48 Hours - The Mortician, The Murder, The Movie - Encore

Episode Date: July 23, 2017

Did a mortician kill and freeze a widow to live off of her millions or was it a desperate act to end abuse?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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In the mid-1980s, a young funeral home director named Ernie Teedy came to the little east Texas town of Carthage. It's beautiful, yes. I love the people here in Carthage. Carthage is just a small town of 6,000 people. A lot of people got very wealthy on oil and gas. There's a lot of little widows in town who have a lot of money, none more so than Mrs. Marjorie Nugent. Bernie Teedy was running a con on my grandmother. He picked up a gun, shot her four times in the back,

and then he buried her in her own deep freeze. My name is Bernie Teedy. You may have heard about me. They did a movie about me called Bernie. Jack Black was going to play you? Yes. about me called Bernie. Jack Black was going to play you? Yes.

Richard Linklater is my favorite filmmaker I've ever worked with. All right, cut. I'm Rick Linklater and I directed the movie Bernie. There was something about this story that stayed with me and I think it was that relationship, the Miss Nugent-Bernie relationship. And the Bernie Teeter that you know, is he a good man? He's the sweetest guy, you know, he's a great man. Very complex character, is that part of what

attracted you to this film? The thing about playing Bernie is that he's lovable and it's really important to Bernie Of peace, order that he be loved. Perfect submission And I can relate to that. Visions of rye

I have a little bit of that in me, too. You know, this would be funny if it wasn't so damn sad. Apparently Marjorie was tough. She was vile and hateful and just mean. Go wave hi. Hello. She was very loving. I miss her.

Bernie stole $3.8 million from my grandmother, and then he put four bullets in her back at close range. How did this happen? And that was what the movie explored. She didn't have a lot of friends. She didn't have a lot of people around her to take care of her and to love her. And that's where Bernie came in. Did she ever look at you, Bernie, and say, Bernie, I love you? Well, we often told each other that, yes.

She was a wonderful woman and didn't deserve to be executed by Bernie Teedy. and didn't deserve to be executed by Bernie Teedy. I have to live with this every day of my life, and I don't like that. I think the film is asking the question, can the nicest person in the world... I don't like thinking ill of Marjorie. ...be capable of the worst act. I'm Peter Van Sant.

Tonight on 48 Hours, the mortician, the murder, the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Early and ad-free with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. 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 takakers 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. Let's go back and start the Bernie story from the beginning. Where'd you grow up? Well, right here in East Texas. One way or another, Bernie Tita has been dealing with death and darkness since he was three years old. My daddy and my mother, they had a car accident, and my mother was riding in the passenger's side of the car, and daddy never forgave himself for that.

His mother dead, his father started drinking hard and died when Bernie was just 15. So a lot of death had occurred in our family. Things only got worse for Bernie. He claims he was molested by his own uncle, Elmer Doucette. Twelve, when my uncle began molesting me. Doucette has always denied Bernie's allegations. Did it darken your world in some way? Yes, it did.

Bernie learned firsthand that the wounded, lonely, and those the dead leave behind need comforting. This was Bernie Tita's world. I guess you could say that's true, yeah. Carlton Schamburger is the owner of Hawthorne Funeral Home, where Bernie worked for nine years. He was very successful here at Hawthorne's and as a funeral director overall. He could do everything. He could. He was talented. He could do everything from makeup, hair. He could sing. He could preach. Even out coloration, then apply highlights. It would just be part of what inspired director Richard Linklater and actor Jack Black to collaborate on the darkly comic movie, Bernie.

Too much color does not make one look more alive. He was on a lot of people's lists, literally sing them to heaven. He knew how to take care of families. He could connect that quickly. Yeah, exactly. So it wasn't long after 27-year-old Bernie arrived in Carthage back in 1985 that everyone seemed to know him. From the dusty dirt roads...

One of his excellent qualities was he was a gourmet cook. Where Jack Payne and Ira Bounds live. I think that he was well thought of amongst the little old ladies in town. And at Comer's famous barbecue. He taught our Sunday school. He preached a funeral for us. Even down at the courthouse. Did you know Bernie Tita? Yes. Where local legend District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson ruled back then and still rules today, everyone sensed something good had come to town. You think, gee, I'm glad this guy came here. He's an asset to the community.

