Robert Durst hospitalized in jail, jurors in murder trial sent home

New York real-estate heir Robert Durst was hospitalized Thursday, and the judge in his murder trial sent jurors home.

The jury is not due back into the California court until Monday, according to Judge Mark E. Windham, who said Durst, 78, was in the "jail hospital because of some incident this morning involving his health.''

The multimillionaire has pleaded not guilty in the killing of his good friend, Susan Berman, in Los Angeles in 2000.

Prosecutors have said they believe Berman suspected Durst of being involved in his wife Kathleen Durst's disappearance in 1982.

A warrant in the case refers to a previously unknown letter sent to the west Los Angeles Police Station from New York on Jan. 9, 2001. The typewritten letter, titled "Possible motive for Susan Berman murder," referred to the disappearance of Durst's wife. It indicated that Berman suspected Durst of being involved in his wife's disappearance.

The trial resumed in May without Durst after a 14-month recess due to concerns over coronavirus.

Windham at the time said that Durst had refused to leave his Los Angeles County jail cell, but his lawyer disputed that account.

The attorney, Dick DeGuerin, had asked the judge to postpone the trial because Durst has bladder cancer and other health problems. Windham denied the request.

“The question isn't whether he can endure the rigors of the trial," DeGuerin said. "It’s whether he can survive at all.”

Durst, the disappearance of Kathleen Durst and the murder of Berman were the subjects of an HBO documentary series, "The Jinx."