Robert Durst’s Estate Sued by Siblings of Slain Wife, Kathleen

(Bloomberg) -- Robert Durst's former in-laws filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against his estate, exactly four decades after the deceased real estate heir and convicted murderer allegedly killed his first wife.

Four siblings of Kathleen Durst filed the federal suit Monday in White Plains, New York, claiming Robert Durst murdered their sister on Jan. 31, 1982, when she was 29. The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, says his “wrongful, felonious and tortious conduct was the direct proximate cause of Kathie's death.”

Kathleen Durst, a medical student, disappeared after she left the couple's home in South Salem, New York. She later was declared dead, although her body was never found. Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2015 after the release of a documentary film, which presented evidence linking Durst to the shooting death in 2000 of his longtime friend Susan Berman and included his apparent confession.

Plaintiffs in the wrongful-death suit are Kathleen Durst's sister, Carol Bamonte, who serves as administrator of her estate, and siblings James McCormack, Virginia McKeon and Mary Hughes, who are administrators of her mother's estate.

Robert Durst's family manages about 15 million square feet of premier office and retail space in New York City and was one of the developers of One World Trade Center. He was found guilty in September of killing Berman in Beverley Hills, California, because she helped him cover up the murder of his first wife. In October, Durst was indicted for the death of Kathleen, after prosecutors reopened the cold case. He died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in California in early January.

Durst was charged with murdering Berman on the eve of the last episode of the documentary, “The Jinx: the Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, during which he appeared to confess off-camera to killing both women. Kathleen Durst's estate had filed a similar suit in New York state court in March 2019, which was dismissed pending the filing of criminal charges against Robert Durst.

The case is Bamonte v Charatan, 22-cv-795, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (White Plains.)

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.