WILL MILLIONAIRE ROBERT DURST CLEAR HIS NAME IN THE DEATH OF A CALIFORNIA FRIEND, OR END UP SPENDING HIS LIFE IN JAIL?

"48 HOURS" INVESTIGATES IN "MURDER 90210"

Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016

In a dramatic and unusual turn in the bizarre story of Robert Durst, 48 HOURS Correspondent Erin Moriarty reports the millionaire next week is expected to agree to a plea deal on a gun charge in New Orleans so he can face trial in California for the murder of his friend Susan Berman, who was shot dead in her California home 15 years ago.

Will that trial clear his name in a case that has dogged him for years - as his attorney suggests - or will he end up spending the rest of his life in jail, where investigators say he should have been all along? Moriarty and 48 HOURS investigate the murder of Berman and the odd life of Durst, which has been filled with wealth and death, in "Murder 90210" to be broadcast Saturday, Jan. 30 (10:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. ("Murder 90210" is the second of a Saturday night 48 HOURS double feature. The first, "Wrongfully Convicted," to be broadcast at 8:00 PM, features the case of Ryan Ferguson, who was convicted of murder at 19 and spent 10 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. )

"He is no ordinary regular guy with just a string of bad luck," former Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro says of Durst. "He is a serial murderer. And he needs to be in jail. And if it's the death penalty - so be it."

"I think Bob Durst is one of the unluckiest people on the face of the earth," says attorney Dick DeGuerin. "I believe Bob Durst has been misunderstood his all his life, and I believe he's innocent."

Durst currently sits in a New Orleans jail, where he's been since he was arrested on March 14, 2015 after a six-part HBO documentary "The Jinx" on the case that raised questions about a handwriting sample in the Berman case, as well as audio recorded during a bathroom break where Durst is heard saying, "killed them all, of course."

As Moriarty reports, DeGuerin has reached a deal with prosecutors in New Orleans and Los Angeles to have his client moved to California in August 2016 to face charges on the death of Berman. Durst could have stayed in federal prison in New Orleans, wants to clear his name and move on, according to DeGuerin.

"Clear his name? This guy wants to clear his name?" Pirro says. "If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you."

"We have seen lawyers come in from out of town that think they're pretty hot. And they soon learn they're not," says Steve Cooley, who was the District Attorney in Los Angeles when Berman was killed.

For more than a decade, Moriarty and 48 HOURS have been reporting on the headline grabbing story that digs into life of a millionaire from a prominent New York family who once admitted to killing a neighbor and chopping up the man's body. The story of Robert Durst includes allegations about his missing wife, his alleged ties to the murder of Berman, and the police who have spent years trying to solve the case.

In 2000, Berman was found shot dead in her home. She was the daughter of a well-known Las Vegas mobster, which initially led to speculation that she was a victim of a mob hit. At the time of Berman's death, Durst was hiding in Galveston, Texas, where he took on the identity of a mute woman.

Durst and Berman were friends, and she publicly defended him from allegations that he knew more about his wife's disappearance than he had told police. Durst wasn't considered a suspect in Berman's death until nine months later when he was involved with the death of Morris Black in Galveston. Durst maintained he accidentally killed Black in self-defense. He then cut up Black's body. A jury eventually acquitted him of murder.

If all goes to plan, Durst could go on trial for Berman's murder in 2017.

"If I were trying Robert Durst, it would be no holds barred. With Robert Durst, you're dealing with money and power - that doesn't intimidate me," Pirro says. "I would convict him. I am absolutely convinced that I could convince a jury that he killed Susan Berman... He himself said, 'everything changed when Jeanine Pirro came on.'"

Moriarty and 48 HOURS tell Durst's story through new interviews with Pirro, DeGuerin and Cooley, along with footage of Berman. The broadcast also features interviews with Kathy Durst's brother, Jim McCormack; Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Alexander Sasha Bardey, New York Magazine writer Lisa DePaulo, Galveston investigators and others. 48 HOURS: "Murder 90210" is produced by Chuck Stevenson, Judy Rybak, Liza Finley, Greg Fisher and Lisa Freed. Al Briganti is the executive editor. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

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