Everybody loved Bernie. I come to the garden alone. Well, I enjoyed singing in the community. Everybody loved Barney. I come to the garden alone. Well I enjoyed singing in the choir and then I got active also in the school here in the drama department. I was acting and doing plays. And you were often times the star. Often times, often times, yes. Did you feel loved in this community? Very much so. I felt very much loved.

Local ladies Lisa and Susie Cockrell, sum it up simply. He was a god. He was a god to this man. I mean, almost. People really saw him like that. Yeah. He's got a warmth. He's got a magnetism. Just a super generous, sensitive guy and is everybody's best friend. Bernie Tita always had that human touch. He knew just what to say to bring a smile to anyone who needed it. So when a grieving, vulnerable widow came here to the

Hawthorne Funeral Home, Bernie saw an opportunity to do what he did best. In 1990, the town's leading banker and oilman, Rod Nugent, hard-nosed, tough, but fair businessman, dies. Skip Hollingsworth covered the case for Texas Monthly Magazine. And Bernie is in charge of his funeral. I embalmed his body and got him ready for the funeral. And Mrs. Nugent arrives. And I met with her about the arrangements. Marjorie Nugent would one day be portrayed by Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLaine. I saw her to the gravesite. We had the funeral service there, and then I took her back to the car. Are you thinking to yourself, well, we've parted ways, we did some business, and never shall meet again?

Well, no, because that's not how I conduct funerals. As I often do with the widows, widowers, check on them, go by the house, make sure they're all right. Did they appreciate your dropping by? Oh, very much so. Why don't you know that I was thinking about you? Oh, thank you.. Why don't you know that I was thinking about you? Oh, thank you.

These times can be hard. Well, Marjorie wasn't a huggy type person. Ruth Cockrell would come to know as much as anyone in Carthage about the friendship of Bernie and Marjorie. Well, we were first cousins. Were you guys close? We got pretty close.

Could Marjorie be difficult? I think any of us can be difficult. I mean, there's an old setting in sometimes. In small towns anywhere, your reputation is not often defined by who you are. It's by what people think of you. And so the reputation did get around that Mrs. Nugent could be cantankerous. Could Marjorie be mean? Yes, sir. She could.

And another thing, newly widowed 74-year-old Marjorie Nugent was loaded with cash. She would kind of be called a blue blood. As much as $6 million. Some soaps and a little bubble bath to soothe you in the tub. Bernie Tita wasn't about to be turned away. Come in. Oh, that would be my pleasure. I felt sorry for Marjorie. I really did.

And soon, Marjorie and Bernie were seen on the scene, the odd couple of Carthage. We'd go to the Cherokee Club. We would go to the jalapeno tree here in Carthage. Yeah, they were a pair. And it wasn't long before Marjorie wanted more than a part-time dinner date, and Bernie complied. She asked me to leave the funeral home. She just wanted more and more and more of me around. She actually hired Bernie and paid him a salary. There's this notion out there that you were attracted to Marjorie's money.

Yes, I'm aware of that. But that was not part of the deal. That was not part of my wanting to be around Marjorie. There's members of Marjorie. There's members of Marjorie's family that tell a different story. Bernie Tita is what? A thief.

Just two hours up the road in Dallas... These are some of our old family photos of my grandmother. Three proud granddaughters... Everything that has been said about her is not her. ...have a very different take on just why Bernie was befriending Marjorie. He saw her as a mark. He stole her money.

When he was about to be found out, he shot her and killed her. That's the real story. That is the real story. That is the real story. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru 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 urged 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+. Join Wondery in on Wondery Plus.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 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 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. Is this case about money? Yes, it is. How so? I think that defines everything.

