Police Puzzled by Killing of Author of Books on Vegas Mob

Los Angeles police are searching for clues in the killing of Susan Berman, an author and screenwriter whose work focused on the Las Vegas mob and her family connections to it.

Berman, 55, who lived alone, was found dead in her rented two-bedroom house in Benedict Canyon on Christmas Eve by police after residents noticed a door left open and one of her dogs loose. She was found in her bedroom with a single gunshot to the head, Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Lt. Horace Frank said.

He said police have no suspects and do not know the motive. Nothing appeared to be missing and there was no sign of forced entry.

“It’s shocking right now,” said her adopted son, Sareb Kaufman. “She was a gentle woman who lived life with great caution. She loved a lot of people and she had no enemies, because if she didn’t like you she would not let you close. Nobody had the opportunity to develop a grudge.”

Berman’s father, David Berman, was a business associate of Bugsy Siegel, the notorious gangster whose power base spread through Los Angeles to the Las Vegas Strip. David Berman and Siegel co-owned the Flamingo Hotel until Siegel was gunned down in 1947. David Berman was left with sole ownership, and he used the Flamingo to further his reputation as a gangster.

Susan Berman, who worked as a print and radio journalist in San Francisco and New York during the 1970s and ‘80s, later gained recognition for two books she wrote and a documentary she helped produce on Las Vegas’ mob scene and her life growing up in it. Most of her work touched on mob figures from the past, particularly the peak years of the Las Vegas mob in the 1950s.

She was working on other projects involving the mob when she died, leaving some to suspect a connection.

Frank said that “at this point, we have no reason or evidence to support linking the murder to mob involvement. But at this stage, we would not discount anything. We are going to look at everything.”

Kaufman discounted any mob connection. His mother focused on the mob of decades ago, he said, writing about “people either out of the game or dead.”

“And even then, she was interested only in the human aspects of these people. She wasn’t hitting nerves.”

Her manager, Nyle Brenner, said she was sought by people in the book and film industries for her expertise on Las Vegas.

“She was such a gentle person,” he said. “It’s a mystery. I just don’t know what to think.”

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Times researchers Steve Tice and John Tyrrell contributed to this story.