A failure in LAPD handwriting analysis 14 years ago meant that Robert Durst was free to kill again , according to a search warrant . Durst , a member of a wealthy New York real estate family , was arrested in New Orleans over the weekend and charged with murder for the shooting of Susan Berman in December 2000 . Police focused on Durst 's handwriting 14 years ago , after a note in an envelope tipped them off to Berman 's death . But a document examiner wrongly concluded that the handwriting did not match Durst 's . Scroll down for video . Accused : Robert Durst was arrested after he seemed to give himself away during a taped interview for an HBO documentary investigating his possible links to three killings . Evidence : The handwriting on this notorious note that tipped off police was eventually matched to Durst . Missed : The handwriting was initially thought to belong to somebody else after LAPD analysts made errors in their assessment . Match : Eventually , the writing was compared against samples of Durst 's writing and the similarities were found to be striking . Sinister : Robert Durst is escorted into Orleans Parish Prison after his arrest . He escaped police attention for years , partially due to a failed handwriting analysis 14 years ago . Writing on the note and envelope , which was written in block lettering , misspelled 'Beverley Hills Police ' and included the word 'cadaver ' along with Berman 's Beverly Hills address . In 2001 , Los Angeles Police Department document examiner William Leaver concluded it was 'highly probable ' that it was written by Nyle Brenner , Berman 's manager and friend . The assessment was 'rubber stamped ' by Leaver 's supervisor , who told detectives in September that she had not backed the findings up with an independent technical review . Investigators had initially failed to analyze examples of Durst 's handwriting , and it was n't until eight months later that a comparison was made . Leaver said 'similarities ' were enough to request more writing samples , which police eventually obtained . In June 2003 , Leaver revised his assessment to conclude that the handwriting was likely Durst 's . The conflicting analyses meant that valuable time lost . By then , Durst had been charged in Texas with the murder and dismemberment of Morris Black . Investigation : Law enforcement officers stand outside the Robert Durst 's Houston home . Forensic : Durst himself may have implicated the property in a recording made while talking to himself after a tense interview for the HBO series . Eventually , the envelope , letter and writing samples were sent to the California Department of Justice and an investigator concluded that Durst was 'probably the author of the cadaver letter and note ' . The Los Angeles case went dormant , and was n't revived until 2012 , when law enforcement learned of a six-part HBO series about his links to three killings entitled The Jinx : The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst . He is suspected of killing his first wife , who disappeared in New York in 1982 ; Berman , the daughter of a mobster , who acted as his spokeswoman after his wife disappeared ; and a 71-year-old neighbor in Texas , whose dismembered body was found floating in Galveston Bay in 2001 . The filmmakers say they shared tape with police months ago of interviews with Durst , including his reactions to handwriting analysis and what appears to be a confession to Berman 's killing . In October and November , the LAPD had two independent examiners analyzed the documents and both concluded that Durst was the author . Durst was arrested earlier this month , shortly before the finale of the HBO documentary . He has only ever been tried for the Texas killing , and he was acquitted of murder . Authorities on Tuesday searched Durst 's Houston home , and the warrant released Wednesday details the timeline of the Berman case . The LAPD has declined comment until Durst is in its custody . He is currently being held in Louisiana on gun charges . Durst 's attorney , Dick DeGuerin , said the conflicting determinations on the handwriting 'shows you what junk science really is . ' He also questioned what evidence police expected to find in Durst 's Houston home . But Durst himself may have implicated the property in a recording made while talking to himself after a tense interview for the HBO series , which concluded Sunday . Just before saying he 'killed them all , ' he says , ' I do n't know what 's in the house ' . The search warrant affidavit showed that authorities were concerned Durst , who has an estimated net worth of $ 100 million , might be preparing to flee the country . He had withdrawn large sums of money from multiple bank accounts , including daily amounts of $ 9,000 , for 35 days starting in October . Durst was under FBI surveillance . Agents arrested him in a New Orleans hotel under the name 'Everette Ward , ' finding nearly $ 43,000 in cash , a gun and a rubber mask that could cover his head and neck in his room , the affidavit says . A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said that it was a kind of 'old man mask ' , and investigators were looking at whether he had been using it to travel anonymously . Durst could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Berman .
In 2001 , police analysed the handwriting on a note alerting them to the death of Millionaire Durst . They wrongly concluded that it did n't match Durst 's writing . This meant that valuable time was lost . Susan Berman is suspected of three brutal murders .