Bernice Herstein (September 6, 1918 – November 8, 1950) was an American socialite, the wife of investor Seymour Durst and mother of their four children Robert, Douglas, Wendy and Thomas Durst.
She died falling from the roof of the family's Scarsdale home during the middle of the night.
An employee had called police on discovering Mrs. Durst had climbed out onto the roof of the three-story house; more than a dozen policemen and firemen responded, and spent half an hour making plans to thwart a potential leap.
[2] Her oldest child Robert (decades later convicted of murder) claimed he was forced to witness the entire event, while Douglas insists all four children were together at a neighbor's house when Herstein perished.
Douglas Durst maintains his brother is attempting to blame their father and childhood events for his criminal behavior to garner public sympathy.