"Jinx" creators finally reveal what they think of Robert Durst: "Not just a random killer. He’s a strategic killer"

Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling haven’t done much press since the explosive conclusion of their HBO show “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” in which star Robert Durst confessed to murder and was arrested in New Orleans just before the finale aired. But in an interview with THR today, the pair shared some brief information about the ongoing legal case, as well as offering their assessment of the enigmatic man behind it all.

"The reason we’re not talking to press now is that there’s a live case being prepared, and we’re going to be witnesses in that case,” explained Jarecki. "To try the case in the media, or for us to provide some pseudo-expert opinions about how the legal process is going to go, is only going to confuse people and go beyond our sphere of expertise. We’re just trying to be respectful of the process for everyone."

Explaining that they both attempted to remain objective throughout the filmmaking process despite the mounting evidence tying Durst to three murders, it was all over once they discovered the letter to murder victim Susan Berman, written in Durst’s handwriting.

"I always found it so hard to reconcile that Bob had been so close to three tragedies. But as journalists, we try to draw out the truth by neutral­izing your perspective,” said Smerling. "Once we saw the letter, we couldn’t neutralize our perspective anymore."

Asked if he was ever concerned for his safety, Jarecki suggested that he saw Durst as more of a strategic killer than a random one. "Murder is one possibility to solving a problem — you always had to be attentive to that," he said. "But the man, in our view, is not just a random killer. He’s a strategic killer and won’t put himself at risk unless he thinks there’s an upside. I think we were doing what Bob wanted us to do. He came to me know­ing what we didn’t know at the time: that he killed all three of those people. What drove him to reach out to filmmakers and say, “I want my story to be told?” I think this compulsion to confess is a driver for him. It’s a release he was looking for.”