Robert Durst: HBO Documentary Subject Linked to 44-Year-Old Missing College Student Case in Vermont
ByRobert Durst has been charged with the murder of one person, exonerated of killing another and suspected in the disappearances of a third, and he is now connected to another missing person.
According to the Associated Press, local and national news attended a Middlebury, Vt. Police Department (MPD) press conference to hear about Durst's possible connection to a long-missing college student. Lynne Schulze, 18 at the time, went missing in 1971 and was last seen near an establishment the wealthy NYC real estate heir owned.
Durst's alleged crimes came to light in a six-part HBO docu-miniseries and became headline news when police arrested him earlier this month, the day before the series finale. Durst is now facing charges for murdering Susan Berman on Christmas Eve, 2000, but almost a year later he was found not guilty of killing Morris Black in Galveston, Texas.
Both incidents are allegedly connected to the disappearance of his wife, Kathleen, who was last seen Jan. 31, 1982, nine years into their marriage. In parts of 1971 and 1972, the years leading up to their nuptials, the Dursts owned a health food store in Middlebury called All Good Things. A student from Connecticut attending Middlebury College at the time, Schulze frequented the store and was last seen Dec. 10, 1971 across the street from the shop.
"I don't like to use the term 'suspect' per se. This is a person that is very interesting to us," the Burlington Free Press quoted MPD Chief Tom Hanley saying at the news conference.
Dick DeGuerin, an attorney who first represented Durst in the Galveston case, said this is nothing more than piling on someone already accused of heinous crimes.
"Bob Durst had no connection to the case in Vermont or any other case that some law enforcement people have seen fit to draw suspicions about," DeGuerin told the newspaper. "He's an easy target for this game of 'Blame it on Bob.'"
Hanley would not call the Schulze case a homicide investigation, but said it is a possibility he has to consider. The HBO documentary suggests Durst's motive in killing both Black and Berman was because they held something over his head regarding his wife's disappearance. The Schulze case does not fit this narrative, as the couple was not yet married.
The MPD has not interviewed Durst, NBC News reported, and Hanely indicated he is just a person of interest at this point.