48 Hours - Sugar Land: Life of Death

Episode Date: January 6, 2019

A Texas father targeted by a hit man fights for the life of the person who ordered the murder -- his son. "48 Hours"' Peter Van Sant has the latest in the case.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. The Whitaker Family was a very welcoming, godly family. Christ was a very important part of what they did. The Whitaker home was the place to hang out. It was the cool house to be at. Very safe, very nurturing, godly loving home. Every time I went over there you felt loved. They were

family who had fun and they traveled and they laughed and, you know, they joked around with each other. And everyone loved Tricia and Kent. They were the second parents to so many people. The Whitaker family just seemed like the model, typical, well-to-do Sugar Land family. My name is Marshall Slott and I'm a detective with the Sugar Land Police Department. My name is Brittany Barnhill and I was Kevin Whitaker's best friend. He was just a great guy, the life of the party. Bart was the older brother. Kevin and his friends looked up to Bart. People thought that Bart Whitaker was cool.

On December 10, 2003, I was working out with my best friend, Kevin Whitaker. He left to go have dinner with his family. We went out to dinner to a restaurant we all enjoyed. We're all in one car, so we drive back, pull into the driveway. Kevin walks up to the front door, and Trisha's right behind him.

Kevin opens the door. There's this huge, loud noise. Bang! Kevin was shot, center mass, right in his sternum. Trisha says, oh, no, and I hear another noise. Bang! Kevin was shot, center mass, right in his sternum. Trisha says, oh no, and I hear another noise. Bang! Trisha had made it into the house behind Kevin and was shot and then fell in the doorway. I look inside and there is a figure with a ski mask on. I probably did not look at him for more than a second or two. Bang! I feel something hit my shoulder. The first three shots were rapid succession.

Bart then chased the guy into the house. As he approached that figure, he was shot. I think, oh my God, he shot all four of us. Kent and Bart recovered from their wounds. Tricia was transported by air ambulance. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Kevin died at the scene. It didn't seem real. These types of things happen, but not to me, not to my family, not to my friends. On the scene, one of the officers had mentioned to me, I think I've been to this house before, and I think it was about threats on the family from somebody.

I think Kevin knew something. And whatever he knew, I knew he was concerned about it. The Whitaker family wasn't the all-American family that everybody believed them to be. It became clear that it was a conspiracy. It was not a random act of violence. These people were assassinated. What begins as a quest to identify a killer, 15 years later becomes the remarkable story of a victim willing to forgive and begging the state to have mercy. I'm going to be thrown into a deeper grief at the hand of the state of Texas in the name of justice.

And I just feel like there is a more appropriate sentence than the execution. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing the best idea yet. A brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bolder risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans.

Discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets,

the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's

Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C True Crime shows early and ad-free right now. Sugar Land is very middle-, upper class, white collar. It's a nice place. Everything's new. You hang out with your neighbors. You hang out with your neighbor's kids. For John Flores and his best friend, Kevin Whitaker, life was sweet in Sugar Land, Texas. Almost anything's at your fingertips. You can do whatever you want. A lot of fun.

you want. A lot of fun. But that all changed on the night of December 10th, 2003, when Kevin and his family were gunned down in their home. That night, we just got home from church and got the call of a quadruple shooting. That just doesn't happen out here in Sugar Land. Marshall Slott was the lead detective assigned to the case. It looks as if it's a burglary gone wrong. The family's coming home from dinner. It's plausible that they could have surprised a burglar. But as Slott combed through the Whitaker home, he realized things weren't adding up. In the master bedroom, the dressers, an armoire,

all had drawers open on them, but they were all open equal distance. It was very neat and orderly. Normally a burglar would throw everything out of the drawers to see if there's any valuables in there. Yes, sir. Detective Slott began to suspect the burglary had been staged. None of the items of value inside the house had been moved around. The electronics, laptops, jewelry, none of those items that are typically taken in burglaries. And then there was the murder weapon.

