In October 2001, the dismembered remains of seventy-one-year-old Morris Black were found floating in Galveston Bay. A few days later, Black’s neighbor, Robert Durst, was arrested on suspicion of murder and released on $250,000 bail. After posting bail, Durst jumped bail and disappeared for six weeks, before being arrested by Pennsylvania authorities at the end of November.
In the years that followed, investigators and prosecutors began combing through Durst’s life, discovering disturbing connections between the excentric millionaire and the mysterious disappearances and deaths of several people who were once close to Durst. Robert Durst had been a suspect in the murder of Morris Black, but was it possible he was in fact a multiple murderer who’d evaded detection for decades?
Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!
References
Associated Press. 2001. "Fugitive is arrested in Galveston man's death." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 1: 26.
Babineck, Mark. 2001. "A mysterious trail left in Galveston." Austin American-Statesman, October 20: 25.
Bagli, Charles. 2020. "4 decades of Durst's past are traced as trial begins." New York Times, March 11.
—. 2021. "Durst faces new charge for murder of his wife." New York Times, October 23.
—. 2021. "Durst is convicted of murder after 2 decades of suspicion." New York Times, September 18.
—. 2021. "Durst is sentenced to life in prison for 2000 murder of friend." New York Times, October 15.
—. 2020. "Real estate scion admits he wrote note in case profiled in 'The Jinx'." New York Times, January 1.
—. 2014. "Stranger than fiction? Try fact." New York Times, December 2.
Bagli, Charles V., and Kevin Flynn. 2001. "A two-decade spiral into suspicion." New York Times, October 21: A33.
Bagli, Charles, and Kevin Flynn. 2001. "On the run with a fugitive: tales of aliases and disguises." New York Times, December 7: D1.
Bagli, Charles, and Vivian Yee. 2015. "Straight from TV to jail: Durt is charged in killing." New York Times, March 16.
Cartwright, Gary. 2002. "Durst case scenarios." Texas Monthly, February: 87-112.
Collins, Marion. 2002. Without a Trace: Inside the Robert Durst Case. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.
Forbes. 2020. Durst family. December December. Accessed March 28, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/profile/durst/.
Gerber, Marisa. 2021. "The Hollywood ‘Mafia princess’ was Robert Durst’s best friend. Did loyalty lead to murder?" Los Angeles Times, May 21.
Hale, Mike. 2024. "Conversations on murder." New York Times, April 24.
2015. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Directed by Andrew Jarecki. Performed by Andrew Jarecki.
Lozano, Juan. 2003. "Juey to see Galveston case evidence." Austin American-Statesman, August 14: 21.
—. 2003. "Officer testifies there's no direct evidence against heir." Austin American-Statesman, October 21: 17.
—. 2003. "Murder trial gets under way for multimillionaire Robert Durst." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 23: 21.
Miller, Julie. 2015. "Robert Durst may have had a Mission Impossible-style plan to flee the country." Vanity Fair, March 18.
Palmer, Alex. 2015. The Creepiest Things Robert Durst Says in His All Good Things DVD Commentary. April 15. Accessed April 1, 2025. https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/robert-dursts-all-good-things-dvd-commentary.html.
Reporter-Dispatch. 1950. "Durst death in Scarsdale ruled an accident." Reporter-Dispatch (New York, NY), November 10: 9.
Stewart, Richard, and Kevin Moran. 2003. "Millionaire is acquitted of murder." Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Nevember 12: 1.
Streeter, Kurt. 2001. "N.Y. police had sought to quiz slain author." Los Angeles Times, January 9: 28.
Zeman, Ned. 2020. "He also decided to kill her." Vanity Fair, April 23.
—. 2015. "The fugitive heir." Vanity Fair, March 16.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.