soon is the black sheep heir to a new york real estate empire to stand trial in los angeles on a charge of capital murder? it does not get more serious than that. it s not going to be as soon as durst s lawyers say they prefer. they say they want to get there. but a judge today has set another detention hearing on gun charges for next monday. that s six days from now. in the meantime, durst was picked up on saturday. you ll remember one day before the bombshell conclusion of an hbo miniseries on his life. susan berman was on the eve of being interviewed by new york police officers who had reopened the file on a disappearance of durst s wife which was back in 1982. if you re not keeping up, don t worry. it is a complicated case. we ll lay out the owl sordid story in just a moment. but first, i want to bring in
team. the commissioner said rose s request will be considered. those are some of your top stories on this st. patrick s day, tuesday, march 17th. announcer: from abc news, this is world news now . thank you for spending some of your time with us on this st. patrick s day. we ll begin this half hour with a new development in the case of robert durst. he s now charged in louisiana with gun and drug counts stemming from his arrest at a new orleans hotel late saturday night. durst could be sentenced to death if he is convicted of the murder of a friend. abc s matt gutman has more from new orleans. reporter: police say robert durst, led shackled into court, was armed and dangerous when he was arrested on a first-degree murder charge more than a decade in the making. for 30 years, questions have swirled around his role in three mysterious deaths. his wife, kathleen, vanishing in 1982. then, his friend and confidant, susan berman, murdered execution-style in los angeles in 2000, just
and then he just goes around and you know is a menace to somebody else s community. but because you know he has odd behavior. but he s it s almost like he s a functioning sociopath. it s scary. he gets you know did you hear what he did in court yesterday when he appeared? no. tell us. he spoke to the judge and then he turned around and looked at the gallery, everybody in the courtroom and he smiled at them all. he thinks he s crazy as a fox. he thinks he can get away with this too, i guess. the people around him, what have they said? i m curious, family acquaintances, neighbors? what have they we know one neighbor ended up dead. what do people la do they say about their interactions with this man? well people people who were friends with susan and knew durst. and i spoke to one of susan s cousins on sunday morning.
i thought you could use it. you re the one stirring my soul up most days is the problem. that s true. that s why i feel the need for quiet time. got this excited. oprah wants you oprah is inviting me to something. it was you. it was me. wow. that kills my joy. you should try it. okay. we have a lot of breaking, serious news. that case just fascinating america. people are captivated by this thing. and good reason for it. you have been keeping up with this. this bizarre case. the billionaire real estate heir, robert durst. now, we have another twist and turn. he s facing gun and drug charges in louisiana. in addition to a murder charge in los angeles. if he s convicted for the death of his friend, susan berman, prosecutors could seek the death penalty. they alleged durst laid in wait at berman s home, before killing her execution-style. with more on this case, now, let s turn to abc s marci gonzalez. reporter: robert durst in a new orleans courtroom. his att
and he knew durst. you know durst gave her away at her wedding and he went to the wedding. and susan would invite the cousin to thanksgiving dinner and bobby would be there. and he said he always gave him, he was always aloof. he said there was something odd about him. he never felt good about him. and he talked to susan about him and she goes oh no that s just bobby, he s just eccentric. he would go and sit, he told me on sunday morning, he would go and sit, bobby, would when everybody was around and wouldn t talk. and it s because he thought he was smarter than everybody. it s almost like an entitlement. you know. he thought he was smarter than everybody yet now as we watch these pieces sort of fall into place, for example, the letter the handwriting sample. there s this letter that he wrote to susan berman and then the letter that was sent to the lapd leading them to susan berman s body. the word beverly misspelled.