Multimillionaire murder suspect Robert Durst will be back in court Monday to ask for bail, arguing that prosecutors do not have enough evidence to hold him on a murder charge out of California or a drug and gun case in Louisiana.
In court papers filed Friday, the real-estate heir's legal team argued he was busted in New Orleans on March 14 to coincide with the finale "The Jinx," an HBO documentary series about his bizarre history.
The LAPD has denied being in cahoots with the filmmakers and says the charge that Durst killed his former confidant, Susan Berman, in Beverly Hills 15 years ago is the result of a long-running investigation. In court papers, authorities suggest Berman may have been killed because she knew something about the disappearance of Durst's first wife in 1982.
After he was arrested on the warrant from California, New Orleans authorities said they found a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and five ounces of marijuana in his hotel room.
Legal experts say those felony charges could prove to be a bigger headache than the harder-to-prove murder rap for the 71-year-old — who served two years in prison for dismembering an elderly neighbor he claimed to have shot in self-defense.
"If Robert Durst is sentenced to 20 years clearly, 15 years, even 10 years, in his physical and mental condition and his age, it is essentially a life sentence," New Orleans criminal defense lawyer Chick Foret, who is not representing Durst, told NBC News.
— Hannah Rappleye, Stephanie Gosk and Tracy Connor
First published March 23 2015, 7:29 AM
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