to take another day, another walk with, her. i loved her. and i do love her. still. >> you got a lot of life left. a lot. how are you going to live it? >> to the best of my abilities. >> there are jurors who think he might have done it. but i had a reasonable doubt. i couldn't vote to convict. >> well, god bless them. there's a lot of people that do believe in me. >> he's made his own peace with a simple truth, the very thing that freed him, reasonable doubt, could also shadow conrad truman for the rest of his life. >> that's all for "dateline". i'm natalie morales. thanks for watching. hello, i'm andrea canning. and this is dateline. >> it is a murder mystery, he has got a wealthy family. it's difficult for everybody. there is a club of people consumed by trying to figure

out what happened. i have never seen anything like it. >> a missing wife. >> everything about this wreaks of murder. >> a murdered best friend. a dead neighbor. >> they try to understand. >> now, the stories that you have not heard. as the friends of robert durst speak out. >> i hope and i pray, when all this is done, we all get answers. >> and here they own account of the strange life. the reclusive millionaire spent much of his time on the road, so where was he? what was he doing? who was he with? >> what does it die of his wealth doing hanging out at a homeless shelter, soothe kitchen. >> for decades, suspicions, and questions raised and no. will their family be answers? >> -- cases and vernon? >> the twisted tale of robert durst, and a mystery.

>> where are you? >> he definitely is -- ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to dateline. robert durst was born into privilege, he never seem to crave the limelight, but over the years, his possible ties to a strength of mysterious disappearances, and gruesome deaths placed him under the bright glare of suspicion. the tale has been the subject of books, television shows, and movie plots. it is a stranger than fiction story with twists and turns, a complicated yarn that has been unraveling for decades. here is keith morrison, with robert durst, the last years. >> there is a letter, written more than 60 years ago, a prophecy? perhaps. a warning?

certainly. a doctor, writing about a very troubled ten year old boy suffering from hostility issues. sufficient to produce a personality decomposition, and possibly even schizophrenia. a troubled little boy? his name is well known robert durst. ♪ ♪ ♪ by now you have heard the bizarre saga, the multi million -- the disappeared wife, the dead friend, the dismembered neighbor. he has been the subject of several dateline episodes, and the star, though not in the way that he intended, of hp is the jinx. but does anyone know the truth about robert durst? the story behind the story, the tale that we followed, the

revelations that we encountered, the personal account that he wrote and we were given which has led us to a very weird place, the last years of the infamous. robert durst. the tale is like quicksand, it's sucks you in. >> bob is endlessly fascinating, and always surprises me. >> he was certainly elusive. material, sometimes desperate. always in motion. we track him, his dissent, his change detour off the road, off the grid. a life that no one, not even his family or close friends could fathom. >> he has a good heart inside. i really think so. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> we begin with two people who know and love the man that they called bobby. godfather and son. close friend of more than 40 years, long before the rest of the world heard from him. when did you meet him?

>> we went to high school together. >> stewart and emily altman, spoke to us after robert durst was arrested. >> they show assad of bob that he is not a monster. he has a heart. but it has caused me a great deal, that i can't get up my head around, is what happened to bob. it's hard. >> they altmans, shared personal photos. and the story of bob that they lived and breathed. starting with the family disaster that tormented him. >> his mom committed suicide when he was ten years old. it was a devastating experience from a. >> compounded by bobs strange relationship with his brother, douglas, and his father see more.

