Defense Says Durst Had No Motive, Didn’t Kill Close Friend

Robert Durst holds a device to read the real time spoken script as he appears in the courtroom of Judge Mark E. Windham as attorney's begin opening statements in the trial of the real estate scion charged with murder of longtime friend Susan Berman, at Los Angeles County Superior Court in Inglewood, Calif., on May 18, 2021. Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool

LOS ANGELES—In a blunt rejection of what prosecutors told jurors a day earlier, a defense lawyer said Wednesday that multimillionaire Robert Durst had no motive to murder his close friend Susan Berman and had nothing to do with her shooting.

“Bob Durst did not kill Susan Berman and he doesn’t know who did,” attorney Dick DeGuerin said in an abbreviated opening statement following a 14-month recess because of the pandemic. “Bob Durst had no motive and nothing to gain by the death of Susan Berman.”