The majestic gates swung open to a kingdom of riches, and Bernie Tita rolled right in. I think the fatal mistake my grandmother made is she ended up buying a $30,000 headstone from Bernie Deedy. From that moment, he marked her. Within months of meeting at her husband's funeral, Bernie was full-time at Marjorie Nugent's eye-popping home. Helping her with anything that she needed help with, make her coffee, make sure she was up, she was all right. He was there. He was there for her.

They loved each other. Yeah. Bernie loves everybody. And I think he's the one person in the world in that era who could feel that from Marge when no one else could. I never thought of them as being lovey-doveys. Never. Just together, just friends. I never saw of them as being lovey-doveys. Never. Just together, just friends. I never saw him kiss.

You never did? No. And D.A. Danny Buck probably never would, because there was something about Bernie that made folks wonder back then. I'm a gay man, and it's hard to be a gay man and being out in a small town. Did Marjorie know you were gay? We never discussed it. Never discussed it?

No. So what was the attraction? She's 42 years older than you, right? He was targeting wealthy women. Well, I think the attraction for Marjorie was the same as it was for everybody else in town. He was just a lovable guy. When you spend time with him, you want to hang out with him. Less than a year after her husband's death, Bernie and Marjorie

started hanging out big time, trading in the back roads for Broadway. We'd go up on a Friday morning and then come back on Sunday. Saw Broadway shows. We had a lot of fun together. Bernie Tita, the mortician who made about $24,000 a year, now had access to Marjorie Nugent's 10,000-square-foot mansion in Carthage, her checkbook, and a world of opportunity. They went on great adventures together. Go wave hi. Hello.

They had a ball together. They traveled the world. We went to Washington, Baltimore, and then took a cruise down the East Coast. We went to Germany, England, Scotland and Wales. To Egypt, went to the pyramids. We just went everywhere. Was she having a good time? She was having a great time. He was her manservant.

Is it too busy? The guy hired to take care of her every need. Clipped her toenails, all the nitty gritty. And for Bernie, the perks kept piling up. Marjorie showered him with cash, clothing, cars, even flying lessons and planes to go with it. And in turn, Bernie gave gifts to the good people of Carthage. He provided money, he provided scholarships. Doing good, doing a lot of good in Carthage.

Turns out he was generous with Miss Nugent's money. He was kind of the conduit to her generosity, to her better angel. She spoiled me rotten. But the Nugents say their grandma never needed Bernie or anyone to teach better angel. She spoiled me rotten. But the Nugents say their grandma never needed Bernie or anyone to teach her kindness. My grandmother was a loving, sweet woman. And she was kind? She was.

She was kind, and she loved telling stories. This is really eye-opening, guys, to talk to you. This is really eye-opening, guys, to talk to you. This is really eye-opening. In 93, like, we went there, and she opened the door, and she hugged me, and she kissed me like eight times. But whatever Marjorie's affection for her granddaughters, the stakes were about to change. Marjorie Nugent filed a new will,

leaving everything to Bernie and nothing to her family. Did you encourage her to do that? No, she brought that to me one day, and it was in 1991. Why would she do that? Well, I felt like she could trust me, I guess. It was on one of the next family visits to Carthage that the Nugent women got a hint of how deeply Bernie had moved into their grandmother's life. Flash forward to 1994.

We go to see her, and she opens the door, and she goes, I don't know who you are. And I go, what do you mean you don't know who we are? And she goes, I don't know who you are. She's like, you need to leave. And I go, what do you mean you don't know who we are? And she goes, I don't know who you are. She's like, you need to leave. And we went in, and there were pictures of Bernie everywhere. And we said, who is this?

You know, Nanny, who is this? And she said, well, he's my friend. And the thing that disturbed me was that all of the pictures of my grandfather were gone. For Shanna, Alexandria, and Susan, Grandma Marjorie's new behavior was disturbing. She was like a schoolgirl in love. And the motives of her new companion, deeply suspect. We believe that my grandmother was in love with Bernie and believed that he was in love with her.

When was the last time you guys saw your grandmother alive? That visit in 1994. And now they worried that Bernie was well on the way to tricking Marjorie out of millions. I think it's the perfect example of a sweetheart scam that I have ever seen. My grandmother believed he loved her. How do you know that?

