Christina Murphey
Columnist
The documentary miniseries, “The Jinx,” tells the twisted true story of Manhattan real estate heir and thrice-accused murderer Robert Durst. If you are unfamiliar, Durst is the son of the founder of the Durst Organization, which owns over 15 million square feet of Manhattan today.
He is accused of involvement in the 1982 disappearance of his wife Kathleen; the 2000 execution-style murder of his friend Susan Berman; and the 2001 murder and dismemberment of his neighbor Morris Black.
The tale of Robert Durst is bizarre to say the least, with the production of “The Jinx” only exacerbating its eeriness. Police interviews and recordings of his murder trial are juxtaposed with reels of home video showing Durst as a happy child frolicking with his family and playing with toys.
Interviews with Durst today don’t really do him justice either. Whoever was in charge of lighting his face made certain that all but the crusty, red circles around his seemingly-black eyes appeared to be nothing more than translucent folds of sticky flesh. His face shows no emotion or movement except for his frequent eye twitches, which explain the deep wrinkles etched around his vacant eyes. He speaks with a strong Scarsdale accent and everything he says is delivered with the defensiveness of someone arguing over being shorted change at a 7/11.
The show’s creator, Andrew Jarecki – who in 2011 made “All Good Things,” a fictionalized version of the events surrounding Robert Durst’s life – also conducted the interviews.
Despite the mountains of circumstantial evidence surrounding the three murders, Durst has evaded justice for over 30 years, leaving two cold cases in his path. Durst was indicted for the killing of Morris Black, although he was not charged for the subsequent dismemberment of his neighbor. Because of this technicality, the jury was unable to find him guilty of murder. This was because he had an incredibly-convincing defense that could have only been refuted with physical evidence that was never recovered.
It’s insane to think that someone in such a precarious situation would choose to partake in a project that was designed to scrutinize the various murders that he is allegedly responsible for in such a public forum. This led me to believe that he is either truly innocent and just the victim of horrible coincidences like he claims, or he is the narcissistic psychopath that you think only exists in Lifetime movies.
While watching the miniseries, I also began to question the filmmaker’s motives. He claims that he made this documentary to bring Durst to justice, although he knowingly withheld new evidence from the police so he could spring it on Durst himself during their final interview, and manipulated the timeline of events to better fit the narrative of the miniseries. He also made the film with an outstanding bias against Durst. Jarecki was clearly looking to get a confession from him during the project. He certainly got what he was asking for – not because of his excellent interviewing skills, but because they just never shut Durst’s microphone off during breaks.
As if the story alone didn’t make for the perfect over-sensationalized television event, Durst was arrested in New Orleans on the day of the series finale. As a true crime documentary, it has some flaws, but as a strange television event designed for the public to gawk at a disturbed and probably mentally ill person, it’s pretty perfect.