It was the Whitaker's own gun. The gun safe had been pried open. And it was in a very isolated portion of the household. This is looking more and more like this person knew this gun was here and obtained it for a specific reason. Detective Slott turned his attention to the Whitaker family's history, hoping it might provide some answers. He started with Kent Whitaker's relationship to his wife, Tricia.

We met on a blind date, walked in her house, and I didn't know what I was expecting. But she came down and I thought, I've never had a blind date like this before. And we hit it off very well right from the start. All right! And then came their two boys, Bart and Kevin. I'm so proud of both of them. The Whitakers were doing well. Kent was a successful accountant.

Tricia, an elementary school teacher. Tricia had a great rapport with children. Parents adored her. The staff adored her. Staff adored her. She was just fun. Barbie Harrington and Peggy McClain, Trisha's close friends and co-workers, knew her true love was being a mom. They were everything. That's all she talked about.

She loved those boys. Bart, the eldest, did well in school and had a quirky sense of humor. Close your eyes. Close your eyes real quick. Okay. Make it work. He was fun. He was witty. He was respectful. A good son. A good son.

Kevin, I'm very proud of you. Kevin was the sensitive one. Kevin was a man at a young age. He would not back down from injustice, but he would be so quick to forgive. This was as healthy and vibrant and loving a family as you'd find, wasn't it? I thought so. I was very happy with my family. I loved them. Then came December 10, 2003.

How did that day begin? Bart was supposed to be graduating from college. He called and said he was through with his finals and he wanted to go out to eat and celebrate. Tricia was so proud. She was telling Bart she was going to jump up and down and scream, Thank you, Jesus! We all celebrated, we laughed, we told some jokes,

we teased each other and took some pictures and gave Bart his graduation gift, which was an expensive watch. What kind of watch was it? It was a Rolex. It was what he'd always wanted. It was just a happy night. After dinner, the Whitakers headed home. Then, unimaginable horror. Four shots fired.

I start praying, and I say, Father, if it's my time to die, I'm ready. It's okay. But protect my family. And it just was awful. I saw Kent lying down. I went up to him, and he was shot, and he says, I'm bleeding very badly.

Neighbor Cliff Stanley, the first person on the scene, then went to check on Tricia. She was still alive, was kind of moaning. I said, what happened? And Tricia said, he shot us. Did she say who he was? No. Bart was lying in the living room, wounded.

As for Kevin? I could see Kevin clearly, and Kevin was vanished. Kent, Tricia, and Bart were rushed to the hospital, but Tricia didn't survive. It was horrible. I lost a friend that taught me how to be a better teacher and a better mother. She was just a really good person, and I miss her so much. And I remember I walked over to my friend's mom, and I just said, was it Kevin? And I felt her nod on my head.

Just kind of shook my head and said, okay. Detectives spent the day searching. By the next day, grief turned to anger. Kent, in no unclear terms, told me he wanted us to catch whoever did this. He was upset. He was hurt. And Bart seemed to share that anger. He didn't say much, but he pulled my friend Matt and I to him, and he said, we're going to find who did it. Detective Slott continued his routine questioning of the survivors. Bart told Slott he was about to graduate from Sam Houston State University.

But the next day, stunning news. Information had come in to the Sugar Land Police Department from Sam Houston State University that Bart was not enrolled as a student. Wait a second. He was not a student? He was a freshman on academic probation. A freshman? Yes, sir. Wasn't even a senior? Correct.

So what do you do with this information? Bells and whistles start going off that, why is this kid lying to us? What's he got to hide? What were you thinking? You lied to us about being in school? You weren't even near graduating. How could you have done that? Did you ask Bart why he had lied to you, why he had said he was a student at Sam Houston State? Yes, sir.

He just didn't want to disappoint his family. He needed a break. Stressors of school had gotten on him. Then, just five days after the shooting, another bombshell. It was about 11, 11.30 at night. The sergeant on duty paged me, said, hey, there's somebody here who wants to talk to you. Slott met the stranger in the darkened parking lot behind the police station. He explained to me that he felt he had information that was crucial to the investigation. The man said that Bart Whitaker wanted him to help kill his family.