then, in the 1970s they introduce bob to a woman. and the whole twisted tale was set in motion. >> i was on his 52nd street, on the second floor. kathy was on the third floor. and bomb earned the building. he used to come and collect the rat. >> kathy? was kathleen mccormack, stewart's younger and beautiful upstairs neighbor. >> he was prince charming, and she was a princess. kathy was the love of her life. >> but it did not last. a few years later, the altmans, watch the prince and princess grow apart. >> she became more independent. it wasn't a fairytale anymore. >> now, in fact caffey's brother, jim, told us it was more like a horror movie. >> there is a dark side above that it was very well camouflaged when they first were going out and getting married, and it escalated ultimately into psychological abuse, economic, physical

abuse. >> remember the doctors letter warning that the ten year olds robert durst suffered from hostility issues? kathy gave a copy to her friends, including strauss, just in case. >> kathy warned all of us that if anything ever happened, look to bob, don't let him get away with it. >> and then, in 1982, kathy durst disappeared. >> how did he take it? >> bob. he asked if we had seen her, heard anything, no anything. >> but they did not. no one did. >> he was typically almost detached. in his demeanor. almost, i don't know nothing, i

don't know anything. >> on the outset, bob denied any outlets in kathy's disappearance. he distance himself from investigators. new york times reporter, charles, has covered the empire for more than three decades. and when kathy vanished, he said, bob's protective friend susan berman, a name you've probably heard of. became his unofficial spokesperson. >> and susan would call back, and say, well bob is really not feeling well right now. i'm going to handle a lot of business. >> bob himself was incommunicado. but we have obtained this, his own account, his version of things. which he wrote later. here is what he wrote about kathy's disappearance. >> after my life kathy left, my compulsive use of alcohol, drugs, and food change from an infrequent problem to a daily event. >> he did not come into work for about two years. >> later, when bob began showing up at work again, sporadically, it wasn't anything like the buttoned up executive. >> he enjoyed smoking pot in a social situation.

burping, and farting. because it disturbed people. and he like to watch the reaction. >> right. so these stories about misbehaving, peeking in a wastebasket. >> being in a wastebasket, all of, that it gave pause to the family. >> and it was no great surprise. when the family patriarch, seymour durst, chose bob's younger brother to run the family business. >> did he really think up until the point where douglas was take, that he had a shot at it? >> he was groomed for it. it was supposed to be his job. he was upset. it had an effect on bob. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> and that is when, the little known and reclusive robert durst went on his own to embark on a strange new life. what we want to know is how and why trouble seem to be his traveling companion. >> coming up! the peak at his new life on the last coast.

>> hanging out at a homeless shelter soup kitchen. >> wait a minute, he bought a house and he hangs out at a homeless shelter? >> when dateline continues! copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur.

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keith morrison: they call this place the lost coast,

lost coast, an almost mystical corner of northern california where bob hearst came to, what, get lost himself? it was 1995, after he was dumped from the company, 13 years after kathy disappeared. bob walked into the office of local real estate developer gene davenport. >> he told me he was a writer for the wall street journal, he said he wanted to have a place with an ocean view. >> bob forked over nearly 400,000 in cash for a big family house in the town of trinidad, overlooking the pacific, where he lived like a hermit. >> no one really came around. he didn't seem like he had contacts or very many best friends. >> in that personal account of his, he explained why. i hated to have more than a brief conversation with someone because i immediately found myself being asked, what do you do? the true answer was nothing. i live off the family estate.

which was true enough, but he wasn't exactly idle either said author matt burkeback, who followed the durst case for over 15 years. and wrote a book about it called a deadly secret. bob durst was buying other properties, he, said but some of his choices did not seem to make sense. >> not just homes, we are talking storage facilities and p.o. boxes. >> you mean he would buy one storage place? >> he had an address, and it ended up being a storage facility. what is he doing with all of these storage facilities? >> the main town near trinidad is eureka, where we discovered bob spent many of time in a secondhand clothing store primarily for women. >> i think he wanted to be a cross dresser, and maybe he was experimenting with it. do you know what i mean? >> he always came alone, said shopkeeper kay king. >> he would buy something

pretty plain like this, you know, so it wasn't outstanding. and he would get a skirt. and try to match it up. most of the time he could not. so i was trying to help him match. >> kay had seen her share of cross dressers, but there was something different about this one. >> he wanted to be somebody else besides robert durst. >> which might explain another untold story of those years, an odd and so far unexplained habit of frequenting eureka's seedy side. >> hanging out at a homeless shelter soup kitchen. >> wait a minute. he bought a house, any hangs out at a homeless shelter? >> he hangs out a homeless shelter. >> but, said charles bagley, he was also restless. >> he was in constant motion, whether he was here in texas or california or in europe. >> or los angeles, where he

