Morbid - Episode 514: Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent

Episode Date: November 23, 2023

When 39 year old Bernie Tiede confessed to the murder of his friend and companion, 81 year old Marjorie Nugent in November 1996, the revelation came as a shock to the small town of Carthage, Texas. The two had been inseparable friends since the death of Nugent’s husband in 1990 and as far as anyone in Carthage could tell, Nugent couldn’t have picked a more devoted companion than Tiede. Yet as the details of the crime began to emerge, a strange story began to take shape—Tiede’s supposed motive for the murder was to gain access to Nugent’s fortune, but what he did with that money once he had access defied the logic and expectations of greed.The story of Bernie Tiede and Marjorie Nugent should have ended with the trial and conviction of Tiede, but a few years later, Bernie’s story became the subject of a big Hollywood film, shining a spotlight on the story and raising new questions about the extent of Bernie’s responsibility for the murder. Tiede remains a rarity in the history of American crime: a sympathetic killer almost no one in town wanted to see convicted.Thank you to the wonderful David White, of the Bring me the Axe podcast, for research assistanceReferencesAssociated Press. 1997. "Man indicted in death of banker's widow." Austin American-Statesman, August 29: 91.—. 1999. "Shreveport man testifies about 'inappropriate kiss' he witnessed between murder suspect and victim." Marshall News Messenger, February 3: 6.—. 1998. "Mistrial declared in confessed widow killer case; trial moved." Odessa American, October 28: 16.Bernhardt Tiede, II v. The State of Texas. 2002. 12-99-00182-CR (Twelfth District Court of Appeals (Tyler, Texas), November 2).Cieply, Michael, and David Montgomery. 2014. "Murderer who inspired the film 'Berni' is released to the director's garage." New York Times, May 8.Grissom, Brandi. 2014. "Over 15 years, a town's stance on a convict shifts." New York Times, February 9.Halmark, Bob. 2012. Carthage residents react to Bernie movie. March 8. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://www.kltv.com/story/17106798/carthage-residents-react-to-bernie-movie/.Hollandsworth, Skip. 1998. "Midnight in the Garden of East Texas." Texas Monthly, Janaury.Jacobs, Janet. 1997. "Slaying, arrest stun town." Longview News-Journal , August 21: 1.—. 1998. "Deputy testifies about Tiede's arrest, confession." Longview News-Journal, October 29: 7.—. 1999. "Emotions run high in Tiede trial." Longview News-Journal, February 7: 1.—. 1999. "Tiede found guilty of murder." Longview News-Journal, February 10: 1.—. 1998. "Tiede returns to court." Longview News-Journal, October 29: 1.—. 1999. "Tiede sentenced to life in prison." Longview News-Journal, February 12: 1.—. 1997. "Homicide shocks Carthage residents." Marshall News Messanger, August 20: 5.—. 1997. "Tiede's troubles mount as new charge is filed." Marshall News Messanger, August 22: 1.—. 1997. "Officials freeze Tiede's finances as murder investigation continues ." Marshall News Messenger, August 24: 9.Jennings, Diane. 2012. "Austin attorney takes interest in Bernie Tiede's murder case." Dallas Morning News, August 7.Longview News-Journal. 1998. "Confession gives details into slaying." Longview News-Journal, October 29: 1.Marshall News Messenger. 1999. "Carthage man's trial set to begin in San Augustine." Marshall News Messenger, February 1: 1999.—. 1999. "Tiede sobs as photos shown in court." Marshall News Messenger, February 4: 3.—. 1999. "Videotape upsets Tiede jury." Marshall News Messenger, February 5: 2.Rhodes, Joe. 2012. "A wacky Lonestar murder mystery." New York Times, April 15: SM40.Texas Tribune. 2016. "Bernie Tiede painted as victim, calculating killer." Texas Tribune, April 6.—. 2016. "Jury sentences Bernie Tiede to 99 years or life." Texas Tribune, April 22.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You're listening to a morbid network podcast. I'm going deep into my wife's family history, digging up the cold case of her murdered great-grandmother. And did I mention that I'm looking into whether the murderer was actually the beloved family patriarch? Binge all episodes of Ghost Story, add free right now on OneDrewPlus. Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash and I'm Elena. And this is morbid. I love all the ones that's like me when I have an eaten in like four hours and I'm pitching out my husband and I walk in after a snack and he's like, oh, I know this is funny. Really? It's a funny relatable.

Guys TikTok is fun. I fucking love TikTok. It's really fun. Sometimes I want to make TikToks and then I try to, the only TikToks I can do are the, like the level of generator thing. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I don't know what else to do.

I don't either. And it's hard because you have to use that like cap cut thing. Yeah, it's, I gotta say influencers. Yeah. Content creators on TikTok killing it. Like I would say when we talked to Tyler about this, Tyler Ghost Honey, the most wonderful magical, mystical, whimsical human ever.

He is. We were, I told him how, I was like, I don't know how, how do you live? Like how do you live having making one TikTok? Just destroys me for like three months. Like it's so much work whenever I I feel like this really happens to you too whenever I make a TikTok you TikTok people are like, oh my god, Ash. Yeah, you're good. Yeah, like wow you exist. I'm like, I I do another one in three months. Yeah, don't worry. We'll figure it out from here. See you soon.

We have lots of ideas and we always say, we should do a TikTok. Yeah, we came up with one today. But we'll do it eventually. I know we should do that one, that would be funny. I don't even think it's like a trend anymore. That's all right, but like, I don't get it.

I'm always trending. I was gonna say, I'm never trending. I am never trending. I am never trendy. I am never trendy I am never on trend and never any of that fun stuff. So I love a good Let's bring it back. Let's break it back I wish you guys could have seen the face and movement I just kind of seen the face and movement. I went along with that.

She walked eyes with me and just did the whole thing. And I said, I'm so uncomfortable. My favorite is when they go, hey. That's on the must plays at the wedding list. There you go. I like that. Goodbye. Must plays on the wedding list.

Correct, correct. Well, here we are. Here we go. Here we go. Oh, geez, that's like goofy, goofy, goofy, I thought you said good for you, Goofy, oofy. Oh, geez, that's like goofy oofy. Oofy, oofy, I thought you said good for ufy. Good for ufy, goofy oofy, good for ufy.

That's awesome. Alright, we should get into that kind of chuckle out of Mikey. Mikey, thanks for funny. He's working on our headshots. We did headshots today. Yeah. Cool. Alright.

So, that's our life. Hope yours is good too. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you, mean it. Like genuinely. All right, I have a real bummer of a case for you today. Womp, womp. I know.

It's, this is a baffling one to me. Just the reaction of people to murder. Like the reaction people had to, the brutal murder of a elderly woman is wild. Oh boy. Yeah, we're gonna be talking about Bernie Teed and the murder of Marjorie Nugent. I know this one.

Yeah, I've known. I don't know the details, but I know of this one. That's exactly where I was before I, you know, kind of dived in. But then I dove in and I was like, I gotta get out of here, because I gotta get out of here. Y'all are fucked.

So let's just go right into it. Bernie has a hard name to say, because his real name is Bernhardt. Bernhardt. I always want to pronounce the D, like Bernhardt, hard to do. It's like letter boxed. Letter boxed a.

There you go. Yeah, but Bernie Teed was born on August 2nd, 1958, in Tyler, Texas, to Bernhardt Teed Senior senior and I believe it's Leila May, Jester. Oh, what an adorable name. Leila May. Leila May is a really cool name. Leila May. I love a first and last name combo that's like the goes together like that. You know what I mean? Yeah, like that. Now Bernhardt was a music professor, which is really cool. And Layla was a homemaker. Cute. Yeah.

And for the earliest years of Bernie's life, the family lived in, I believe it's Kilgore, where his father worked as an instructor in the fine arts department at Kilgore Junior College. But unfortunately, in 1960, when Bernie was just two years old, his mother was actually killed in a car accident. Oh, geez. Yeah, really tragic start. Now Now his father waited three more years before

remarrying in 1963 to a woman named Clara Wiley. And after the movie, why did I say movie? After the wedding, the family moved. That's why to live in, I believe it's Abelene, Texas, right? Abelene? Sounds good to me. I only say it once. So if you're cringing, it'll never happen again. So starting at an early age, Bernie took on the role of caretaker and the family, like especially after his mom passed away. And then when his father died in 1973, after battling a long illness, Bernie immediately volunteered to get a part-time job to help support his sister and his stepmother. His sister said in a 1998 interview with Texas Monthly Magazine,

I really think that because of the loneliness he went through in his childhood, Bernie made it his calling to serve people in times of their own need. Oh, so it's really interesting the path that you take there at this case because you... I'm like, where did you veer off course? Yeah, I think that's again, I don't know the details of this, but I remember that this case was one that was like very confusing

because it's like what happened? Yeah, it's like he just snapped. Yeah, really. Now, but before that happened, that desire to take care of other people led Bernie to a part-time job at a local funeral home, we're at just 15 years old. He spent his afternoons doing yard work and then down the and that desire to take care of other people led Bernie to a part-time job at a local funeral home, we're at just 15 years old. He spent his afternoons doing yard work and then down the line, he eventually started helping with the funerals. Okay. Now, in 1973, East Texas, where gender roles and heteronormativity were kind of expected, Bernie was something of an anomaly. He was a presence that unintentionally but directly defied those social expectations. But on the other hand,

he was so charming and nice that everybody couldn't help but like him. So there were things about his personality that where he lived, people wouldn't usually be cool with, but just because of who he was, they were cool with it. Isn't that funny? That it's like, huh.

Yeah. So you didn't like these things, these completely just innocuous things that you decided aren't right or socially okay. But because he's such a nice person, he couldn't help but just ignore them. And it's like, it's almost like you should look at who people are. Imagine that. No, never mind. Let's not do that. No. Let's base it off of something totally ridiculous. Oh yeah. And that's not to say that there weren't people out there that just completely didn't accept him because he would get bullied from time to time for having a quote-unquote effeminate personality.

But overall, he was really popular with his classmates. There were, of course, the group of assholes that bullied him, but for the most part, he had a loving squad. Well, that's good. Yeah, and I'm glad he had that when he was told. When he was like a decent person. Exactly.

