liars TV show talked about (when people lie and delight in confounding their accusers) comes across his face. It’s unmistakable. You have to check it out.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/45 "2021-10-15T00:50:06Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> And what do you know, he was actually [arrested yesterday for the murder in Los Angeles.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/robert-durst-arrested-orleans/story?id=29650536)
And what do you know, but a mere 6 years later after Aldiboronti started this thread:
[https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/us/robert-durst-sentencing/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/us/robert-durst-sentencing/index.html)
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/46 "2021-10-17T01:19:46Z")
> **[Robert Durst on a ventilator after contracting COVID-19, his lawyer says](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-16/robert-durst-on-a-ventilator-after-contracting-covid-19)**
>
> Millionaire Robert Durst, who days ago was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Susan Berman, is on a ventilator with COVID-19, his lawyer says.
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### Author:  [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2021, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/47 "2021-10-17T05:09:20Z")
Looks like his life sentence will be rather short.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/48 "2021-10-23T14:51:40Z")
Better late than never?
> **[Robert Durst charged with murder of ex-wife last seen 39 years ago | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/22/us/robert-durst-charged-wife-murder/index.html)**
>
> Convicted killer Robert Durst, who was the subject of the HBO docuseries "The Jinx," has been charged with the murder of his former wife, according to the Westchester District Attorney's office.
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/49 "2022-01-10T19:32:46Z")
He dead.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/50 "2022-01-10T20:42:58Z")
Here’s a link
> **[Robert Durst, real estate tycoon convicted of murder, dies](https://news.yahoo.com/robert-durst-real-estate-heir-185404754.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall)**
>
> Robert Durst, the wealthy New York real estate heir and failed fugitive dogged for decades with suspicion in the disappearance and deaths of those around him before he was convicted last year of killing his best friend, has died. Durst died of...
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### Author:  [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/51 "2022-01-10T21:24:27Z")
More like Robert Dust, amirite?!
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### Author:  [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/52 "2022-01-10T22:52:59Z")
> [@Chingon](#):
>
> More like Robert Dust, amirite?!
Too soo…
[Checks watch]
Perfect timing!
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jinx-robert-durst/715089/53 "2024-04-20T21:53:54Z")
I haven’t seen a thread about Part 2 of _The Jinx_, which begins on HBO tomorrow. (I did do a search–if I missed it, I hope someone will post it to the top of the page.)
One element not mentioned in this thread is that the creators of the first series actually edited Durst’s infamous ‘bathroom confession’ to make it sound…well, more like a confession:
[HBO's The Jinx misleadingly edited Robert Durst's infamous 'killed them all' statement | The Week](https://theweek.com/speedreads/837332/hbos-jinx-misleadingly-edited-robert-dursts-infamous-killed-all-statement) (From that link:)
> [@](#):
>
> " But court documents have now revealed that Durst’s infamous quote was edited, _[The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/arts/television/robert-durst-the-jinx.html)_ [reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/arts/television/robert-durst-the-jinx.html). According to a transcript of the recording, Durst did not actually say that last line as one thought. Instead, he said “Killed them all, of course,” and then later, “What the hell did I do?” The version in the documentary suggests Durst is answering his own question and describing what he did, while the transcript paints a different picture."
Even so, this new series is getting good reviews:
> **[The first 'Jinx' ended with a hot mic murder admission. 'Part Two' shocks as...](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/19/1245552106/the-jinx-part-two-review-robert-durst)**
>
> The Jinx ended with Robert Durst, a wealthy man suspected of multiple murders, making self-incriminating statements on a hot mic. Part Two picks up where the original left off: arrest and conviction.
Durst’s death no doubt freed the doco-makers to present some views they kept to themselves in the first series…
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