Because I saw her. But Bernie tells a different story, claiming that after five years attending to Marjorie, the relationship had soured, and that even though he had his own modest home, he felt trapped by Marjorie and wanted out. Bernie claims Marjorie's 24-7 demands had turned into an abusive relationship.

She was very mean-spirited, very abrupt with me, very... Could she be abusive? Yes, very much so. In some ways, was her place his gilded cage, and she closed the door on that cage? Yeah. was her place his gilded cage, and she closed the door on that cage. Yeah.

We were in a heated discussion about, I told her, I said, I just, I've got to, I can't do this anymore. And I said, I can't be your friend anymore. I just can't do this. Go ahead, desert me. She was very distraught. You can't leave me. You're not going to leave me. No one has ever left me. I know you hate me! So I backed my car out of the garage, and by the time I got out there, she had locked the gate on me until I finally just, I said,

Okay, I won't leave you. I won't leave. Well, just park your car, jump over the gate, run, you know, whatever. But Bernie is not one built for conflict. I think he takes it as his fate. I can't get away from this woman. The door's right there, Bernie, but it's not as simple for conflict. I think he takes it as his fate. I can't get away from this woman. The door's right there, Bernie, but it's not as simple as that. People get trapped.

People get trapped. No exit, no way out. And at least according to Bernie, feeling like Marjorie Nugent's prisoner reminded him of the abuse he says he suffered as a boy. In some ways, did you feel trapped in this relationship just as you had been trapped with your uncle? Yes. Yes, I did. I think he is a killer. I think he has no remorse. I don't believe a word that comes out of the man's mouth. Bernie Tita claims it pains him to recall how controlling and cantankerous Marjorie Nugent could be.

I don't like the things that she did, but I don't like talking about him either. Personally, I think he's pure evil. Let's move now to November 19, 1996. Tell me about that day and what, from your perspective, led to the tragedy. I had gone out to the house to make coffee early, 7.30. Got her up. That's enough of that. I don't want you to talk about the shooting. This is attorney Jody Cole.

She would eventually become a big part of Bernie Tita's life. This is all public records. I do not want him to talk about the shooting. And how his story would be told. That's enough. Yet when we spoke with Bernie, Jody Cole stopped him from telling those grisly details. Hard facts everyone from Carthage to Hollywood now knows. Shot her in the back four times. Shot her dead with this.22 caliber rifle.

The first bullet in her back makes her paralyzed, so she falls straight down onto the concrete. He shoots her again. He then walks straight up to her body, puts the nuzzle to the gun to the back of her and shoots it two more times. Those graphic details would be missing from the movie. I remember right before we shot that scene, I went up to Jack Black and I said, have you ever killed anyone in a movie? Like this.

Yeah. That was one of the hardest scenes in the movie. You see a scene like that in a script and you circle it in the calendar when you're going to shoot that and you think about it a lot. I'm sorry that that happened in my life. I caused the death of somebody that I loved. Days turned into months as Bernie kept his awful secret. And Marjorie's family, they began to wonder what had become of Grandma. I started asking my dad, have you heard from Nanny? I can't get her. And, you know, maybe she's on another trip. She'll call you when she gets back. And the Nugent women, all busy college students

at the time. This was Christmas. It's my grandparents. Admit there was a reluctance to reach out to Grandma Marjorie. We had this strange encounter in 1994 where we didn't feel welcome. And every Sunday he'd come sit right beside me and give me a full report on Marjorie. And what were you thinking to yourself? I'm thinking you're lying. That's what I'm thinking. And I just made up one thing or another. You told one she had Alzheimer's, another she was in the hospital.

It was such a difficult time. And Mama would tell us what he had been saying. And it's like, Mama, are you crazy? He's either got her locked up in the house poisoning her or he's already killed her. If I had gone to the police and then been proven wrong, I would have been left out of Carthage because people thought so much of Bernie. So week after week, month after month passes, Marjorie's nowhere to be seen. Nine months. Nine months.

It was August 18th, 1997. The Nugents had finally shared their concerns with the local sheriff. I get a call from my dad. He and I drive down. And it's clear that no one's been there for a very long time. So, where was Marjorie Nugent?

