A Jinx in Beverley Hills: Robert Durst

[starri]

I can't wait to see Dick DeGeurin's theatrics in the courtroom.

Oh, wait, he's a dreadful person.

[walnutqueen]

So, who is the secret witness whose identity had to be protected? 

I, too cannot wait for this trial. 

[biakbiak]

Was the secret witness the only new thing on the 48 Hours? I have seen so many hours of this story, even the Ryan Renolyds movie, so didn't watch last night.

[walnutqueen]

12 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Was the secret witness the only new thing on the 48 Hours? I have seen so many hours of this story, even the Ryan Renolyds movie, so didn't watch last night.

Pretty much.  I've seen it all, many times over, and this was the only tease I gleaned.  It, too will probably be a big letdown.  :-(

[starri]

Can any actual lawyers weigh in here?

Because this is simultaneously kind of a big deal and something that I can't believe for a minute would be admitted to the actual trial.

[Almost 3000]

A talk show I heard while driving around yesterday said that a male friend of Durst and also of the last female victim, testimony was gotten on tape in court because of his advanced age and also fear for his safety. They said the names but I just don't remember them. Was this the secret witness? Well, not really secret now, if so.

[MargeGunderson]

NY Times article on former friend/witness

[starri]

DeGeurin being a douchecanoe?  What a shock.

[Guest]

On 2/12/2017 at 9:29 PM, walnutqueen said:

I, too cannot wait for this trial. 

Me either! But I fear that if the trial is at least a year away, Durst will be dead by then. 

I don't know if Kathie's parents can continue to sue his estate after he dies though but I hope they can. 

[biakbiak]

Is it weird that I looked up the restaurant that they mentioned in that article?

[AZChristian]

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Is it weird that I looked up the restaurant that they mentioned in that article?

Nope.  We true-crime junkies stay just this side of stalking, but we love to see stuff related to real crime stories.  I admit to driving past the Ramsey house in Boulder.  I also walked all the way around the courthouse in Phoenix during Jodi Arias' trial, and visited the grave of Travis Alexander.  I literally wanted to go to the sites and pray for justice for Travis during Jodi Arias' trial.  

[starri]

Every year on August 8th, people eat at LA's El Coyote Cafe.  Some of them are gross enough to make reservations under "Sharon Tate."

[pennben]

On 2/25/2017 at 8:09 AM, AZChristian said:

Nope.  We true-crime junkies stay just this side of stalking, but we love to see stuff related to real crime stories.  I admit to driving past the Ramsey house in Boulder.  I also walked all the way around the courthouse in Phoenix during Jodi Arias' trial, and visited the grave of Travis Alexander.  I literally wanted to go to the sites and pray for justice for Travis during Jodi Arias' trial.  

Hi, my name is Pennben, I drove out to the site of the Ted Kennedy Chappaquiddick accident with Mary Jo Kopechne once when I was out east (his storywas crap, I say to the surprise of no one). I find true crime fascinating, but sometimes I scare myself when I follow something too closely:) 

Edited April 7, 2017 by pennben

[AZChristian]

We're making a road trip later this month to attend baseball games in Arlington and Houston, TX.  Mr. AZC has agreed that we can go to the grave of Lee Harvey Oswald.  (Interesting point.  The cemetery crew won't point out his grave.  Someone bought the plot next to it; there's no one there, but the headstone is for someone whose last name is "Beef."  So one could possibly ask, "Where's the Beef?" and Oswald is right next to it.)

[Lovecat]

I was in South Beach a number of years back and made a point to visit the steps of Versace's mansion.  I didn't know too much about the case at the time, and only learned later that the place I had breakfast that morning, News Cafe, had been the last place he visited before he was gunned down.

[Dr.OO7]

I've walked past Irene Silverman's mansion (20 East 65th Street) several times. The first time it was intentional, the others were not, but it was thoroughly eerie all times. 

[funky-rat]

I don't know how many here followed the case of the disappearance of Ray Gricar, but he disappeared about 3 miles from where I currently live.  I drive by the parking lot where his car was found a number of times a week.  That incident didn't hurt business at the antique mall - it's always busy on weekends.  A woman was once "abducted" from our mall parking lot (she worked at the mall).  She was murdered by her ex, and he convinced her to leave work and come with him because there was something wrong with their son.  It was a lie.  The case made national news because it was the first time (or one of the first times) they used footage from an ATM to help solve a crime.  I remember they had to send the footage to NASA to get it cleaned up.  That case has been on a ton of true crime shows over the years.  I didn't know her, but I shopped in the store she worked at, and I remember her being really nice.  I used to bank at that bank (it's out of the mall now and on an outlot, so the ATM is gone too), and I still get the willies when I walk past where it was.

[starri]

That's Lackawanna County, right?  The one where the judges were getting kickbacks for sentencing kids to prison?

Did any connection between Gricar and that ever surface?

[funky-rat]

20 minutes ago, starri said:

That's Lackawanna County, right?  The one where the judges were getting kickbacks for sentencing kids to prison?

Did any connection between Gricar and that ever surface?