See, it's so confusing. It's just such a tough case. Yeah. But his sister said he was popular at high school. And for kicks, he'd sneak the hers on Fridays out of the funeral home and drive a bunch of us around Abelene. Sorry, I said it was popular at high school. And for kicks, he'd sneak the hers on Fridays out of the funeral home and drive a bunch of us around Abelene. Sorry, I said it again.

That sounds fun. Yeah. I would have thought that was great. You would have been one with like, let's go. You'd be like, okay, okay. But Bernie's warm, friendly personality. It did make him an ideal fit for the funeral industry. You need somebody like that

when you're dealing with grief and everything that comes along with it. Yeah. And after graduating from high school, he enrolled at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he eventually got an associate degree in mortuary science, which pretty cool. That is pretty reminded me of you. No, thank you. You're welcome. Mortuary science reminds me of that. I don't have that degree, but thank you. Oh, you don't have that degree, but thank you. Oh, you don't? No. Oh, I thought you did. No. That's a whole different...

Mortuary stuff. Mortuary stuff is a whole different, very involved degree. Shout out to my morticians out there. Hey, yo. Hell yeah. Let's go. But after graduating, Bernie found work at a local funeral parlor where he spent years and years learning the trade.

And then he moved to Carthage, Texas. And there, he found work at Hawthorne Funeral Home. And he was able to get an apartment just behind the Funeral Home. So he lived close by. That's a nice commute. It's great, can you? And he was close with the owner of the Funeral Home

for a little while. Don Lipset said, he was probably the most qualified young man I've ever seen. He waited while on families. He would sing solos behind the screen during the funeral and he was a darned good and ballmer. He had a talent of making the hair of the deceased

look really natural. Man. Yeah, loaded statement. I was just gonna say so much done packing that statement. It's just like, he was a damn good and ballmer. Which it's like, you know what, you know what? You don't? It's necessary.

The whole point is to look great. Absolutely. You know, like to look nice and serene and peaceful and, you know, and look like what your family members remember. You look like. Yeah. So like, you know, it's a skill that someone has to have. Hell yeah.

And he was also a good singer and good at dealing with the families, you know? Yeah. Good point. I always thought about that. When we did on top sees, I was like the embalmers shout out to them. Yeah. Because a lot of times I was like, oh, like, yeah, your work cut out for you here. I would imagine that would be difficult, especially depending on how you leave this world. Exactly. So again, shout out to morticians.

Hello. But Bernie, he didn't just excel at work. He gained quickly, he quickly gained a reputation around town as a helpful, cheerful man to just about everybody. Carthage resident Paula Carter said, he was very quick to shake your hand and ask how you were doing.

And if you told him you weren't doing too well, he would drop everything to talk to you and see what he could do. And when he wasn't sewing curtains for his elderly neighbors or helping them with their taxes, he was showering them with gifts and mementos. Damn. Yeah. According to that funeral owner there, Don Lipsy, he said, the UPS truck started

arriving in Carthage every day with something that Bernie had ordered from a catalog. But like for other people. Wow. Yeah. And you're like, what the fuck is going on, Bernie? It's so strange. Look at when's it gonna happen? All I, you know.

But whether it was at the funeral home in church or literally just on the street, Bernie seemed to add something to the community that everybody recognized as valuable. But at the same time, his gentle disposition, his love of Broadway show tunes, and his noticeably single relationship status, did make him the subject of some small town gossip,

which is stupid, because you're like, here's this awesome person, and we're all just gonna quietly talk shit about him, because he's single, and it's like show tunes. I know, like, people need to mind their own fucking business, to be honest. They sure do. Just let him show too.

Again, I don't know exactly what happens after this. So I'm sure I'll change my tune later. And we'll hold it. But like, right now, I'm like, if somebody's being chill, they'll just let them like what they like. That's the thing. You know, if you like show tunes, you like show tunes, you know?

You like show tunes. I don't like show tunes, but I hope if you like show tunes, you have the best time singing them. Just like, you know, life's too short. Everybody just live. Stop worrying about what other people I like him. It's my favorite fucking way of my favorite motto,

my favorite way of life. Live and let live. Exactly. If no one's hurting someone, of course. Of course. Of course. If you're being a dick, don't let that hurt. I'm in trouble.

But Tom Lipsy said he wasn't bad looking, and there were numerous girls in the community who would have dated him. But he showed no romantic interest in women his age at all. I think some of the men during their coffee shop talks would insinuate that Bernie was a little light in the loafers. Which I'll eat in the loafers. Yeah, it's a very rudely insulting way

to say that somebody is gay. Wow, I've never heard that. Nor had I had to look at that. Strangely. I was like light in the loafers, and then I forgot that Google existed, so I had to look at it. Strangely. I was like light in the loafers. And then I forgot that Google existed. So I was sitting there for like 10 minutes

like light in the loafers. And you're like, oh, it's 2023. I can Google this. I can Google this. And it's, that's also your like, I don't really, this is not a fun thing to have on my Google search history. But let's go. I didn't want like my cookies to be a part of that.

But I don't know what those are. But if none of us do, nobody knows what cookies are. Even if you say don't know what those are, but if none of us do, nobody knows what cookies are. Even if you say that you know what cookies are, you don't know. And you have to accept them everywhere you go now. And we all just do. Yeah, but sometimes I say no. Me too. And sometimes I get strong and I say no. Yeah, me too. But other times I say, except all.

Yeah, it honestly just depends on how I'm feeling that day. It's true. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ We're moving from one of the most magical times of the year, spooky season to the other magical time of the year. Speaking of, what's your favorite Christmas story? Oh, hands down the Grinch. Same.

It cracks me up that he hates all Maryman. Same, but then it's so heartwarming at the end when the whole town's singing and he realizes there's more to Christmas than just gift. If I had feels, it would hit me right in them. Well, the best part is, Wondery has a new podcast starring the Grinch, and I think there's someone who wants to tell you more about it.

Hi, it's me, the Grand Puba of Bahamba, the OG Green Grunt and Grinch. From Wondery! tell you more about it. campaign against Christmas cheer, grilling celebrity guests, like chestnuts on an open fire. Your family will love the show! As you know, I'm famously great with kids. Follow Tiz the Grinch Holiday Talk Show on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. But yeah, so basically, people at this point, people really like Bernie, but he is the subject of small town gossip of people insinuating that he's gay, because he doesn't have a partner and he, like, show tunes. And it's that time and it's all. Yes, and I don't really, you know, whatever.

So either way, whatever. Either way, whoever he was, Bernie did seem to have a way with older women, at least as far as things at the funeral home were concerned. According to Skip Holland's worth, quote, some of the older women in town loved him so much that they told their children, Bernie had to sing at their funeral when they passed on. And now I know, like, they were like,

listen, I'm putting it in my will. It's him. He's literally like Kirk from Gilmore Girls, like befriending all the old ladies. He is. And getting their rings at the end. Yeah, for now, for now. But it was that strong empathy and compassion that drew a newly

widowed marjorie, Newgent to Bernie. And their meeting, set in motion, unfortunately, a chain of events that would forever change the lives of many people in Carthage, Texas. So it was also like, it was also cheerful and jolt. A lot of it was cheerful and jonty and I don't I'm now we're going to it's like going up the hill of the roller coaster and you're about to take that dive. See, that's actually my favorite part. Hey, no, not here. No, it was entirely. So that's where I am right now.

Yeah, on the hypothetical, no, not hypothetical metaphorical roller coaster. I don't like it there, but on like the legit rollercoaster, I love that part. Oh, there you go. It's a little bit about us. Here we are. So let's talk about Marjorie. Let's talk about her. Marjorie, her maiden name was Midgett, and she had been born in a small town just outside of Carthage in 1915, and she met her future husband, Rod Nugent, while they were both attending Louisiana Tech. After graduation, they got married. Rod took a job with Magna-Lia Oil, and his job required them to move around like all over the place. They'd spend time in Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, you name it. But their longest day was in Midland, Texas. They spent over 12 years there, and mostly raised their son, Rod Jr. there.

Okay. Then in 1989, they moved to Carthage. And at that point, Rod Sr. was seriously considering retirement and just wanted to settle down close to Marjorie's hometown. Marjorie might not have been born in Carthage, but it was clear that the New Jens were the antithesis of other recent transplants like Bernie, who quickly and easily integrated themselves

into the community. Okay. That wasn't quite the case for the New Jints. Oh. After buying and controlling interest in the first national bank of Carthage, the couple, quote, built a sprawling 6,000 square foot stone home

at the edge of town, surrounded by a stone wall and electronic gates. Damn. Goal! Holy shit. I want electronic gates. Damn. Golly shit. I want electronic gates. Electronic gates. I'm gonna put that on my vision board.

Damn. So the high stone walls and the electronic gates surrounding the New Junt House certainly didn't endear them to the locals. And it was said that neither did Marjory's attitude. I will warn you ahead of time that a lot of people didn't have nice things to say about her, which is really shitty reporting on the case

because I would have loved to find something that I could report on. That doesn't sound biased or like something that's. Yeah, just talking crap. We've got somebody. And maybe there's something in here, but a lot of people were kind of nasty to her. But I would like to say that I bet there was

a few things about Marjory's personality. Of course, there's always, that's the thing. And that's why it sucks when you only hear the bad stuff. Because it's like, you don't wanna only hear the good stuff and you don't wanna only hear the bad stuff. Like everyone's around it out person. That's the thing. No, that's the thing.

And I think this was also later in her life. She'd also eventually will find out that she's gonna lose her husband. So she's not in this was also later in her life. She'd also eventually will find out that she's going to lose her husband. So she's not in the best time of her life. If I was older and lost my husband, I don't think I'd be the most friendly human on the planet either. I'd be fucking miserable. I would be, I can't give her, like I'd be a horrible person to be around.

So same. You know what, Marjorie, I feel you, girl. I do too. So if I'm sure you're great in your personal life. Apps fucking lightly, and Rob thought so, so let's go. So there you go. So that aside, the host didn't really endear them to people because it was intimidating.

