# Killing of Morris Black
The killing of Morris Black was the September 28, 2001 shooting death of a 71-year-old [Galveston, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/galveston-texas) man by his neighbor [Robert Durst](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-durst), a New York real estate heir, followed by Durst's dismemberment of the body and disposal of the parts in Galveston Bay. Durst admitted the shooting and the dismemberment but claimed self-defense, and a [Galveston County](https://www.edgepedia.org/galveston-county) jury acquitted him of murder on November 11, 2003[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). He later pleaded guilty to bail jumping and evidence tampering and was sentenced to five years in prison[2](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21182184/report-on-the-investigation-into-the-disappearance-of-kathleen-durst.pdf?t=1642618714484).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Victim | Morris Black, 71, a handyman who lived across the hall from Durst in a low-rent Galveston apartment building[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html) |
| Date and place | September 28, 2001, Durst's apartment in a Galveston fourplex at 2213 Avenue K[3](https://hauntbound.com/locations/tx/robert-durst-murder-house-2213-avenue-k/) |
| Cause of death | A bullet to the head; an autopsy blamed "homicide by unknown means"[4](https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Struggle-over-gun-led-to-killing-defense-says-9067389.php) • [5](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2003/11/06/Jury-has-Durst-murder-trial/UPI-69021068137842/) |
| Disposal | Durst used two saws and an ax to dismember the body and threw the parts into Galveston Bay in garbage bags; the head was never found[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html) |
| Arrest | October 9, 2001, nine days after bagged body parts were found[6](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/intrigue-defines-millionaire-s-murder-trial-2131465.php) |
| Trial outcome | Acquitted of murder on November 11, 2003, after five days of jury deliberation; the jury was allowed to consider only murder, not lesser charges[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/) |
| Subsequent pleas | Guilty pleas to bail jumping and evidence tampering; five-year prison sentence[2](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21182184/report-on-the-investigation-into-the-disappearance-of-kathleen-durst.pdf?t=1642618714484) |
## Background
Durst moved from New York to Galveston around November 2000, after prosecutors in New York reopened an investigation into the 1982 disappearance of his first wife[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). To avoid attention, he rented an apartment while posing as a mute woman named Dorothy Ciner, and later dropped the masquerade and became friends with Morris Black, who lived across the hall[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/). His attorneys said the friendship soured because of Black's increasingly belligerent behavior, and defense witnesses at trial described Black as a frightening, rage-filled man who threatened to kill people and had threatened to bomb a [South Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-carolina) utility company office building in 1997[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/) • [8](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/3-testify-that-durst-s-neighbor-was-frightening-2130082.php).
## Discovery and arrest
Trash bags containing pieces of Black's body began washing up along Galveston Bay in September 2001; a man fishing with his son found a floating torso, and divers recovered the limbs in plastic bags[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-13-me-56745-story.html). Durst came under suspicion when a receipt bearing his name was found in one of the bags; investigators also found a bow saw receipt, a paring knife stained with blood, and a mopped trail of blood running from Black's apartment into the one Durst was using under another person's name[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-13-me-56745-story.html).
Police arrested Durst on October 9, 2001[6](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/intrigue-defines-millionaire-s-murder-trial-2131465.php). Before officers realized the middle-aged suspect was a millionaire, he had posted bail, reported at $300,000 by the Los Angeles Times and described as bail set at $250,000 on the murder charge in Houston Chronicle coverage, and left the Galveston County Jail[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-13-me-56745-story.html) • [10](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Suspect-in-Galveston-killing-vanishes-is-indicted-2054389.php). He then vanished, missing a court hearing on October 16, 2001; a grand jury indicted him on charges of murder and failure to appear, and a judge ordered him held without bail if recaptured[10](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Suspect-in-Galveston-killing-vanishes-is-indicted-2054389.php). On November 30, 2001, he was caught shoplifting a sandwich in Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, despite having about $500 in cash and roughly $37,000 in his rental car, which he had rented in Morris Black's name; police also recovered two loaded handguns and handwritten notes[11](https://time.com/3745769/robert-durst-2003/) • [2](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21182184/report-on-the-investigation-into-the-disappearance-of-kathleen-durst.pdf?t=1642618714484).
## The 2003 trial
Durst was tried in Galveston before State District Judge Susan Criss[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). His defense team, led by Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin with [Mike Ramsey](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-ramsey) also involved, argued that Black died as the result of a life-and-death struggle over a gun. Durst testified over nearly four days that he returned to his apartment on September 28, 2001, found Black inside without an invitation, and that Black had Durst's gun; during the struggle, the weapon went off, hitting Black in the face[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/) • [12](https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-robert-durst-self-defense-20150316-story.html). Durst admitted he then panicked, drank a bottle of [Jack Daniel's](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-daniels) whiskey, severed Black's limbs with a bow saw, stuffed the parts into garbage bags, and threw them into the bay, saying he feared police would not believe a cross-dressing millionaire[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). On the stand he described feeling like he was "swimming in blood" while cutting up the body[13](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/durst-recalls-swimming-in-blood-after-disposing-2128406.php).
**Factors in the acquittal.** Prosecutors argued that the dismemberment and disposal showed consciousness of guilt, but the jury of eight women and four men acquitted after five days of deliberation[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). Several conditions worked in Durst's favor. There were no witnesses to the killing; as one law professor put it, "There were only two witnesses to what happened, and one of them is dead"[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). Black's head, which contained the bullet and could have shown how he was shot, was never recovered[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). Durst had cleaned his apartment so thoroughly that only a few specks of blood remained[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). In an all-or-nothing strategy accepted by both sides, the jury was instructed only on murder, without a lesser option such as manslaughter[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/). Juror Joanne Gongora summarized the reasoning: "The burden is on the prosecution to show how the event happened, and we didn't see that. It wasn't proven"[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html).