looked in on susan berman, who you remember, spoke for him after kathy disappeared and was now trying to make it as a hollywood screenwriter. >> she and bobby i always felt were very tight. >> this is susan berman's friend came blank furred. >> she was very protective of bobby. >> >> susan lived in a slightly rundown cottage in l.a.'s benedict canyon, and occasionally bob would stop by but soon he would be gone again, sometimes flying back to trinidad, where he'd questioned his shuttle driver, crossed the tally. >> he would kind of specifically asked questions about the sheriff's department been out here have you seen anything going on? >> and in 1997, well bob lived here, something did happen. a local teenager named karen mitchell vanished after leaving a women's shoe stars, that later bob is known to frequent.

by the year 2000, the case was cold. that of course is one across the country in new york another case was suddenly hot again, the investigation into the disappearance of bob's wife, kathy, reopened by westchester county the janine bureau, who later became a tv host on fox news channel. >> i had an instinct, everything about this wreaked of murder. we had evidence that she was battered by him, which he has since confirmed. it was clear to me that he killed her. >> the investigation was supposed to be top secret, but as we know, bob girths'd found out. >> yeah, he seemed worried. he did. >> and then, one of kathy's friends, you matter, helen strauss, offered the calls a tip. >> i beg the police to interview his best friend, susan berman. i show them all my research. i felt susan berman was the key, always did.

>> and the police did plan on interview susan berman. the problem was, they just waited a little too long. >> coming up -- >> my first thought is why didn't they listen to me. what were they waiting for, good oh? >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues this is a hot flash. but this is a not flash. ♪ i got a good feeling ♪ there's big news for women going through menopause. veozah - a prescription treatment for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms - the medical name for hot flashes and night sweats. with hormone-free veozah, you can have fewer hot flashes, and more not flashes. veozah is proven to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes, day and night. for some women, it can start working in as early as one week. don't use veozah if you have cirrhosis, severe kidney problems, kidney failure, or take cyp1a2 inhibitors. increased liver blood test values may occur.

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keith morrison: by the autumn of 2000, >> by the autumn of 2000, westchester county's reinvestigation

westchester county's reinvestigation of missing millionaire durst had been chugging quietly for months. when the story broke, durst found himself in the media glare again. it had been 18 years since kathie disappeared. and public opinion, he wrote, turned against him, unlike before. in 1982, the tone of the publicity was of a scandal about a rich schmuck who had a terrible marriage. people did not distance themselves from him because of it. in 2000, i was a murderer who everyone disliked. of course, susan berman had kept the bad press at bay back in 82. but now, investigators wanted to talk to her. and what did bob do then? he got married, not to susan berman, but to new york real estate broker jabber chariton. >> that was a match made in heaven. that was clearly a marriage of convenience in that this is

bobby durst staying that in the event i'm arrested i have someone to bail me out and to handle my affairs. >> well, of course, that is just an opinion. maybe it was a lot of match but it did come with spousal privileges which meant debrah did not have to talk to the cops about her new wealthy absent. she also reported he got access to a substantial share of his money. >> debrah doesn't do anything unless debrah benefits. >> that's a character reference i'm not sure i want to have. >> she is a savvy businesswoman. >> meanwhile out in hollywood, susan berman was struggling to make it as a screenwriter. >> things weren't quite going as well as she would have liked with her career. >> for years, susan had relied on bob for help, and he responded, sometimes with a big checks, two at least we're $25,000. >> there was some cover of kooky energy that went on

between them. >> we had some unique insight from a woman who claims she was susan berman's close as confident and therapist and psych it. her name is barbara stabenow or. she tells us she knows what susan was thinking, in concluding that she gave the police many hours of her recorded conversations with susan during which those last months of 2000, according to barbara, susan grew increasingly worried. >> did susan ever tell you that she was afraid of robert? >> she did tell me she was fearful of him because i had the feeling she felt afraid of him because she was afraid he'd withdraw her, and he helped. >> but it was more than that to the psychic. susan was afraid of bob, she said, because she knew too much and knew his secrets. >> towards the end of her life, she was very agitated with him.

