this is "nightline." >> tonight, inside the saga of robert durst. the multi-millionaire real estate heir and the start of "the jinx." his wife disappeared without a trace. could he board have been right here the whole time? >> she is here. there's no doubt in my mind that she's here. >> tonight the former prosecutor who's been on his case for years, determined to get justice. >> he should be shot in the back of the head and his body should be dismembered like he did to everyone else. welcome to the victorian life. at first it was fashion. then she was hooked. >> sometimes little girls will ask me if i'm a princess. >> now this couple lives in a whole other world. >> the heart of the victorian home -- >> why they're facing backlash for their very old-school lifestyle. but first the "nightline 5." >> beyond natural grain-free pet

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good evening. we begin tonight with the wealthy real estate heir whose wife, friend and neighbor all died in mysterious circumstances. we're talking of course about none other than robert durst. abc's ryan smith met the woman on a mission to find out what

really happened to his first wife. however long it takes. >> every time i come out here i think, she's here. her spirit is here and she's waiting for someone to find him. >> reporter: for janine this bleak stretch of land is sacred ground. the former prosecutor is showing me the area in south jersey where she believes kathleen durst is buried. >> she is here. there's no doubt in my mind that she's here. and the family deserves to be able to bury her in a place of respect and dignity. >> reporter: she was the first wife of robert durst, the troubled millionaire scion at the center of two murders and a disappearance. kathleen vanished into thin air. his best friend found shot in the head. his neighbor who he admits to killing and dismembering. >> i know there is intense interest. >> reporter: she says durst should be held responsible. what do you think should happen to him? >> he should be shot in the back of the head and his body dismembered hike he did to everyone else.

>> reporter: she's credited with reopening kathleen's cold case, a move that may have set in motion the other killings. the hbo documentary series "the jinx" he sat down for an interview -- >> did not tell the whole truth, nobody tells the whole truth. >> reporter: the series ended with a shocking scene. audio of durst alone in the bathroom. muttering to himself with what some consider a confession. all recorded on his open microphone. >> what the hell did i do? killed them all, of course. >> i said to myself, of course you did. i knew it from the day they walked in my office in 1999. the man killed her. >> when you saw that moment you thought, got him? >> oh, big-time got him. >> reporter: the series and the shocking scene helped inspire pirro to write "he killed them all." in the book out this week she gives an insider's account of the durst saga. >> i had my investigators come

here with a tracker. i mean, there are many ways to tray to find a body. >> reporter: pirro says she's been coming here since kathleen's cold case landed her desk in the westchester da's office. >> you said when you looked into this case you couldn't not feel a connection to her. >> yeah. >> why? >> we were in law school, medical school respectively, at about the same time. we went to some of the same night spots. there was so much about her that i just connected with her. and she never left my mind. >> reporter: beautiful and ambitious, the fourth-year med student and durst lived the quiet life. until she vanished one night in january 1982. >> kathleen durst goes to her friend's house, robert is reputedly calling her. so she leaves that night. she leaves and goes home. we never hear from her after that. >> reporter: reading kathleen's file, pirro said she immediately suspected durst. >> the woman is weeks away from graduating medical school, married to a wealth iowa guy gu

doesn't report her missing for five days. >> did you have anything to do with the disappearance of your wife? >> no. i don't know where she is, i don't know what happened to her, i don't know how it happened to her. >> reporter: his story at the time corroborated by the doorman and elevator operator of the durst-owned building, both claiming to have seen her that night. when the police investigation turned up no signs of foul play, the case went cold. >> it was not the investigation that anyone would expect in a family like this whose daughter-in-law or sister-in-law or wife disappeared. do you think today, god forbid, if trump's daughter-in-law were missing that there would be two articles in the newspaper and that would be the end of it? not a chance. >> reporter: 18 years later, operating on a tip, pirro said her team started from scratch. >> do you think she returned here that night? >> there is not a chance she returned here that night. i would bet my house on it. >> reporter: they went to reinterview the durst building

employees. >> when we come back, 18 years later, one is dead. one retracts his statement and said, that's not true. >> reporter: pirro said she heard claims from kathleen's friends that there was trouble in the durst marriage and she was seeking a divorce. >> she turned to me and said, promise me if something happens to me you'll check it out. i'm afraid of what bobby might do. >> reporter: in 2001, kathleen's brother jim mccormack told abc news about an incident that unnerved him. >> at mom's house, he grabbed kathy by the hair, started pulling her out of the room by the hair. >> reporter: years later, durst himself was cdid about their tumultuous relationship. >> the life was half arguments, fighting, slapping, pushing, wrestling. >> reporter: in 2000 pirro's team searched the lake near durst's country home for kathleen's body but found nothing. durst was asked about that search. >> what were the divers for? >> obviously looking for body

