Robert Durst’s former in-laws are clashing over whether they should sue him for the wrongful death of his wife, Kathleen, who disappeared in 1982.
In Manhattan Surrogate Court on Friday, attorneys for one of her sisters, Carol Bamonte, and for the Public Administrator’s office said they were concerned about the validity of a document that Kathleen’s brother, James McCormack, submitted.
ROBERT DURST MAY PLEAD IN LA. TO START CALIF. TRIAL
McCormack has asked the Surrogate Court to appoint him temporary administrator for the sole purpose of filing the lawsuit, and his papers include a waiver signed by his 101-year-old mother saying she supported his efforts.
Staci Graber, the attorney for the Public Administrator who has overseen Kathleen’s estate because she had no will, said the sisters claim their mother has “severe dementia” and is not capable of knowing what she was signing.
“Her (mental) capacity is questionable,” Graber said.
“Someone is competent until they are deemed incompetent. There has been no finding that she is,” replied McCormack’s lawyer, Elizabeth Eilender.
Surrogate Court Judge Nora Anderson postponed making a decision for a month until Eilender can give Kathleen Durst’s mother formal notice of the proceeding and invite her to object.
“There is a family dynamic going on here,” McCormack said afterward.
He said that for the past 30 years, his sisters have insisted on privacy when it came to dealing with their sister’s presumed death and they are not eager to push it into the courts where the painful matter will be in a public forum.
“I love my sisters. I don’t blame them for wanting to protect their privacy,” he said.
McCormack said his sisters always “pushed back” against publicly demanding justice, but he took a different path, urging investigators to solve the mystery of his baby sister’s disappearance and working with documentarians whose series, “The Jinx,” resulted in the airing of Durst’s private, chilling admission that he “killed them all.”
“That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back,” McCormack said.
“This is not a money grab by James McCormack. This is a grab for justice,” Eilender told reporters. McCormack said he invited his sisters to join his application to pursue a wrongful death claim, but they refused.
“All I got is push back and then cut off,” he said.
McCormack said he decided to do it on his own and he insisted there is nothing wrong with his mother’s signed waiver or her mind. It’s a hearing problem — only 10% in one ear and 60% in the other — that gives the impression of dementia, he said.
Although Durst has been investigated repeatedly for the possible murder of his wife, whose body was never found, Durst was never charged with killing her.
The Westchester County District Attorney’s office and New York State police have an ongoing inquiry into her 1971 disappearance from the couple’s home in South Salem. It was reinvigorated with the airing of “The Jinx.”
“The Jinx” also triggered new interest in the death of a California woman, Susan Berman, who was a friend of the couple. Berman was killed shortly before Westchester investigators could interview her about the couple and the wife’s disappearance.
Now in a New Orleans jail facing weapons charges, Durst is due next to appear in the California courts where he has been charged with Berman’s death.
McCormack said that any money that comes from a wrongful death case would go to Kathy’s Porchlight Foundation, a group he has set up to provide financial assistance to medical students. Kathleen Durst, who wanted to be a pediatrician, was three months away from finishing medical school when she vanished.
Despite the controversy among the siblings, McCormack’s lead attorney Alex Spiro predicted a peaceful resolution.
“The wrongful death case will go forward,” he said.
Bob Abrams, the Lake Success attorney representing Kathleen’s sister, Carol Balmonte, did not return a call seeking comment.
