Cops launched a nationwide manhunt for real-estate scion Robert Durst yesterday after he failed to show up for his arraignment in Galveston, Texas, on charges of beheading and dismembering his next-door neighbor.
Justice of the Peace Penny Pope declared Durst a fugitive and tripled his bail from $250,000 to $750,000, and Galveston cops appealed to the FBI for help in finding the 58-year-old millionaire developer.
Prosecutors immediately obtained indictments against Durst for murder and failure to appear.
Friends and relatives of Durst’s wife, Kathleen – who vanished almost 20 years ago – were outraged that he slipped out of the hands of law enforcement.
“I’m flabbergasted and very unhappy. Why wasn’t there any surveillance?” said Kathleen’s brother, Jim McCormack.
“Given the nature of the crime and the facts that two weapons were found in his car when he was arrested, he has a pervasive criminal profile. Why was he given bail in the first place?”
“I’m very disappointed in Texas authorities,” said Gilberte Najamy, who was Kathleen’s best friend.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on his way to South America. He probably bought a boat and is on his way there,” she said.
Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who is investigating Kathleen’s disappearance, said Durst’s failure to appear “is cause for considerable concern for all of law enforcement. We are putting all of our resources into finding him.”
Durst, the son of the late millionaire developer Seymour Durst, was arrested on Oct. 9 and charged with beheading and dismembering his next-door neighbor, Morris Black, 71, whose torso and limbs floated up on the shores of Galveston Bay.
Black’s head has not been found.
Durst’s lawyer, Mark Kelly, said he spoke with his client Monday to tell him about yesterday’s hearing.
He said he didn’t know if Durst received a notice of the hearing at the Dallas address he provided when he posted bail on Oct. 10.
Kurt Sistrunk, Galveston’s first assistant district attorney, said Durst hasn’t lived at the Dallas address since April 12.
“There are a number of addresses across the United States for Mr. Durst,” he said. “We have no idea where he is.”
Durst vanished as Westchester, Los Angeles and Galveston investigators met in the Texas city to discuss Black’s slaying and two other cases – Kathleen’s disappearance and the shooting death of Durst’s friend, Susan Berman, in Los Angeles last December.
Kathleen was last seen alive when she left a party at Najamy’s house on Jan. 31, 1982, to return to the couple’s lakeside cottage in South Salem, N.Y.
Cops reopened the investigation last year and were about to interview Berman when she was killed with a 9 mm gun.
Such a weapon was found in Durst’s car when he was arrested. L.A. police plan to conduct ballistics tests on it. A .22-caliber gun also was found in the car.
Trail of blood
Manhattan – Durst’s wife Kathleen last seen alive Jan. 31, 1982
South Salem, N.Y. (westchester county) Durst’s home in 1982
Dallas Texas – Durst’s address until April 12
Galveston Bay – Morris Black’s headless body washes up on shore; Durst charged Oct. 9
Los Angeles – Durst pal Susan Berman slain in December 2000