Texas Murder Suspect’s Gun Interests LAPD

A 9-millimeter gun found in the car of a wealthy developer charged with murdering his neighbor in Texas has drawn “intense interest” from Los Angeles police investigating the killing of a Benedict Canyon writer, said authorities in Galveston, Texas.

Police found the handgun when Robert Durst was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing and beheading 71-year-old Morris Black, police said. They also found a .22-caliber pistol and two ammunition clips in a trash bin behind an apartment building where he lived.

Galveston police Lt. Mike Putnal said Los Angeles police are traveling to Texas early this week to determine whether that gun was used to kill Susan Berman, who was found dead in her house on Christmas Eve. Berman, 55, was shot once in the head with a gun believed to be a 9-millimeter.

“When we have a common suspect, we want to compare notes and see if there are any similarities between their case and our case,” Putnal said.

Los Angeles Police Department officials are not calling Durst, 58, a suspect in Berman’s death, but have said he is a “person of interest.” Berman, daughter of Las Vegas mob figure David Berman, had written books and produced documentaries based on her life as a Mafia daughter. Durst met Berman in college in the 1960s and was believed to have stayed in touch.

Durst’s attorney, Mark Kelly, could not be reached for comment.

New York state police had been trying to arrange an interview with Berman just before she was killed. Police had reopened the investigation of the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s wife, Kathleen, and planned to interview Berman.

Jeanine Pirro, district attorney in New York’s Westchester County, has said she wants to meet with Texas and California authorities to see if any of the “pieces of this puzzle fit together.”

Durst is set to be arraigned Tuesday in Texas. He was released from jail after posting $300,000 bail. But the Dallas address he gave to police and the bond company was not current--he had moved in April, police said.

Black’s torso was found floating in Galveston Bay on Sept. 30. Divers found his limbs in plastic bags, but have not found his head.

In the bags, police also found a hardware store receipt and a newspaper with a delivery address that led them to an apartment building where both Durst and Black lived.

The Galveston apartment that Durst lived in was rented under the name Dorothy Ciner, according to a search warrant affidavit. On Friday, police located Ciner, who said she was a high school classmate of Durst, but had never lived in Galveston and did not rent the apartment.

The building landlord, Klaus Dillman, said the woman he knew as Ciner always paid her rent early because she told him she traveled a lot, the affidavit said. Dillman said he had not seen her since January.

Inside Durst’s apartment, police found a 4-inch paring knife and blood. Neighbors identified Durst from a photo lineup and said they saw him loading bags into a silver station wagon on Sept. 30, the affidavit said.