01x01 - A Body in the Bay

[bunniefuu]

MAN: Dispatch
called me at my house.

It was after hours.

They told me that
a young kid had found

what they thought was a torso.

No head.

No arms.

No legs.
Just, just the torso.

MAN: What's
this area here?

This is Channel View here...

and it was right down here...

in this corner,

was where the torso was at.

- Right here?
- Right here.

This is probably the one time

I can honestly say that I've

actually reached down
somebody's throat.

Because in order to
get the torso out,

I had to take my
hand down the throat

and put my fingers
around the breastbone,

and then pull him
up out of the water.

- Is that with your hand?
- Yeah.

Yeah. How else am
I going to get him out?

JONES: And then we started our

kind of a general survey
of the rest of the area.

In doing so,
that's when we found a bunch of

the black plastic trash bags
that were floating in the water.

Well, trying to figure out
what we had inside the bags,

we simply palpated the bags.

We just felt them.

We had what felt like
arms and hands, fingers.

A leg, where you could feel the knee,
the ankle,

and the actual foot itself...

and one of the bags
containing the legs,

there was like small holes

that had gotten
torn into the bag

where we could
actually look in,

and I recall seeing a toe.

MAN: Dismemberment
started with the right leg

and went to the left leg,
to the left arm,

to the neck,
and then to the right arm.

The right arm, being the last,

was cut but it was only
sawn halfway through,

and then it apparently broke,
either by stepping on it

or something,
to break the bone.

Getting tired, running out of time...
Whatever it was.

MAN: I'd never had a dismembered
headless torso to investigate.

You know, I've investigated
my fair share of sh**t,

homicides... A whole array of
investigations... Thousands!

But I never had one of these.

So, I knew it was going
to be interesting.

I had no idea of what I was
fixin' to step into.

If I had of, I'm,
I'm not so sure

I would have stepped in
so willingly.

♪ Sun down on the sorry day ♪

♪ By nightlights the children pray ♪

♪ I know you're prob'ly
gettin' ready for bed ♪

♪ Beautiful woman,
get out of my head ♪

♪ I'm so tired of the same old crud ♪

♪ Sweet baby,
I need fresh blood ♪

♪ Whoo! ♪

♪ Howl! ♪

♪ Howl! ♪

MAN: A teenage boy
fishing in the shallow waters

off Galveston, Texas,
stumbled on

the gruesome remains
of a m*rder.

SECOND MAN: Pretty much
everything had washed up,

with the exception of the head.

That was the focus of several
days of searching.

That's the only body part
that was never recovered.

[Camera shutter clicks]

JONES: One of the most
important things

that we found initially
was a newspaper.

We were able to read an address
of 2213 Avenue K.

And the blood that we
found on the stair rail,

it actually started
kind of a trail

that came right out here.

And it went in right out to the,
to the road.

JONES: We found out
who owned the building.

It was a guy by the name
of Klaus Dillman.

Was able to ascertain
that the tenant downstairs

was an older man
named Morris Black

that lived in
Apartment Number 1.

And then Apartment Number 2,
he said, was rented by

a little old lady named Dorothy Ciner,
who was a mute female.

_

[Camera shutter clicks]

JONES: We were able to roll
one of the fingerprints

from the hand that
was in the trash bag.

From that,
we were able to identify the victim

as Morris Black.

[Camera shutter clicks]

BENNETT: It appeared that
in the common hallway,

someone had wiped up blood
which led into Apartment 2,

which helped me to gain
a search warrant into Apartment 2.

JONES: What we observed then
was a pretty pristine apartment.

Very neat.

What was unusual was on
the floor of the kitchen

were drop cloths.

Once we got the drop cloths
pulled up from the floor,

we found some real small cuts.

What I wound up doing
was to actually

take and cut that
entire area out.

That's when I found
a bloodstain.

We were actually able to match
the blood back to Morris Black,

so we knew that
that's the location

where he had been dismembered.

CAZALAS: When we first talked
to the landlord, he said,

"Well, there's a lady that
rents Apartment Number 2,

but she's never there because
she travels all the time."

And I'm thinking to myself...

"Well, if she's got the money
to travel all the time,

"and she's gone
for months on end,

what's she doing
living in this dump?"

