out what happened. i have never seen anything like it. >> a missing wife. >> everything about this wreaks of murder. >> a murdered best friend. a dead neighbor. >> they try to understand. >> now, the stories that you have not heard. as the friends of robert durst speak out. >> i hope and i pray, when all this is done, we all get answers. >> and here they own account of the strange life. the reclusive millionaire spent much of his time on the road, so where was he? what was he doing? who was he with? >> what does it die of his wealth doing hanging out at a homeless shelter, soothe kitchen. >> for decades, suspicions, and questions raised and no. will their family be answers? >> -- cases and vernon? >> the twisted tale of robert durst, and a mystery. >> where are you? >> he definitely is -- ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to dateline. robert durst was born into privilege, he never seem to crave the limelight, but over the years, his possible ties to a strength of mysterious disappearances, and gruesome deaths placed him under the bright glare of suspicion. the tale has been the subject of books, television shows, and movie plots. it is a stranger than fiction story with twists and turns, a complicated yarn that has been unraveling for decades. here is keith morrison, with robert durst, the last years. >> there is a letter, written more than 60 years ago, a prophecy? perhaps. a warning? certainly. a doctor, writing about a very troubled ten year old boy suffering from hostility issues. sufficient to produce a personality decomposition, and possibly even schizophrenia. a troubled little boy? his name is well known robert durst. ♪ ♪ ♪ by now you have heard the bizarre saga, the multi million -- the disappeared wife, the dead friend, the dismembered neighbor. he has been the subject of several dateline episodes, and the star, though not in the way that he intended, of hp is the jinx. but does anyone know the truth about robert durst? the story behind the story, the tale that we followed, the revelations that we encountered, the personal account that he wrote and we were given which has led us to a very weird place, the last years of the infamous. robert durst. the tale is like quicksand, it's sucks you in. >> bob is endlessly fascinating, and always surprises me. >> he was certainly elusive. material, sometimes desperate. always in motion. we track him, his dissent, his change detour off the road, off the grid. a life that no one, not even his family or close friends could fathom. >> he has a good heart inside. i really think so. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> we begin with two people who know and love the man that they called bobby. godfather and son. close friend of more than 40 years, long before the rest of the world heard from him. when did you meet him? >> we went to high school together. >> stewart and emily altman, spoke to us after robert durst was arrested. >> they show assad of bob that he is not a monster. he has a heart. but it has caused me a great deal, that i can't get up my head around, is what happened to bob. it's hard. >> they altmans, shared personal photos. and the story of bob that they lived and breathed. starting with the family disaster that tormented him. >> his mom committed suicide when he was ten years old. it was a devastating experience from a. >> compounded by bobs strange relationship with his brother, douglas, and his father see more. then, in the 1970s they introduce bob to a woman. and the whole twisted tale was set in motion. >> i was on his 52nd street, on the second floor. kathy was on the third floor. and bomb earned the building. he used to come and collect the rat. >> kathy? was kathleen mccormack, stewart's younger and beautiful upstairs neighbor. >> he was prince charming, and she was a princess. kathy was the love of her life. >> but it did not last. a few years later, the altmans, watch the prince and princess grow apart. >> she became more independent. it wasn't a fairytale anymore. >> now, in fact caffey's brother, jim, told us it was more like a horror movie. >> there is a dark side above that it was very well camouflaged when they first were going out and getting married, and it escalated ultimately into psychological abuse, economic, physical abuse. >> remember the doctors letter warning that the ten year olds robert durst suffered from hostility issues? kathy gave a copy to her friends, including strauss, just in case. >> kathy warned all of us that if anything ever happened, look to bob, don't let him get away with it. >> and then, in 1982, kathy durst disappeared. >> how did he take it? >> bob. he asked if we had seen her, heard anything, no anything. >> but they did not. no one did. >> he was typically almost detached. in his demeanor. almost, i don't know nothing, i don't know anything. >> on the outset, bob denied any outlets in kathy's disappearance. he distance himself from investigators. new york times reporter, charles, has covered the empire for more than three decades. and when kathy vanished, he said, bob's protective friend susan berman, a name you've probably heard of. became his unofficial spokesperson. >> and susan would call back, and say, well bob is really not feeling well right now. i'm going to handle a lot of business. >> bob himself was incommunicado. but