As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was,

but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen

to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. and New Zealand lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years,

I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely, Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Six days after Tricia and Kevin Whitaker were gunned down at their home, more than 1,000 friends and family gathered to celebrate their lives. So many people. It was incredible.

It was a time to share fond memories. Almost every conversation with Tricia included something about Kent, Bart, and Kevin. Kevin was a faithful, loyal friend. He never compromised anything. I loved Kevin so much. I cried with him. I went to senior prom with him. Amid the sadness...

Bart, I cannot tell you how much Kevin looked up to you. You were his hero. There was also anger. This murderer is still out there. The police need our help. For your own families, for everybody's sake. Let's catch him. But what no one here knew among the mourners was a man police were closely watching. Your suspicions are focusing on which person? Bart, definitely. That stranger Marshall Slott

had met in the police parking lot turned out to be an old friend of Bart's named Adam Hipp. And he told the detective an extraordinary story, that Bart had approached him several years earlier with a detailed plan to kill his family. This is a diagram that Adam Hipp drew for me during our three-hour long conversation. It called for Adam Hipp being the shooter, shooting the family members as they came in the residence. According to Adam Hipp, the plan even included a twist to fool police. Bart wanted Hipp to shoot him in the shoulder so he'd look like a victim, not a suspect.

It was unbelievable. So what Adam Hipp was telling you was essentially the blueprint for what happened in 2003, the real shooting. The exact blueprint. But Bart appeared to have nothing to hide. He agreed to help detectives by reenacting what happened the night of the shootings. That's when I heard the bang and I don't remember it.

I probably would have run up this way. But Bart's behavior only heightens Slott's suspicions. Everything is very vague. It could have been this, but it could have been this. So that's about the distance you were from him when you got shot? Yeah, I guess. Okay. It might have been closer.

I don't really remember. The fact that he wasn't able to give me a lot of detail about it just was unusual to me. Police had indicated to you that he was a suspect in this case. Yes. Were you wondering at all? Maybe he had something to do with this. I considered it, but didn't consider it seriously. He promised me that there was nothing to it,

that he did not have anything to do with it, that he loved Tricia and Kevin and me. It was inconceivable. But after Adam Hipp's story, Detective Slott felt otherwise. He decided to check out two of Bart Whitaker's closest friends, Chris Brashear and Stephen Champagne. Let's see if he approached any of his current friends to do this. Chris Brashear and Stephen Champagne worked with Bart at this country club

just months before the murders. Slott asked them to provide what police call scent samples. Using bloodhounds, he compared those samples to evidence collected at the crime scene. Slott's hunch paid off when he got a match. The dogs indicated that Chris Brashear's scent was found on the drawers that had been moved that night. More importantly, Brashear's scent was found on the gun used in the homicides. Bingo, we've got our next prime suspect. When Detective Slott grilled Brashear, he denied any involvement in the shootings.

We told him we had a definitive link between him and the murder weapon on the night of the shooting. What do you see on Brashear's face? Horror. Panic. We struck a nerve with this kid. Slott was now closing in on Bart Whitaker. Then, one night, seven months after the shootings, Bart told his dad he was heading out to a club. Bart told me he would see me the next day. And what happened? Well, that was the last I saw him.

He disappeared. Just fell off the face of the earth? Mm-hmm. I was angry. We'd kind of let him get away. That's what I felt like. Bart's disappearance was a setback, but Detective Slott pressed on,

focusing on the suspects still in Sugar Land, especially Stephen Champagne. We stayed on him and stayed on him and stayed on him. Eventually, Champagne. We stayed on him and stayed on him and stayed on him. Eventually, Champagne cracked. He informed me that he participated in the crime, that Chris Brashear had killed a family. Champagne confessed that he was the getaway driver, Chris Brashear was the shooter,

and that Bart Whitaker was the mastermind behind the plan. This was the floodgates opening. Champagne led Slott to a treasure trove of physical evidence. He led me to the place on the bridge over Lake Conroe where he and Chris Brashear had thrown items of evidence. A chisel. That Chris Brashear had used to break into the gun safe. Ammunition. Which happened to be the ammunition that was in the gun.

