News

Robert Durst Is Being Sued

by Melissah Yang

The chilling final moments of HBO's documentary series The Jinx, in which Robert Durst appears to unknowingly confess to multiple murders on a hot mic, have spawned an endless number of problems for the eccentric millionaire. The latest development puts Durst at the center of a $100 million suit filed by the family of first wife, Kathleen McCormack. Kathleen has been missing since 1982, when she inexplicably disappeared.

In the suit, the family claims that Durst killed Kathleen and hid the body, which was never recovered. According to The New York Times, Kathleen's mother, Ann McCormack, along with her three sisters, are seeking $100 million on the claim that Durst "violated the McCormack family’s right to sepulcher, a rarely used New York law granting family members the immediate right to possession of a body for burial."

According to The New York Post, the suit is seeking $50 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages. The Times reports that Durst is worth an estimated $100 million, meaning that the suit stands to remove most of his wealth. Durst is part of the Durst family, which made much of its money in New York real estate. The Durst family is believed to have assets totaling more than $5 billion, but that remains under the control of Durst's brother Douglas.

James Nielsen/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Durst is currently in a prison a little outside of New Orleans, facing federal gun charges as well as a first-degree murder charge in the death of longtime friend Susan Berman. If convicted on the murder charge, Durst could face the death penalty. In 2000, Berman was found fatally shot in her Los Angeles home, and after many years, the case had gone cold. New evidence discovered during the filming of the HBO show led authorities to believe that Durst may have killed Berman to prevent her from sharing knowledge about Kathleen's disappearance with police.

Since the The Jinx wrapped in March with Durst secretly recorded as saying he "killed them all," the public has been fixated on his made-for-TV story. With the newly-filed suit and his pending criminal charges, it's clear that Durst isn't going away anytime soon.