Yeah, intimidating, exactly. That's the perfect word for it. And it kinda said, we don't really want anything to do with you. That's what these electronic gates are all about, so make us alone. Meanwhile, that's just, I'm like, I'm like, game-sea game. Oh, I'm like, yeah, I would actually have a sign on that.

That's that leaves me alone. I would see that and be like, hell yeah, fellow people, haters, like, let's go up to their security camera and do a rock-off. Just like a rock-off. I'm like, hell yeah, solidarity brother. We'll never speak. They're like, on. I'm like, hell yeah. Solidarity brother. We'll never speak. But there you go.

Yeah. I'm a juicy game. I'm totally kidding everybody. Don't worry. I mean, you know, so the thing was, Marjorie didn't leave the house very often to go into town. And whenever she did, people said she had a way of rubbing people the wrong way. One resident said, if she had held her nose any higher, she would have drowned in a rain

storm. It's like, okay, God forbid anybody be confident. And you're like, while that was a funny way of saying that, that was a read. Pretty me. Exactly. And also, you get to that point in life, you should be able to hold your head high.

I mean, I hope that that age, I have my nose so high that I'll drown in a rainstorm. I don't have any problem with people's confidence, you know? I don't walk around feeling how you want to feel. You shouldn't, the problem comes when you look down on people. Yeah. That's where the problem comes. You want to hold your head up high, hold that head up high, girl.

Yeah. Hold that head up high. I hope everybody feels that way sometime in their life. Exactly. Don't look down on people while you're doing it. Exactly. And what people didn't know was that one of her relatives confirmed that she struggled with a kind of, quote unquote, low level depression. So she was struggling

internally. And it's like, nobody took the time to realize that her, you know, empathize with that at all. That's the other thing. I know we're throwing a lot of life lessons in here, but I'm feeling it in this game, you know, because it's just, it's weird. But it's like, that's weird, but it's like, that's the other thing, you don't know what somebody's going through. And their private life, or their, or their insides, you know, I mean, like, that's why,

don't just read people right away. Give people the time of day. Yeah. That's the thing. But those, those low levels that she would hit, they were said to make her unpleasant and irritable. Okay. And this relative said, it was like these blue periods came on.

And when they did, she could be very biting in her comments to people. Margie was a difficult woman to love. But I also think it's important to point out that this was a bit of a different time where people didn't really have the understanding of that. Yeah, that's the idea now. So I do wonder had this happened more recently if Margie would have had the same reputation? Because she sounds like she was just struggling a bit. Exactly. You know? You wonder had this happened more recently if Marjorie would have had the same reputation.

Because she sounds like she was just struggling a bit. Exactly. But in retrospect, most people were able to realize that Marjorie wasn't exactly as unpleasant as she was guarded and uninterested in going out of her way to make friends. But if Bernie Teads warm welcome into Carthage tells us anything, it's that in small town, Texas,

friendliness and good natured warmth can go a long way when it comes to integrating yourself into a community. And conversely, being a little closed off and guarded can have the opposite effect and that caused marjorie to become something of an outcast in her hometown. Okay, which sucks. Yeah, that really sucks. It does. So her outcast status became starkly apparent when her husband died unexpectedly from heart failure in the 1990s. Quote, only a handful of people came to the funeral to offer her their condolences,

which like that shit, that's really shitty. That shitty. I don't know, but. I don't know about these people. Oh, neither. I feel like even like, because you're talking about the people who are like shitty to Bernie,

because even though he's a good person, they're just mad that he like show tunes and then these same people. We're like, she's kind of shitty to her. It's like, I don't know. Yeah, it seems like the call's coming from inside the house town. Sure does.

But, you know, who did go and offer their support was Bernie. Oh. He was not only a comfort in his capacity as assistant funeral director, but also as a friend. According to one resident Larry Brumley, I believe, quote, the New Jens, including Mr. New Jens, New Bernie's parents, and their association goes back many years. They knew him as a child. Over the years, they've maintained their connection and had an interest in him

and helped him. So both of them did. So excited. Yeah. Now Now while the majority of Carthage residents did their neighborly duty of politely passing on condolences after the funeral on the rare occasions what they did see Marjorie in town, Bernie was really the one among the residents who took a genuine interest in Marjorie. District Attorney Danny Buck Davinson would later say, I don't know if Miss Nugent had a single friend in the town other than him. Which is hard for me. It's really sad. And according to Skip Hollinsworth, Bernie quote, would later tell others that he could see the loneliness at loneliness etched in Miss Nugent's stern face as she stood by the casket.

Oh my God. Because she was internally going through a lot. Oh. And it's sad because he is good to her for a while, like for a little bit and like sees this, but it's weird because like he is good to her for a little bit, but then it really quickly veers off course. Yeah, this is just such a strange one.

It really. There's no warning signs, it feels like, like I'm not seeing anything here that's like, oh, okay. Eventually. Do we get some eventually? like, oh, okay. Eventually. Do we get some eventually? In my opinion, sure. Okay.

I think like somewhat. Because so far I'm like this just seems like, oh, whatever. Like just two sad, you know, souls that are misunderstood. Exactly. That's exactly what it is. But that's the thing. So he saw her, you know, as this lonely woman

and it kind of activated his caretaker personality and drew them to each other. Okay. So in the month's following Rod's death, Bernie started carving out larger and larger trunks of his time to check in on the newly widowed Marjorie. Okay.

And by then, she was living alone in that sprawling mansion that they had built just a couple years earlier. Wow. And Bernie would visit the house for lunch. He would take Marjorie to see plays and musical performances at the nearby college. And he would leave notes of endearment around the house for her to find after he had gone. And Marjorie Stark, a stockbroker, Lloyd Tiller said, Bernie made her

smile. He gave her plenty of attention and he was an excellent conversationalist. It was like he made her feel young again. Damn. So it was like- It all seems lovely. It kind of like revitalized her spirit a little bit. Yeah. And before long, Bernie and Marjorie seemed inseparable. However, despite what the local gossip said, their relationship was purely platonic and never remotely romantic.

But Marjorie quickly grew possessive of Bernie, they thought, and she started repaying his acts of kindness with her own demonstrations of affection, typically in the form of expensive gifts, like a $12,000 Rolex that she bought him. Damn. A really, really, really big dump. Damn.

So for a woman with a reputation of being cheap and curmudgeonly, Margie and Bernie's relationship baffled a lot of the town's residents, who just clearly have a lot of time to gossip. Yeah. And Bernie's friend Larry Brumley told the reporters, she depended on him a lot, she would cling to him.

And people looking on could see that Margie was becoming very possessive of Bernie. And even though I just said that their relationship was never anything but platonic, that didn't stop some other residents from speculating and spreading rumors that Marjorie and Bernie were not just friends. Most of the rumors actually seem to come from the other widows in town because they were jealous that Bernie had been spending less time with them as he and Marjorie grew closer. Yeah, which is interesting. Yeah, that is. But eventually, Innocent acts like Bernie napping at Marjorie's house or the two sharing a cabin on a cruise were being interpreted as evidence of a romantic relationship or something unsaforing.

Of course. So you can see where people got their ideas from. Yeah, people love some gossip when they shore do. But one of Marjorie's relatives set up the relationship, quote, I think Marjorie truly enjoyed the companionship with Bernie. And I think Bernie truly enjoyed Marjorie's money. So there you go. You can whack money. So, there you go.

You're talking white right there. There you go. That's where you start to see like, maybe that was a little bit of a warning sign that he really liked her money. Yeah. Marjory's family, that's... I could see that for sure.

Red flag, red flag, red flag. That's a red flag. Yeah. And Marjory's family's feelings about Bernie may not have been entirely misplaced. In the early 90s, Bernie was earning an annual salary of $18,000 per year as an assistant funeral director. That was barely enough to cover even the essentials, much less the excessive spending on gifts for

friends and neighbors that he quite frequently engaged in. Bernie's sister told writer Skip Hollinsworth, Bernie was a biaholic. He not only wanted to experience the finer things in life, he loved buying as much as he could for others. He'd order the same items over and over, like three of the same chairs or boxes of cross pens just so he could give them away.

Wow. Now the overspending constantly put him behind on his bills and to make matters worse, he owed the IRS around $4,000 in back taxes. And under the circumstances, Bernie's acceptance of the lavish gifts and large sums of money from Marjorie makes sense. But that doesn't mean that his friends and family necessarily approved of the arrangement between the two of them.

Yeah. At the end of 1993, Bernie told his boss, Don, that Marjorie had actually offered to hire him as her business manager and, quote, escort her on trips around the world for a much higher salary than he was making at the time. Now, the owner of the funeral home, Don Lips, he was stunned by the news, and he warned Bernie,

he was a little concerned. He said, you know what kind of woman misnugent is. Whatever you think you're going to get out of her, you're going to have to earn every penny of it. And Don's wife Sally agreed saying, Mrs. Nugent is already so possessive of you. She's already making you drive out there every morning just to fix her coffee.

Is that really what you want for yourself? Hmm, what's, you know, I don't know if it was the coffee making that you wanted for yourself. I don't know if it was the coffee making. I was going to say it. I don't know. I think it was like, I'm going to travel the world and get paid hands on with a fuck really would say no to that. Exactly. That's the thing. Now, this wasn't the first time somebody had warned Bernie about the rumors going around town about his relationship with Marjorie. In fact, about a year earlier, Don Lipsy had expressed to Bernie that he was concerned the relationship

could affect his business at the funeral home. He said, quote, they did a lot of things together. People probably assumed it was romantic. I told him, Bernie, you can't be funeral director here and do that. This is a small town. So everybody was also falling victim of like the small town of it all here. That's the thing also falling victim of like the small town of it all.

That's the thing. Yeah, very much the small town of it all. But about a month after that conversation, Marjorie ended up offering Bernie that job as her business manager. And he did end up quitting his job at Hawthorne Free Nourle Home to become Marjorie's full-time companion. Oh boy. And quote-unquote business manager. I was like, his degree is in mortuary science. Does he have a business degree? I don't know. No. I don't know about that.

