--- description: The family of the still-missing first wife of millionaire and murder suspect Robert Durst has taken a step toward a wrongful death lawsuit. title: Robert Durst to Face Wrongful Death Suit image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42d1175418fda1b1/698783b435ba6f5fcbc078fe/robert-durst1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Robert Durst to Face Wrongful Death Suit From Family of First Wife, Kathleen by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 6:22 AM CUT  Robert Durst appears in court in New York, Dec. 2014 Robert Durst appears in court in New York, Dec. 2014Mike Segar—Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2015 6:22 AM CUT The family of the still-missing first wife of infamous millionaire and murder suspect Robert Durst has taken a step toward a wrongful death lawsuit against the real-estate heir, it was revealed Thursday. The brother of Kathleen McCormack Durst filed a petition to become administrator of her estate, according to his lawyer and court documents obtained by NBC News. Kathleen mysteriously disappeared one night in the winter of 1982 while she was married to Robert. She has never been found and no one was ever charged in connection with the case. James McCormack is seeking authority over Kathleen’s estate… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News._](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/robert-durst/robert-durst-face-wrongful-death-suit-family-first-wife-kathleen-n445581?cid=par-time%5F20151016 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4076044/robert-durst-wife-murder-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4076044/robert-durst-wife-murder-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Robert Durst to Face Wrongful Death Suit From Family of First Wife, Kathleen","datePublished":"2015-10-16T06:22:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:51:15.945Z","description":"Kathleen mysteriously disappeared one night in the winter of 1982","url":"https://time.com/4076044/robert-durst-wife-murder-lawsuit/","keywords":["Murder","Crime","Lawsuit","wife"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42d1175418fda1b1/698783b435ba6f5fcbc078fe/robert-durst1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42d1175418fda1b1/698783b435ba6f5fcbc078fe/robert-durst1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"File photo of real estate heir Durst appears in a criminal courtroom for his trial on charges of trespassing on property owned by his estranged family, in New York","caption":"Robert Durst appears in court in New York, Dec. 2014.","creditText":"Mike Segar—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4076044/robert-durst-wife-murder-lawsuit/","name":"Robert Durst to Face Wrongful Death Suit From Family of First Wife, Kathleen"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Robert Durst Arrested","description":"Infamous real-estate heir Robert Durst has been arrested in New Orleans for an out of state warrant, officials said. The warrant was issued by Los Angeles County.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/e3TAPacV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-16T14:59:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/e3TAPacV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4076044/robert-durst-wife-murder-lawsuit/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4076044/robert-durst-wife-murder-lawsuit/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```