The Courtroom Twist That Turns ‘The Jinx: Part Two’ Upside Down
Nine years after The Jinx shocked the world with a hot-mic recording of real estate scion Robert Durst confessing to the three homicides he was accused of committing, Andrew Jarecki’s legendary docuseries has returned in excellent form with The Jinx—Part Two. Detailing the aftermath of its own bombshell, which had a direct impact on the millionaire’s fate, the six-part HBO affair is a stellar follow-up that delves even deeper into the warped psyche of Durst and the tangled web of friends, accomplices, and lawyers who played a part in his stranger-than-fiction odyssey.
That saga takes a stunning courtroom twist in this Sunday’s fourth episode, “The Unluckiest Man in the World.” On trial for the Christmastime 2000 murder of Susan Berman, his long-time confidant and right-hand woman, Durst finds himself once again in the crosshairs of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, whose prosecution hinges in part on the “cadaver note” that was sent to police to notify them that the deceased Susan was in her home. While Jarecki’s prior series ended with seemingly conclusive evidence that Durst had written that missive, a giant hole remains in his case: placing Durst (who claimed to be in northern California in December 2000) in Los Angeles at the time of the crime.
In this exclusive clip from this weekend’s installment, Lewin sets his sights on Emily Altman, a close Durst friend whose husband, Stewart, often served as Durst’s lawyer. On the stand, Emily is asked if Durst told her that he was in L.A. when Susan was slain, to which she responds, “God, I wish I could remember.” This may sound like a non-committal answer, but as Lewin explains, it was a monumental turning point. “It’s as if the world slows down,” he says, “and I have time to say to myself, ‘Oh my God, she just gave it to me.’ Because if she didn’t know anything about Bob being in L.A., instead of saying, ‘I wish I could remember,’ Emily would have simply answered, ‘No.’”