New York Real Estate Heir Released From Prison Early

A New York real estate heir who was acquitted of murdering a neighbor in 2003 but sent to prison last month for parole violations was released early after he sued the state alleging the punishment was too harsh, his attorney said Wednesday.

Robert Durst was sent to the facility for 60 days on Feb. 3 for taking trips in violation of his parole. He got out late Tuesday after 26 days.

Without admitting any violation of Durst’s rights, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles chairwoman Rissie Owens said the punishment was more appropriate for convicted violent offenders.

Durst’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said he would go ahead with the lawsuit. With the revised parole, Durst still must wear a monitoring device and get permission for trips outside his home.

Durst was acquitted in the shooting death of his Galveston, Texas, neighbor but pleaded guilty to federal charges of gun possession and state charges of bond-jumping and evidence tampering.

After serving 5 1/2 months in a New Jersey federal prison on the gun charges, he returned to Texas last year to serve his parole.

Durst was spotted taking the unauthorized trips late last year -- in one case, bumping into the judge in his murder trial while shopping.

Durst had moved to Galveston, posing as a mute woman and living in a rundown apartment, while under investigation in the 1982 disappearance of his first wife.

After being arrested in the neighbor’s death, he jumped bond and was on the run for six weeks until his capture in Pennsylvania.

At his murder trial, Durst testified that he accidentally shot the neighbor in 2001 as they struggled for a gun in Durst’s apartment.

Durst said he panicked, cut up the body and dumped the pieces in Galveston Bay. Everything was recovered except the head.

Durst’s family runs the Durst Organization, a privately held billion-dollar New York real estate company.