LA TIMES: In recorded jail call, Robert Durst tells friend he regrets doing 'The Jinx'

Robert Durst tells friend he regrets doing 'The Jinx'

Los Angeles Times
By MARISA GERBER

APR 19, 2018 | 8:30 PM

Artwork by Bill Robles

Robert Durst listening to recordings at pre trial hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court. In a jail call recorded in 2015, Robert Durst told a friend he regretted giving interviews to the producers of  " The Jinx" saying he realized while watching the siz part HBO documentary that he "definitely had a problem"

The New York real estate scion was arrested in connection with the slaying of his best friend Susan Berman on March 14, 2015 — the day before the finale of "The Jinx," which focuses on his tangled life.

Prosecutors have said they feared Durst, who was arrested at a New Orleans hotel in possession of guns, cash, a fake ID and a mask, might flee after realizing the "damning evidence" in the documentary.

Prosecutors contend Berman, whose body was found on Christmas Eve in 2000, was killed to prevent her from providing incriminating information about Durst's involvement in the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Kathleen, a case that remains unsolved. Durst, 75, has denied killing either woman.

Read More..
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-robert-durst-20180419-story.html

Louise and David Turpin arraignment courtroom drawings

13 captive siblings forced to shower once a year, strangled, subject to frequent beatings: Prosecutor

-- Prosecutors revealed grisly details in a press conference Thursday about the captive siblings case out of California.-- The brothers and sisters were subject to repeated beatings, including strangulation, and were punished by being chained up, often for weeks or months at a time, prosecutors said.-- The victims weren't released from their chains even to go to the bathroom and were only allowed to shower once a year, according to prosecutors.-- The children were rescued Sunday after a 17-year-old escaped and alerted authorities to what was happening.-- Prosecutors said the teen plotted the escape for more than two years.

Courtroom sketch of Louise and David Turpin by Mona Edwards

Courtroom drawing of Louise and David Turpin by Bill Robles

The California parents accused of starving and shackling their 13 children allegedly forced them to shower only once a year, never took them to a dentist, and strangled and beat them routinely, prosecutors said Thursday.

David Turpin, 57, and Louise Turpin, 49, were arrested on charges of torture and child endangerment after their children were found Sunday at their home. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office described the residence as "dark and foul-smelling."

The Turpins both entered not guilty pleas on all counts Thursday. Their next court date was set for Feb. 23.

The children were rescued Sunday after one of the children -- a 17-year-old girl -- allegedly escaped through a window and called 911. Responding officers said the teen was slightly emaciated and "appeared to be only 10 years old."

"It took great courage for her to do that after all those years, and that's all she knows," Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said of the escape in an interview with ABC News. "She obviously has the personality that she's going to risk herself for others and she did that and she managed to get out. And we're very glad that she did. I don't know how long this would have continued and I don't know what the end result would have been."

Bill Robles and courtroom drawings open ArTree 2016 speaker series

Bill Robles and courtroom drawings open ArTree 2016 speaker series

Bill Robles drawing of Charles Manson featured in The Illustrated Courtroom book

Bill Robles and courtroom drawings open ArTree 2016 speaker series

Bill Robles, renowned courtroom artist for television news, opens the 2016 ARTree Speaker Series at the Old Town Newhall Library on Thursday, January 28 at 6:30pm. Robles draws the famous and the infamous in a career spanning more than 45 years.

Starting with the Charles Manson trial in 1970, Robles has illustrated defendants and lawyers at some of the countrys highest-profile trials including Patty Hearst, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, Donald Sterling, Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan. He most recently reported on the hearings for Tonya Couch, mother of affluenza teen Ethan Couch, and Enrique Marquez, accused of supplying assault weapons to the San Bernardino massacre.
The ARTree Speaker Series is open to the public at no charge, and is sponsored by Egg Plantation and Newhall Refinery, and is part of Thursdays@Newhall. For more information contact ARTree at (661) 673-7500, at www.theartree.org.

