Almost five years after the jaw-dropping final episode of HBO's The Jinx, its subject Robert Durst's murder trial is almost underway. Jury selection is set to begin in Los Angeles on Wednesday, with opening statements expected to be delivered during the week of March 2.
The real estate tycoon has been charged with the murder of his friend Susan Berman, who was found shot in her Beverly Hills home in 2000. HBO's true-crime documentary series The Jinx drew attention to Durst's case in 2015. In its final episode, Durst is confronted over the similarities between his handwriting and the handwriting on a note delivered to police with the location of Berman's body and the word "cadaver." After the interview, Durst leaves his microphone on and is heard muttering to himself in the bathroom, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."
Durst was arrested the day before the final episode of The Jinx aired on HBO. Last year, however, it was revealed that the jaw-dropping scene was misleadingly edited, as Durst actually said "killed them all, of course" before he said "what the hell did I do?" In the lead-up to the trial, Durst's lawyers have admitted that he did write the "cadaver" note with the location of Berman's body after denying it and saying"only the killer could have written" it in The Jinx.
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Durst still denies killing Berman and has pleaded not guilty. He is accused of killing Berman to prevent her from speaking with police about the disappearance of his wife, in whose disappearance he has also denied involvement. Durst was previously acquitted in the killing of his neighbor Morris Black; Durst claimed Black shot himself accidentally, but he admitted to dismembering his body.
The trial is expected to last several months.
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