Two cell phones. Bart Whitaker provided those to them to use during the course of carrying out the plot. And in September 2005, Sugar Land Police arrested both Stephen Champagne and Chris Brashear for the murders of Tricia and Kevin Whitaker. But they still didn't know where to find Bart Whitaker fled Sugar Land, Texas, seven months after the shootings, he left behind a community and a father in disbelief. As a general rule, people don't run if they're innocent. No, they don't. Oh, it was horrible.

It was awful. I just sat down and I just cried. Like many a desperado before him, Bart headed south into Mexico. He ended up in this tiny village called Saralvo, about 40 miles from the Texas border. Bart started his new life here in Saralvo with about $7,000 in cash, money he had stolen from his father's house. He could speak a little Spanish, and soon he had a small apartment in town and a job at a local furniture store. He also had something else, a new identity. Who is this man? Well, I know him as Rudy. Gabriela Gutierrez remembers her American friend named Rudy Rios.

How would you describe him? Well, he was a friendly person. He liked to drink. He liked beer. He liked to go with girls. He was very charming. He had a way with the ladies. I saw him and I said, wow, he's gorgeous.

Cindy Lou Salinas first saw Bart in church, of all places. I don't know. I found him very interesting. The guys that I've known, I don't know. He just had something nobody had. After Bart and Cindy Lou began dating, her father, Omero, gave Bart a job at the family's furniture store. What kind of a worker was he? Very good, very obedient. I really liked him and held him in high esteem. The entire Salinas family took Bart in as one of their own, and Bart told them they were the family he never had.

He used to tell me that he was an only child, that he never loved his mother because his mother never loved him either, and that his mother was a prostitute. He used to say that. His family never gave him the love he wanted. They only gave him money. They ignored him. They ignored him.

For 14 months, Bart Whitaker lived a carefree new life as Rudy Rios. This is Marshall. But it was all about to come to an end. To me, he seems like a cool guy, but if he did that, then he could pay for it. You know what I mean? I agree. Back in Sugar Land, Detective Slott got a phone call from the real Rudy Rios. He called me anonymously and said, I know where Bart Whitaker is.

I helped him get there. Rudy Rios and Bart had worked together at a Houston restaurant. Bart explained to him that there was pressure on him from law enforcement. Rudy said, well, if you ever need any help, let me know. I've got family in Mexico that can help you out. According to Rudy Rios, Bart paid him $3,000 to escort him to Saralvo. But when word spread of a reward for Bart's capture, the real Rudy looked to get paid again.

If there's a reward, you know, I don't care. I'd turn his head in. How much? $10,000. $10,000. Rudy had dollar signs in his eyes when he came forward. Yes, sir. Marshall's slot was there, waiting when Mexican authorities dumped Bart back across the border. He glanced at me and then just down to the floor. I don't know if it was a you got me look, but it was very satisfying to walk in that jail.

The first time I saw him when they took him back from Mexico, I walk in and we're separated by the bulletproof glass. I said, well, you look like you're okay. And he says, yes, I am. And he says, dad, I'm just so sorry. I'm so sorry for all of it. It's all my fault. And what is the it in that sentence that he was referred to? The murders. He's responsible for the murders. Also waiting for Bart were Fort Bend County prosecutors Jeff Strange and Fred Felchman with an indictment for the murders of his mother and brother. It is just the ultimate act of betrayal. It doesn't get any worse than this.