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Ha! In fact,
it was kind of described as

a real ugly deaf mute woman.
[Chuckles]

CAZALAS: There was very little
personal items in the apartment.

There was nothing to suggest
a woman lived there.

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CAZALAS: Red flags
started coming up.

A mute female that
travels a lot.

But a guy will be coming
around every now and then.

Well, I'm thinking,
"Well, there's no Dorothy Ciner,

"that's just a cover.

This guy is renting this place
for whatever reason."

[Birds cooing]

JONES: The next step was
to go through the trash can

in the alley behind the house.

Every piece of trash
was taken out,

photographed, labeled,
catalogued.

_

_

JONES: It was
an appointment receipt,

and on that contained
information that gave us

a date and time in which some
eyeglasses were to be picked up.

CAZALAS: Now I'm thinking,
"Who's Robert Durst?"

Still a bunch of
question marks.

I take the receipt
to the eye clinic.

Ask them if they know
who Robert Durst is.

The lady up front said, "Yeah,

he was supposed to pick those
glasses up on Friday."

I'm thinking,
"Vegas wouldn't touch these odds

this guy's going to show up."

But I said, "If he shows up,
here's my card.

Here's my pager number."
And I left.

JONES: In the trash bags,
we also found

a price tag from
Chalmers Hardware,

which was two blocks away from
where Morris Black lived.

BENNETT: Among the things
that were bought from Chalmers

were a 4-inch paring Kn*fe

and drop cloths with
the Chalmers tags on it.

CAZALAS: Also bought
at Chalmers was a bow saw.

Lo and behold,
my pager goes off.

And I'm like...
and I recognized that number.

But I, I haven't, in my mind
I didn't connect the dots yet.

And then they had put in "911."
I'm thinking, "Who is that?"

Then, bam!
"That's the eye clinic."

I jump in my car and I'm
coming up 21st Street.

And he pulls out of
the alleyway parking lot

right in front of me,

and pulls up to the red light,
and I'm right behind him.

[Siren wailing]

CAZALAS: Our Motor Division
pulls him over,

and we detain him.

JONES: I recall
pulling up to that,

and I walked up and glanced down
through the back windshield.

And the first thing
I saw was a bow saw.

Kind of got that grin.

Saying, "Yeah, we got him."

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Camera shutter clicks]

BURROWS: Initial impressions
when I saw him being brought in

was like, "Really? This guy?

Did that? Didn't fit."

[Camera shutter clicks]

CAZALAS: God,
the guy looks like a librarian!

He doesn't look like a person

that would dismember
a human being.

I explained to him he'd been

arrested for,
you know, homicide.

"Your bond has been
set at $250,000."

And he asked me, he said,
"Well, what should I do?"

And I said, "I don't know.
Do you have $250,000?"

And he just calmly looked at me
and he goes, "Well, not on me."

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Camera shutter clicks]

JONES: Who the hell is this guy

to give you that type
of an answer?

Which is not the type of answer
you would normally hear.

CAZALAS: I get a call from
the desk sergeant at the jail.

He goes, "Cody, this Durst guy,

"he made a phone call
to somebody named

"Debrah in New York.

"Told them he was
in Galveston, Texas,

"under arrest for m*rder,
and he needed $250,000.

And she said, "No problem,
it will be there in the morning."

And I'm thinking,
"What's going on here?"

[Buzzer]

MAN: Are you the wife
of Robert Durst?

Yes.

When did you marry him?

_

December 2000.

Would that have been
December 11, 2000?

- Yes.
- OK.

When did you first
hear that Mr. Durst

had rented an apartment
in Galveston, Texas?

Um, I heard that he rented an
apartment in Galveston, Texas

certainly after October 9, 2001.

OK. And why are you so
definite about that date?

Because that was
the day he called me,

after he was arrested.

And I never even heard of
Galveston, Texas.

When he called you,
where was he calling from?

Jail.

How long was it from
the time that he was arrested

until he got out
of jail on bail?

- 24 hours.
- OK.

When he got out,
where did he go?

[Laughs] I'm in New York.
He's in Galveston.

He probably went to
the bail bondsman's office first.

And then he probably went home.

Do I know?
Was I there?