>> would he save her? susan didn't know, said barbara. and then just before christmas 2000, she said, susan let her know that bob was on the way with money. >> he said i will bring it. and that is what happened. but i cannot prove it. >> l.a. cops have long suspected bob did go to susan's house in l.a., but not to bring her more money, to prevent her from talking, ever. we do know from flight records and bob's own personal account that he did go to california. >> christmas 2000, robert deuce was on the move again. late december, he flew here to eureka california. he had owned a house in this area for several years, but had recently sold it. he wasn't coming to stay here. he got a car, got inside it, pointed south. >> in bob durst's own personal

account, he notes being in garberville, 600 miles from los angeles. after that, we cannot follow his trail. we do know late on december 22nd or early the 23rd, susan berman was murdered by a bullet to the back of her home back of her head at her home in l.a.. and on the 23rd, flight records confirm bob took off from san francisco on the right eye to new york. and soon after, this letter, postmarked december 23rd, showed up at the beverly hills pd. >> i call it the cadaver note. >> oh yes, the famous note, directing police to her body, a note likely written by her killer. word of susan berman's murder traveled fast. >> it was like, oh, my god. i mean, my first thought is why didn't they listen to me? they did not interview susan berman in a timely manner. what were they waiting for, gadot? >> bob skipped susan berman

memorial service. and a few weeks later he surfaced in galveston, texas, thought it was a good place to get lost, except of course trouble eventually found him there. a killing, a dismemberment, and an unforgettable acquittal, we all know the story, but not this version. >> coming up -- did robert durst reverse telling the truth? >> his wife and friend, duke smuggled a little cassette recorder into the jail. he then would discuss with them whether or not he sounded believable with the story he was telling. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues y day. because when you get them today you can host today. shop black friday every day deals now. in store and online. (whisper) air wick. air wick's limited edition fragrances are infused with natural essential oils

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here's what's happening. negligence for israel, hamas, and the u.s. are nearing a deal for hasse is captured in loss once attacked, sources close to the deal tell nbc news. the exchange would happen for a temporary pause in the israel hamas conflict.

-- -- spurring on monday marked one year since the deadly shooting at club q. the shooter killed nine people injured 19 when lgbtq -- sentenced to five life sentences. now back to dateline. five life sentences. now back to dateline now back to dateline ison: at the end of the highway to galveston, ♪ ♪ ♪ texas is a road sign. >> at the end of the highway to galveston, texas, is a road to stop. mild zero, it says, this is where bob durst went to vanish. he had actually moved here just weeks before susan berman's murder and initially he was not a suspect. he took pains to keep himself hidden as he told his friends in the office. >> no one would come looking for robert durst in a 300 dollar a month apartment under an assumed name. >> the name of an old high school classmate named dorothy ciner. although in his lock he wrote he didn't like wearing a wake, it is, it got in my eyes,

unless it was on tight, which made my head sweat. but the version bob told over the years author matt birkbeck, doesn't tell the real story, certainly not the famous killing of his elderly neighbor, morris black, or bob's activities in galveston and elsewhere. >> it was really strange, you know, him and black telling around in galveston among the homeless. so what is a guy of his wealth and influence doing stealing identities? >> in fact, in the spring of 2001, at the same time he as dorothy ciner was living in galveston, he rented another room in new orleans under the name diane win. we found the place and his own landlord michael ogden. >> he was wearing a blouse with a small breezier, a wig. >> he lived on the top floor, and the neighbors often psalm wearing women's clothing.