Why did he have to kill them? One, because that was the way he was going to inherit $1.5 million. I think also to some extent deep down, Bart thinks he's smarter than everybody else, and he just wanted to see if he could get away with the perfect crime. Call number 42969, State of Texas, versus Thomas and Bart Whitaker. In Fred Felchman, Bart had an adversary who was one of the toughest, no-nonsense prosecutors in Texas. How would you describe Bart Whitaker? There is a term they use in psycholingo, psychobabble, of sociopath.

In other words, a person who knows he's doing something wrong but really doesn't care. The old-time Texas thing was that he's just a mean son of a bitch, okay? Mr. Fennig will please rise while the state will present the indictment. Because this was a multiple murder, prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Bart Whitaker. Four shots fired, four hits. It's a good, strong case. In fact, it's an overwhelming case, so much so that Bart's defense attorney decides on a unique strategy. He will all but concede that Bart is guilty and use the trial

to try and convince jurors that Bart's life should be spared. And he has a man of unshakable religious faith in his corner. Even knowing that he'd been guilty and responsible for this, I just can't understand why it's so necessary to put him to death. Did you have any inkling whatsoever, Mr. Whitaker, that your son had been lying to you? No, I didn't. Incredibly, Kent Whitaker has forgiven Barth. The first night in the hospital, I forgave everyone who was involved in this.

Bart, how do you feel today? It is a gift of God that allows me to do this. I think he gave me that gift so that when I found out that it was my son, that it would be a legitimate forgiveness. The question now is, will a jury be as forgiving? Sugar Land, Texas has never seen a trial like this. This crime affected all of Sugar Land. A case of multiple murder.

Art, do you deserve to die? Where the accused is being passionately defended by one of the people he tried to kill. If the state pursues the death penalty and receives it, then they will kill the last surviving member of my family. Kent Whitaker believes his son's eternal soul is at stake. I believe, as a Christian, that God can and does forgive and change people's hearts. If they are sorry, if they repent, if they ask his forgiveness for real, he will forgive them. Excuse me, please.

But Jeff Strange and Fred Felchman say their duty is to uphold Texas law, not God's law. Clint Whitaker's religious faith is genuine. Forgiveness is a big tenet of what he believes, and I respect that, and I totally understand that. That's not my job, though. Does Bart Whitaker deserve the death penalty? Yes. He meets a criteria we have in the state of Texas.

He is a continuing threat. He intentionally causes people's death. And there is nothing mitigating about him. He wasn't abused. He wasn't surrounded by crime. I find it hard to believe anybody wouldn't think he deserved it. All rise. Three years after Tricia and Kevin's murders, Bart Whitaker's trial gets underway. Prosecutors present crime scene analysis, forensic evidence, and eyewitness accounts. But it's the testimony of Stephen Champagne, one of Bart's alleged accomplices, that everyone in the courtroom is waiting to hear.

What are you charged with? Capital murder. Champagne says two months before the shootings, Bart offered both him and Chris Brashear a cut of a million dollar insurance policy to help kill the Whitaker family. The conversation was about when the family came back from eating dinner that Chris would be in the house and shoot them. On the night of the attack, Champagne was waiting in the getaway car when Chris Brashear quickly got inside. I asked him what happened. He told me that he had shot all of them.

Defense attorney Randy McDonald can do little except attack Champagne for agreeing to kill for money. And it really didn't bother you that three other human beings would be killed so you could have a better lifestyle. The way that I looked at it was they weren't human. As prosecutors build their case, more shocking details emerge. Investigators learn the 2003 attack wasn't the first time Bart had tried to kill his family. He had made at least three other attempts,

using other friends as recruits. Was it just a general conversation? I want to kill my family. I want you to help me. Yes, sir. In December 2000, Bart approached his college roommates, Will Anthony and Justin Peters. I was supposed to, as they entered the home, shoot the family, sir. Peters and Anthony actually made it to the Whitaker home. As planned, Will Anthony went to open a back window.