I wasn't there.

CAZALAS: I'm back at work
the next morning about 7:30.

I get to my office.

Usually on my phone there
may be one or two messages.

I get to,
I get my cup of coffee,

I sit down,
my light's blinking.



That's when
the information about

who Robert Durst really was
started coming into play.

_

We get this tip that
a Bob Durst has been arrested

in Galveston
and he's m*rder*d his,

his neighbor or something.

And it was like, "Holy sh*t!

Can this be our Bob Durst?"

The fact that Morris Black
had been m*rder*d in Galveston

was not something that
would have garnered

any attention at our end.

It was only when they made the
connection to Robert Durst.

_

CAZALAS: You find out that he
belongs to one of the richest

families in New York City.

But that's not strange enough,

the guy's also suspected in

his wife's disappearance
in New York.

_

MAN: Robert Durst
first made headlines

after he reported his wife
missing in 1982.

And to this day,
the case remains unsolved.

_

The family of Kathleen Durst,
from the beginning, had said

they believed Robert Durst
was responsible.

He had always
maintained his innocence.

Family sources tell
News Channel 4

Robert Durst relocated
to Galveston, Texas,

but they were unsure
what he was doing there.

WOMAN: How many
office buildings does

the Durst Organization
currently own?

Nine.

And can you tell me
what those office buildings are?







Four Times Square,




and 114 West 47th Street.

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Most defendants
charged with m*rder

show up
at their arraignment, OK?

Did I expect him to be there?

Of course I did.

I wanted to eyeball this guy.

I wanted to size him up.

CAZALAS: Robert was due
to be in court at 10:00 a.m.

And he was a no-show.
He decided to run.

_

In the search for Robert Durst,

a lawyer is asking him
to surrender.

Attorney Michael Kennedy
made an appeal to him

to turn himself in.

KENNEDY: Robert, if you see this
or hear this, please come home.

You have loved ones who care
about you here in New York.

Your family is solidly,
unifiedly behind you.

The Trust has the wherewithal
to pay for your legal defense.

WOMAN: The press reported
that you had hired a bodyguard

to protect yourself
against Robert Durst.

Is that true?

- That is true, yes.
- MAN: Objection.

WOMAN: Did you believe your life
was threatened by Robert Durst?

At that point in time...

Robert's actions were bizarre,

and while I wasn't sure,

I felt that,
to protect my family

was a reasonable
action to take.

WOMAN: And when did you hire the,
the bodyguard?

In, uh, after Robert
jumped bail in Texas.

JONES: All the wheels
started turning.

How do we find this guy?

Everything from state and local
agency notifications

to notifications to Interpol.

There's no telling where
this guy could have gone.

MAN: A private investigator
told a Galveston newspaper

that Durst has used
false names in the past.

He had disguised himself
as a woman.

His alias, Dorothy Ciner,
is even listed

on the FBI's


CAZALAS: Dorothy Ciner
was somebody he went to

Scarsdale High School with.

_

We found a bank account that he
had set up as Emilio Vignoni.

He had rented a car from
a place in Mobile, Alabama,

saying he was Morris Black.

And we know there
were probably more.

He's not crazy.
He's diabolical.

BAGLI: When Bob didn't
show up at his hearing

and we realize he's on the run,

I was as curious as anyone else
about where he was.

And so, I was calling places
where he had lived.

_

"When Robert A. Durst
returned to

"South Salem
in Westchester County,

"a neighbor noticed him
seemingly lost in thought

"on a dock at Lake Truesdale,

"behind the tree-shrouded
stone cottage

he once shared with
his wife Kathleen."

"It was his birthday and their
wedding anniversary,

"though she had vanished


"The State Police and the
Westchester District Attorney

"had been seeking him
for a year

"to go over his account of his
last night with his wife...

"The night she vanished.

"Mr. Durst's reverie
on the dock

"suddenly ended when a neighbor

strolled down
to the lakefront."

That neighbor, of course,
was the woman

that moved into the house
that Bob had lived in,

and that Kathie had
disappeared from.

It was always piecing together
these shreds of information.

It was hazy,
but it began to tell a story

about this guy who, of course,
was an enigma.