>> he wasn't a drag queen. he was just in the skies. >> and then he would fly off somewhere else, new york, california, connecticut, always returning as he carefully noted in his personal account, to that down market apartment in galveston, where in september 2001, he shot morris black, accidentally and in self-defense, he claimed, and then dismembered the man in through his body parts in the galveston bay. here's how durst described it. jack daniels, marijuana, bought blue saw, but you saw not deep enough. return for bigger buzzsaw, could not you saw. went back, i looked at electric saws, bought acts, did it. but matt birkbeck believes just claims about the killing after the fact to sanitize what the

evidence suggest was a brutal murder. >> it makes no sense. and if you look at the autopsy report, it shows that morris had been beaten severely in the upper torso and even had suffered a heart attack. so obviously, something else was going on. >> after his arrest, bob called his friends the oldmans and tried to explain what happened. >> he said he went to a few state. it was an out of body experience. it's hard to understand. >> charged with murder, bob durst also called his new wife debrah charatan, who helped arrange 300,000 in cash for bail, to which he probably skipped, got a car, travel the country, sometime using morris black's i.d.. it was weeks later when they finally caught him, shoplifting in bethlehem, pennsylvania. well, more than 30,000 in cash was in his car.

the oldmans visited him in jail. >> we asked him how he was doing. and he said, you know, not great. he talked about how he pretty much was going to do, maybe suicide by koch. >> but bob, of course, didn't pull that particular trigger and was sent back to texas for trial, where his houston attorney dick -- advise the defense that beat the murder charge. >> it was a simple case of a struggle over a gun, and a gun went off. if it truly was self-defense, then what happened after the killing does it change that? >> bob was not so confident he would get off. in fact, he asked his friends the oldmans to learn more about what life behind bars would be like for him. >> he thought that if we got to know the ins and outs, that maybe it would be easy for him once he was on the inside. >> bob knew his chances of

acquittal depended in large part on winning the jury's sympathy. so for that, he went on a crash diet. >> bob was trying to use every way within his power to look frail when he was on trial in galveston. >> he also went considerable trouble to practice his testimony, as presiding judge susan chris learned later from recordings tape in the jail. >> he had his wife and friend smuggle a little cassette recorder into the jail. he would practice his testimony, sneak the tapes back to the house, and then discussed with them right there or not he sounded believably story that he was telling. >> the defendant please rise? >> the altman said bob was convinced 99.9% certain that he'd be convicted. >> with the jury find the defendant robert durst not guilty? >> the jury took five days to

save him from 25 years to life in prison, though he later served a little time in federal prison for skipping bail and dismembering morris black. but by 2005, he was a free man again. now, the only person who could catch bob durst was bob durst. >> coming up -- >> what was he thinking, caught off camera and seemingly off-guard on the drinks? did robert durst confess? why did he give that interview? >> he wanted to be able to show he's not a horrible person. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme.

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keith morrison: houston 2010-- >> houston, 2010. the story of robert durst took a most unlikely turn. the story of robert durst took a most likely turn. the mess in khalistan behind, he settled into this luxury high-rise. -- was the condo board president. >> mr. durst was mostly disheveled, it didn't look like his hair is kept, it was messy. he looked like a street boma. >> he was 67 by then. he seemed to have done away with his cross dressing. he might've lived out of his -- days in -- isolation. but none durst's story went hollywood. a movie called all good things was released based on robert

durst's life played by ryan gosling. it was directed by filmmaker andrew -- >> bob like that movie, and that's why he got it directed by -- i think. >> it was to offer his side of the story that bob sat for too long interviews with -- , who would eventually become the hbo series called the jinx. >> i begged him not to do it. i begged him not to do it. >> why he did it, only bob knows. >> what did he think he would get out of it? >> he would be able to show he's not a monster, not a horrible person. >> bob watch the jinx at the same time everybody else did. and according to -- , the filmmakers had given evidence to the authorities to years before the show aired, which to bob's attorney, the show was far from objective reporting. >> they edited probably 50 or more hours down into a few minutes.