## Aftermath
Durst remained in custody on bail-jumping charges after the acquittal[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html). A grand jury later indicted him for evidence tampering for disposing of the body parts, with the tampering charge built on an underlying abuse-of-corpse allegation that defense attorneys argued was filed too late; the two-year deadline for the misdemeanor had passed by the February 2004 indictment[14](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-feb-13-na-durst13-story.html) • [15](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/defense-durst-case-deadline-missed-1678775.php). While awaiting resolution, Judge Criss raised his bail to $3 billion after the tampering indictment[16](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/durst-s-bail-is-raised-a-billion-1567490.php). Durst ultimately pleaded guilty to bond-jumping and evidence tampering and was sentenced to five years in prison[2](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21182184/report-on-the-investigation-into-the-disappearance-of-kathleen-durst.pdf?t=1642618714484).
The killing followed Durst's decade as a suspect in his wife Kathleen's 1982 disappearance and the 2000 shooting death of [Susan Berman](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-berman); he was charged with Berman's murder in 2015 and with Kathleen's murder in 2021, both during his life[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/) • [19](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-22/robert-durst-charged-with-1982-ny-murder-first-wife-kathie) • [20](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-21/robert-durst-susan-berman-murder-trial-relationship-timeline). Los Angeles prosecutors later argued in court filings that the Galveston killing was murder rather than self-defense, and that evidence from it supported the 2021 California murder conviction in Berman's death[17](https://da.lacounty.gov/sites/default/files/media/122718People_v_Durst_Motion.pdf) • [18](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-durst-murder-case-kathleen-20180416-story.html).
## References
1. [Millionaire Acquitted of Murder, Los Angeles Times (November 12, 2003)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-12-na-durst12-story.html)
2. [Report on the Investigation into the Disappearance of Kathleen Durst](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21182184/report-on-the-investigation-into-the-disappearance-of-kathleen-durst.pdf?t=1642618714484)
3. [Robert Durst Murder House — 2213 Avenue K, Galveston TX, Haunt Bound](https://hauntbound.com/locations/tx/robert-durst-murder-house-2213-avenue-k/)
4. [Struggle over gun led to killing, defense says, MyPlainview (AP)](https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Struggle-over-gun-led-to-killing-defense-says-9067389.php)
5. [Jury has Durst murder trial, UPI (November 6, 2003)](https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2003/11/06/Jury-has-Durst-murder-trial/UPI-69021068137842/)
6. [Intrigue defines millionaire's murder trial, Houston Chronicle (August 25, 2003)](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/intrigue-defines-millionaire-s-murder-trial-2131465.php)
7. [Durst Found Not Guilty in Murder Case, The Washington Post (November 12, 2003)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/11/12/durst-found-not-guilty-in-murder-case/8056f959-3523-47e0-82c6-897588b65073/)
8. [3 testify that Durst's neighbor was frightening, Houston Chronicle (October 29, 2003)](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/3-testify-that-durst-s-neighbor-was-frightening-2130082.php)
9. [Texas Murder Suspect Free; Was Subject of L.A. Probe, Los Angeles Times (October 13, 2001)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-13-me-56745-story.html)
10. [Suspect in Galveston killing vanishes, is indicted, Houston Chronicle (October 17, 2001)](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Suspect-in-Galveston-killing-vanishes-is-indicted-2054389.php)
11. [How Robert Durst Was Acquitted of Murder Years Before The Jinx, TIME (March 16, 2015)](https://time.com/3745769/robert-durst-2003/)
12. [How did Robert Durst chop up a body and not get convicted for murder?, Los Angeles Times (March 16, 2015)](https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-robert-durst-self-defense-20150316-story.html)
13. [Durst recalls 'swimming in blood' after disposing of body, Houston Chronicle (October 28, 2003)](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/durst-recalls-swimming-in-blood-after-disposing-2128406.php)
14. [Durst Indicted on New Charge, Los Angeles Times (February 13, 2004)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-feb-13-na-durst13-story.html)
15. [Defense: Durst case deadline missed, Houston Chronicle (March 12, 2004)](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/defense-durst-case-deadline-missed-1678775.php)
16. [Durst's bail is raised a billion, Houston Chronicle (February 13, 2004)](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/durst-s-bail-is-raised-a-billion-1567490.php)
17. [People v. Durst, Los Angeles County District Attorney motion (December 2018)](https://da.lacounty.gov/sites/default/files/media/122718People_v_Durst_Motion.pdf)
18. [Prosecutors say Durst murdered his best friend to cover his tracks, Los Angeles Times (April 16, 2018)](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-durst-murder-case-kathleen-20180416-story.html)
19. [Robert Durst charged with murdering first wife, Kathie, in New York](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-10-22/robert-durst-charged-with-1982-ny-murder-first-wife-kathie)
20. [The Hollywood ‘Mafia princess’ was Robert Durst's best friend. Did loyalty lead to murder?](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-05-21/robert-durst-susan-berman-murder-trial-relationship-timeline)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › Criminal law and penal justice › Crime victims and survivors (biographies) › Murder and homicide victims › Adult civilian victims › Titles L to Z*
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