No. But I just don't know. As Marjorie's new business manager, Bernie had access to a lifestyle that had always been very far out of his reach, but very much desired. So with money borrowed from Marjorie, he bought a small house about a mile from her estate. And he would throw lavish parties to show off

this upgrade of his and social status. His sister said, Bernie found himself living a dream. For the first time in his life, he got to be somebody. All right, yeah. So everybody's getting something out of this, I suppose. For a little bit, and rightfully so in the beginning. I was gonna say right now, it's like,

okay, if it's working for everybody, you are performing a service, you are being paid for it. And that's wonderful. I'm not here to say anything, but she gets not okay. Wiley. Because he wasted no time acclimating to his new role and access to wealth,

which several people in the New Jersey inner circle found suspicious, which personally, I know if some random man started showing up and hanging out with my grandmother, yeah, I would be a little sus about that. That's where the, that's where it becomes an issue, I think. Remember, she has like a child, she has a son. Yeah, I would have some issues with that.

Yeah, I'd be like, what's the deal here? What's the end game? And if somebody that was not a family member had access to my grandmother's bank account, like Bernie had access to Marjorie's bank account. Ooh. And also had check signing privileges. Yeah.

I would not feel good about that. I would not be happy about that. No, but he did have all those privileges. And when Marjorie'salkbroker questioned whether, you know, he could be trusted to have access to so much money, I guess Marjorie exploded and told Tiller the Stalkbroker she could absolutely trust Bernie and that if he had a problem with that,

she would move her Stalks elsewhere. Whoa. So she was like, how dare you insinuate that I can't trust him? Damn. Which makes you even sadder when you find out that she went to, she stood up for him like that. Yeah. I was just gonna say it because like, Jesus, like, he really must have brainwashed her. Yeah. So similarly, when Marjorie changed her will in late 1993 to make Bernie the sole beneficiary of her entire estate. Family members had questions. Yeah. One of her family members asked her why she would cut her only child out of her will. Marjorie said, quote, she didn't want to leave a scent to her son

or her immediate family because they didn't appreciate her. And appreciate was, quote, unquote. But can you imagine your mom cutting you out of her well because she says you don't appreciate her? Fuck. Shoot. That would be devastating blow. That would be not well, bitch. Not for the material reason,

but just for the damn. That is, yeah, that's sending a message. Someone taking you out of their will, not the monetary part of it, just the act. Just the message and the message. message. Exactly. That's big. Because that is your last, like, that is you shuffling off this mortal coil and saying, fuck you to the person you took out of your will. Birds in the mother fucking. Literally. Like, that's upsetting. Behold my field of

fucks. It is barren forever. And then to leave it to another young man who's probably similar age to you that you may have known because again, the New Jens knew Bernie when he was a child. That would fuck me up. Yeah. So yeah. In addition to Bernie's considerable salary,

he also accompanied Marjorie on trips around the world to places like Egypt, Russia, they took various cruises all over the place together. And soon enough, it seemed that the access to Marjory's fortune was too much of a temptation for Bernie. Oh, no. And this is where it goes awry. We go completely off course. He started regularly with drawing small, quote-unquote, small to medium amounts of money

from Marjory's account and handing it out around town to people who most needed it. So you're like, he's like a weird like Robin Hood, but like, yeah. But like with stolen money. I was just gonna say it with money that like, like it's not like this lady has done anything terrible and like, no.

Like it's not like she like, you know, like kills kids or something. Yeah, like there's really nobody to rob her body and give them a way. She doesn't deserve it, but it's like, yeah. Like, no, you can't do that. I'm sure can. But it's like, you, I don't know if in his mind, he's thinking or convincing himself that he's like Robin Hooding. I think, and it's like, that's not how that works.

Most definitely, I think so. Oh, Bernie. I think he thought he was some, and this is just my opinion. It's just my opinion. He thought he was doing good here. I think, some missing pieces here, Bernie. And I'm sure, again, this is just my opinion. I'm sure it was one of those scenarios where it's like, well, she's rich as Fox,

so she's not going to miss it. Yeah. She's not spending it, so I might as fuck, so she's not going to miss it. And she's not spending it, so I might as well give it to people who need it. But it's like, that's almost like for lack of a better term, like playing God. Yeah, well, it's just like, that's not yours. That's not your role to divvy out. Yeah, exactly. But he sure did.

With money stolen from Marjorie's account, Bernie quote, bought at least 10 cars for people who couldn't afford one. A home. A shit. A home for a struggling young couple, scholarships to students at Penola College, and he pledged $100,000 to the new building campaign

at first United Methodist Church. Damn. I'm, I'm just like so, I'm like, you're, you have like this, one part of that is good. Question mark. Like it's there, the idea, yeah. It's good. Question mark. Question mark. Like it's there. Yeah. The idea. Yeah.

It's the methodology. Correct. That I have a problem with. Correct. But like you're like, yeah, that's awesome. I'm calling you. That's so nice. Like that feels great.

But like invest your own money in Watch It Grow. Or to talk to her. Or say, yeah, like, you know,, like this is just like a really great thing that you would be able to do and since I can see, you know, what's happening in your financial life here. Yeah. If you felt so inclined,

it might be nice to help some people out. You know, get some of those good, good feelings going. Like just start talking to her about it and be like, I could help you, like we could do this small. And like if you wanted to do this, you can't, you can't take it with you when you leave. So like you might as well can't take it with you. It's a tax right. That would have been the like ideal thing to, if you have this notion,

Bernie, then just talk to her about it. At least at the very least. And at that point, just be like, okay, if you're not willing to do it before you, you know, depart this earth, maybe put it in your will that like you'd like to do some good with your money and stuff. Or just fucking waited out my guy. She left her entire fucking estate. Yeah. Then you can do whatever you want with it. That's the thing. You can help everybody out like apparently you want to. That's what's strange about this. I'm like, it sounds like you want to help people, but you're, you're definitely not doing it in a good way.

There's really no doubt about the fact that he wanted to help people, but it's just like I said so many other ways to go about this. In this case, it's just so bizarre. Very strange. Yeah, but how to feel. I'm feeling stressed. You'll know how to feel when we get to the end of it.

That's good. I like to know how I very brutally and very, very, very, I mean murder is always uncalled for. And this specific one is just like, wow. So with Bernie as her business manager, Marjorie assumed that she didn't need to monitor her accounts. That's what she hired him to do. Yeah. And the thing was though, if she had been monitoring those accounts, she would have realized that, you know, Bernie had kind of become the community's one man social safety net. Yeah, it sounds like it. And developer using her money to help residents go to college, open small businesses, stay afloat until their next paycheck.

You fucking name it. All the good things that you could do with money that is yours. But while she did place absolute trust in Bernie, the real reason for her ignorance of Bernie's, I guess you could say, well-intentioned thefts, was likely due to the onset of dementia, which was first noticed by Bernie in 1995. Oh. So that makes it even more fucked up in my opinion.

It absolutely does. Now, just a year after going to work for his friend, Bernie started to feel like Marjorie had become more controlling of everything around her and far less willing to tolerate any inconvenience or disappointment, which is a symptom of a certain kind of dementia. 100%. Like, we've all seen the commercials or, yeah, well, unfortunately, have had to deal with it. People that we love. People can change when they're going to that.

Now, in a conversation with it. People that we love, people can change when they're going to that. Now in a conversation with his own sister, Bernie said, Marjorie had fired the gardeners' quote because the flowers hadn't bloomed in time and became vigilant and almost paranoid about the armadillos that occasionally made their way into the yard. And his sister actually remembered this conversation

and said, I asked him why he didn't quit and he gave me this tortured look and said, because I'm her only friend, I have to stay. I'm the only one she has. Which is interesting because you're actively stealing from an elderly woman with dementia, but you also maybe care about being the only friend that she has. And it's like, do you care about being the only friend she has? Or do you care about the good feeling that you get when you donate her money to others? That's the thing. It feels like he's positioned himself as the only friend she has, which is a powerful thing

in someone's life to have that much authority over everything with her. And also, you've positioned yourself as her only confident, which I mean like obviously that is she's been lonely a lot in her life. That it feels like you're taking advantage. Yeah, this feels like a vulnerable situation, a vulnerable woman. And you've positioned yourself as someone she can trust

and that you'll be here for it. And then you're going around being like, I'm the only one she has. It's like, I don't know my guy. That seems like you put yourself in that position. That's the thing. And that takes away any of the, you know, that takes away any of like the good deed points

you would have gotten at any point during this. And it's like great, you're doing good deeds, like fantastic. But I do think there's something to be said about people that do good deeds because they genuinely want to make people, you know, feel good or get people out of a tough situation, or people that do something good because of the feeling that it gives them. Well, and that's, and it's usually like a lot of people do these things silently.

Yeah, and they don't tell anyone. And they just do it because they wanted to do it, and that's it. And it's always seems to be a thing where if you don't show it from the rooftops, you're not doing it, or you're somehow, so it feels like he was doing it to get some of the pets on the back here. You're doing it, which I'm not saying you shouldn't get pets on the back for doing great things, like by all means. I love being like, hell yeah, people

doing great things, really. But like, there's a balance. Yeah, it feels, it feels, this feels imbalanced. Exactly. It feels like it's imbalanced onto a more taking advantage side of thing than doing good for doing good. And it has. Now, even though Marjorie Haddon

had been a very social person to begin with, as 1997, Don, there were a few people who found it odd that they hadn't seen from her or heard her, excuse me, seen her or heard from her in months. But when people would ask about her, Bernie would say she was away or she'd been ill and bedridden for weeks. In December of 1996, he lavishly decorated her state for Christmas. But when anybody would ask where she was, he would say she'd gone to her family. She'd gone to Ohio to visit family. It's like, but okay. But, all right.

Yeah. So by the spring of 1996, Marjory's absence had become noticeable to more than just those close to her. But Bernie continued to explain her absence away by saying, actually, she'd suffered a stroke and she was in a nursing home outside of town recuperating. Car. And at that point, Marjorie's cousin Ruth Cockrell, I'd become deeply concerned about something

that happened to Marjorie, but she didn't really know what to do about it, which I understand like, yeah, what do you do? What would you do at that point? Can you call the police? Yeah. Nothing to really be sus about. And I'm sorry, I forgot. How old is she?

