Kin of Robert Durst's Missing 1st Wife File $100M Lawsuit

Durst, heir to a real estate fortune, was the subject of an HBO documentary about the disappearance of Kathleen Durst and the deaths of two others

Relatives of the missing wife of millionaire real estate heir Robert Durst have filed a $100 million lawsuit against him in her presumed death, the second legal action taken against Durst by the family of Kathleen McCormack Durst in recent weeks.

Kathleen Durst vanished in 1982 and was pronounced dead in 1988, although her body was never found.

Her 101-year-old mother and three sisters filed a lawsuit on Monday in state Supreme Court in Mineola, New York. It blames Durst for preventing the family from providing her with a dignified burial, The New York Times reported.

"The family's priority has been, and continues to be, to provide Kathleen with a proper and dignified burial," said Robert Abrams, a lawyer for the McCormack family.

James McCormack, the missing woman's brother, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Durst in New York City in October.

Robert Durst's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, says there is no evidence Durst was involved in Kathleen Durst's disappearance. Durst has never been charged in the case.

Durst was arrested in March hours before HBO broadcast the finale of a six-part documentary about him. The series examined the disappearance of Kathleen Durst, the death of Durst's friend Susan Berman, and the death and dismemberment of Durst's neighbor in Galveston, Texas, in 2001.

Durst is heard on the documentary mumbling that he "killed them all." His lawyer says Durst did not kill Berman. He is currently being held on a weapons charge in New Orleans, and is awaiting extradition to California to face murder charges in the death of Berman, his one-time spokeswoman.

James McCormack is asking a Surrogate Court judge in Manhattan to appoint him temporary administrator for his wrongful death lawsuit. His attorney declined to comment.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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