That was a different case - the Kids For Cash scandal.  Ironically, one of the judges in that scandal wrecked his car last winter, and if some kids had not followed the skid marks and found him deep in some woods, he would have died.

Gricar was out of Centre County.  He can be linked to Jerry Sandusky, but he disappeared well before that scandal broke, and I have always doubted that had anything to do with it.  Ray was DA when the first set of accusations was made against Sandusky, a number of years before he was caught in the locker room, and Gricar declined to prosecute at that time due to lack of evidence - he didn't want to get in to a situation where he could be acquitted, and not be able to be re-tried.  Everything out there about Gricar shows he was above board and honorable, so I don't think there was anything sinister there.  His brother disappeared as well from his home in Ohio, and when his body was found in a river, it was deemed suicide (and family agreed with that).  He could have gone in to the river where they found his computer.  That river is deceivingly swift and claims victims every year.  A few miles down is an inflatable dam, and it's possible he could have gotten "caught" in there and just disintegrated.  I think there were two possibilities: He disappeared willingly (wanted to start over or witness protection for some reason) or he killed himself.  And I would think if it was willingly, he'd have been found by now somewhere.  I think he did a lot of searching on his computer for stuff, and didn't want that found.  Maybe some day technology will advance far enough to be able to read his hard drive, but for now, it's not readable.

[MargeGunderson]

There’s a good episode of the podcast Thinking Sideways about the disappearance of Ray Gricar.

I’ve finally started watching The Jinx because one of my favorite podcasts, True Crime Obsessed, is covering it for their Patreon subscribers. 

[funky-rat]

Lori Aucker was the girl that was "kidnapped" from the mall parking lot by her ex (she went willingly - he told her something was wrong with their son, and she got in the car).  I remembered one thing wrong.  He waited for her to show up to work and caught her in the parking lot before she went inside.  The was pre-cell phones (well, they existed but no one around here had them), and pre-cameras being everywhere.  Her case was on Forensic Files, some show on Animal Planet where they showed crimes solved because of animals, and a ton of other shows.  I forgot how young she was - just 19, and not much older than me at the time.  I can't remember for sure, but I'm pretty sure his parents knew what he did, and covered it up.  They're all disgusting.  He got the death penalty, but he's still alive in prison.

http://www.dailyitem.com/news/surveillance-camera-helped-shatter-northumberland-county-killer-s-alibi/article_db2b9085-e5bc-581f-b2da-a6d7df6027e9.html

Edited October 5, 2018 by funky-rat

[azshadowwalker]

I live in Tucson a couple of miles from where Isabel Celis was abducted from her family home and murdered. I never believed her father hurt her, and I wanted to disprove some claims made by know nothings on the Internet. So, I drove through the alley in the strip mall by her house and down the streets in front and on the side of her house. It felt wrong, but I satisfied myself that I was right. And the indictment of her killer last month proved it. 

[Dr.OO7]

On 10/4/2018 at 2:07 PM, funky-rat said:

A woman was once "abducted" from our mall parking lot (she worked at the mall).  She was murdered by her ex, and he convinced her to leave work and come with him because there was something wrong with their son.  It was a lie.  

That was JUST on "Forensic Files" the other day. I remember reading about it in Reader's Digest too.

[funky-rat]

2 hours ago, Camille said:

That was JUST on "Forensic Files" the other day. I remember reading about it in Reader's Digest too.

She was a nice lady. She worked at "That Pet Place" in the mall, right next to Northern Central Bank, whose ATM caught her in the parking lot.  Both are gone now (Northern Central was bought out many times, and years ago exited the mall for an outlot, and the pet store closed quite a while ago).  We bought lots of stuff for our cats in that store and I remember talking to her.  So very sad.

[Guest]

Durst has admitted writing the "cadaver" letter. Which, in the grand scheme of all things Durst-murderer related, will probably clear him in the end. If he can get a panel of 12 idiots to believe he killed Morris Black in self defense after Morris Black turned up dismembered and without a head, he can certainly manage to convince another jury of his innocence in murdering Berman, too. 

His trial starts in February.

[punkypower]

Y'all!!

Opening statements start Wednesday..

....aaaand, Court TV will be airing/streaming it!!

[Dr.OO7]

On 1/5/2020 at 12:34 PM, Giant Misfit said:

If he can get a panel of 12 idiots to believe he killed Morris Black in self defense after Morris Black turned up dismembered and without a head, he can certainly manage to convince another jury of his innocence in murdering Berman, too. 

Imagine if he ever went to trial for murdering Kathleen. Just the fact that her body has never been found would no doubt be enough for even one juror to consider the possibility that she's still alive out there somewhere.

[punkypower]

Durst's layers ask for mistrial because the pandemic has lasted too long!!😂🤣😂🤣

https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/robert-durst/robert-durst-defense-asks-for-mistrial-because-pandemic-delayed-proceedings-for-too-long/

[SunnyBeBe]

Is anyone watching this trial now?  Closing arguments expected today. 
 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/robert-durst-california-murder-trial-testimony