As soon as I touched it, sir, to try to open it, no harm went on. The two men fled, but Bart Whitaker wasn't scared off. Two months later, he approached another friend with another plan. Remember Adam Hipp, Bart's old friend turned police informant? Under oath, Hipp publicly admits that he too once agreed to help kill the Whitaker family. Why did you say yes? You know, I don't know. I'm not proud of it, but for the simple fact I was kind of interested to see how far he would take it.

We're going, huh? These were the kind of people you would think, this is what you want your son to be. Goes to college, gets a banking job, stuff like this. All American boys. All-American boys. All-American boys. Like Bart, all three young men came from well-to-do families. Clean-cut, kind of all-American kids. Justin Peters had been a national merit scholar.

I just could not see how this happened. Bart's second plan to murder his family with the aid of Adam Hipp never went beyond talk. But by April 2001, Bart had hatched yet a third plot. So Bart Whitaker was a determined young man. Absolutely. This time, the plan unraveled after Jennifer Jaffet, a college acquaintance of Bart's, found out about it. I asked Bart if he was seriously going to let this happen. And how did he react to that?

He came up to me and he gave me a hug and whispered in my ear that everything was going to be okay. Did you call the police? I did call the police. Police in turn notified Kent and Tricia. It was just the far outest thing that you can conceive of, and we immediately said, there's no way. Bart told his parents it was all a misunderstanding.

In retrospect, you say, what an idiot. How could you possibly have not seen this? But the truth is, we didn't know they were lies. Even after his wife and youngest son were murdered two years later, Kent still refused to believe that Bart was capable of such evil. Aren't you putting two and two together here and saying, maybe Bart's responsible for this? Perhaps I should have, but I didn't. Do you believe this crime could have been prevented if people had paid attention to these warning signs?

Look at the actions of Bart Whitaker. You're already caught, all right? But you still proceed to it, but you still proceed to it and you still go through it. Now you tell me where along this line with Bart Whitaker do you think it's going to stop? Bart Whitaker's trial lasted seven days, but the jury deliberates just two hours. Six point nine. We have verdict in 400. Returning with a verdict everyone was expecting. We the jury do hereby find the defendant, Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, guilty of the

offensive capital murder as charged in the indictment. But the real drama of this case, the punishment phase. Now, for the first time, Bart Whitaker will speak openly about his obsession with killing his family. I feel horrible about myself, what I've done. This is daunting. My son's life is hanging in the balance. The punishment phase of Bart Whitaker's trial is underway. Just follow me. And his father, Kent, hopes he can persuade the jury

to forgive Bart as he has. Ladies and gentlemen, the jury may not have the same faith. They may not have the same beliefs about what should happen to somebody. But is it your desire that they assess a life sentence in this case? It has been from the start start and it still is. Would Tricia feel the same way? I promise you, yes, she would have been appalled that this, this, that the state chose to pursue the death penalty in this case. But it will take more than the wishes of Kent or Tricia to spare their son's life. Call your next witness. Paul Whitaker.

He needs to be sworn, Your Honor. Please stand before the clerk to be sworn. To everyone's surprise, Bart decides to put his fate in his own hands and speak directly to the jury. I am 100% guilty for this. I put the plan in motion. If I had not done so, it would not have happened. And do you realize that you robbed your mother of a full life? Yes. You robbed Kevin of a full life?

Yes. You actually even robbed your father of a full life. Do you feel any remorse for this? Yes, sir, I do. Who do you feel remorse for? I feel remorse for everyone involved, starting with my dad, my mom, and my brother, and my whole family. Everyone I've ever met in my life, I feel sorry for having come in contact with me. Bart is finally asked the question on everyone's mind. Can you answer the question why? No sir, I've come up with a lot of the reasons for how I how I got to where I was going but they do not explain it. I always felt that whatever love they sent me was conditional on a standard that I just never felt I could reach. Bart Whitaker claims that he felt unloved, felt he couldn't live up to his parents' expectations.

