Property magnate Robert Durst harboured a deadly secret for over half his lifetime - one that emerged only after he blundered whilst taking part in a documentary.

When his wife, Kathie, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1982 aged 29, he denied any involvement and she was later pronounced legally dead.

However, the erratic tycoon, who pursued legal proceedings against his sibling for a £50million portion of the family fortune, remained beneath a cloud of doubt as a suspected murderer.

He had previously been acquitted of killing a neighbour and lived a turbulent life, cutting contact with relatives and repeatedly entering and exiting detention.

Then in 2000, Durst's close friend Susan Berman, a crime author, was found shot in the rear of the head at her Los Angeles residence.

Police only discovered the corpse after an anonymous correspondence arrived declaring there was a "cadaver" at 1527 Benedict Canyon in 'Beverley' Hills, a misspelling of Beverly.

Once more, Durst maintained his innocence but his involvement in the factual documentary 'The Jinx' in 2015 transformed everything, reports the Mirror.

The programme's team unearthed correspondence penned by Durst to Susan in March 1998, in which he'd similarly misspelt Beverly as Beverley. When presented with this proof, he retreated to the lavatory, seemingly forgetting his microphone remained active.

He was overheard mumbling to himself: "There it is... I'm caught," before added: "What a disaster. What the hell did I do? ...Killed them all, of course."

Since Berman's father had mob connections, her murder was originally probed as a criminal underworld hit, but financial documentation showed Durst had provided her with $50,000 (£36,000), sparking fears she may have been ready to testify against him.

Durst was seized for Berman's murder in 2015, timing that coincided with the airing of the documentary's concluding episode, which examined his turbulent existence.

He had been dodging authorities for months, disguising himself as a deaf woman in Texas, and was nabbed after pinching a chicken sandwich whilst carrying thousands of pounds in cash.

His defence lawyers claimed the recordings had been doctored, but the episode reignited attention in the unsolved cases linked to him.

During the hearings, prosecutors maintained Berman had planned to reveal to officials that she'd assisted Durst in covering up the 1982 slaying of his spouse Kathie McCormack.

Throughout the court case, he struggled with various health issues, including contracting Covid-19, and regularly appeared using a wheelchair.

He was handed a life term for her slaying in September 2021 and, just one month later, prosecutors filed charges against him for Kathie's murder too.

Kathleen Durst's family members said at the time: "Not a single day goes by that we do not think about our beautiful, smart, and kind sister, Kathleen.

"Today, more than ever before, it is clear that she was murdered by Robert Durst in Westchester County, New York on January 31, 1982. The evidence is overwhelming.

"Although Durst has now been rightly convicted of killing Susan Berman, who helped him conceal the truth about Kathie's death, the McCormack family is still waiting for justice. Kathie is still waiting for justice."

In 'The Jinx', Durst maintained his disguise as a mute woman - which involved shaving off his hair and wearing a wig - was to "avoid media attention" surrounding the renewed investigation into his wife's disappearance.

Bloodstains discovered in his flat led to his arrest, though he was acquitted on self-defence grounds.

Black's head was never recovered, and prosecutors claimed Durst dismembered his body and disposed of the remains in Galveston Bay, where his torso and severed limbs were found.

Durst came from a privileged background as the son of New York property magnate Seymour Durst and brother of commercial developer Douglas Durst.

His wealth was estimated at $65 million (£47 million). The property empire boasts an extensive portfolio including New York's One World Trade Centre.

Yet, he became estranged from his family after his brother was chosen ahead of him to run the family business. The killer's final mugshot, taken three weeks before he died of cardiac arrest in January 2022, shows him breathing with assistance from a tube.

Previously, his legal representatives had sought to postpone proceedings, citing medical complications including chest pains, breathing difficulties, discomfort from a catheter and urinary tract infections connected to bladder cancer.

He contracted Covid-19 shortly after receiving his sentence and needed hospital care. His solicitor Chip Lewis confirmed the death occurred from natural causes arising from multiple health conditions.