part part. >> he says body parts. i said, oh my god, he chopped her up as well! >> reporter: here is where pirro thinks durst buried those body parts. shortly after kathleen's disappearance her friends found a list in durst's trash with the words including "town dump, bridge, dig, boat, shovel." pirro claims it's a road was that to the pine barrens in south jersey. >> this is town road on route 9, the bridge to nowhere. he would have been familiar with this area as a dumping ground. >> reporter: an area she says the durst organization was considering for development at the time. three weeks after pirro's investigation became public, another mysterious death. robert durst's best friend susan berman, the woman who served as his spokesperson after kathleen's appearance, shot in the back of the head execution-style in her los angeles home. so why do you believe robert durst killed susan berman?

>> because she knew too much. robert durst knew it would be inevitable that i would want to speak to susan. >> reporter: but not everyone agrees with pirro's account here. last month her former co-author, lisa dipaulo, filed a lawsuit claiming among other things that pirro fired her when she raised accuracy issues, a claim pirro denies. >> everything in that book was accurate. i know, i was there. >> reporter: following susan's murder in 2000 durst goes underground, moving to texas, disguising himself as a mute woman until a fisherman in galveston bay finds a garbage bag washed up on the shore. >> i was shocked to see that there was a torso. no head, no legs, no arms. >> reporter: other bags containing arms and legs were found. the head, still missing. the victim, 71-year-old morris black, robert durst's neighbor. durst was arrested and tried for murder. >> good morning. you may all be seated. >> reporter: at the trial, durst admitted to killing morris black

and dismembering his body but claimed that it was all done in self-defense. >> why do you think that robert durst killed morris black? >> robert durst only kills when he has to. robert durst is a calculating man. he knows when he's in a danger zone. that's when he kills. >> reporter: killing black is the only crime durst ever confessed to. an admission pirro says should have been a slam dunk for a murder conviction. but durst's team mount an ambitious defense starring pirro. >> bob was driven from new york by a politically ambitious woman. >> reporter: the defense strategy paid off. >> this half-wit jury in texas bought it. >> we the jury find the defendant robert durst not guilty. >> reporter: durst served time for three lesser crimes, including bond jumping, and was paroled in 2005. he lived mostly out of the public eye until he decided to participate in "the jinx." >> why do you think robert durst

did "the jinx"? >> because he's an ego maniac, he wants attention. he wants to prove he can get away with things. >> reporter: on the eve of the final episode of "the jinx" durst was arrested in new orleans for the murder of susan berman, where law enforcement found him apparently trying to flee with over $42,000 in cash and a revolver loaded with live rounds. we've reached out to robert durst's legal team but have not received a response. durst has been in prison in new orleans since march and is waiting to be transferred to los angeles to answer to charges that he murdered susan berman. for pirro she says the story isn't over until durst is held responsible for kathleen's disappearance. the one case that started it all. >> some people say that you have a personal vendetta against robert durst. >> i have a personal vendetta against anyone who commits murder. i have a personal vendetta on behalf of women who have been silenced by the men who say they love them. the women who told us they were going to die. yeah, i have a vendetta and i'm

proud of it. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm ryan smith in new york. >> janine pirro's book "he killed them all" available tomorrow. next this couple gave up more than modern conveniences to li the victorian life but why? take us inside their world. when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. what about my family? my li'l buddy? and what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. then my doctor told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. knowing eliquis had both... turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve

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what would it take for you to forego the perks of modern life? fare those of us glued to do our cell phone it's almost impossible to imagine a world without takeout or uber. the couple you're about to meet gave it up voluntarily and they say their controversial choice was worth it. tonight abc's aditi roy joins them for a trip back in time. >> reporter: sarah and gabriel crispman might have been born in the wrong century. the husband and wife turn heads. >> sometimes little girl asks me if i'm a princess, which is very sweet. >> reporter: wearing fashion statements that would make a hipster envious. dandy hats, corseted garb, and a

estimachatelaine that functions swiss army knife. >> i do everything by hand. i've got girlfriends who do yoga, i sew. >> it's one thing to have an intellectual interest in something but to live in it day in, day out, why make that decision? >> i spent a year in japan teaching english. that made me realize that studying things from a book is one thing. actually being in that place and being surrounded by the people and interacting with the things that they use every day, that's something else. >> reporter: the victorian era is everything between 1837 to 1901. sarah and gabriel choose to focus on the last decades of that time period when telephones, electric lightbulbs, and cars were first introduced. >> trying to make it work -- >> reporter: walking through their home in washington state you're struck by the antique appliances, a wad-fired stove set. >> the hotter the victorian home, especially in the winter -- >> reporter: patented in 1879.