She was like in her early 80s at this point. I think she was like 80. She was like really old early. Yeah, and remember, she has dementia. That's so, so, so marjorie. I know, and now finally somebody is like, wait a second, this is weird, but they're not quite sure nobody does what to do this cousin of hers Ruth said I was worried something had happened to her But I didn't know who to talk to about it burning was so beloved and carthage that if I suggested he had done anything wrong

I would have been laughed out of town Damn, which like that and that shows you how beloved he was I was gonna say which you also have to, did you do all of these things? Maybe in the back of your mind, somewhere knowing that you were gonna get rid of this woman? And you could, because you were so beloved, and she was not necessarily by the people in town. That's the, and it's like when you start thinking about it,

because now that I know that he's like a murderer. Yeah. It's, it's like it's, it's murderer, it's like it taints all of this, because it's almost like you look at John Wayne Gacy. Every love that guy. And it's like, that's a tactic. Absolutely. Because then when it comes down to brass tacks

at the end, everybody's going, well, no, like, shut up. Anybody who brings it up would be like, shut up, not Bernie, we love him. And it's like, they all get shut down. And it's like, well, no, like, shut up. Anybody who brings it up would be like, shut up, not Bernie, we love him. And it's like, they all get shut down. And it's like, that's a tactic. It absolutely is. It's almost like a cult leader thing.

It's like, you take control of everybody's minds. And then everybody will fight for you when the truth comes out. That's why this case is so interesting because you can look at it through so many different lenses. And I have writing it, and then I am right now all over again. Yeah, you really can look at this, like, a hundred different ways.

Because down the road when we do find out what happened, you look at it through another lens, apparently, like, maybe he did just snap. Damn, it's interesting. In tragic. Yeah. But, honestly, Marjorie's cousin was not far off feeling that way. To the residents of Carthage, Bernie was a beloved man for more than a decade. He was so sweet to everybody that the idea of him harming anybody literally seemed impossible to people.

And since taking his job with Marjorie, he'd become like the town benefactor, which only increased his reputation. And that's more power. So put simply even if something had happened to Marjorie, it would have never occurred to anybody that Bernie had something to do with it, which is interesting because again, he's literally like one of the only people she has.

Yeah. But finally, in July of 1997, an unidentified person had become so concerned about Marjorie's welfare that they did call the Sheriff's Department to request a well-being check. Now maybe it's a testament to the local sentiment about both Marjorie or Bernie, or maybe the Sheriff's Office was just really fucking busy, but for some reason, that well-being request went unnoticed for nearly a month. I'm sorry, what? A month. Somebody called that check-in,

and they didn't get around to it for nearly a month. So you call the authorities and say, hey, hey, haven't heard from my loved one. My elderly loved one. Very worried about them. I'm so worried in fact that I would love you the authorities to go check on her, check on her well-being. And they say totally totally. Absolutely, cool, cool, cool. And they hang up the phone and then they don't do it for a month.

Nearly 30 days. That's incredible. The lawsuit that I would rentably shocking. Like I'm just I I, and just like, how do you, what the fuck? How? How? How?

And then like after the 30 days, what are you, you're just like, oh, I guess we should go check on her? Like what, that's a thing. I don't know if, I'm astounded by it. Like I'm literally shocked. Yeah. When somebody from the Sheriff's Department finally did

reach out to Bernie in August. And this is a small town too. So like this is like a big bustling city that they got. The same billions of welfare checks. The same person that took that wellness call probably fucking drove past her home on the way home. Yes, it's like just stop in.

Yeah. Do the welfare check. Nope, no, no, holy shit. It's pretty nope, nope. But when somebody finally did, reach out to Bernie in August after getting that wellness check in fucking July, receiving the request for it,

Bernie was out of town at a concert in Vegas, and he said, Marjorie had actually recently checked in to a hospital in Temple under an assumed name and that she didn't want to be bothered. So Sheriff's Tapuides were like, okay, that's a little sus. Maybe we should have checked on this sooner.

And they called the hospital and were informed that nobody matching Marjorie's description had been admitted and nobody had checked in under an assumed name. Uh-huh. So, the first time since Bernie arrived in Carthage, some residents of the small town did start to wonder, perhaps Bernie Teed wasn't quite the angel

everybody had judged him to be. Yeah, maybe we should start looking into that. And now unable to verify Bernie's story about Marjorie checking into the hospital, deputies ended up calling Marjorie Sun Rod in Amarillo, who came to Carthage with his daughter to help locate his mother. So Rodden, his daughter went to the house

and searched for any sign of Marjorie, but came up completely empty handed. It was like she just literally vanished into thin air. But Rod's daughter did mention that she thought it was strange that the large chest freezer in the kitchen pantry had been taped shut. Hmm, which like why did it take the granddaughter noticing that and not the deputies? Oh, man. So, the comment prompted sheriff's deputies to take a look inside the freezer. And when they did, they discovered the body of Marjorie Nugent wrapped in a white sheet buried underneath a pile of frozen food.

Oh, my God. So, so fucked up. What the fuck? So given the extent to which Bernie had gone to put off questions about Marjory's whereabouts in the months leading up to the discovery, it was pretty obvious to investigators that at the very least, he knew how she ended up in the freezer.

Yeah. So Sheriff's Deputy spread out across Carthage and eventually found Bernie getting ready to take the local little league baseball team and their families out to dinner. That's where they found him. What? Still doing good deeds.

Yeah, he just out there, knowing what's going on, knowing that he placed an elderly woman in a freezer. But he's out there in front of everyone being like, aren't I great? Are they so nice? Can you fucking imagine if your child was on that little league team?

And then later on you found out why the sheriff's approached Mr. Bernie Teade as you were about to go out to dinner with him with your whole last child. This is outrageous. Outro-agess. Yeah, surely. He was then once he was located, brought into the sheriff's office for questioning. Now at first, he feigned surprise

that they would even want to speak to him at all. And he actually started crying when they told him about Marjorie's body, being discovered in the freezer. And confronted with the truth, Bernie told the deputies, she'd been kidnapped months earlier and he'd been negotiating with the kidnappers by phone ever since. Shut up. Penoly County Sheriff's Captain David, I believe it's Jeeter,

said he said he got one phone call from the kidnappers a month and then he said that he got a recent call that informed him, quote, the time is near. I can't. We're getting very theatrical now. He loves a show tune. So unfortunately not being very skilled in the ways of deceit.

It was very apparent to Bernie that the investigators were not buying his act. No. But for some reason, he stuck to his story. It was only after Geter and his partner returned from searching Bernie's home. And in form Tim him they found, quote unquote, un-Christian like videotapes in their search.

Oh, geez. That he caved and admitted to killing Marjorie Nugent. So this is speculation, but to me and to probably everybody, it sounds like what they found was movies that confirmed people's thoughts about Bernie's love interest. Yes. You know, you know, you got the, you know, which it's like, why would that have anything? They were intimidating him because they were like, oh, we found these movies and it's going to get out. Sorry, I was not putting that very obvious thing together. No, I didn't that first either obvious thing together. No, it's like, I did that first either.

Like they were saying, like, we found these, and like, we're gonna let people know. So you wanna tell us something? Fests up. Exactly. That makes sense. So according to Skip Hollinsworth, when investigators asked why he'd done it,

quote, burning looked at the officers in bewilderment as if the answer were obvious. At last, he said that misnugent had become, quote, very hateful and very possessive. And with that, he was charged with murder on August 19th. I mean, you can't murder people because of that. Sure can't. You can't murder people.

You can just like leave. Yeah, you could quit. And just not hang out with her anymore. But then you wouldn't have access to all her money and be the town's hero. Damn, that would really stink. Damn. So his bond was set at $1.5 million,

meant million dollars, while the district attorney reserved comments until they received a full autopsy report. Now, the news of Marjorie's death came as a big surprise to the small community, but it was nothing compared to the confusion most people felt when they learned who was responsible for her death. Oh, people must have lost it.

They lost their shit. Yeah. They didn't believe it, even though he lost it. They lost their shit. Yeah, they didn't believe it even though He quite literally like he was like I admitted it. Yeah, Don Lipsy told reporters were just shocked He was just a pillar of the community and another person Twink Ross spokeswoman for Penola College Where Bernie had donated generously to the arts programs she echoed that disbelief saying a lot of our students are Devastated over this it's shocking. It's just the most absolute tragedy Damn and the sad thing is

The tragedy I think they were talking about was more about finding out that Bernie Murdered someone not that an elderly lady had been murdered. Yeah, you know what I mean 100% it was focused on who did it and not what happened was killed right? Yeah It's mind like everyone's like wow this is a tragedy and it's like I know right like this poor woman lost her life And they like and it was burning and it's like Maybe we could just talk about the person who's dead in a freezer. I don't know. Yeah, maybe that would be great fucking covered in frozen food Oh God you were this woman's friend apparently allegedly. How do you spend all this time with her? I'm sorry, you have to be.

There has to be something very, very wrong with you. If you can leave an elderly woman's body in a freezer, cover her up with frozen food, and then just go about your life spending her money. No. Like something is wrong with you. Something's very wrong. Like, I don't know about that. So within days of his arrest, it was becoming clear where people in Carthage stood on the matter. While Marjorie Nugent was commonly described as possessive and a quote-unquote wealthy recluse with a hard tough side to her,

Bernie was described by friends and neighbors as the kindest, most gentle man, a very compassionate and caring person. Y'all. It's just like a holding elderly woman. I don't care if she was grumpy or not. Yeah, you can't kill grumpy old people. No. All old people would be dead.

You can't do that. And it's like, and they've earned the right to be grumpy. Yeah, they lived a fucking life, bro. Yeah, when I'm old, I'm going to be grumpy as fuck. I'm already grumpy and I'm 37. So it's like, I'm going to be intolerable when I'm old. That's fine. And it's like, I care of you. And it's like, thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. But it's like, you're all talking about the good deeds he did with this woman's money. And without consulting with her first. What about the really, really, really, really,

really bad deed that he did? You guys wanna talk about that? Yeah, that one should overshadow the good deeds, I would think. Yeah, you know, that's just me though. But it wasn't just like the residents in the town, it was even investigators that seemed reluctant to investigate the murder.