and i think the editing job was designed to make him look bad. >> but it was a simple comparison of hand writing samples that on its own seem to condemn robert durst. it was episode five of the jinx series in which a letter he admitted sending to susan berman was compared to the infamous cadaver note her presumed killer sent to cause. that after seeing that episode, bob packed up and left houston. but the cops were monitoring his cell phone and eventually tracked him to the j w marriott hotel in new orleans. >> so now, two fbi agents show up at the hotel and they are talking to the clerk. well, do you have anyone booked here under the name of dorothy ciner? no. they go through ten other aliases, no, no, no. darn, where is he? they turn around, and there is

bob walking in the lobby, heading for the elevators. but >> later, they accompanied him to his room. >> and ultimately, they turn up cash, a gun, and some pot. >> so bob durst was booked for possession of a handgun and marijuana in louisiana, and also arrested for the murder of susan berman in los angeles. and the very next day, the final episode of the jinx aired, featuring the now infamous off camera bathroom. but was it a confession? >> [inaudible] kill them all, of course. >> a few people knew this then, that the document edited durst 's hot mic moment, manipulating two sentences together that

were not spoken as one. durst france certainly had no idea. >> what did you think of what you saw? >> oh, god, i look at stewart, he looked at me, and we were speechless for a very long time. and then i burst into tears, because it just -- it was like a knife. >> after his arrest, a package derived for him at that new orleans hotel. the police opened it. >> there were a pair of shoes in it and $117,000 in cash. so he was definitely getting ready -- >> for something. a pair of shoes and money, that's kind what you need, isn't it? >> that's right. >> and his attorney stepped in again, this time, he acknowledged because of bob's trip to new orleans, getting him out of jail may not be so easy. >> i acknowledge early on the chance of him making bail right now, the chances are slim to none, and slim just left town.

>> robert durst pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession. he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. but as for the susan berman, attorney dick deguerin insisted bob had nothing to do with her murder. the trial got underway in march 2020, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. it resumed 14 months later, but deguerin continue his battle against a tough deputy the a named john lewin. a frail robert durst testified from his wheelchair, and under questioning by lewin, made this stunning admission. >> did you kill susan berman it strictly a hypothetical. i did not kill susan berman. but if i had, i would lie about it. >> in september 2021, a jury found robert durst guilty of first degree murder. he was sentenced to life

without parole. two months later, a grand jury in new york indicted him for the death of his first wife, kathleen durst. but a jury would never hear that case. in january 2022, robert durst died in a california hospital while serving his life sentence. he was 78. and in a final twist, john lewin, the prosecutor of the berman case, said that because durst was appealing that verdict at the time of his death, under california law, his conviction will be vacated. robert durst may be gone, but the mysteries remain. >> coming up -- a missing teenager, investigators wonder, is there a link? >> robert durst is a person of

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>> of all the places robert durst wandered, this is not just a favorite, but now the setting of a lingering mystery, california's lost coast. in 1997, a pretty teenager named karen mitchell was helping out at her and annie casper's shoe store.

>> i did not ever meet robert durst, but my manager, she said she remembered him because he dressed as a woman. >> karen might well have met robert durst, said and annie, she often help eureka's homeless population, people among bob was known to meet. we can't know for sure, but we do know she was in bob's neighborhood more than once. >> karen used to go to trinidad on the bus. i mean, they could've met, it's definitely a possibility. she liked unusual people, she like to pick their brain and talk to them. >> the day she vanished, karen left the shoe store to walk to her job at a nearby daycare center, where she had arranged to have any pick her up afterward. >> and as i came down, i had this weird feeling like something was off. >> it was, karen never made it to work. her mother, mary casper, lived

in los angeles. no forgetting what that phone call was like. >> we drove from southern california up here, and i remember hanging flyers at the rest of us, with my daughter, just like, this is not happening right now, how could this be? karen, where are you? >> a massive search produced no sign of her, though there was one curious lead, a witness who said he saw a young woman get into a car with an older man on this busy eureka road. the witness worked with a police artist produce this, but nothing much came of it, at least not back then. years past and met matt birkbeck, who authored a book on durst called a deadly secret, got a tip from some independent investigators also working the case, a possible connection. >> they were credit card records that place durst in the

