Death and the millionaire drifter

Two years had passed since a fisherman and his son to their horror reeled-in Morris Black's dismembered remains from the Galveston Bay.

Robert Durst was now on trial for killing his one-time neighbor.

And, Galveston D.A. Kirk Sistrunk argued it was a cold, premeditated murder.

Kirk Sistrunk: We examined evidence in this case, it was clear to us that the evidence supported there was preplanning. 

Assistant D.A. Joel Bennett told the jury that Robert Durst intentionally shot Morris Black, chopped up his body and loaded the parts into plastic bags only to dump them into the bay and hope they'd disappear.

Joel Bennett: And that leads to only one conclusion--that man, Robert Durst, is guilty of murder.

The case seemed a no-brainer for the prosecution. After all, Robert Durst had admitted to killing his neighbor and even taking an axe and saw to the body.

Joel Bennett: Robert Durst severed Morris Black's head at the 6th vertebre convinces you beyond a reasonable doubt that he intentionally or knowingly murdered Morris Black and it was no accident, and it was not self defense.

The prosecutors pointed to the fact that Durst cleaned up the apartment in the days following the shooting --a sign that he had something to hide.

Kirk Sistrunk: We had a dismembered body. You would expect blood to be everywhere in that apartment. It wasn't there. The body wasn't there.  I mean, it's-- it's typical in a murder case, people are going to cover up crime scene evidence.

Durst's admitted mutilation of Morris Black's body would prove to be one of the most uncomfortable set of facts in an already disturbing case.

Joel Bennett: The extremities were bagged up. Each one was triple bagged. Three-- three for the leg, three for the other leg, three for the arms. And then three empty bags, with long slits down each one. 

The prosecution argued that Durst even lingered at the bay to watch the bags sink and ensure that Morris Black disappeared into the depths.

Joel Bennett: He had to go back and double check, make sure that-- that Morris Black floated away. And did give him the time he needed to clean up the apartment, and to get away with murder. 

But, there was conspicuously one body part never retrieved on that father-son's day of very bad fishing.

The head, missing for a reason, argued the prosecutor.

Kirk Sistrunk: The head was a significant piece of evidence, because it-- it would have given us the opportunity to disprove-- an act of-- of self-defense, or accident. We would have known exactly where the man was shot in the head, if he was beaten over the head. I mean, we had bruises-- the medical examiner testified, bruises all over Morris Black's back, his lower back-- both sides of his back. And we thought it was indicative of a struggle.

Kurt Sistrunk: Did he take the head? You'll never make us believe otherwise. Yeah, we think he took the head, because it was evidence of a murder.

Not only did he rid the apartment of evidence, dismember the body and hide the head, said the prosecution. On top of it all, he skipped town.

Kirk Sistrunk: And then we had flight. This man wasn't running because of an act of self-defense, wasn't running because of-- an accidental shooting but running because of only one reason. And running because he committed the murder of Morris Black.

As for the victim, Morris Black, while they admitted he may have been unruly and unpleasant-- the prosecutors asked the jury how that justifies murder.

Kirk Sistrunk: Morris Black--you may not ever ask him over for dinner at your house. But the bottom line is let's talk about what happened in that house on September 28, 2001.

And, while the prosecution did not have to prove a motive, they knew it was human nature for the jury to want to hear one.

Joel Bennett: You can't say, "I need a logical motive for someone to do something so illogical, so irrational and so unthinkable."

Kirk Sistrunk: But human nature is always going to say, "Someone please tell me why. Someone explain to me why this happened."

So, what could the motivation possibly have been?

One theory for the crime: Robert Durst wanted the old coot's identity.

Goodbye Bobby. Hello Morris.

Joel Bennett: It's obvious that he steals people's identity that he knows. And, he admitted that -- he admitted that this guy could disappear and nobody'd be looking for him. So, it was the perfect identity to take.

Obvious to the prosecution.

But, now it was the defense's turn to tell its version of the story.

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