In 2015 HBO premiere The Jinxthe documentary series about Robert Durst It had without a doubt the best ending that a product of this type has ever had. Now almost 10 years later it returns with a second season in Max.
The last episode, which aired hours after the arrest of its protagonist, and in particular its last seconds, in which someone continues speaking without knowing that the microphone is on, left viewers with their mouths open and became part of of the popular imagination as one of the great endings in the history of television.
Now, almost ten years after that season, the Emmy Award-winning docuseries returns with new episodes and more story to tell, again from the hand of its directors Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier.
Who was Robert Durst
The protagonist of the documentary was born into a powerful New York family dedicated to real estate. The Jinx examines Durst’s relationship with his father Seymour, his brother Douglas, and how the death of his mother affected him when he was a child.
In the docuseries, Robert Durst describes how his father invited him to watch her while she was on the roof of her house, where he saw the fall that caused her death. Her brother, however, maintains that the children were not witnesses to her mother’s suicide.
Robert Durst did not inherit the family business as he expected as the firstborn. In his place, he ended up in the hands of Douglas, the second to be born, which is why Robert took legal action that cost him the purchase of 65 million dollars from the family trust.
The brothers’ conflictive relationship never changed and Douglas Durst He refused to interact with his brother.
The deaths surrounding the protagonist of The Jinx
In 1973, Durst married Kathleen McCormack, a relationship that became increasingly volatile as the years went by. After an argument on January 31, 1982, Durst told police that he had left her at the train station. No one has seen her since. After seven days, Durst reported her missing, and three weeks later, items belonging to her were found in the trash compactor of her Manhattan apartment.
Durst divorced her eight years later, citing “marital abandonment.” The body was never found.
The other death that season 1 explores was that of Durst’s former friend and classmate, Susan Bermandaughter of a New York mobster who offered him an alibi when Kathleen disappeared.
In The Jinxformer District Attorney Jeanine Pirro says she and the Los Angeles police were preparing to speak with Berman about the night Kathleen disappeared, but on December 24, 2000 They found her dead in her house, with a shot in the back of the head. Because of this, the McCormack case was reopened, but Durst fled to Texas to avoid questioning.
It was there, in Texas, in 2001, where Durst was again in the spotlight for another death, this time that of his elderly neighbor Morris Blackwhich appeared dismembered.
After initially being a suspect and released on bail, Durst was arrested for shoplifting, prompting police to search his car and discover Black’s driver’s license. Durst claimed self-defense in Black case, saying that they got into a fight over a gun that went off and that he was only guilty of later dismembering the body. He was found not guilty of murder.}
The final revelations
During the production of The Jinx, Susan Berman’s stepson, Sareb Kaufmandiscovered an old letter from Durst, which he instantly recognized as the same handwriting as a note sent to the Beverly Hills police by Berman’s killer.
That revelation marks the end of episode 1×05and 1×06 mostly takes place with Jarecki and his team as they plan Durst’s next interview and how to ask the right questions to get any hint of a confession.
At the same time, the letter Kaufman found was turned over to the Los Angeles County prosecutor. Durst was arrested by Los Angeles police hours before HBO aired the finale of The Jinx. The episode ends with him talking to himself without realizing that the microphone was still recording, leaving the chilling phrase for posterity: “What the hell did I do? I killed them all, of course”.
The Jinx part 2
In the second part, which will also have six episodes, the first is already available on Maxthe filmmakers They continue their research for the next eight yearsuncovering hidden material, Durst’s jailhouse calls, and interviews with witnesses that had not been shown until now.
The series unearths material including interviews with Durst associates who had never before sat on camera, phone calls Durst made from jail to his friends, family and lawyers, and video footage from the interrogation room where Prosecutors interviewed him after his arrest.
The series also includes interviews with prosecution and defense attorneys.as well as interviews with jurors and the trial judge, and continues to delve into the world of a murderer who managed to evade justice for more than three decades.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