Yeah. And, you know, to consider Bernie a murderer. Yeah. But the more and more they investigated the case, the more obvious it became that this was not a crime of passion. Two days after his arrest, the Panola County District Attorney added a charge of felony theft and increased Bernie's bond to $2.75 million. Once it was determined that he'd been stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Marjorie's bank accounts after her death. Holy shit. Mm-hmm.

District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson told the press, quote, he had the power of attorney to sign checks for her, but that terminated after her death or at her death. So it's like, what the hell? So it's like, yeah, you're continuing to write these crazy checks. Yeah. And the fact that he did continue to write the checks after Marjorie had been killed suggested that he in fact killed her to

continue accessing her fortune. Absolutely. And if that were determined to be the case, that would elevate the charges to the case, two a case of capital murder. Damn. Damn. Yeah. But even the news of the new charges had little effect on how people in town viewed Bernie knowing full well that he continued to access this woman's money and forge fucking

checks. I guess not. Well, yeah, it is ford she's dead. Yeah, she's dead. She's dead at that point. After he killed her, people are like, wow. She's dead. Yeah, it's dead. So I just got that point. After, he killed her. People are like, wow. She was grumpy and we love Bernie.

Wow. She was grumpy and we loved Bernie. It's like, what the fuck? Look in a mirror and say that to you. That's the thing. It truly is like she's grumpy. That's literally all it is. She's unpleasant.

Like, she never did anything to hurt anybody. Yeah, so like she's walked around like to her fucking self. Beating people with a cane as she goes down the street. Like she's like, that's even that. I'm like, you know, just like staying in your house. Yeah. But like, you know, can't kill people over this shit.

No, you sure can't. And like, what the, oh, this is layered. It's layered and it's fucked up ever. It is. Reverend E.B. Beasley of the first United Methodist church who got a lot of money from Bernie told reporters that makes it even more difficult to deal with.

But he was quick to add, it doesn't mean the church has decided to turn its back on Bernie. The Bernie Teed that's being discussed in the news today is not the Bernie Teed, this congregation knew. He was a very popular member of the church. I'm sure he was. He was a leader here, you know,

until he murdered an elderly woman. Yeah he was. He was a leader here. Yeah. You know, until he murdered an elderly woman. Yeah. And also he was a leader there because he was giving the church the elderly woman's money that he stole, but directly from her account. Hold on to that cash. Yeah. Hold on to that cash.

Wipe your eyes with that cash, Methodist church, right? Like Jesus, come on. Come on. Like you gotta come out and be like, this is fucked up. And we'd like to give it that. And we'd like to just put it back in her account. Or it's like, at least say like, wow, this is wild and like he's terrible.

And we don't condone this. Yes. And then just say that. Period. Period. But that's not the Bernie that we know. Yeah, because guess what? I don't give a shit about the Bernie that was before this.

I care about the Bernie that's a murderer and him go to jail now. Well, and guess what? It was't give a shit about the Bernie that was before this. I care about the Bernie that's a murderer and him go to jail now. Well, and guess what? It was the Bernie that you knew and loved because you still come to church spending her money. That sure did kill her. Yeah, after he murdered her. Oh my God.

So as locals worked through their confusion and conflict, investigators started putting together the pieces of what had led to Marjorie's death. They were like, how did we get here? According to Bernie's confession, he arrived at Marjorie's house a little after 7 a.m. on the morning of November 19, 1996. November. She was discovered in August. I was just going to say, wait a second. Wait, so November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, nine months. She was in that freezer. And he's just walking around spending her money almost a year.

A full pregnancy. Holy shit. Nine months. Yeah. Damn. So it's like that fucking welfare check. Yeah, one of those months on another, on another level. Well, fair check. Yeah, one of those months on another on another level. But so on on the morning of November 19th, 1996, he prepared her morning coffee and then he went back home to shower before going back to Marjorie's house around 10 a.m. He told deputies, quote, she had become evil and wicked and very possessive over my life. And according to Bernie, this was actually not the first time he had considered killing Marjorie. He told them, I thought of hitting Marjorie in the head with a bat or anything for a couple

months prior to November 19, 1996, but I did not want her to suffer. Oh. I thought of murdering this woman for a while, actually. Could it, you could have just like not hung out with her anymore? You could have just left your job. Yeah, you could have just like not been there. But once he returned to Marjorie's house that morning, he said, she almost instantly began ranting at him, which

remember she's suffering from dementia. My. Then at one point, Bernie noticed the 22 caliber rifle that Marjorie had actually told him to buy to deal with pests. And he saw it leaning against the wall. And so he picked it up and started going into the garage to put the gun away, but Marjorie was following closely behind him. According to Bernie, there was nothing in particular

that caused him to shoot her on that day. He told his sister, I started thinking about having to live with her for the rest of her life and I just couldn't take it. I realized I couldn't stand it another day. What the fuck? So Bernie decided he had had enough of her nagging at him and he turned the rifle on her. He told Sheriff's deputies, I took the rifle and shot Marjorie in the back. She fell face first,

but was still breathing heavily. So I shot her again. I may have shot her again. I didn't want her to suffer. I would like to stop saying I would like her, I didn't want her to suffer. So then why did you shoot her because I would call that suffering murder? I would call suffering. My God. Sir, so when he was completely sure that Marjorie was indeed dead, he dragged her body from the garage to the freezer. And once he removed the food, he placed her body inside and covered her with a sheet, which he kept telling investigators throughout this conversation that they were having

was a land zen sheet, like that made it any better. He kept saying over and over again that it was a land zen sheet. It's like, I don't care if you cover her in a bougie sheet or not, you've just murdered her, and I'll see what you want, elderly women. Oh my gosh. And then put food back in the freezer fully covering her body.

Holy shit. Once he'd stashed the body, Bernie returned to the garage and swept up the bullet casings along with a pile of large leaves, which he threw in the trash, and then used the garden hose to wash the blood away. Finally, he sealed the lid of the freezer with two large strips of tapes, uh, tape, excuse me. And in the weeks that followed, he kept going to work and keeping up appearances at the house to make it seem like she was still alive and active inside to avoid questions from the neighbors. Oh, come on. So for nine months, he kept going back to the house

where he killed her. He went through, is Daya fucking molecule? Like, there's something happening in your brainium cranium. That is. Sums wrong. Dorks added. That is dorks added. Dorks added.

That is so sinister. That's so sinister. Wow, it's sinister by that's honestly definition of sinister by truly. So when the autopsy came back, it confirmed exactly what Bernie had told authorities. Marjorie had been shot in the back four times with a 22 caliber rifle. That's the other thing.

A rifle. Damn. Horrible. So, unable to make bond, thankfully, because, you know, he didn't have margaries, money in here. Yeah. Bernie sat in a cell at the Panola County Detention Center, while the Sheriff's Department conducted their investigation.

Now, meanwhile, the IRS had to be called into the case, primarily to perform forensic accounting services to determine just how much money Bernie had stolen from Marjorie and where it had gone. My God. According to court records, he had stolen over $250,000 in about a dozen transactions. Most of them in amounts over $10,000.

And in addition to that, several other transactions showed that he had cashed almost $400,000 in checks drawn from Marjorie's account, the majority of which he distributed to neighbors, charitable organizations, and art programs around the community. I hate that he's like doing good deeds with this because you're like, fuck, dude, you could have been such a good person.

He had all the parts there. Over half a million dollars from this woman. He had all the parts to be a charitable man, a charitable human, and he, like, what the fuck happened? I have no idea, but in one instance, he invested almost $10,000 into a play that he was producing. It was written by local video store clerk, Jeremy Jones, and Jones told reporters, we all assumed he was very wealthy. I never questioned it.

Yeah, why would you? That's the thing, why would you? Yeah. And on August 27, 1997, a Panola County ground jury indicted Bernie on quote charges of murder and theft in the death of Marjorie Nugent. The indictment noted that he had spent quote extensive and extremely substantial amounts of Marjorie's money

in the month since her death, which caused the IRS to seize his property and consider additional charges of money laundering. Wow. I was gonna, I was wondering if they were going to go that route. Yeah. So while the local and federal officials work to build a case against Bernie, many in town rallied around him.

Not long after he was arrested, several friends and neighbors actually pulled their own resources to hire a man named Clifton, quote, unquote, Scrappy Holmes, and East Texas criminal defense attorney, famous for defending wrongfully accused or incarcerated individuals. But like honey, he can bet. Correct. Now, luckily not everybody was an enthusiastic supporter of Bernie. District attorney, Danny Buck Davidson found the unconditional support for Bernie in furiating. Same. the unconditional support for Bernie infuriating. Same. He said,

Bernie is a con man and an accomplished actor. He duped a really nice trusting town. He's evil, which like retweet, re-ex. Now, Davidson had actually known Bernie Teed as long as everyone else in Carthage had. And up to this point, he always thought that Bernie was a nice man. So he understood why locals could struggle to reconcile the man they knew with the man who murdered

Marjorie, which I can understand that being like, holy shit, he duped us all. Yeah, I can totally understand like having to reconcile that. Absolutely. And struggling with that. Like, four, 100%. 100%. But it's the willingness to look past what he did. That's the thing. Just because they the willingness to look past what he did. That's the thing. Just because they preferred him to Marjorie.

Yeah. He said that was baffling. And he said, a couple people have said to me that Bernie deserves to fry for what he's done. But I know there are a lot more who just want the whole thing to go away. They keep asking me if there aren't some extenuating circumstances that would help his defense. And I think, good God almighty.

Do people really think Miss Nugent was so mean to him that he had to shoot her in the back and self-defense? That's the thing. She's an elderly woman. She's an elderly woman. I know how many times I have to say it. Don't drink every time I say it, because whoa. Jeez.

But like, wow. So the support for Bernie Teed in and around Carthage was not just inexplicable to law enforcement. It also proved to be a really big problem when the case made its way to court. Yeah. Of the 350 prospective individuals considered for the jury, all but a hundred were dismissed for various reasons unrelated to the case. Wow. And when Judge Guy Griffin asked the remaining about 100 prospective jurors, whether they could impartially judge Bernie

for the murder, less than half said they could. Wow. Less than half. So yeah. Judge Griffin said that was just the first question. Their attorneys hadn't even begun their questioning. At that point, we felt we needed to try again somewhere else. So they had to declare a mistrial.