eureka area the day this girl disappeared. >> that transaction was just off the coast in trinidad, maybe 20 minutes or so by car, that spot where the witness saw a girl picked up on the road in eureka. and then before the trial in galveston, birkbeck heard this. >> i had a really good sources close to the defense team. and i was told that durst was extremely concerned about current mitchell. and was so concerned, he thought it was going to get charged. >> durst brought this up on his th h defense attorney? >> yes, and dick deguerin apparently said, bobby, let's worry about one case at a time. >> not true, said dick deguerin. >> i've never had any concern about it. >> did bob? >> no. [sirens] >> but when durst was arrested in new orleans, the case was reborn. andy mills was the eureka police chief at the time. >> robert durst is a person of interest in this case. >> he's definitely in the mix? >> he's in the mix, someone that we will consider as part

of our larger investigation. >> the chief was not alone. the fbi and the humble county d.a. were investigating a possible bob durst connection as well. however, durst was not the only person of interest, there are five others. >> the evidence, the circumstantial evidence, it's just not there at this point. >> that old composite sketch, for example, could this be robert durst? the chief is not quite sure it's particularly accurate. >> looks very similar. >> were you impressed by its similarities? >> i'm impressed by the similarities. but my questions are we able to recognize somebody in a very small space and window and then being able to recount that in a description that's pretty precise? >> that sketch, ridiculous, said durst's attorney dick deguerin. >> i know bob pretty well, that doesn't look anything like him. it looks like mr. potato head.

>> so, who was that witness 18 years ago? would he still remember? the cops had not spoken to him recently, so we found him, riding his tractor in the green hills above eureka. his name is randy domes, an army vet and local carpenter. did he remember? >> i looked right in, because i was yelling at him. >> yelling at him because that guy cut him off when he stopped his car to pick up a teenage girl. >> and i eyeball them, all the way around, as i was coming around the corner. >> holmes insisted the girl got into the car willingly, as if she knew the man. so now, 18 years later, we showed holmes the sketch and a picture of robert durst. >> what is your gut reaction when you see those two photographs together? >> i believe that that's the man that i saw. >> so how sure are you that you got it right? >> in my heart, i know. >> and gomes is fairly certain,

he said, that the girl who got in the car looked like a photo please show him of carrot mitchell's. >> but it was her, because we made eye contact. >> but issues, there's no proof that it was karen mitchell who got into the car. and bob durst's eyes who are not blue. and, said chief mills, gomes did not come forward until months after the incident. >> what we don't want to do is just take something that's, you know, sensational and plug that person into the midst of an investigation that may or may not have anything to do with him. >> for the investigation continues. some, like birkbeck, believe there may be more. >> i've never said definitively that he was a serial killer. what i said is there is so much out there about him that clearly there's something going on here, and that law

enforcement needs to look into. and thankfully, they are doing it now. >> a waste of time, said dick deguerin. >> well, there is no evidence. and to think -- you know, they have to have a theory that he's some kind of serial killer. he's not a serial killer. >> but the notion of robert durst as a serial killer has come up? >> it sells magazines, it sells books, causes people to turn on their tv. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> a long missing wife, a dismembered neighbor, a murdered friend. this is how robert durst is defined now. where did it all go wrong? all that power, privilege, money, it's been decades since the doctor warned bob's hostility issues could lead to personally decomposition. is that what happened? >> to his friends emily and stewart altman, bobby durst was

a good person and loyal friend for more than 40 years. the emily, faithful as she was, worried that bobby durst may have been the friend she never knew after all. >> i can't understand harming a human being, okay? that doesn't make sense to me. i don't know if i could forgive that. and i wish i could. and i'm struggling with that. i don't know. i don't know. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. thanks for watching. ♪♪ this sunday, closing in. israel and hamas are closing in on a deal to release hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting