Millionaire Robert Durst jailed again

By KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Millionaire Robert Durst, who was acquitted of murder despite admitting he had cut off a man's head, was arrested today on a parole violation, said Mike Viesca, a spokesman with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

"A warrant was issued for Robert Durst today after witnesses saw the offender in Galveston on Dec. 16,'' Viesca said. "By being there, Durst violated the terms of his supervision that restrict his schedule and travel.''

Attorney Bill Habern, who has represented Durst in dealings with Texas parole officials, said he was on his way to the Harris County Jail at 2:10 p.m. to find out why Durst was arrested and what charge he faces.

Durst pleaded guilty to state charges of evidence-tampering and bail-jumping related to the killing. He was eligible for parole on those charges because he had spent three years in Galveston County Jail before and after his murder acquittal.

Viesca said Durst will remain in Harris County custody until a (parole) revocation hearing is scheduled, most likely within the next two weeks. Durst is on mandatory supervision until Nov. 29, 2006.

Following the revocation hearing, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles can choose to revoke his parole and send him to prison, send him to an intermediate sanction facility, or keep him on parole under supervision with or without changes to his current restrictions.

In November 2003, a Galveston County jury acquitted Durst of murder in the 2001 shooting death of Morris Black, Durst's neighbor in a Galveston apartment building.

Durst said the shooting was accidental. He admitted that he cut up Black's body, placed it in trash bags and tossed them into Galveston Bay.

Galveston police said Durst was spotted Friday outside the apartment building where he and Black had lived and where the slaying occurred. Sgt. Cody Cazalas said he received a call from one of Durst's former neighbors, who also testified at Durst's murder trial.

''The witness was upset and very concerned for her safety,'' Cazalas said. ''She said she'd seen him standing outside the house just staring at the house.''

Cazalas said he searched the neighborhood to see if Durst was still around. He also checked with the Galveston County District Attorney's office and was told that ''if he was in Galveston he was in violation of his parole.''

Cazalas said that he contacted Durst's parole officer and he said he believes that parole officials interviewed the neighbor who first reported Durst's presence in Galveston and another person who saw Durst the same day.

He was down there looking for the real killer.

Now thats funny !!

Maybe he and OJ can start their own innocence project.

Was O.J. with him?

No, but Robert Blake was. He'd just run inside the apartment to retrieve the gun he'd accidentally left inside.

Maybe he was trawling the bay for his neighbor's missing head.

They neglected to mention whether he was dressed as a man or a woman this time . . .

You never know who you'll see in the mall

Trial judge has an awkward encounter with Durst in Galleria

By KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Two days before Robert Durst violated parole with a trip to Galveston County last Friday, the New York millionaire had a close, strange encounter with the judge who presided over his sensational murder trial two years ago.


State officials say Houston's Galleria wasn't on parolee Durst's list of approved stops Dec. 14, when he ran across state District Judge Susan Criss of Galveston.

Criss said she was Christmas shopping when she saw a familiar figure coming toward her, a man talking on a cell phone.

"I saw him and thought 'Oh, my God,' " Criss said.

As the two met in the mall, Durst was trying to place her, Criss said.

"I know you, I know you," Criss quoted Durst as saying. "And then he realized who I was, and he dropped his phone and it fell apart."

In November 2003, a jury in Criss' court acquitted Durst of murder, even though he admitted cutting up the body of neighbor Morris Black, 71, and tossing the parts into Galveston Bay in garbage bags.

Criss later ordered that Durst be held on a $2 billion bond on bail-jumping and evidence-tam-pering charges. Durst pleaded guilty to those crimes, received a five-year sentence but was credited for time served.

He remains under "superintensive supervision" by a parole officer.

Criss said she didn't know what to say to Durst, so she said the obvious.

"How ya doing, Bob?" she said. "He said he was doing fine."

The two then discussed the current activities of attorneys Dick DeGuerin, Mike Ramsey and Chip Lewis, who represented Durst in his murder trial. DeGuerin now represents U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and Ramsey and Lewis are preparing the defense of former Enron Chairman Ken Lay.

"I can't believe you stopped to talk to me," Criss quoted Durst as saying.

"What was I going to do?" Criss said. "Run away and scream?"

As the awkward conversation ended, Criss said she started walking away and found herself saying: "Take care of yourself and have a happy holiday."

Criss said she was not aware of the terms of Durst's parole.

Word of the encounter filtered through journalists to parole officials who already had arrested Durst on Tuesday on a parole violation for his trip to Galveston. Durst visited the office of a lawyer, a physician's home and the house in which a struggle between Durst and Black over a pistol resulted in Black's death in 2001.

Mike Viesca, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Thursday that Durst was supposed to go only to places to which he had permission from his parole officer to visit. The Galleria was not on Durst's Dec. 14 list, he said.

Durst remained in the Harris County Jail on Thursday pending a parole revocation hearing expected to be held in January.

Criss said she expects to be subpoenaed to testify at the hearing in Houston.

quote:

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He remains under "superintensive supervision" by a parole officer

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And yet some want more probation for offenders.

Durst gets prison time for parole violation
Real estate heir was caught taking unauthorized trips.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, January 21, 2006
HOUSTON � A New York real estate heir who was acquitted of murder in the death of his Galveston neighbor will be sent to a private prison facility for violating parole on other charges, state officials ruled Friday.

Robert Durst will go sometime in the next several weeks to a detention facility for parole violators because he was caught taking unauthorized trips. He was on parole for gun possession, bond jumping and evidence tampering.

A lot of 'other peoples' clients are rumored to say that they don't want to be on county paper, it's 'hell', and they would rather be on parole. I always assumed the reason why was similar to the present set of facts.

Will the private prison have rooms to 'upgrade' to?