WOMAN: 58-year-old Robert Durst

was arrested here at
Wegmans Grocery Store

in Hanover Township after

allegedly trying
to steal a hoagie.

JONES: I think we were
kind of in the same boat as

everybody else that
had any knowledge

of this case whatsoever.

How in the hell could he
have been that stupid?

MAN: He just kind of
got cold look.

All the color ran out of his face,
and he just stared at me,

and he said,
"I'm not saying another word

until I speak to an attorney."

MAN: Police searched his
rental car outside...

[Camera shutter clicks]

MAN: And found two loaded g*ns,
[Camera shutter clicks]

some marijuana,
[Camera shutter clicks]

$38,000 in cash,
and an I.D. for one "Morris Black."

BAGLI: Why would a guy
with $520 in his pocket

and $37,000 in the trunk

walk into a Wegmans
and steal a sandwich?

The guy is crying out to be arrested,
isn't he?

On the other hand,
he's also a guy that sort of

walks through life and thinks he
can do whatever he wants to do.

And most of the time, he could.

WOMAN: In shackles
and under heavy guard,


is led into the courtroom.

SECOND WOMAN: Mr. Durst,
are you going to fight extradition?

MAN: He has no comment
at this time.

Are you competent
to stand trial?

He has no comment.

WOMAN: Where
is your wife?

MAN: How long was he
in jail in Pennsylvania?

DEBRAH: About two months.

Did you speak to him
while he was in jail?

Sure.

Did you call him?

It doesn't work that way.

OK. He called you
from jail in Pennsylvania?

- Yes.
- OK.

During that time,
did he call you regularly?

Yes.

And in any of
those conversations,

did he indicate what his
plans were in the future?

Since I'm sure
that you know that

those conversations were taped,
and they probably are public,

you could read for yourself,

because I don't really remember
what conversations we had.

_

DURST ON TAPE: It's very cold
in this prison.

DEBRAH ON TAPE: Yeah, cold out.

DURST: Well, it's cold out,
but I feel like

it's cold in this prison.

I'm sitting here all covered
with a sweatshirt.

Some guys were quote unquote
"in paper."

DEBRAH: I know that.
You told me.

Honey, now when you're now
sitting in your room,

do you wear that thing or not?

DURST: Sometimes I do.
Sometimes I don't.

It's very warm.
It is comfy.

I never wore a jumpsuit
until I got here.

It's a very comfy thing.
It's easy to take on and off.

Right now,
I'm out here in the thing

and I have it on o-o-over
my l-l-long johns.

And a sweatshirt.
And it's still cold.

MAN: The time now
is approximately 10:34 a.m.

We're on record.

WOMAN: I'm going to swear you in,
sir, if you raise

your right hand, please.

Do you solemnly swear or affirm

the testimony you are about
to give to be the truth,

the whole truth and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?

Yes, ma'am.

MAN: Will you state your full name
for the record, please?

Robert Durst.

Am I correct that from
the 1970s until 1994,

you worked in the Durst
Family business?

Sort of, yes.

What were your positions there?

- My titles?
- Yes.

I had various
important-sounding titles,

but I didn't really
go there very much.

WOMAN: Can you tell me
under what circumstances

Robert left the Durst Organization
in the mid Nineties?

At some point,
Robert stopped showing up for,

stopped showing up
to the office.

And did you ever
make any inquiries

why he stopped showing
up at the office?

I, I did, yes.

And what did you find out?

At that time,
he would not talk to me.

MAN: Did you quit
the family business in 1994

after Douglas Durst was picked
to run the family businesses?

Well, he was pretty much picked
in 1989-90, I remember.

Who picked him?

Uh, the senior generation...

Seymour Durst, David Durst,
Roy Durst.

And Seymour Durst
was your father?

Yes.

MAN: In fact, Mr. Durst,

you've threatened to k*ll your brother,
haven't you?

- No, sir.
- OK.

DEBRAH: He screwed you
out of everything.

Your birthright.

The entire Durst Organization.

And you forgot?

DURST: Right.
He took over the family business.

No doubt about it.

DEBRAH: OK.
He took it from you.

He could have done it with you.

There were a lot of choices
he could have done, but no.

He took it from you
and his plan

was to destroy you
and embarrass you.

And he did it.