>> it's actually a lot more controllable than an electric stove. >> reporter: a literal icebox. >> so the meat gets put right on the ice. >> this is a miller vestal -- >> reporter: an oil lamp. >> when we first light it go around the wick, then put this on. and turn this down just a little bit. there we go. >> reporter: if you listen closely you won't hear the sounds of a washing machine or a dryer. no microwave or mixer preparing meals. just the tick-tock of a clock. which made one particular sound -- [ cell phone ringing ] >> that sounds like a modern phone. >> it is. >> reporter: -- seem especially out of place. >> we didn't think to turn it off because it hardly ever rings. >> do you even cell phones? >> never have, neither of us. >> reporter: gabriel has a master's in library science but works at a bike shop. sarah works at home as a writer. while they live simply they have to embrace some technology in

order to survive in 2015. >> we don't completely shun computers, sarah has to use them for research. but i don't want to be controlled and i don't want my life combined by computers and technology. >> reporter: but sarah started writing her book, "this victorian life," by hand wi withdropper fountain pen. >> you wrote an entire book in script. >> yeah. >> jimmy: >> submitted it to your editor? >> i had to type it up. there is no editor in the world who will accept a handwritten manuscri manuscript. even though i write them this way i have to type them up to turn them in. >> reporter: while they may be an extreme case of people throwing back to old times they're not the only ones. you'll find plenty of examples even in pop culture of people adopting 19th century trends to fit their modern needs. celebrities like kylie jenner and khloe kardashian have cherry picked from the victorian era wearing corset-like waist trainers. >> what's the point of wearing

the corset? >> it holds the back up straight. it makes the waist smaller. so it accentuates the different sexual characteristics between men and women. >> does that feel like it's subjugating? >> no. it's rather empowering. >> reporter: these tokens of the past caused an uproar online when sarah wrote about her lifestyle for vox.com. reaction on the internet went viral with some on twitter mocking her. websites joining in to point out that women didn't even have the right to vote back then. >> what's so big about a vote? >> it's the lifeline of a democracy. >> america started with a lot less voters than they've eventually become. the conception of who should vote has evolved over time. again, it's something we don't necessarily see as being the most important thing in the world. >> but you do agree women should vote? >> well -- i think that voting in general is overrated for everyone. >> reporter: though slavery was accomplished in the u.s. during that time period, some modern readers have also noted that

minorities were not entitled to the same privileges of white people during that time. >> in the victorian era, someone who looked like you wouldn't be friends with someone who looked like me. >> actually, here in this part of the country, we certainly would have. if we were in boston, we certainly would have. whereas there are certain parts of the world now where we might not be. even 2015. >> reporter: the chrismans say they aren't trying to force their lifestyle on anyone, just embracing the overlooked knowledge from a time in history that was seemingly simpler. >> it's the difference between reading about a different country in a book and going there. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm aditi roy in port townsend, washington. and next, it's beginning to look a lot like -- thanksgiving? why signs of the holiday kickoff are showing up early everywhere.

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finally tonight, with halloween out of the way, some of us are already thinking about what's going on the table for thanksgiving. but with the seasons changing at super sonic speed these days does anyone else feel like christmas is coming earlier this year? 'tis the season already? decorations are popping up, retailers rolling out christmas deals, and those festive red starbucks cups are back. if it feels like the holidays are starting earlier you're not just imagining things. it's called the christmas creep. a marketing strategy that apes to boost profits by extending the shopping season.

amazon rolled out black friday deals today. walmart kicked off seasonal sales yesterday. over 40% of americans have already started holiday shopping. if you don't have that buddy the elf level of holiday cheer, you're not alone. people letting their inner grinch out tweeting, it's beginning to look like somebody should be punched in the face for playing christmas music so early. ouch. and, thanksgiving is underappreciated and mashed potatoes don't get the respect they deserve. but you still have plenty of time to find your holiday spirit. there are, after all, still 52 shopping days to go. it was an unknown author who said, oh for the good old days when people would stophristmas shopping when they ran out of money. thank you for watching abc news and don't miss our live interview with republican presidential candidate donald trump on "good morning america" tomorrow. as always we're online 24/7 on

our "nightline" facebook page and abcnews.com. good night, america. so how long is your sister staying? oh, for a while, i hope, this time. yeah, well, with her, we could just be some pit stop to some acupunctury aroma therapy hindu... festival of hugging. she's just trying to find herself, ray. she hasn't looked near the soap. she doesn't smell, ray.

that was patchouli oil that time. patchouli. what is that, hindu for "stink"? stop it, ray. she smells fine. yeah, yeah, yeah. hi, dears. [chuckles] i brought you my big spoon. ah. see? ah. [sniff] ah, see, that's beautiful. that is what a woman should smell like. [inhales deeply] ahh! lemon pledge and meat sauce.