Robert Durst Indicted on Federal Weapons Charges

The weapons case in Louisiana has kept Robert Durst from being extradited to Los Angeles, where he's charged in the 2000 death of friend Susan Berman

Millionaire Robert Durst has been formally charged by a New Orleans-based federal grand jury with illegally possessing a handgun.

The charge in Friday's indictment says Durst violated the federal gun-control act because he was in possession of a firearm after being convicted of earlier felonies. The move came as no surprise: A federal criminal complaint outlining the allegation had been filed earlier this week.

Durst now stands charged with offenses in three jurisdictions in two states: In California, he is charged in the 2000 slaying of Susan Berman. In New Orleans, where he was taken into custody at a hotel last month, he still faces weapons charges in state and federal courts.

According to testimony, an FBI agent recognized Durst in a New Orleans hotel March 14 and escorted him to his hotel room. Durst was arrested March 15 on the Los Angeles warrant and arrested separately on the weapons charges the next day.

His arrest came the night before HBO broadcast the finale of the documentary "The Jinx," at the end of which Durst can be heard off camera saying, "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."

The documentary chronicled the life of the eccentric real estate heir, including the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen, the 2000 death of his friend Berman and the 2001 shooting death and dismemberment of Durst's Texas neighbor, whom he admitted to killing. He was later acquitted on a self-defense claim in that case.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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