New York real estate heir Robert Durst sits in the courtroom as he is sentenced to life in prison
(Picture: AP)New York real estate heir Robert Durst was sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for the murder of his best friend two decades ago.
Durst, 78, was convicted of first-degree murder last month in a Los Angeles Superior Court for shooting Susan Berman point-blank in the back of the head at her home in December 2000.
The mystery surrounding Ms Berman’s death had haunted her family and friends for 15 years.
But Durst was arrested in 2015 after he took part in a documentary which unearthed new evidence.
Sareb Kaufman, who considered Berman his mother after his father dated her, said: “It has been a daily, soul-consuming and crushing experience.
“I’ve lost everything many times over because of him.”
Durst silenced Ms Berman to prevent her from incriminating him in the reopened investigation of his wife’s 1982 disappearance in New York, prosecutors said.
At the time Ms Berman provided a phony alibi for Durst when his wife Kathie Durst vanished without a trace, prosecutors said.
His wife has never been found and Durst has never been charged with a crime related to her disappearance.
Durst testified he didn’t kill either woman and his defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin said he will appeal.
Judge Mark Windham denied a new trial as he rejected the argument there was insufficient evidence.
Deputy District Attorney John Lewin and Kaufman pleaded with Durst now to tell the McCormack family where she was buried.
"I hope in your final days and hours you will ... give the McCormacks what little they are asking for: to find Kathie, to lay her to rest appropriately, finally and at long last," Kaufman said.
"This is the most important question that still haunts us."
Durst is the grandson of Joseph Durst who founded the Durst Organization which is one of Manhattan's largest commercial real estate firms.
His share of the family fortune was estimated to be $100 million.
