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Robert Durst gives testimony about 'The Jinx' finale, 'cadaver' letter

Robert Durst Murder Trial
Posted at 4:54 PM, Aug 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-17 17:56:05-04

Robert Durst's testimony in his murder trial the past several days has been nothing short of ordinary.

According to the Associated Press, the New York real estate heir testified Monday that he lied to Beverly Hills police for decades about sending them a letter with Susan Berman's address on it with the word “CADAVER" on it.

Durst, who is on trial for Berman's murder, told jurors in the Los Angeles County Superior Court that he did go to Berman's house and discovered her body during a planned visit just before Christmas.

Durst, 78, said he found a note on Berman's door that said she had gone out for a walk, and when he knocked and rang the doorbell and no one answered, he let himself in with a key she had given him.

Durst said he found her backdoor open and went to check out back to see if she was there, and when he came back inside the house, the front door was open, which he said he might have left open, and the note was gone.

That's when he found Berman's body in a bedroom on the floor.

Durst said he tried calling 911 from her house phone, but the cordless phone was dead.

He said that he heard neighbors walking by and decided to leave because he did not want to be suspected of being found with Berman's body.

On Tuesday, on his fifth and final day of questioning by his attorney, Durst continued his testimony, saying that the confession he made at the end of the HBO documentary "The Jinx" that was caught on a live microphone wasn't a confession at all.

According to the Associated Press, Durst was captured on the finale episode of "The Jinx" muttering while in the bathroom, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”

Durst told jurors that he didn't say everything he was thinking out loud or didn't speak loud enough for the mic to capture everything he said.

Durst was arrested the night before the finale aired in March 2015 by authorities who expected him to flee after the revealing moment had aired.

Durst said he had planned to kill himself that night before FBI agents arrested him in New Orleans.

Durst is accused of murdering Berman to keep her silent about his wife Kathie's disappearance in 1982.

According to the AP, Berman was set to speak with authorities in New York about her providing Durst a false alibi on the night she disappeared.