You just never know who you are going to bump into during the holiday season at Houston’s famed Galleria shopping mall.
Robert Durst — the wealthy heir who was acquitted of murder after killing his neighbor, chopping up the body and throwing it into Galveston Bay — bumped into Galveston state district judge Susan Criss earlier this month at the Galleria. Judge Criss presided over Durst’s controversial trial, and ultimately had to be removed from the case by an appellate court after she refused to set a reasonable bond for Durst’s release under a plea bargain. Durst is currently back in Harris County jail awaiting a hearing on an alleged parole violation. The following is how Judge Criss characterized for the Chronicle her Galleria encounter with Durst:

Criss said she was Christmas shopping when she saw a familiar figure coming toward her, a man talking on a cell phone.
“I saw him and thought ‘Oh, my God,’ ” Criss said.
As the two met in the mall, Durst was trying to place her, Criss said.
“I know you, I know you,” Criss quoted Durst as saying. “And then he realized who I was, and he dropped his phone and it fell apart.”
Criss said she didn’t know what to say to Durst, so she said the obvious.
“How ya doing, Bob?” she said. “He said he was doing fine.”
“I can’t believe you stopped to talk to me,” Criss quoted Durst as saying.
“What was I going to do?” Criss said. “Run away and scream?”
As the awkward conversation ended, Criss said she started walking away and found herself saying: “Take care of yourself and have a happy holiday.”