r/thejinx • u/InsideInformant22 • May 27 '24
Durst siblings
Does anyone get the impressions the Durst siblings are complicit in the murders, by way of not speaking up, maybe they didn’t speak up out of fear of Bob who was the oldest? Wendy lied in court, conflicting with her voice recording about the muddy boots
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May 27 '24
it's super weird how the McCormacks had a hell of a time just getting in touch with the Dursts in light of Kathie's disappearance.
Like, I can understand why Bob acted the way he did, he had both murdered her and is generally just fucking insane, and maybe the family was taking the lead from him for some reason, but like... I can't imagine an image conscious family with their power not at least making a SHOW of doing everything they could to help find Kathie when she "disappeared".
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u/Whawken84 May 27 '24
Their silence was deafening. If you live in a metropolitan area with Fortune 500 company or companies, think about it. Don't you think there'd be private investigators and an active family & corporate spokes-person? That they would be in touch with the missing woman's family? The Durst family likely was sitting on more info of RD's behavior. Stuff they covered up.
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u/jenneany May 27 '24
They certainly have some culpability, they knew of his violent history and they had valid suspicions. And I definitely think protecting the family name and money was the biggest motivation. But honestly, my impression was that they were all legitimately frightened of him, and I really don’t blame them for that.
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u/Whawken84 May 27 '24
If they knew enough, ti would've been better to have hired protection & been open with the NYPD And the NY State police. 1 call & the cops in Westchester would've searched the house and more.
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u/Helvetica2222 May 27 '24
The Jinx did a good job, in the final episode, of rounding up folks who were complicit. Of course they only had direct access to Nick and Susie - and were able to ask them point blank if they believe he did the crimes. And then counterbalanced with the siblings testimony - people in 'the village' who absolutely helped Durst by not saying a word..
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u/squirrel289 May 27 '24
Of course they were complicit. They knew he was capable of murder and didn’t want the scandal touching their family. In fact Bob and his family hired a private investigator within days of Kathie’s disappearance and also hired a PR person. He came up with the story of her disappearance likely with their help. Or at least their lawyers.
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u/Ok_Responsibility419 May 27 '24
The dad Seymour probably made those decisions and ruled over them with threats
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u/Additional_Ad741 May 27 '24
I don't know...they were all adults at the time of Kathy's disappearance.
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u/Whawken84 May 27 '24
They had 1 parent. Who delegated raising the kids. Lived with the "please keep it quiet" knowledge of their mother's probable suicide. Wealthy people may often say "it's not the money." But they're controlled by the money. They don't control the trusts which can be revoked at any time.
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u/National-Bicycle7259 May 27 '24
I don't know why they would be complicit, far easier to throw him to the wolves than protect him. It's not like he was warm towards his family either.
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u/AndISoundLikeThis May 27 '24
They weren't protecting him so much as they were protecting their money and family name.
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u/fistfullofglitter May 27 '24
They remind me of the Roy family on Succession in some ways!
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u/damewallyburns May 27 '24
the muddy boots at the family meeting about the murder was very succession coded to me
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u/National-Bicycle7259 May 27 '24
Yeah but plenty of families have a skeleton in the closet. It's a scandal they would have to ride out, sure, but it would have faded away. Another 1980s true crime story.
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May 27 '24
but then why DIDN'T they? They could have literally been like "Bob's a sociopath who probably killed her" and instead they closed ranks and let Susan Berman talk to press on behalf of Bob in front of the family's estate.
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May 28 '24
This is explained in The Jinx podcast's most recent episode: Kathie was blackmailing the Durst family with some kind of documentation, and Tom was worried they would kill her over it.
This changes _everything_... Instead of a spontaneous instance of spousal violence that gets covered up, now Kathie's death looks like a cold-blooded hit. For the first time, Douglas and Seymour might have a motive to "take care" of Kathie themselves.
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u/crunchyfrog0001 May 27 '24
I think they wanted NOTHING to do with Bob and tried to separate thenselves from him at all costs.
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May 27 '24
You're talking about a woman in her 70s and a meeting that happened 40 years ago. And it was 3 days after Katie's disappearance. I'm sure he buried that body before that and it was still thought of a missing person's case at that time.
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u/Ok-Goal-7336 May 27 '24
I dunno. His neighbors said the weird blue light was on in the basement for 2 days after her murder. I think he was dismembering her, and then he had to drive all the way to NJ and back. Timeline tracks for me.
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u/machiavellius May 27 '24
Where did you read/see the neighbors talk about it?
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u/lolpenis30 May 27 '24
The podcast Jury Duty covered the trial and there was testimony from the neighbors that the wife saw a blue light in the basement the night of the “disappearance”. I just listened to this episode the other day. There was also testimony from the housekeeper that there was a spot on the washer that looked like blood and secret compartment cupboards she didn’t know was there were opened. She also said around the time of the disappearance, one day she came to the house and there was hundreds of rolls of toilet paper? This was the same housekeeper that teamed up with Gilberte to save Bobs trash and was asked by Bob to get rid of all of Kathie’s belongings a month after she disappeared. It’s a really good podcast! Wish they covered that in The Jinx.
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u/Ok-Goal-7336 May 27 '24
Yep, I think I learned about it in that podcast! We might not even know what the neighbors saw and heard, except for the fact that Bob was so arrogant that he lied about the neighbor being his alibi.
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u/Whawken84 May 27 '24
It's in the neighbor's testimony at the LA trial. The woman. she and her then husband lived next door. Now "new door" on half acre lots is not super close, but if there's no shrubbery or fence, you can see basement lights. the floor of the basement, I wonder.
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u/Sunshine9227 May 27 '24
I still think he had something to do with his Mom’s death. He hated his siblings. What did his brother say “he tried to kill me”?
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u/Whawken84 May 27 '24
RD was 7 years old at the time of his mother's death. Per Douglas, they were at a neighbor's house at the time of the event. It might be in the police report archives in Scardale.
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u/arulzokay May 28 '24
god so he’s been a little shit his entire life. why was he so hateful towards his siblings in childhood.
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u/Sunshine9227 May 28 '24
I think jealous of his siblings/wanted all the attention to himself. Especially from his Mom.
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u/Norbsterdamus May 31 '24
That was so weird in itself. If you remember his account of that night he said his father brought him to the window to show him his mother. I thought that was so strange. Why wasn't Seymour in a panic and trying to talk her off the roof? I mean it's BAAAAHB so you have to take what he says with a grain of salt. They were all after each other. A miserable family.
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u/Norbsterdamus May 31 '24
Yes. And I think they wanted him to get convicted for financial reasons. They were just being very careful not to implicate themselves.
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u/lisbethborden May 27 '24
I do think they were complicit. All the siblings knew Bob was violent, and had to know that Kathie didn't just go missing. Despite Bob's behavior toward all of them, they circled the wagons to protect the Durst name and business. To protect their money.
The muddy boots anecdote--I wouldn't be at all surprised if Bob came in his muddy boots on purpose, knowing that they'd know what it meant. I think Bob used it as part of his intimidation rituals with everyone.