Friend Testifies Against Robert Durst In Hearing, Claiming Durst Attacked Him

LOS ANGELES, CA — A friend of New York real estate scion Robert Durst's wife, who disappeared in 1982, testified in a Los Angeles courtroom Monday that Durst attacked him without provocation in the early 1980s, fracturing a bone in his face.

Durst is accused of killing his friend, writer Susan Berman, in her Benedict Canyon home in December 2000. Prosecutors contend Durst killed Berman because she was about to speak to police in New York in a renewed investigation into the 1982 disappearance of Durst's wife, Kathleen.

Prosecutors argue that Berman, who was a confidante of Robert Durst, had extensive knowledge of Kathie Durst's fate, with one witness testifying earlier that Berman even impersonated the missing woman in a phone call after her disappearance. Kathie Durst has never been found.

During a hearing in which select witnesses have been called to testify early -- with prosecutors citing their age and the possibility they could be killed before they can appear during Durst's trial -- photographer Peter Schwartz said Monday he first met Durst at a party at a mutual friend's house in Connecticut in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

He said that during the party, Durst forced open a door that hit Schwartz in the head, but Durst never apologized.

In late January 1981, he said he went to a New York nightclub with Durst, his wife and others, and they all returned to an apartment afterward. Schwartz said that during that gathering, Durst attacked him without provocation while he sitting on the floor talking to Kathie Durst.

"I was sitting on the floor," Schwartz said. " ... He kicked between my legs and under my eye."

Schwartz said he suffered a broken bone under his eye from the attack, saying Durst was wearing "pointy" cowboy boots. He said Durst "was enraged," and as they struggled, Durst shoved him into a radiator, injuring his back.

Photos of Schwartz's injuries were shown in court.

After the scuffle ended and Durst left the room, Kathie Durst "seemed concerned and fearful," telling Schwartz that her husband owned a gun, the witness testified.

Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said criminal charges were filed against Durst over the attack, but they were later dropped. A civil suit was settled out of court, he said.

Schwartz testified that he had a telephone conversation with Kathie Durst in January 1982, and she seemed agitated. He said when the conversation ended, he heard what sounded like two phones being hung up, suggesting somebody may have been listening in on the call.

Kathie Durst disappeared on Jan. 31, 1982.

Robert Durst, 74, denies any involvement in Berman's death and insists he has no information about his first wife's disappearance.

Durst was arrested March 14, 2015, in a New Orleans hotel room, hours before the airing of the final episode of the HBO documentary series "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst," which examined the disappearance of his wife in 1982 and the killings of Berman and the 2001 dismemberment murder of Durst's Texas neighbor, Morris Black. Durst was tried but acquitted of Black's murder.

On the documentary series finale, which aired the day after his arrest, Durst was caught on microphone saying to himself, "Killed them all, of course." He also was heard saying, "There it is, you're caught," and "What a disaster."

During a New Orleans jailhouse interview with Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, Durst said he was "on meth" while the documentary was being filmed and that he didn't heed his attorneys' advice not to be interviewed for the series.

The murder charge against Durst includes the special circumstance allegation of murder of a witness and murder while lying in wait, along with gun use allegations. However, the District Attorney's Office does not plan to seek the death penalty.

Defense attorneys have objected to the idea that their client -- who was in a wheelchair but is now up and walking -- could be a threat to any possible trial witnesses, particularly since allegations of wrongdoing against him suggest he has always acted alone.

The conditional questioning of witnesses before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham is expected to continue for several more days.

City News Service

Photo: Real Estate Heir Robert Durst appears in the Airport Branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court during a preliminary hearing on December 21, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Durst is charged with capital murder in a friend's killing Susan Berman in 2000. (Photo by Jae C. Hong-Pool\Getty Images)