Wow. And relocate the trial outside of this county. I'm just like shook by this. They supported this man so much that no one in town could impartially be on a jury to convict him. I'm like, I don't even know what to say about this. Is I like looking at pictures of him? Because I'm like, do you have a kind face? say about this. I'm like looking at pictures of him

because I'm like, do you have a kind face? What is going on? He does kind of have a kind face. I will say wow. But while the District Attorney's Office worked to get the trial moved to nearby San Augustine, which is about an hour from Carthage, scrappy homes there, the defense attorney

was in deep negotiations with the DA to arrange for a plea bargain that would make a trial unnecessary. But by February of 1999, the negotiations stalled and all scrappy would tell the press was plea negotiations did not turn out. So they weren't able to get any kind of plea bargain here. Yeah. Now with no plea bargain in sight, Bernie's trial began February 1st, 1999 before the same judge, Judge Guy Griffin in the 123rd District Court. Now, despite being just an hour away from Carthage, residents of San Augustine hadn't been following

the story, and only a handful of those interviewed for potential jury duties seemed interested in the case. Which, wow, you know, that's good. Yeah. So that being the case, the jury pool was quickly reduced from 341 individuals to 104, the jury poll was quickly reduced from 341 individuals to 104, which was just as quickly reduced to the requisite number. And Danny Buck Davidson, DA, prepared to give his opening statements on February 3rd. Okay. Now, the prosecution's case was simple. Bernie Teade had enticed Marjorie with promises of constant companionship, spent years manipulating her with romantic promises, they said, in order to access her fortune.

And on the first day of testimony, Davidson called several witnesses to the stand to give the jury details of what they claimed was a sham romance. So we're taking a twist here. And we're taking a look at pictures. Yeah, it sure seems like he was, he was angling some way. It sure does.

Robert Evans, who was a friend of Marjories, because Bernie was not the only friend she had. Robert Evans told the jury how while having lunch with Marjory in her home, they were interrupted by Bernie, who greeted Marjory with a kiss. And he told the jury, he definitely believed this was just one of the ways in which Bernie had manipulated Marjory. Oh, damn. Mm- damn. That's fucked up. Yeah. And Angela Row, an acquaintance of Marjorie, has offered similar testimony telling the jury about one instance where Bernie

quilt brushed up against Mrs. Nugent with his body in a way I did not think was appropriate. Ooh. And she also told the jury about a shopping trip she'd taken with Marjorie, where Marjorie purchased some lingerie. And she elaborated, it wasn't the kind of lingerie of 75-year-old woman should wear. I wouldn't think my grandmother should wear it. So she was saying something was going on. Something strange was happening here. Now, the second day of testimony included a number of law enforcement officials and experts who explained the evidence and gave descriptions of how the investigation had come together.

Bernie just sat there sobbing as the prosecution showed the court photos of the crime scene and the freezer where he had stuffed margaries body. Well, I mean, shut the fuck up. You did that. Yeah. Why are you crying now? You weren't crying for the past nine fucking months.

Are you crying because you're reaping what you said? You were literally walking past that freezer for the past nine months. That's the thing. I'm like fucking crocodile tears elsewhere. Fuck you, dude. You put her in a freezer for nine fucking months. Like you said, walked right by it, went out and spend it

on her money and you're sitting there crying at crime scene photos, shut up. You're crying because you got caught. I don't buy this. And you're crying because you probably say how fucking terrible that was now that you're sitting in front of a room full of people who aren't accepting your good deeds.

Yeah, it feels like, it even feels like he can manipulate you through a story. That's the whole thing. Because in the beginning, you're like, oh, what's going on? Bernie seems fine. And then when you get to that, you're like, fuck you, Bernie.

Yeah. Now, the final photo shown that day, which was the final image the jury saw before being dismissed for the day, was the interior of the freezer. That mid showed, quote, bags of ice, a white tray, and some boxes of food, below which could be seen the small gray oval that was the back of Mrs. Nuchin's head. Oh, like gut wrenching.

Oh my God. Now, the next day, the jury was again confronted with photo and video evidence, and this time, they actually showed Marjorie's body being removed from the freezer once it had arrived at the state police lab, and the images were so disturbing that the jury sent the judge a note requesting a 15-minute break to compose themselves. Wow. Because remember, this isn't elderly woman. One was shot four times.

We all have grandparents and elderly parents. Like, I can't imagine having to see anybody. Like, everybody knows somebody who's elderly. Yeah. You know, now Bernie's defense attorney scrappy homes there, lodged a formal objection to the video claiming that it was Macabbe and was shown only to prejudice the jury or shown to show what your client did to this old man and confess to do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is Macabbe. You're right. Uh-huh.

But ask Bernie about it. And outside the courtroom, he elaborated his objection, saying to reporters, Stephen King couldn't have done it any better. I feel like he could have. I mean, shut the fuck up. It's also just like, well, we're not talking about novels here, we're talking about actual crime. And it also sound like a piece of shit

talking about a fucking fiction writer in comparison to like, you know, like, you're like, oh, Stephen King could have ridden that, but ridden that any better. It's like, I'm this is real life. So like maybe just mother, maybe just look at the video and see that that's real. And that's what that guy did to her and admitted to doing to her. And we're not talking about. You should take another. Yeah, you should take another avenue here to defend your client because you're not doing

a great job. Maybe just don't say anything. But despite having confessed to the murder, Bernie did plead not guilty. So the trial was necessary to determine his responsibility. And in his defense, Scrappy Holmes told the jury, Bernie was never motivated by money. Oh! Oh!

Oh! Wow! Never motivated by money. He stole over fucking half a million dollars from this woman. Yeah, that's... Never motivated by money. He stole over fucking half a million dollars from this woman. Yeah, that's never motivated by money That's a bold move to go in that direction. He said instead that it was Marjorie's quote-unquote possessive demanding nature That had become intolerable and his client simply quote-unquote snapped So what you're saying is that when that becomes Too much to handle in your work environment that you should just kill your boss. Yeah, is that what you're saying is that when that becomes too much to handle in your work environment,

that you should just kill your boss. Yeah. Is that what you're saying? And that's okay. You should get away with it because you snapped. Yeah. Absolutely. Which like, I do wonder if he did just snap. Like, you can look at it through that lens because he has no priors here. Like, you're like, well, that's, this is a whole thing. It's very shocking. It's a shocking act. This is a whole thing, it's very shocking. It's a shocking act. I mean, to put in a, to put Marjorie in a freezer and walk by her for nine months, something's gotta be broken.

And spend her money feels more, that feels like more than a snap. It does. You can snap, oops. In the moment. You made a big mistake, but this is, this is a lot more than that. It just feels like there's something, you've got to have a lot fucked up inside you to be able to do that shit.

And to be able to walk by that freezer and be able to spend her money. And tell her home every day. And tell her loved ones that she's fine. She's just like, she doesn't talk to you. And like, or like, she's had a stroke. Like, at one point, you said, like, to make up stories and shit. Like, that's really diabolical.

And he had that inside of him. Absolutely. But they said, in time, Marjorie became overbearing and demanding of all of Bernie's time, which eventually pushed him to the point of an impulsive action resulting in her death. And they said, if his motive was indeed greed as the prosecution had alleged, why would he have gone out of his way to give away the vast majority of stolen funds to the community members

and civic organizations? I don't know. I don't know. Because he has a hero complex. I think he has a Robin Hood complex. I think that is what is at the root of all of this. Yes. So it's like that's a problem to my friend. Like that's not good. So big time. So given Bernie's confession, Scrappy Home's objective was more or less damage control in a lesser sentence.

That was what he was out for. So he needed to convince the jury that Bernie had acted in a moment of passion and impulsivity and that he actually didn't pose any threat to, you know, or future danger to the community. But unfortunately for the defense, the prosecution did a more than adequate job of portraying Bernie as a con artist after one thing and one thing only. And in his closing statements, the DA told the jury, from this evidence, you can find this defendant was a liar, a liar, coward, and back shooter. So having no other context or familiarity with the defendant,

the jury had no trouble believing that this was the case as presented by the prosecution. And after less than an hour of deliberation, they returned with a guilty verdict. I mean, I would. Yeah, I would. He literally confessed at it at a point. Now, given Bernie's confession,

the guilty verdict was pretty much expected. When it came to the punishment phase, however, Holmes was hopeful that his client's reputation would go a long way to secure a lighter sentence. Davidson, the prosecutor, on the other hand, was pushing for a strict sentence. He told reporters, I think you've got to look at the crime and the punishment should fit the crime.

And Marjorie's family was also hopeful for the maximum sentence. Her granddaughter Susan said, we're relieved that there was a guilty verdict. He deserves 99 years. I mean, yeah. Hi. So the next day on February 11th,

the court reconvened for the sentencing phase where the jury deliberated for less than two hours and returned with a sentence of life in prison. Wow, which I mean, you murdered someone. Yeah. And stole all their money. Exactly. And they also gave him a fine of $10,000.

Wow. Now Marjorie's granddaughter Susan told reporters, this was a horrible, terrible crime and he deserved the worst sentence he got he could get. And obviously the jury thought so too. And Marjorie's son, Rod Jr. was also in town for the trial. He was actually expected, or expecting to be called as a witness, but he wasn't called. So the sentencing phase was the first time he could speak in the courtroom since the trial started. And when he

finally was able to talk, he said, I'm really here to see Justice Dunn and foreclosure. This crime to me is about finding old people who are vulnerable and stealing from them. Yeah. Which like, 100%. Absolutely. Now, after he was convicted in Sundance and the whole nine, defense attorney Clifton Holmes immediately fired papers requesting the judge declare a mis-trial, which was rejected. Yeah. But followed by the usual round of appeals, you know, how would it always goes. Now, among the issues cited for the appeal was the claim that the judge refused to allow the defense's psychiatric expert to testify, which they alleged could have confirmed Bernie's quote-unquote lack of future dangerousness and provided important evidence as to quote-unquote

his mental condition during and after the offense. So they were saying you didn't let our psychiatrist come in and talk about his condition, which would have showed that he wasn't dangerous, and this is what he was dealing with at the time of the murder. And it's like, okay. It's valid. Yeah.

