Robert Durst will stand trial for the murder of Susan Berman in Los Angeles in the summer of 2016, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, Durst has been in prison in Louisiana since March for illegally possessing a firearm. The Los Angeles district attorney and Durst’s legal team released a joint statement revealing that arrangements have been made to allow the transfer. Durst is scheduled to be moved to California no later than August 18.
Prosecutors will reportedly argue that Durst shot and killed Berman in 2000 to prevent her from sharing incriminating information to authorities investigating the 1982 disappearance of his first wife. Ms. Berman helped substantiate Durst’s alibi during the initial investigation into her disappearance.
The Los Angeles district attorney’s office re-opened Ms. Berman’s murder case in March, 2015, shortly before Durst the final episode of The Jinx, the HBO documentary series about his life and potential crimes. In the show’s infamous finale, Durst seemed to confess to a string of murders he has been connected to over the course of his life.
“What the hell did I do?” Durst said on the show. “Killed them all, of course.”
Durst made the statement while he was alone in a bathroom, but was wearing a live microphone. Some legal analysts have argued this makes his confession inadmissible in court.
That fact will certainly be an essential part of Durst’s defense. Durst’s attorney Dick DeGuerin has already confirmed he will plead not-guilty to the murder.
“Bob Durst didn’t kill Susan Berman and doesn’t know who did,” DeGuerin said in a prepared statement. “He is eager to go to trial and prove his innocence.”