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Real estate heir Robert Durst testified on Wednesday at his Los Angeles trial for the murder of his best friend Susan Berman that he and wife Kathie enjoyed a 'happy' life before her mysterious disappearance, except for her worsening cocaine habit and dealings with a divorce attorney.

The jury was shown a 1980 photo of Durst in his late 30s, smiling, with one arm around Kathie and another around Berman. It was taken at a party he threw for the release of Berman's memoir about her life as a mobster's daughter in Las Vegas.

A frail-looking Durst, now 78, told the jury that the trio had gotten along famously in the 1970s, at a time when Durst was trying to accept his role in his family's New York business, his wife was a medical student and Berman was a journalist and fledgling author. But the night of the party didn't end well.

'It was the first time I'd ever seen Kathie drink so much that she lost control of herself. She fell down and bashed her head,' said Durst, who strained to speak as he sat in a wheelchair instead of the witness chair.

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New York real estate scion Robert Durst, 78, answers questions from defense attorney Dick DeGuerin, left, while testifying in his murder trial at the Inglewood Courthouse on Monday. On Day 2 of his testimony, Durst said he and missing wife Kathie had a 'happy' life

Durst claimed troubles with Kathie (left and right) began emerging a few years into the marriage, though he was still happy in the relationship. He said his wife began using cocaine excessively and that he learned she had been paying a 'matrimonial lawyer'

Durst took her to a hospital to get stitches.

'She wanted to go back to the party, with her head half-shaven,' Durst said. "I took her home, and I went back to the party.'

Two years later, Kathie Durst would disappear and later be declared dead, though her body was never found. 

Prosecutors allege Robert Durst fatally shot Berman in the back of the head in her Beverly Hills home in 2000 because she was about to tell authorities what she knew about his wife's disappearance.

Durst has never been charged in connection with his wife's disappearance and has denied having any role in it, but the judge at his trial is allowing prosecutors to present evidence that he killed her as they try to establish his motive in Berman's slaying.

Durst's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, made the rare and risky move of calling a defendant in a murder trial to the stand on Monday.

His first questions to Durst were: 'Did you kill Susan Berman?' and 'Do you know who did?' with Durst answering 'no' to both.

DeGuerin then took Durst on a long, slow journey through his life story that continued into a second day of testimony Wednesday after a day off Tuesday.

Durst said his marriage was happy in the 1970s except for his firm refusal to become a father.

'I was very, very much against having children,' Durst said. 'I did not want to be a daddy. My childhood had been a disaster. I did not want the same thing to happen to my child.' 

He said bigger troubles began emerging a few years into the marriage, though he was still happy in the relationship. He said Kathie Durst began using cocaine excessively and that he learned she had been paying a 'matrimonial lawyer' from their joint checking account, though they had not talked about divorce.

On the first day of testimony, Durst went into detail about his traumatic childhood, revealing that at the age of seven he saw his 'mommy on the roof' of the family's home and then found her motionless body after she committed suicide. 

Durst also testified that he blamed his father for his mother's death even though he was just a child. 

'I kept begging my father to move,' Durst said, 'but he never sold the house where his wife died.'

Asked if her ran away from camp and ran away from school, Durst answered,

'I ran away from everywhere,' Durst answered. 

He said he ran away from his home because he 'hated the house.' 

Durst also said that he had psychiatric problems that precluded him from getting drafted to serve during the Vietnam War. 

Durst was arrested on a warrant in Berman's killing in New Orleans in 2015 on the eve before the final episode of the HBO documentary series The Jinx aired. In the series about Durst, he made several seemingly damning statements.

Prosecutors also have been allowed to present evidence from a 2003 Texas case, where DeGuerin first put Durst on the stand. 

Durst had testified that his Galveston neighbor Morris Black was killed in a struggle after entering his home with a gun.

In that trial, Durst described chopping up and disposing of Black's body, and the jury acquitted him of murder.

In the Berman killing, prosecutors allege that she was about to talk to police about Durst’s involvement in his wife’s disappearance. 

Durst is on trial for the 2000 murder of his best friend, Susan Berman. Prosecutors allege Durst killed Berman to prevent her from speaking to the police about Kathie's disappearance 

Durst’s attorneys have said that he found her body, panicked, and fled to Texas, sending a letter to police that read 'CADAVER' with Berman’s address.

His lawyers have sought delays and a mistrial over his many health troubles, including two bouts with cancer, pulmonary disease and urinary tract infection, but the judge has rejected them all, expressing sympathy for Durst's state but emphasizing that jail doctors have declared him fit for trial. 

In late June, Durst's estranged brother reluctantly testified that the two never got along and he feared his oldest sibling would kill him.

'He'd like to murder me,' Douglas Durst bluntly told jurors in Los Angeles County Superior Court on June 28.

Douglas Durst, head of one of New York’s largest commercial real estate firms, said his brother was angry and bitter over an acrimonious inheritance settlement for tens of millions of dollars. 

He had not seen his brother in 20 years but worries because of threats he has made.

The chairman of the Durst Organization, which owns some of Manhattan’s premier skyscrapers and 2,500 apartments, said he and his brother have fought since childhood. 

Kathie Durst had told Douglas Durst she planned to seek a divorce from his brother, he testified.

Douglas said his brother told him Kathie vanished three days after he put her on a train to New York City from their lakeside house in Westchester County. Robert said that was the last time he saw his wife.

Durst testified Monday that he did not kill his Berman and did not know who did

The image above shows the promotional movie poster for the HBO documentary The Jinx

During the documentary, Durst was caught on a hot mic appearing to confess to the killings

'His tone was very neutral,' Douglas said. 'There was no great anxiety in his tone. It seemed a little strange.'

On cross-examination, he said his brother seemed distraught but added he would have been more upset if his wife was missing.

'There is almost no emotion that Bob shows that is genuine,' he said.

He said his brother told him the disappearance might be related to a drug dealer who had come by the couple’s apartment. 

Robert Durst stands up at his trial for murder of his best friend Susan Berman and tells judge he is not faking his illness or looking for sympathy while holding up his catheter bag

The health of Robert Durst has been a concern throughout his lengthy trial for the execution-style murder of his friend Susan Berman, 55, in 2000. 

On Monday, Durst, 78, stood before the court to outright deny claims by the prosecution that he was faking his ailments in order to generate sympathy from jurors. 

In the past, the trial has been delayed while Durst received treatment for bladder cancer. 

Robert Durst told the judge in his trial he was not faking his illness or looking for sympathy while holding up his urine bag

#RobertDurst - WATCH: "I'm not seeking sympathy from the jury!" He said his head is shaved because that's the only haircut he can get in the jail. He said his chair was not purposely lowered in Galveston. He says he wants the catheter out. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/qs9i45Z3uP

— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) June 28, 2021

Appearing in prison scrubs and with a shaved head, Durst denied manipulating jurors.

'I am not seeking sympathy from the jury,' he said in open court on Monday. 'My head is shaved because it is the only kind of hair cut that I am able to get in the jail.'

He also denied deliberately lowering his chair and said he was trying to get doctors to remove his catheter.

'I don't think it is meaningful,' he said.

Deputy District Attorney John Lewin told the court that he changed Durst's urine bag during a break in court proceedings suggesting that he was doing Durst a favor and showing goodwill to him.

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