Michael Jackson by Bill Robles

Front-row seats: Courtroom art by BBC's Peter Bowes

 BBC's Peter Bowes writes an insightful and 
extensive article about the recently published book

The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art 

 Link below:

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140610-front-row-seats-courtroom-art

10 June 2014

Front-row seats: Courtroom Art

By Peter Bowes

Michael Jackson (Bill Robles)

A new collection of works by five of America's best-known courtroom artists showcases a unique art form. Peter Bowes takes a closer look.

HONORING MEMORIAL DAY: 4 Artists' Visions

Memorial Day is so much more than the backyard barbeque. It is a day when we honor those who have served our county. Below are images from the artists in the Illustrated Courtroom book, who

over the years have drawn various MOS:  Military, FDNY, NYPD.

 Howard Brodie drew countless war scenes for Yank Magazine and served in WW2. 

Many of his war drawings are in the Library of Congress.

Howard was also the subject of a great documentary about war artists titled They Drew Fire.

Below is a link about Howard and the PBS film.

 http://www.pbs.org/theydrewfire/index.html

http://www.pbs.org/theydrewfire/artists/brodie.html

Howard Brodie drawing of Guadalcanal  from the Library of Congress

Aggie Kenny drew 9/11 Responders searching for victims at Ground Zero in the months after the attack on the World Trade Centers. Her artwork was shown at the New York City Police Museum, and traveled to the US Senate Russell Building in Washington DC. 

Below is an article about her and her work in the Wall Street Journal

9/11 Responders drawn by Aggie Kenny: Firemen awaiting one of their fallen comrades 3/25/02

Bill Robles painted this illustration of the NYPD and other responders rescuing in the passengers and crew of US Airways flight 1549 that landed miraculously into the Hudson River on a frigid January day.  This illustration was shown at the New York City Police Museum, 

as part of a show titled The Police in Our Community

The rescue of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in January 2009

YouTube video link of the audio tapes released  

We're Gonna Be In The Hudson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JItbos1tYZs

Elizabeth Williams drew a series of illustrations about the NYPD 

for the New York City Police Museum. Sample below:

Night watch on Broad Street, after 9/11

WHITE BULGER TRIAL BEGINS

Whitey Bulger by Bill Robles

Bill Robles did this drawing of Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend after they were arrested  in Santa Monica Ca. 

James "Whitey" Bulger, the alleged mob boss and Top Ten Fugitive who had been on the run since the mid-'90s, was arrested almost 2 years ago June 2011, at the Princess Eugenia apartment complex in Santa Monica. His longtime companion, Catherine Greig, was also arrested.

Yesterday the trial began in Boston, with his brother, William former president of the Mass State Senate attending the trial. The trial is expected to last 3 months.
Here is an expert from the Washington post story by Michael Rosenwald, 

BOSTON — James “Whitey” Bul­ger is an old man now. He is 83.

He wears reading glasses. His hair is pure white, but not much remains. And when he stood up in a federal courtroom Wednesday morning to finally face the music, to stand trial for a lifetime of gangster crimes, he rose slowly, no longer the menacing Irish mob boss who allegedly scratched out 19 lives while the FBI looked the other way.

Washington Post story link

Richard Ramirez, known as 'Night Stalker' California serial killer, dies

Bill Robles covered the Night Stalker case which terrified Los Angeles residents for several years and was one of the most grisly, horrifying cases in LA history.
This drawing was always one of Bill's favorites, which shows that no matter the subject, producing a good drawing is key.
Story link below
 Newsday Story on Ramirez death

James Holmes entering the courtroom, May 13, 2013 by Bill Robles

I am in the courtroom, standing by my front row aisle seat as the court slowly fills with grief stricken families on one side, and media people on my side.  There are 7 or 8, crew cut, tough looking sheriffs all over the courtroom.

As the starting time approaches, we wait for Holmes to enter the courtroom, and then silence as the door opens and he is escorted in, handcuffed, and appearing to be in another world.

With everyone in place, the judge enters