MAN: Quote, "The level of enmity
is so great that Douglas Durst

"even went so far as
to hire a bodyguard

to protect himself
from Robert Durst."

Close quote.
Do you remember that allegation?

DURST: I remember
that that occurred.

Do you know why Douglas Durst
hired a bodyguard?

Because he's a p*ssy.

Did he hire the bodyguard
because he was scared of you?

I have knowledge that
he'd hired a bodyguard.

Why he would be scared of me,
I have no idea.

MAN: New York
real estate heir Robert Durst

will be turned over to Texas
authorities this week.

He faces charges in
the dismemberment m*rder

of a 71-year-old neighbor.

Yesterday in Pennsylvania,
the 58-year-old

waived his right to contest
his extradition to Texas.

WOMAN ON RECORDING: It's going
to be a media circus there.

DURST ON RECORDING:
I know it is.

I'm trying not
to think about it,

and I'm trying not to, to plan,

what kind of look
I should have on my face.

- WOMAN: I know.
- DURST: Am I supposed to be smiling?

Or am I supposed to be grim?

WOMAN: If you're
thinking of expression,

I would just have like
as close to no expression

as you can possibly have...

DURST: Yeah.
That's what I keep...

_

The defendant in this case
was one who's wanted for

a serious crime... m*rder...
in the state of Texas.

There was a nationwide manhunt
for this individual,

and it's thanks to
the Pennsylvania authorities

that he was picked up,
arrested, and kept here.

And so we thank the D.A.
Morganelli for this.

And with respect
to the New York case

and in response to your question,
let me just say that

the disappearance of Kathleen
Durst 20 years ago is a case

that we are
actively investigating.

We continue to seek
the public's cooperation.

And as time goes on,
we're finding that

more and more people are
cooperating with us.

And we will get to the bottom of
what happened to Kathleen Durst,

one way or the other.

DURST ON RECORDING: Now Jeanine
Pirro can go to the grand jury

and say,
"This person is going to be

tried for m*rder in Galveston."

That's going to make it
much more likely

that they're going to
want to indict me for Kathie.

DEBRAH ON RECORDING:
Bob, she hasn't arrested you

because she doesn't
have anything.

You're going to be all right.
I promise.

- DURST: OK.
- DEBRAH: All right.

You got to chin up.
You'll be OK.

- DURST: Thank you.
- DEBRAH: I love you, honey.

DURST: I love you.

- DEBRAH: Bye.
- DURST: Bye.

Have your investigators
been able to talk to Robert Durst?

No, they have not.

He's represented
by an attorney.

As D.A. Morganelli
has said,

it's the attorneys
that we speak to.

MAN: Do you have
any comment on

what happened today
with your client?

Well, it's
very straightforward.

Mr. Durst is anxious
to get to Texas

to defend himself on
the charges pending there.

He has a viable defense,
and he wants to raise it.

Therefore, he chose
to voluntarily waive extradition

and not seek
to fight extradition.

And we expect that
he'll be moved forthwith to Texas

where, with two of my
colleagues down there,

we'll begin further
to prepare his defense.

And that defense would
be an insanity defense?

No. I'm not going to
comment on the defense.

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MAN: Did you at any time
tell Mr. Durst

that you'd divorce him if
he retained Michael Kennedy?

Yes.

Why did you say that to him?

Because I didn't
trust Michael Kennedy.

I didn't like Michael Kennedy.

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MAN: I'm quoting again
from the tapes.

Do you recall
your wife threatening

"I won't stand by you anymore,"
close quote,

if Michael Kennedy wasn't
fired as your lawyer?

Yes. Michael Kennedy
was the one

who was hired by Douglas
to represent me.

And I had no intention of
hiring Michael Kennedy anyway.

WOMAN: Robert Durst
returned to Texas tonight.

The heir to a Manhattan
skyscraper fortune

is charged with
murdering and dismembering

his Galveston neighbor.

Well, I'm d*ck DeGuerin.

I've been practicing law
since 1965.

_

Almost all of that time
in criminal law.

Either as a prosecutor,
where I started,

or as a criminal defense lawyer
once I saw the light.

_

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MAN: And then she says,
"I will fight for what I want

and I will fight you hard,"
close quote.

