Robert Durst's lawyer: 'You've said things under your breath that you probably didn't mean'

(Image credit: (Courtesy of HBO))

published 16 March 2015

The finale of HBO's true-crime documentary series The Jinx, which told the story of three-time murder suspect Robert Durst, ended with Durst muttering that he "killed them all, of course." Though the comment was picked up by his microphone, Durst was speaking quietly, to himself, while using the bathroom. He was arrested on Saturday.

In the aftermath of such a seemingly damning confession, what kind of legal defense remains for Durst? In a Fox News appearance on Sunday night, Durst's lawyer Chip Lewis began by arguing that his client didn't actually mean the things he was saying. "You've said things under your breath that you probably didn't mean," he said to a panel of legal experts on Justice With Judge Jeanine.

When pressed on the matter of Durst's bathroom confession by host Jeanine Pirro, who served as the investigating attorney in the 1983 search for Durst's missing wife Kathie, Lewis was unmoved. "We'll address those facts in the courtroom," he said. "But generally speaking I was underwhelmed [by The Jinx]." He added that he and Durst are "eager to get to Los Angeles, to find out if there really is any new evidence other than the mutterings of a bathroom."

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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.

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