I heard all that crap, too. There's no evidence whatsoever this family ever did anything to him. They loved him unconditionally. I think he came to the decision that, you know, I hate myself. I hate this life I'm in. If there's just some way I can get out of it, maybe if my family was gone, I could be free of this and live a real life. For Burt's life to be spared, he must convince the jury he is no longer a threat to anyone in or out of prison. Do you have any designs on any conduct that would in any way, shape, or form hurt another individual?

No, the only people I've ever hated, and I know it was not for the right reasons, but the only people I ever hated were my parents and my brother. In fact, the irony of it all is that your dad is actually the one that's come to your rescue and put you back on track. He's become my best friend last year. Pass the witness. Mr. Coachman, I assume you're gonna be a while.

It's a good chance. Fred Felchman has waited nearly two years for this moment. Your mother loved you. Her whole life was you and Kevin. But then you tell me you never felt loved by your parents. Yes, sir. Do you find anything scary about this?

I find something tragic about it. Tragic? That I've got a defendant who's that out of touch with reality? Felchman wants to convince the jury that Bart Whitaker's disconnect with reality makes him dangerous. If somebody interacts with Bart Whitaker, he can be on a totally innocent basis, and you decide to perceive it different, you could kill that person. No, I could not. You killed your mother and brother

on totally false circumstances, right? Yes, sir. I was a different person then. Felchman reminds the jury of the lives Bart took. Did you see your brother when you came in? Yes, I did. He was gurgling in his own blood. You know, I watched this whole trial. You've never cried until now?

I did earlier. Why are you crying now? Horrible memory. Bart tries one last time to convince Felchman and the jury that he has changed. Do you believe a person can't be sorry for the things they did? No. I think they can be, Mr. Whitaker. But person can't be sorry for the things they did? No, I think they can be, Mr. Whitaker, but I don't think you are. I think you're sorry you got caught and now you're

trying to figure out how to get out of the death penalty. It took jurors only 10 hours to reach a verdict. The court does at this time upon those verdicts determine that you be sentenced to death. Bart Whitaker is to die. What did that do to you inside? The feeling was a great deal of disappointment. Bart has taken it upon himself to teach Kevin how to ride the bicycle. Despite all that he now knows, Kent Whitaker says he will never abandon his son.

Trish and Kevin, I miss them, but they're in heaven, and I'm going to heaven. And I have no doubts about that. I want Bart up there, too. Someday in the future, you're going to get a phone call from somebody to tell you that Bart Whitaker has been put to death. Yeah. What will that be like for you, do you think? Been through that before.

There will be a certain sadness, but it won't be for Bart Whitaker. It will be for the father. It will also be a sense of satisfaction, too, though. Justice had been done on this case. Over the next decade, Kent Whitaker tirelessly lobbies the state for his son's death sentence to be commuted to life. But when Bart's appeals are exhausted, his execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. on February 22, 2018. The week before his son is to be put to death, Kent, now remarried,

makes one last desperate plea for mercy to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. We're not asking them to forgive him or to let him go. We just want them to let him live. Bart was my last surviving member of my natural family. And nobody in my family wants to see him executed. Just two days before the sentence is to be carried out, the board makes what could be a life-saving recommendation. Recommendation for Clements. I don't think he's going to believe it. He won't believe it.

He's just going to believe it. He won't believe it. He's just going to believe it. This is Texas. This doesn't happen. And I'm just so encouraged that the system has worked. This was the right thing. This was the right thing to do. But the final life or death decision has to come from the governor. And when execution day arrives, there's still no word from him. So Kent goes to see his son for the last time.

He touched hands through the glass and we said our goodbyes. Bart eats his last meal. He gets ready to be strapped to the gurney. With less than 40 minutes to go. CBS Austin News starts with breaking news. Less than an hour before Thomas Bart Whitaker's 6 p.m. scheduled execution, Governor Abbott spares his life. We actually were standing together praying when my phone rang. And so he said that we have a commutation. And at that point, I put it on speaker and let everybody hear it. And the whole room erupted.

Bart releases a statement saying, I'm thankful for the decision, not for me, but for my dad. It was overpowering. And I'm so grateful. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.