Singapore – Robert Durst, scion of NY’s billionaire real estate family has been accused of three murders over the past 30 years, but never convicted. Brilliant and reclusive, he has not spoken publicly – until now.
Robert Durst in front of Times Square
Directed and produced by Andrew Jarecki and produced and shot by Marc Smerling (the Oscar nominees behindCapturing the Friedmans), The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst tracks Durst’s strange history against the backdrop of unimaginable wealth and privilege, exposes long-buried information discovered during their seven-year investigation of a series of unsolved crimes, and was made with the cooperation of the man suspected of being at its centre.
Premiering over three consecutive nights from 1 to 3 April at 10pm (9pm Thai.Jkt) on HBO SIGNATURE and on HBO GO, this groundbreaking six-part HBO documentary series will also be released on HBO On Demand from 6 April.
“We simply cannot say enough about the brilliant job that Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling did in producingThe Jinx. Years in the making, their thorough research and dogged reporting reignited interest in Robert Durst’s story with the public and law enforcement,” said HBO in a statement.
Long suspected in the notorious 1982 disappearance of his beautiful young wife, Kathie, in New York, Durst continued to raise suspicion with the unsolved 2000 murder of Susan Berman (his confidante, thought to be a key witness in the investigation into the case of Durst’s missing wife) in Beverly Hills, as well as the subsequent murder and dismemberment of neighbor Morris Black in Galveston, Texas. Durst has consistently maintained his innocence, and remained a free man.
Robert Durst
This unprecedented documentary event tracks Jarecki as he develops a unique relationship with Durst following the release of Jarecki’s 2010 film, All Good Things, a narrative feature about Durst’s life starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst. During exclusive interviews with Jarecki that were initiated by Durst himself, he talks with startling candor, revealing secrets of a case that has baffled authorities for three decades.
In addition to footage drawn from more than 20 hours’-worth of interviews with Durst, the series features a cast of fascinating characters from Durst’s life, among them: his current wife, Debrah Lee Charatan; former Westchester County district attorney Jeanine Pirro, who reopened the investigation; members of the secretive Durst family; and Durst’s legal dream team, including legendary Texas lawyer Dick DeGuerin. The Jinx is the result of nearly a decade of research by the filmmakers, who have unearthed thousands of pages of hidden documents, police files, key witnesses, never-before-seen footage and private prison recordings.
The premiere episode revisits 2001, when a dismembered corpse is found floating in trash bags in Galveston Bay, Texas. Police trace the body back to a $300-a-month rooming house, identify the victim as elderly drifter Morris Black, and discover that he had been friendly with his across-the-hall neighbor, Dorothy Ciner, a mute woman who occasionally shared her apartment with Robert Durst, a nephew from New York. When police enter the apartment and find evidence of the grisly crime, they learn that there is no Dorothy Ciner, and in fact the apartment’s only occupant has been Robert Durst – disguised as a mute woman.
Police arrest Durst at a local eyeglass store, but after he easily pays his $250,000 bail and goes on the run, they learn he is the scion of New York’s billionaire real estate family, and has a checkered past. After months as a fugitive, Durst is arrested for shoplifting a four-dollar chicken sandwich at a Wegman’s grocery store in Pennsylvania, and returns to Texas to stand trial.
Flash forward to 2012, when Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling are preparing for the theatrical release of All Good Things. Shortly before the premiere, Jarecki is contacted out of the blue by the reclusive Durst, who asks to see the movie. After viewing the film, Durst – who had never spoken publicly about his life or the crimes of which he’s been accused – expresses his willingness to sit down with the filmmaker for a series of interviews destined to change the case forever.
The subsequent episodes explore newly discovered information and expose secrets that span a three-decade hunt for the truth, building to a startling conclusion.
“Andrew and Marc have done a brilliant job weaving a story that is both a character study and thrilling murder mystery. It literally kept me on the edge of my seat,” said Michael Lombardo president, HBO Programming.
Jarecki said, “Over the seven years in which we pursued the story through all its unexpected revelations, uncovering the truth became an obsession. Now the audience can watch it unfold in front of them as it did for us.”
The Jinx: The Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst marks Jarecki and Smerling’s second collaboration with HBO, following the landmark theatrical documentary Capturing the Friedmans, which debuted on the network. The series is co-produced and edited by Zac Stuart-Pontier, who previously worked with the filmmakers on Catfish,and executive produced by Jason Blum, whose previous HBO credits include The Normal Heart.
