9 Movies That Helped Solve Real Life Crimes
3. The Jinx (2015)
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst is a 2015 HBO docu-series about Robert Durst, a New York real estate heir accused of murder. The series was made by Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, and Zac Stuart-Pontier. Jarecki had previously directed All Good Things, and Durst was a fan.
After all, the film was based on his biography, so Durst reached out to Jarecki for an interview. All-told, Durst sat for more than 20 hours over the course of several years, which helped provide a great deal of content for the miniseries. It was the first time Durst had cooperated with a journalist.
The series covers the unsolved disappearance of Durst's wife Kathie in 1982. More recently, the 2000 execution of writer Susan Berman, and the death and dismemberment of his 2001 neighbor Morris Black. In all cases, Durst was suspected but maintained his innocence in the first two and "self-defense" in the third.
Through the production, the filmmakers uncovered evidence implicating Durst in the crime. Before the final episode aired, he was arrested. The series helped provide the evidence needed to finally convict him in the form of two letters. Still, it didn't hurt that they caught him saying, "What the hell did I do? Kill them all, of course," when he thought his microphone was off.