Two days after being sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of his friend Susan Berman, New York real estate heir Robert Durst tested positive for COVID-19.
According to attorney Dick DeGuerin, Durst is in the hospital and on a ventilator.
“He looked horrible on Thursday, the worst I’ve ever seen him,” DeGuerin said Saturday in a call with NBC News.
Durst, 78, has numerous medical problems. During his sentencing Thursday, he was taken to the courtroom in a wheelchair wearing a brown jail gown and had a catatonic look.
He was convicted in September of first-degree murder for shooting Berman point-blank in the neck at his home in December 2000. Durst silenced Berman to prevent her from incriminating him in the reopened investigation into his wife’s disappearance in 1982 in New York, prosecutors said.
Durst is the grandson of Joseph Durst, who founded the Durst Organization, one of the largest commercial real estate firms in Manhattan. His father, Seymour, took over the reins of the company and later handed control over to a younger brother, Douglas.
Before Robert Durst’s sentencing on Thursday, Berman’s family members addressed the court and described her as a warm person who has been deeply missed.
“It has been a devastating and crushing daily experience,” Sareb Kaufman said of his murder. Kaufman’s father was Susan Berman’s boyfriend and considered himself her son.
Durst’s attorney said he believes Durst has been vaccinated against COVID-19, but could not provide details on whether he had received any booster doses against the virus.
When he saw Durst on Thursday, DeGuerin said, “He was having difficulty breathing, he was having difficulty speaking. He collapsed in his chair… I’m very worried.”
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