[Chuckles]
Well, that's Debbie.

MAN: Do you remember
that conversation?

I don't remember
that one specifically,

but the big argument then
was that I wanted to hire

d*ck DeGuerin to represent me,

and she wanted me
to hire Mike Ramsey.

Durst couldn't decide
between Ramsey and me,

so, he hired both of us.

_

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MAN: All Good Things,
a new feature film,

premiered at the SVA Cinema
in Chelsea.

The film was inspired by one of

the most notorious
missing persons cases

in New York City history.

MAN: Andrew,
what brought you to this film?

Well, I'm always interested in,
interested in

these sort of monster stories.

You know,
you find out that somebody is

described as a maniac
or a crazy person

or a, a serial k*ller,

and I always think
that those people

started out somewhere.

You know,
they started out as people,

and they had hopes and dreams.

He was an unusual person.
So, he did unusual things.

Stranger than fiction,
in a lot of ways.

I remember this case because

it's based on one of the
great m*rder mysteries.

There was a man
named Robert Durst

who came from a very wealthy
real estate family.

He married a beautiful
woman named Kathie.

Played by you,
and then in 1982,

khht, she was gone.

Nobody has ever found the body.

He was never charged
with the m*rder.

He's still alive.

I remember saying
to my partner,

"I would like to make a movie

"that Robert Durst
himself could

"sit and watch, and have

an emotional
reaction to."

A call comes through.
And I pick it up.

And a sort of smaller voice
on the line says, "Hello.

I-I-Is this Eamonn Bowles?"

So I said, "Yes."

He goes,
"Oh, this is Bob Durst."

[Laughs]
My blood froze.

I went like, "Um, oh, hello,
excuse me. Who is this?

I thought this was someone else.
Who's calling?"

And he's like,
"This is Bob Durst.

I'm looking for Andrew Jarecki."
And I'm like, "Oh!"

[Telephone ringing]

DURST ON RECORDING: Hello?

JARECKI ON RECORDING:
Hi. Mr. Durst?

DURST: Hi, Mr. Jarecki.
How are you?

JARECKI: I'm good.
How are you?

DURST: Good.
I just saw the movie.

So, I h-h-have an idea.

I've no idea if it
makes any sense.

But, but you're the one
to talk to about it.

- JARECKI: Sure.
- DURST: Would it make sense

for as in some capacity
there to be an interview with me

related to what's in the movie?

JARECKI: Yeah,
I think that's a fascinating idea.

I'll be in touch soon.
I'm glad that we had a chance to talk.

DURST: All righty.
Bye-bye.

JARECKI: Nice to talk to you.
[Hangs up]

[Telephone ringing]

DURST ON RECORDING:
Mr. Jarecki.

- JARECKI ON RECORDING: How are you?
- DURST: Good. How are you?

JARECKI: Good.
I think you should feel free

to call me "Andrew,"
by the way.

DURST: Andrew, how are you?

I have over the years
been approached

by all the various
interview shows.

And I'm not interested in doing
a "True Crime" kind of stuff.

JARECKI: Right.

DURST: You know more
about Robert Durst

than any of those people do.

JARECKI: I guess the question is,
you know,

has anybody really done
a piece on you

where they didn't walk into it
with a very strong assumption?

One possibility is
to have me interview you

after having made this film.

DURST: I would tend
to cooperate with you

with whatever it was
you're going to do.

You, you've got
all my phone numbers.

I look forward
to hearing from you.

JARECKI: Sounds good.
Talk to you soon.

DURST: Bye-bye.

[Static]

DeGUERIN: As a criminal
defense lawyer,

you don't always get the truth.

I'm not naive enough
to think that you do.

But you try to make a judgment

of whether you're
getting the truth.

CAZALAS: When you only have

a m*rder*r's word
for what happened,

why believe anything that
comes out of the man's mouth?

DeGUERIN: What I need
to say to you

is that I believe Bob,

and I believed him
from the very beginning.

CAZALAS: I don't think
Bob Durst is the kind of man

that kills for the thrill
of the k*ll.

I don't think he takes any
particular pleasure in k*lling.

But if you back him
in a corner,

if you thr*aten his freedom,
he'll k*ll ya.