we have obtained this, his own account, his version of things. which he wrote later. here is what he wrote about kathy's disappearance. >> after my life kathy left, my compulsive use of alcohol, drugs, and food change from an infrequent problem to a daily event. >> he did not come into work for about two years. >> later, when bob began showing up at work again, sporadically, it wasn't anything like the buttoned up executive. >> he enjoyed smoking pot in a social situation. burping, and farting. because it disturbed people. and he like to watch the reaction. >> right. so these stories about misbehaving, peeking in a wastebasket. >> being in a wastebasket, all of, that it gave pause to the family. >> and it was no great surprise. when the family patriarch, seymour durst, chose bob's younger brother to run the family business. >> did he really think up until the point where douglas was take, that he had a shot at it? >> he was groomed for it. it was supposed to be his job. he was upset. it had an effect on bob. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> and that is when, the little known and reclusive robert durst went on his own to embark on a strange new life. what we want to know is how and why trouble seem to be his traveling companion. >> coming up! the peak at his new life on the last coast. >> hanging out at a homeless shelter soup kitchen. >> wait a minute, he bought a house and he hangs out at a homeless shelter? >> when dateline continues! copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful. to finally lose 80 pounds and keep it off with golo ask yis amazing.about once-daily trelegy for copd i've been maintaining. the weight is gone and it's never coming back. with golo, i've not only kept off the weight but i'm happier, i'm healthier, and i have a new lease on life. golo is the only thing that will let you lose weight and keep it off. who loses 138 pounds in nine months? 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(soft music) what is cirkul? cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. cirkul. it's your >> they call this place the keith morrison: they call this place the lost coast, lost coast, an almost mystical corner of northern california where bob hearst came to, what, get lost himself? it was 1995, after he was dumped from the company, 13 years after kathy disappeared. bob walked into the office of local real estate developer gene davenport. >> he told me he was a writer for the wall street journal, he said he wanted to have a place with an ocean view. >> bob forked over nearly 400,000 in cash for a big family house in the town of trinidad, overlooking the pacific, where he lived like a hermit. >> no one really came around. he didn't seem like he had contacts or very many best friends. >> in that personal account of his, he explained why. i hated to have more than a brief conversation with someone because i immediately found myself being asked, what do you do? the true answer was nothing. i live off the family estate. which was true enough, but he wasn't exactly idle either said author matt burkeback, who followed the durst case for over 15 years. and wrote a book about it called a deadly secret. bob durst was buying other properties, he, said but some of his choices did not seem to make sense. >> not just homes, we are talking storage facilities and p.o. boxes. >> you mean he would buy one storage place? >> he had an address, and it ended up being a storage facility. what is he doing with all of these storage facilities? >> the main town near trinidad is eureka, where we discovered bob spent many of time in a secondhand clothing store primarily for women. >> i think he wanted to be a cross dresser, and maybe he was experimenting with it. do you know what i mean? >> he always came alone, said shopkeeper kay king. >> he would buy something pretty plain like this, you know, so it wasn't outstanding. and he would get a skirt. and try to match it up. most of the time he could not. so i was trying to help him match. >> kay had seen her share of cross dressers, but there was something different about this one. >> he wanted to be somebody else besides robert durst. >> which might explain another untold story of those years, an odd and so far unexplained habit of frequenting eureka's seedy side. >> hanging out at a homeless shelter soup kitchen. >> wait a minute. he bought a house, any hangs out at a homeless shelter? >> he hangs out a homeless shelter. >> but, said charles bagley, he was also restless. >> he was in constant motion, whether he was here in texas or california or in europe. >> or los angeles, where he looked in on susan berman, who you remember, spoke for him after kathy disappeared and was now trying to make it as a hollywood screenwriter. >> she and bobby i always felt were very tight. >> this is susan berman's friend came blank furred. >> she was very protective of bobby. >> >> susan lived in a slightly rundown cottage in l.a.'s benedict canyon, and occasionally bob would stop by but soon he would be gone again, sometimes flying back to trinidad, where he'd questioned his shuttle driver, crossed the tally. >> he would kind of specifically asked questions about the sheriff's department been out here have you seen anything going on? >> and in 1997, well bob lived here, something did happen. a local teenager