Cat parts found at home of judge in Durst case

Kevin Moran
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

GALVESTON - The judge in the 2003 murder trial of New York miilionaire Robert Durst found the cleanly severed front legs and head of a gray cat in front of her home Thursday.

A necropsy Friday by a Houston forensic veterinarian confirmed that the legs and head of the cat were severed "by someone with an instrument or instruments," Galveston County State District Judge Susan Criss said Friday.

Criss said she noticed something lying near the curb in front of her Galveston home as she arrived at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"It was in the street, but it was right in front of the sidewalk that leads to my front door," Criss said. "At first I thought it was a dead rat. Then I got out and looked and it was the head of a cat."

Criss said she immediately realized that the partial cat carcass was not the result of an accident such as a car running over the animal.

'It was very clean," Criss said. "It was placed there. There was no blood, no loose fur, no drag marks. It was clearly laid there."

Criss declined comment on whether she thinks the cat carcass has any connection with the Durst case. Durst, 63, was acquitted by a jury of murdering Galveston neighbor Morris Black, 71, even though Durst admitted cutting up Black's body and tossing the parts into Galveston Bay in several black garbage baqs. The victim's head never was recovered. Durst testified during his trial that Black died from an accidental bullet to the head as the two struggled over a pistol Durst owned. He said he later panicked and cut up the body even though the death was accidental.

Galveston police Chief Kenneth Mack said late Friday investigators do not know whether the partial cat carcasss is related to the Durst case.

"At this point, we don't have anyone to look at on this," Mack said. "We're just working with what we have and what we have is the partial remains of a dead cat."

Mack went to Criss' home after she found the cat carcass and he confirmed that "it would appear that it was deliberately cut the way it was."

"It did not appear to have been killed on the scene," Mack said. "It appeared to have been placed there by something or someone."

Durst was not on the island at the time of the incident, Durst's attorney Dick DeGuerin of Houston said.

"I can guarantee you it wasn't Bob Durst," DeGuerin said late today. "Bob Durst hasn't been in or even near Galveston County this week."

DeGuerin said Durst, upon whom Criss imposed a total of $2 billion in bonds to keep him in the Galveston County Jail on the evidence tampering and bond-jumping charges after his murder acquittal, bears Criss no ill will.

"He doesn't hold anything against Susan Criss," DeGuerin said. "She gave us a fair trial."

DeGuerin said Galveston police asked him Friday to contact Durst and ask his client's whereabouts this week. He said he did not know until he was contacted by the Houston Chronicle late today about the nature of the incident that prompted police to inquire about Durst's travels.

Durst told DeGuerin he had been at his home and in various other Houston locations but did not travel to Galveston this week, DeGuerin said.

"I just think it's somebody's idea of a joke, and it's sick," DeGuerin said. "All Bob wants to do is just be anonymous and be left alone."

Criss said police told her the partial cat carcass will undergo further examination, including tests for the presence of human DNA.

While there is no proof yet of who left the partial cat carcass at her home, Criss said the discovery alarmed her.

"Draw your conclusion," Criss said. "A head was left in front of my house by someone who knew how to cut a head off."

Criss said police had the partial cat carcass examined today and they told her the legs and head head were severed from the rest of the cat's body by instruments.

Durst, who is on parole, lives in Houston but had been sighted in Galveston in recent weeks. He was acquitted in November 2003 by a jury in Criss' court of murdering Black.

Durst was spotted a few weeks ago in the neighborhood where Black's body parts were found. In January, he was arrested and placed in temporary custody by the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole for violating his parole by traveling to Galveston and visiting the fourplex in which he and Black rented adjacent apartments. Durst is on parole after pleading guilty to felony charges of evidence tampering and bond-jumping related to Black's death in September 2001.

Since his January arrest, state parole officials relaxed travel restrictions placed on Durst so his most recent known visit to Galveston - near the site where Black's body parts were found - was not a parole violation.