I wanted to check the freezer. My grandmother was a child of the Depression, so you didn't waste food. Turn back check the freezer. My grandmother was a child of the Depression, so you didn't waste food. Turn back up the hallway. So when Alexandria and the sheriff's deputies got to the house, she knew exactly where she wanted to go. She walked down this hallway. Alexandria knew that if her grandmother had left the house,

she would have put everything she kept in the refrigerator in a freezer located inside this pantry. She opened the door. And there it was. It was so quick. It was like I walked in and I said, there's tape on the freezer. This is the freezer. She untaped it and raised it up.

And threw the lid open. There was the top of Ms. Nugent's head. and threw the lid open. There was a top of Ms. Nugent's head. And I looked at my dad, and I said, they found her. And he just kind of did this. And all I wanted at that moment was my mom. Do I regret the fact that I didn't rush down there to stop him from doing this?

Yes, because that's what you do when you love someone and you find out that the person that they were in love with shot them four times in the back and you think, how could I have saved them? While a motive remained unclear, there was zero mystery about the prime suspect. Bernie's name was top of the list. Bernie was easy to find. He was right in Carthage, at home, when the sheriff's deputies showed up and brought him in for questioning. I was so relieved when they came for me. They'd arrested me.

It felt like this big weight had been lifted off my shoulder. How could you come to my house, eat my food, and sing hymns and my cousin over there in the deep freeze? It's grim when, you know, you see an old lady on video being pulled out of a freezer. Those are images that stay with you. And I think it took two days to thaw her out and for them to do an autopsy. Strange. Yes.

That same day, Bernie Tita confessed to Panola County Sheriff's deputies that he murdered Marjorie Nugent. There wasn't a question in anybody's mind. Everybody knew. I think you're right. Danny Book Davidson would charge Bernie with first-degree premeditated murder and seek the ultimate penalty. Life. Life in prison. Maximum sentence.

And that's when this twisted Texas tale really got strange. People in the community were coming in saying, Bernie was a real good guy. If he killed her, he had a reason for doing it. Poor Bernie. He had his groupies. Bernie had his groupies? Yep.

Some people are saying, hey, let him go. Some people are saying, no, put him away for life. You just have never seen a story like this come across your desk, ever. And people still want to talk about it. They're still mystified about what really happened on that November afternoon that led Bernie to shoot her four times. I'd stay in the garden with him.

Bernie Tita had preached and comforted and sang his way into this proud small town's everyday life. He held a special place in the hearts of many people in Carthage, Texas. Some folks even suggested Bernie was next door to the angels. And I said, he's an angel, all right. He's an angel of death. Your job as a prosecutor, you got a man who's admitted he put four bullets in the back of a little old lady.

Put her in appraisal and kept spending her money while she was dead. And you have a community saying, leave him alone. Right. What would they say? Go easy on Barney. It happens so often. He asked for a change of venue. And he got one. The trial of Bernie Tita for murdering Marjorie Nugent

was moved 50 miles away. And in February of 1999, Danny Buck told his tale to a jury who had never heard about Bernie. I thought it was greed and betrayal. That's what I sold to the jury. Bernie's defense was that he killed Marjorie in an act of passion, that her murder was not premeditated. I don't know what happened that morning. The jury did not relate to him. They related to me. The trial lasted less than a week. How long did it take this jury to make its decision? The trial lasted less than a week. How long did it take this jury to make its decision? I think it took them maybe 20 minutes to find him guilty.

Nine years after he met Marjorie Nugent at her husband's funeral, Bernie was sentenced to life in prison. Which is the top max sentence, and I felt pretty good about it. I deserve time. I've done a particularly horrible thing, the worst thing in my life.

Case closed, except for this. Richard Linklater couldn't get the tale of Bernie Tita out of his head. I ended up attending the trial and started thinking of this, maybe there's a movie here. Rick and Skip Hollingsworth wrote the Bernie screenplay and brought it to Jack Black.