To an extent. For sure, but it's like, but he put her in a freezer and went about his life. And just lived his life and spent her money. That's the truth. So I don't know if that would have helped you. I don't think quite honest. So I think they would have been like, yeah, this is fucked up.

Agreed. Dr. Fredrick Mears explained that in his opinion, at the time of the murder, Bernie was under considerably more stress than normal, and quote, might have had some disassociative event that made him temporarily psychologically degraded. Now, in addition to that, when they asked whether Boni-Bernie would pose a future threat to the community, the doctor stated, it is my opinion he absolutely would not pose a threat or danger to inmates, cellmates, guards, anyone in that system. Uh-huh. So initially, the court of appeals ruled that the lower court actually had erred and their refusal to admit Dr. Mears' testimony into evidence.

But when it was sent back for reconsideration, the appeals court did determine that the error was, quote unquote, harmless and ultimately upheld the sentence. Because it's like, are we really trying to say that he was really stressed out, more stressed out than normal so he murdered someone? Pretty much. Because like I am right now in this moment, I am very stressed out. I have a lot of stress in my life. I don't expect to get

away with murdering someone because of it. That's good to hear. That one's not. No, I'm glad that one didn't hold up and they weren't like, well, he was stressed out. That's like, never in a shoot. I don't know about that. Now, usually that would be where the story would end in a typical case. They said, like, fuck you to the appeal. And then you said in prison the rest of your life.

Yeah. But as we know, Bernie teats cases far from typical. No. And there were going to be some more twists and turns before it faded from the spotlight. About a decade after Bernie entered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the story of Marjorie Nugens murder at the hands of the town's beloved former rotation made its way to the desk of screenwriter Richard Linklater. Later.

Now, Richard had read Skip Hollinsworths, who I've quoted here, his 1998 article about the murder midnight in the Garden of East Texas. It was published in Texas monthly. I definitely recommend reading it. But he approached Hollinsworth about collaborating on a screenplay about the case. Now the film you might remember it, it wasn't too long ago,

it was titled Simply Bernie, was released in 2012. Oh, yeah. Do you remember seeing commercials for that? Oh, my God, yeah. I haven't watched it still. I haven't either. But it was a pretty big movie.

And overall, overall, it was well received by critics. It was Jack Black. Yeah, I think you're right, actually. I hope I'm not remembering that wrong, but I feel like that just popped in my head. Double check that for me, but I want to say you're right. Yeah, I think it's Jack Black as Bernie. I feel like you're right, yeah.

So the critics, they liked the movie, but in Carthage, link leaders, Hollywood adaptation of Marjorie's murder was not as well received. One resident said of the film, if it was fiction, it might be funny, but this was a real person in a real town, and no, I don't think it's funny at all. Yeah, that's the thing, like it is Jack Black.

And the way it's played off on here from what I'm seeing is like this looks like a comedy. Yikes. Like for I didn't see it. So I won't say it is, but like the way they're advertising it is a little comical. I don't love that. Very off-putting when you know the actual story. Yeah. So in District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson agreed, telling local news station, KLTV, he put Miss Nugin in a freezer and then went and preached in churches. Yeah.

If it was a dark comedy, you can't make a dark comedy out of a murder. You wanna make a fiction story out of like, you know, dark comedy's happened all the time. Fiction. Yeah. Like you made it up. Right.

Like it didn't actually, in fact on Google, when you type in Bernie the movie and like this movie comes up, yeah. Google says why to watch delightful, dark, and hilarious. Dude. Yeah. Like delightful, dark, hilarious. That's upsetting.

That's wilds. Yeah. That's upsetting. That's wild. Yeah. That's how I'm gonna do that. Damn. Oh, that just shook me. Yeah. Well, despite local criticisms of the film, some people close to the case actually felt like

it was an accurate portrayal. Marjorie's nephew Joe Rode said, there are little things in Bernie that aren't exactly true. Bits of dialogue, a name changed here and there, but the big things, the weirdest things happened exactly as the movie says they did. Wow. Now more than 10 years after the murder occurred, the residents of Carthage actually reconsidered their stance on Bernie Teed after that movie, which is interesting that this fucking Jack Black

movie made these people change their opinions. Diane Davidson said the community has completely turned 180 degrees. They want him to service time. Wow. Wild. But while locals had turned on the man they once rushed to defend, Austin based attorney, Jody Cole reached out to link later to find out more about the story. She saw the film and told him it, quote, raised some issues I wonder about.

Huh. Now, like many people who had seen the movie or simply heard about the case, to her, something just didn't add up. Like why Marjorie's closest friend would turn on her so quickly without acute provocation and how one of the areas most beloved residents could be so easily convicted and receive the harshest penalty. Yeah. Which if you're looking at it from an outside scope, I mean, I've said it this whole time, this case is wild. Yeah.

I understand having questions. Yeah. So, Attorney Cole there ended up speaking with Bernie after reaching out about like the film is making and watching it and just having questions upon questions. Yeah. So, she ended up talking to Bernie multiple, and eventually filed a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf, arguing that the jury had been prevented from accessing critical testimony that would have likely influenced their understanding of the crime and their attitudes during the penalty phase.

After several interviews with the clinical psychologist, Cole actually learned, and this is a trigger warning for sexual trauma, Cole actually learned that Bernie had experienced considerable sexual and psychological abuse as a child, which significantly influenced his cognitive ability at the time of the murder. According to Bernie, Marjorie, quote, often demanded a ridicule tim and became critical and accusatory toward a male gardener with whom Mr. Teed had a clandestine sexual relationship. Oh, so the effect they said was essentially what one would experience in an abusive domestic relationship, which ultimately led to Marjorie's murder.

Wow. Now, a second psychological evaluation conducted by Dr. Edward Greitman or Gryppin actually produced similar findings. In his report, the doctor wrote, after years spent repressing the effects of childhood abuse and hiding his homosexuality in a community he worried would not accept him. Mr. Teed learned to compartmentalize his emotions, allowing him to act normally for months after the murder. So that can explain that.

Yeah. Now, given the extent to which Bernie's attitude and behavior after Marjorie's death factored into his sentencing, Cole succeeded in winning Bernie a new sentencing hearing. And he was released from prison in May of 2014 and actually took up residence in Linkleaders garage in LA while he awaited a new hearing. What? Crazy twist of events.

Now, in addition to the new psychological reports, Cole also indicated Bernie's confession had more or less been coerced, arguing that law enforcement officials threatened to release scandalous information to the public if he didn't tell the truth, which is what we touched on earlier with those movies that they found.

Now, the allegations of both new evidence and a potentially coerced in confession didn't sit well with DA Danny Buck Davidson. I actually really like this guy. He told reporters a new hearing felt like the right thing to do considering the circumstances. He said prosecutors are good guys

and we're supposed to do it's right. So he wanted to stand by doing what was right. That's pretty bad. Now another granddaughter of Marjorie, Shanna, Nugin, disagreed and told the host of the today show, it just doesn't feel like this is right. It doesn't feel like justice. I get that.

And I totally get that. The grandmother was brutally murdered. Yeah. So Bernie's new hearing finally came in April 2016 and a new jury learned of his history of abuse and how it affected his actions at the time of the murder and in the months that followed. Defense attorney Mike DeGurren told the jury that Bernie quote, killed Newgent because her abuse triggered the trauma he had faced when he was younger.

But it's still not okay to kill someone. Exactly. They were trying to say like, psychologically something that's what didn't happen again. For sure. Now, the attorney also alleged that contrary to what the previous jury had heard about Bernie manipulating an isolating Marjorie in the months before her death. It was in fact Marjorie who quote, alienated most of her relatives and who had a reputation of being unlikable, which is like, we're going back to this again. Exactly. Thank you.

Cool. So, the new jury deliberated for a little over four hours before returning with a sentence of 99 years or life and prison. Wow. Which weirdly feels like a nod to what her granddaughter said before that he deserved nine years. Yeah, it really does. Did you all get together and help that girl out?

Which like he deserves it. Yeah, no matter what. It's true. So with the new sentence on the record, Bernie was returned to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to continue serving his sentence, and he remains there to this day. Damn. What? A wild fucking story.

Damn. That is a roller coaster. It is. And poor Marjorie. That's the thing. To get the reputation that she not only gone in life, but in death is just really sad. Like, yeah.

I know, it doesn't sound to me like most people took the time to try and understand her. And no one did what she was dead. And she's regardless of her attitude, regardless of what it was or wasn't, exactly, nobody deserves that. Yeah, that's fucked up. It's really sad. And I just can't, exactly nobody deserves that. Yeah, that's fucked up. It's really sad.

And I just can't, like, like I understand movies being made about, you know, big cases and all that, like that's gonna happen, that's happened that's happened forever. To make a case like this, a dark, delightful, hilarious movie is like, whoa, and I never saw it,

nor, no, neither have I. And I just didn't believe like, I'm like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,

it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,

it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's Jack Black Shirley McLean and Matthew McConaughey. Matthew McConaughey? Like all three of them were like the Shirley McLean plays Marjorie. Wow. And it's like, did nobody... They'll be looked into this?

Like what? It's just a strange move. Yeah. But again, I haven't seen the movie, so maybe it's being described wrong. Maybe. I'm not gonna say, I know anything about it, because I know. I don't really have any interest in it. But very strange watching it just after... I don't either, after hearing I know. I don't really have any interest in it. But very strange watching it just after.

I don't either, after hearing the story. I don't really want to watch it at all. But damn wild. So that is the tragic case of the murder of Marjorie Nugent. And Marjorie, there's the small town that really paraded around a man that murdered someone. He really manipulated everybody. Truly.

And he really placed himself in a position of looking like a hero. Yep. And with that, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But it's worth it even if you're in a plurid and tired town into thinking that you're some kind of hometown hero and realistically,

you're walking past a freezer where you are or holding the body of an elderly woman that you murdered nine months ago. Don't keep it that way. You piece of shit. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts.

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