named karen mitchell vanished after leaving a women's shoe stars, that later bob is known to frequent. by the year 2000, the case was cold. that of course is one across the country in new york another case was suddenly hot again, the investigation into the disappearance of bob's wife, kathy, reopened by westchester county the janine bureau, who later became a tv host on fox news channel. >> i had an instinct, everything about this wreaked of murder. we had evidence that she was battered by him, which he has since confirmed. it was clear to me that he killed her. >> the investigation was supposed to be top secret, but as we know, bob girths'd found out. >> yeah, he seemed worried. he did. >> and then, one of kathy's friends, you matter, helen strauss, offered the calls a tip. >> i beg the police to interview his best friend, susan berman. i show them all my research. i felt susan berman was the key, always did. >> and the police did plan on interview susan berman. the problem was, they just waited a little too long. >> coming up -- >> my first thought is why didn't they listen to me. what were they waiting for, good oh? 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he got married, not to susan berman, but to new york real estate broker jabber chariton. >> that was a match made in heaven. that was clearly a marriage of convenience in that this is bobby durst staying that in the event i'm arrested i have someone to bail me out and to handle my affairs. >> well, of course, that is just an opinion. maybe it was a lot of match but it did come with spousal privileges which meant debrah did not have to talk to the cops about her new wealthy absent. she also reported he got access to a substantial share of his money. >> debrah doesn't do anything unless debrah benefits. >> that's a character reference i'm not sure i want to have. >> she is a savvy businesswoman. >> meanwhile out in hollywood, susan berman was struggling to make it as a screenwriter. >> things weren't quite going as well as she would have liked with her career. >> for years, susan had relied on bob for help, and he responded, sometimes with a big checks, two at least we're $25,000. >> there was some cover of kooky energy that went on between them. >> we had some unique insight from a woman who claims she was susan berman's close as confident and therapist and psych it. her name is barbara stabenow or. she tells us she knows what susan was thinking, in concluding that she gave the police many hours of her recorded conversations with susan during which those last months of 2000, according to barbara, susan grew increasingly worried. >> did susan ever tell you that she was afraid of robert? >> she did tell me she was fearful of him because i had the feeling she felt afraid of him because she was afraid he'd withdraw her, and he helped. >> but it was more than that to the psychic. susan was afraid of bob, she said, because she knew too much and knew his secrets. >> towards the end of her life, she was very agitated with him. >> would he save her? susan didn't know, said barbara. and then just before christmas 2000, she said, susan let her know that bob was on the way with money. >> he said i will bring it. and that is what happened. but i cannot prove it. >> l.a. cops have long suspected bob did go to susan's house in l.a., but not to bring her more money, to prevent her from talking, ever. we do know from flight records and bob's own personal account that he did go to california. >> christmas 2000, robert deuce was on the move again. late december, he flew here to eureka california. he had owned a house in this area for several years, but had recently sold it. he wasn't coming to stay here. he got a car, got inside it, pointed south. >> in bob durst's own personal account, he notes being in garberville, 600 miles from los angeles. after that, we cannot follow his trail. we do know late on december 22nd or early the 23rd, susan berman was murdered by a bullet to the back of her home back of her head at her home in l.a.. and on the 23rd, flight records confirm bob took off from san francisco on the right eye to new york. and soon after, this letter, postmarked december 23rd, showed up at the beverly hills pd. >> i call it the cadaver note. >> oh yes, the famous note, directing police to her body, a note likely written by her killer. word of susan berman's murder traveled fast. >> it was like, oh, my god. i mean, my first thought is why didn't they listen to me? they did not interview susan berman in a timely manner. what were they waiting for, gadot? >> bob skipped susan berman memorial service. and a few weeks later he surfaced in galveston, texas, thought it was a good place to get lost, except of course trouble eventually found him there. a killing, a dismemberment, and an unforgettable acquittal, we all know the story, but not this version. >> coming up -- did robert durst reverse telling the truth? >> his wife and friend, duke smuggled a little cassette recorder into the jail. he then would discuss with them whether or not he sounded believable with the story he was telling. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues y day. because when you get them today you can host today. shop black friday every day deals now. in store and online. 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