Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing absolutely nobody can deny, it’s that controversies have surrounded now-late real estate heir Robert Alan Durst ever since the early 1980s. That’s because he was a suspect in the unsolved 1982 disappearance of his first wife Kathleen McCormack, was convicted of his longtime friend Susan Berman’s 2000 murder, and was thought to have killed his neighbor Morris Black in 2001. Nevertheless, as carefully explored in HBO’s ‘The Jinx: Part Two,’ several people unwaveringly supported him throughout this all, amongst whom were Stewart and Emily Altman.
Who Are Stewart and Emily Altman?
It was back in the 1950s when Stewart came across Robert for the first time in 10th grade while they were both attending Scarsdale High School, only for them to always remain in touch. Even while the former went on to pursue his juris doctorate before passing the bar in 1968, and the latter focused on an economics degree prior to ultimately returning to their home state of New York, their friendship remained the same. In fact, it was the attorney who’d introduced the then health-food store owner to Kathleen McCormack and was thus over the moon when they tied the knot in 1973.
By this point, even Stewart had reportedly married and settled down with a beautiful young brunette named Emily, leading her to also become close friends with Kathleen and Robert Durst. However, once Kathleen went missing in 1983 and Susan Berman also suddenly lost her life in 2000, their main focus reportedly seemed to be supporting their friend rather than attaining justice for the victims. After all, they appeared on various national shows such as CBS’ ’48 Hours’ as well as NBC’s ‘Dateline’ and primarily painted Robert in an empathetic, positive light by referring to him as a good man.
Things did change when Robert was ultimately arrested in 2015 for the first-degree murder of Susan Berman, yet Stewart and Emily Altman did try to fight the authorities as much as they could. Since the attorney had been representing his friend in real estate matters for years and even often provided counsel concerning criminal charges, they sought attorney-client privilege so as to not testify during his trial. This would’ve covered Emily too as she went into her husband’s private practice at least once a week to handle the books and was hence privy to all information, yet it didn’t pan out.
The truth is that all the prison-recorded conversations Robert had with Stewart and Emily following his eventual arrest were casual and friendly; they never touched upon his case in detail. Therefore, the presiding judge dismissed the attorney-client privilege filing before ordering the couple to testify in the accused’s 2020 jury trial — during this, the lawyer managed to evade many questions, yet his wife proved helpful to prosecutors. This is because she conceded that her once friend had told her he was indeed in Los Angeles at the time of Susan’s murder in her Beverly Hills home. Before her, nobody had ever placed Robert in the city, and he had denied being there too.
Stewart and Emily Altman Are Still Based in New York
Emily’s testimony was actually an utter bombshell against Robert that nobody had expected, and although his defense team tried to spin the narrative in his favor again, it just didn’t work out. Hence, in the end, on September 17, 2021, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of Susan Berman with several special charges, following which he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Since then, it appears as if Stewart and Emily prefer to lead their lives well away from the limelight, all the while doing their best to move on from the complexities of their past. With that said, though, it does seem like the couple is now spending as much time with their loved ones as possible, plus the former is also still serving as an attorney at Queens Family Court in Mineola, New York.
Read More: Nyle Brenner: Where is the Susan Berman’s Manager Now?