And he said, hey, I never told you about this thing that I've been obsessed with, this story about this fellow Bernie Tita. And so I said, let me read this thing. Jack Black became so intrigued, he agreed to play the lead role. Three more. Action. But not before he and Linklater paid a visit to a Texas maximum security prison to try and understand just who Bernie Tita really was.

I wanted to come and meet you. I still think it's important if I want to play a real person that I should meet you. I don't play around people. I'm just a people person. Black wanted to know what made Bernie tick, right down to what he felt

in the days after he murdered Marjorie. That must have been incredibly stressful. That period with the walls closing in. You have no idea. It was absolutely horrendous. If you're playing a person and you have access to them, you've got to go see them.

It's just one of the rules of the game. I'm very appreciative of them coming to meet me. And I have to stay here unless something changes. Oh, there's one man in particular I can think of I'd sure like to meet me. And I have to stay here unless something changes. Oh, there's one man in particular I can think of I'd sure like to talk to. The movie Bernie also featured Matthew McConaughey

as Danny Buck. Danny Buck's coming to get you first. In April 2012, it premiered in Rick's hometown of Austin. Critics loved it. I know you hate me! This idea that my grandmother was a monster is ludicrous.

The Nugent family thought it was beyond offensive. It was a complete lie. It was devastating to us. I mean, they took the most awful part of our lives and just laughed about it and joked about it. It's like he'd cast a spell over the entire area. And now the Bernie Tita story was about to take yet another bizarre twist that began right at the movie premiere. A little feisty lady comes up to me and says, I bet there was some, you know, crazy stuff going on at the trial. She's appeals lawyer Jody Cole. And after watching the movie, she got a hunch that the trial of Bernie Tita had been a miscarriage of justice. I want the world to know that Bernie Tita is a good person and that this outcome is unacceptable. I said, look at that, he snaps.

And so I thought, why did he get a life sentence? She asked Link later if he had the transcripts from Tita's 1999 murder trial. He came with his boxes of transcripts. Put it on her desk and say, I don't know, have at it. Jody poured over the files, knowing that Bernie's life sentence hinged on Danny Buck's argument that the murder was premeditated. And within a couple of weeks, she had come to see me. Is there a miracle that's about to occur?

Yes. And Jody Cole did a lot of work toward that miracle happening. All rise. Marjorie? Marjorie, are you okay? That morning, I felt like I wasn't a part of the shooting. Sixteen years after he shot Marjorie Nugent dead, Bernie painted a picture for defense attorney Jody Cole about how he felt that awful morning.

I felt like I wasn't even there. And I have learned that that is called a dissociative episode. I think it's a classic case of a kind of a disassociated moment. That's what this whole case hinges on. A dissociative episode. The new age psychological term would break the case against Bernie Tita wide open. When they are overwhelmed with stress and emotion, they actually disassociate, which is leave their body.

actually disassociate, which is leave their body. And Bernie's body, the theory goes, killed Marjorie without his mind taking part. And he shot her. Yes, involuntarily. The Nugent family would have their own take on Jodi's ideas. Not connected with reality. Thoroughly confused. This woman had been abusing him for a very long time

and his body acted in a way to end that abuse. Bernie also confided in Jody what he says is his darkest secret about that childhood sexual abuse he claims he suffered at the hands of that uncle. the hands of that uncle. Jody brought the findings to the DA and he was sold. What do you conclude in terms of why this murder occurred? The child abuse and the abusive relationship. I think that he did not plan on killing her. Denny Buck says if he had to do it all over again, he would have sought a much lighter sentence. 20 years would have been the maximum sentence. Not because Danny Buck

wants 20. It's what the law says. Danny Buck then went to bat for the killer he had once helped convict. And on May 6, 2014, Bernie Teedy's life sentence thrown out. a new sentencing trial is ordered,

and Bernie is released from prison for the time being. Lots of miracles have happened in my life. The next miracle was in the parking lot. Mr. Linklater picked me up, and we drove to Austin. The real-life Bernie Teedy just got out of an East Texas prison. This is Bernie's little apartment. He lived down here. He put me up in his apartment at his home. In some ways, did Bernie become part of the family? Yeah, very much. I mean, did you ever babysit your kids?

