The convicted killer Robert Durst has been charged with the murder of his first wife, Kathleen, who was last seen in 1982.
A grand jury indicted the real estate heir, who became infamous as the subject of the HBO crime documentary series The Jinx, on Monday, more than a fortnight after he was sentenced to life in prison by a court in Los Angeles for killing his best friend more than 20 years ago.
Durst, 78, was convicted last month of shooting Susan Berman, a crime writer and daughter of a Las Vegas mobster, point-blank in the back of the head at her Beverly Hills home in 2000.
Describing him as a “narcissistic psychopath”, prosecutors alleged that Durst killed Berman to stop her from incriminating him in the disappearance of his wife, Kathleen McCormack. Berman had given Durst an alibi when his 29-year-old wife vanished, it was claimed.
Kathleen’s body was never found and she was declared dead in 2017 at the request of her family.
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Durst, who has bladder cancer, denied killing either woman but admitted under cross-examination that he would lie if he had.
The indictment charging him with murder in the second degree alleges that “on or about” January 31, 1982, in Lewisboro in Westchester County, New York, Durst “with intent to cause the death of another person, did cause the death of such person; to wit: Kathleen Durst”.
Mimi Rocah, the Westchester district attorney, said: “For nearly four decades there has been a great deal of speculation about this case, much of it fuelled by Robert Durst’s own highly publicised statements.
“An indictment is a crucial step in the process of holding wrongdoers accountable for their actions.”
She said that her office had opened a cold case investigation and dedicated the necessary skills and resources before the charge was laid. Rocah described Durst’s indictment as a “huge step forward in the pursuit of justice for Kathie Durst, her family and victims of domestic violence everywhere”.
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Durst’s lawyer, Chip Lewis, dismissed the indictment as “fake news”. When asked whether he would represent Durst in the New York case, Lewis responded: “Not sure he will make it. But if he does, I’ll let you know.”
Durst is the grandson of the founder of the Durst Organisation, one of New York City’s premier real estate companies, which is now run by his estranged brother, Douglas Durst.
