The Jinx: The Life And Deaths of Robert Durst out of the box

Pick of the day: The Jinx: The Life And Deaths of Robert Durst, Box Sets, 4.10pm.

A scene from the documentary The Jinx: The Life And Deaths of Robert Durst.

Pick of the day: The Jinx: The Life And Deaths of Robert Durst, Box Sets, 4.10pm.

There’s a chance today to catch this entire six-part HBO documentary series about ridiculously wealthy real estate heir Robert Durst, estranged from his family of prominent New York property investors and now in jail after he was arrested in New Orleans on the eve of the show’s finale. He was accused of being a serial killer, largely because of the revelations uncovered in its making and a kind of inadvertent confession.

The series was made by Andrew Jarecki, who wrote, directed and produced, and Marc Smerling, who also wrote, produced and served as cinematographer. The highly cinematic project from the start had an aura and charisma few documentaries attain and recent stories about their subject have continued to swirl around it, Durst seeming constantly in the headlines.

Recently his alienated brother Douglas told The New York Times the strange tale of Robert’s seven husky-like dogs, all named Igor, and all of which he said had died within six months of his owning them. This all is supposed to have happened before Durst’s wife Kathie disappeared in 1982.

The doco series examines the life and times of Durst, seemingly at the heart of three killings spanning four decades and long a suspect in the notorious 1982 disappearance of his wife. Further suspicion was raised with the unsolved killing in 2000 of his confidante Susan Berman, thought to be a key witness in the investigation into Kathie’s disappearance. Then there was the dismemberment of a Galveston neighbour, where Jarecki’s story so sensationally begins in the series with scenes reminiscent of the existential cop drama True Detective.

Earlier this year Durst, 73, was sentenced to seven years and one month in prison on weapons charges in New Orleans. This was part of an arrangement allowing him to be transferred to LA, where he is wanted in connection with the killing of Berman.