Yeah. In Austin, Bernie went about creating a new life, all on borrowed time. He joined the gay men's choir. In the time of King Herod. He became a regular at Pastor Sid Hall's church. Our folks surrounded him like mother hens, just loving him. He was definitely feeling the ecstasy of freedom. Well, my first thought is, how is this happening? The Nugent granddaughters found it all beyond belief. Richard Linklater.

Conned. Richard Linklater is just as conned as my grandmother was. I think I'm pretty unconnable. I think Danny Bett got enthralled with Hollywood. I'll say that's BS. Before the sentencing trial, Danny Buck recused himself. He was replaced by two prosecutors determined to put Bernie Tita back behind bars. This was just a straight-up execution.

I think he's conned Hollywood and he's conned the whole judicial system. Jane Starnes and Assistant Attorney General Lisa Tanner weren't buying it. Bernie didn't have a dissociative episode. This case is about abusing elderly, vulnerable people. It's about abusing Marjorie Nugent financially, and it's about just cold-blooded murder. What do we have in front of us here? We have just small portions of the paper trail. Lisa Tanner would allege Bernie regularly forged Marjorie Nugent's signature.

He was very good at signing her signature. Manually manipulated her bank accounts. This is what he showed Marjorie, but this is what he really deposited. We had 14 of these. Altered her brokerage statements. The original of this document is literally a cut and pasted, dummied up statement. All of this. He's pocketing her money.

Both while Marjorie was alive and after Bernie had killed her and stuffed her in her freezer. The numbers ended up being approximately $3.8 million total. Bernie's motive for murder came into focus. He was about to be found out about. In April 2016, after two years of freedom, Bernie Tita's new sentencing trial began. Is the jury here and ready to go? It was moved to Henderson, Texas, because Bernie still had so many friends and fans in Carthage.

What began with the state, Ms. Tanner. Lisa Tanner put Bernie in her sights. This is a real case with a real murderer. He did that. And Hollywood. So we're going to talk about that in a non-fictionalized, non-Hollywoodized kind of way. Hollywood means, you know, lack of morality. But I took that really personal because I don't live in Hollywood. I'm an Indy Texas director.

Rick Linklater was called to the stand to defend his friend. I think he's an incredibly nice, generous man who, you know, did a horrible thing. The director and those who love Bernie argued he had paid his dues with time already served. 16 years? Yeah, I'd say he served enough time. And Bernie's uncle, under oath, denied ever having molested Bernie, but did admit writing him a letter sexual in nature. Bernie did not testify at the trial.

I mean, I just, there are just some questions that don't have any answers. Two dramatic versions of Marjorie Nugent's murder have now been told, one on the big screen, the other in a courtroom in Henderson, Texas. The question now is, who will the jurors believe? in Henderson, Texas. The question now is, who will the jurors believe? Sudden passion,

dissociative episode, snapping. When he took that gun and pointed it down straight to the ground and put it in her back, that justified a life sentence then. Bernie, are you a danger to society? No, sir, not at all.

The jury goes out to deliberate. Alexandria, what's going through your mind? You know, at that moment, all you can do is pray. On April 2nd, 2016, some 26 years after he met Marjorie Nugent, the jury once again sentenced Bernie Tita to 99 years in prison. For 99 years alive. Everyone in that courtroom knew that my grandmother was not me. Everyone in that courtroom knew that my grandmother was not me. She did not deserve to die, and that this man deserved to go away for the rest of his life.

When I heard 99 years, I mean, it was just, it was devastating. He's back in prison for life. It's very discouraging. prison for life. It's very discouraging. Now, what's as certain as his life sentence is this. Deep in the heart of Texas, Bernie Tita is loved. Even today, is there a Bernie Tita fan club in Carthage? Yes. Not as big as it once was, but it's here. Bernie Teedy is appealing his sentence. Teedy will be eligible for parole in 2029. He will be 70 years old.

Want to see more of what the people in Bernie's hometown say about the case? Go to 48hours.com.