Robert Durst wasn't charged with his wife's 1982 murder earlier due to a cover-up, her family alleges
Kathie Durst's family said at a press conference Tuesday that they would hold accountable anyone who helped protect the eccentric real-estate scion
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The family of Kathie Durst spoke out for the first time Tuesday since her real-estate scion husband Robert Durst was indicted for her murder last week.
James McCormack, Kathie Durst's big brother, accused law-enforcement agencies of shielding the eccentric murderer and his family’s company after the 1982 slaying at a press conference outside Westchester County Supreme Court.
A file photo of Kathleen Durst last seen on Jan. 21, 1982, photo circa 1982. (Getty)
The victim’s brother thanked DA Miriam Rocah for finally bringing Durst, 78, to justice but questioned why it had taken so long for an indictment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Our family and our attorneys have provided DA Rocah and several of her predecessors with witnesses and evidence that prove Robert Durst murdered Kathie," he said. "Now more than ever it is important to ask why it took so long to get to this point. My family and I have serious questions and we deserve answers."
Durst faces second-degree murder in the death of his 29-year-old spouse, a medical student at the time, who vanished from their Westchester County home in 1982.
Her body was never found, and Durst has always been the prime suspect.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The family said that the Manhattan and Westchester district attorneys’ offices appear to have protected Robert Durst for decades, while the NYPD failed to conduct a competent investigation.
REAL ESTATE HEIR ROBERT DURST FOUND GUILTY BY LA COUNTY JURY OF KILLING BEST FRIEND
McCormack called it "prosecutorial cowardice, misconduct and corruption."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rocah had reopened Kathie Durst's unsolved case in May, and Robert Durst was indicted this month.
Prosecutors share photo of Robert Durst (left), Susan Berman (middle) and Kathie Durst (right) at Robert Durst's Aug. 11 murder trial. (Fox News) (Fox News)
In October, the frail real-estate tycoon was sentenced to life in prison in Los Angeles for the 2000 slaying of his best friend Susan Berman.
Prosecutors said he shot her point-blank in the head to stop her from telling police about a fake alibi she provided for him to authorities during the investigation of Kathie Durst's disappearance.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ROBERT DURST INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY MURDERING HIS WIFE 39 YEARS AGO
Lawyer Bob Abrams said the family would soon start releasing evidence of the alleged cover-up, zeroing in on former Westchester DA Jeanine Pirro and members of the Durst family.
Pirro hosts Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We intend to expose relationships that representatives of the Durst Organization and the Durst family have had with various law enforcement agencies," Abrams wrote in a Nov. 8 letter to Rocah.
Pirro allegedly had a "clandestine" meeting with Douglas Durst, the head of the Durst Organization, in 2003 at a Manhattan restaurant, Abrams said. The real-estate company is valued at about $8 billion.
Around that time Pirro’s mentor, former New York Gov. George Pataki, received nearly $400,000 in campaign contributions from Douglas Durst and the Durst Organization, Abrams said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ROBERT DURST GETS LIFE FOR MURDER OF HIS BEST FRIEND
After that lunch, Pirro allegedly chose to "drop" the renewed probe into Kathie Durst’s murder and this decision should be scrutinized, the attorney said.
"We want all the people involved to be held accountable," Abrams said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The missteps of law enforcement left Robert Durst free to murder Berman in 2000 and one year later, kill and dismember his neighbor Morris Black in Texas, Abrams said.
Robert Durst argued self-defense in Black’s killing and was acquitted of murder in the case.
He was only charged in Berman's slaying after he participated in the six-part HBO documentary "The Jinx" about his life. In the final episode, he was captured on a live mic in the bathroom muttering to himself: "There it is. You’re caught! What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."
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A spokesman for Douglas Durst dismissed the allegations as "conspiracy theories."
"Mr. Abrams has a long history of leveling hollow, baseless attacks without ever providing a single shred of documentation to substantiate his wild claims," the spokesman said. "In the last two years, Abrams has named the Durst Organization or Douglas Durst more than 30 times in court filings. Time and time again, these accusations have been summarily dismissed and thrown out by the courts."