[19][20] Cole theorized that Tiede shot Nugent while in a brief dissociative episode brought on by her abusive treatment of him,[21] a theory backed by forensic psychiatrist Richard Pesikoff. "Well Marjorie wasn't a huggy-type person," said Ruth Cockrell, who would come to know as much as anyone in Carthage about the friendship of Bernie and Marjorie. "I think the fatal mistake my grandmother made is she ended up buying a $30,000 headstone from Bernie Tiede, and from that moment he marked her," said Shanna Nugent. Cole asked Richard Linklater if he had the transcripts from Tiede's 1999 murder trial. And on May 6, 2014, Tiede's life sentence is thrown out. The two eventually became inseparable companions, although she was more than 40 years his senior. He stands 5'6." Yet the word for Bernie Tiede is "hovering." He seems to hover above even those taller than him. The pair grew close and took trips around the world together, with Ms Nugent eventually signing a will, leaving her estimated $10m fortune to her younger companion. Bernie Tiede had preached and comforted and sang his way into this proud small town's everyday life. "Put it on her desk. I think he has no remorse. In all, he was widely regarded as the nicest man in town. No exit. Tiede's attorney is appealing his sentence. Tiede's motive for murder came into focus. [23], Nugent's family learned about Tiede's release through media reports. It was absolutely horrendous. Marjorie Nugent [ edit] Tiede met the wealthy widow, Marjorie Nugent, in March 1990 at her husband's funeral, which Tiede had helped arrange as assistant director at Hawthorn Funeral Home. Marjorie Nugent was the richest widow in an eccentric town full of rich widows. Yes. Nugent family shares what happened before Bernie Tiede killed - KLTV Marjorie Nugent was a longstanding member of the richest family in Carthage after her husband had made his fortune as an oilman. "A little feisty lady comes up to me and she says, 'I bet there was some crazy stuff going on at that trial,'" said Linklater. And I think he's the one person in the world in that era who could feel that for Marg, when no one else could," he replied. He was very popular in the town. In 1997, after the family filed a missing-persons report on Marjorie, her son broke into her house and found her body. And I feel pretty good about it," said Davidson. 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. Marge, meanwhile, was often perceived as haughty and crotchety, per Texas Monthly, so the friendship that sprung up between the two may have been a surprise to some. Marjorie Nugent Obituary But in 2014, defense lawyer Jodi Cole, inspired by the 2011 film about his case, Bernie, discovered new evidence. "I saw her to the gravesite. It's what the law says," he explained. The movie, "Bernie," also featured Matthew McConaughey as Danny Buck Davidson. So when a grieving, vulnerable widow came to the Hawthorn Funeral Home, Tiede saw an opportunity to do what he did best. Bernhardt Tiede II was born on August 2, 1958, in Abilene, Texas. "I don't want him talking about the shooting That's enough," she said. "He stole her money when he was about to be found out, he shot her and killed her. " On the show, CBS's 48 Hours viewers will learn how the relationship developed between Bernie Tiede and Marjorie Nugent, and how that . In 1993, Nugent convinced Tiede to work for her full-time, as her business manager. "Well, I felt like she felt like she could trust me, I guess,"said Tiede. In 1999, Tiede was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Marjorie Nugent, his 81-year-old friend and companion. Marjorie Nugent And Bernie Tiede were inseparable right up until her 1996 demise. "I deserved time," Tiede said. Tiede reluctantly admitted to Cole that he had endured molestation by an uncle from the age of 12, with psychiatrists saying he experienced a dissociative episode during which he killed Nugent. [36] He currently resides at the Estelle Unit. ", "Was she having a good time," Van Sant asked Hollandsworth. The majestic gates swung open to a kingdom of riches, and Bernie Tiede rolled right in. They took longer trips together, to Dallas, New York, and elsewhere along the East Coast, and before long it seemed, they were going everywhere together. Nugent was incredibly wealthy and also a widower. Ms . The end result, his loss of control over his emotions and behavior, is evidenced in his final actions toward Mrs. Nugent. "I just made up one thing or another," said Tiede. The two met at her husband's funeral in 1990, and became close friends. Never forgiving himself, Tiedes father began drinking heavily, and died when Tiede was 15 according to CBS News. I think he takes it as his fate. I don't believe a word that comes out of the man's mouth," said Alexandria Nugent. Bernie Tiede learned firsthand that the wounded, lonely, and those the dead leave behind, need comforting. Nine years after he met Marjorie Nugent at her husband's funeral, Bernie Tiede was sentenced to life in prison. Tiede shot Nugent in the back four times with a rifle on Nov. 19, 1996, and then stored her body in the deep freezer of her home until her . Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. He snaps,' Cole said of the scene in the movie where Tiede shoots Marjorie. Bernie Tiede Re-Sentenced To Life, Family of Murder Victim - People "We'd go to the Cherokee Club, we would go to the Jalapeno Tree here in Carthage," Tiede recalled. "I think it's the perfect example of a sweetheart scam that I have ever seen," Shanna Nugent said. And the D.A. After three weeks of testimony, they had deliberated for just over four hours.[31]. I dont think I really understood how vulnerable widows are until that happened to me. In 1990 Tiede befriended Nugent at the funeral of her husband, a wealthy oilman and banker. She wanted him to spend money on himself as well, and Nugent was adamant that no inheritance reach her family Not one thin dime.. He essentially claimed he'd been dissociating when he'd murdered Marge, and a psychiatrist agreed. "Millions. On November 19, 1996, Tiede shot Nugent once in the back with her .22-caliber rifle as she stopped to pet the dog in her garage, then shot her three more times. Nine months," said Ruth Cockrell. Lisa Tanner took aim at Tiede and Hollywood. Afterward, he hides her body in a freezer to cover up the crime. When Marjorie Nugent's husband dies, he is the angel at her shoulder, creating the impression that no client has ever touched him quite so much as she has. Tiede was the subject of the 48 Hours episode titled The Mortician, the Murder, the Movie, which discussed his crime, as well as his brief re-entry to society and subsequent resentencing. (File - The Associated Press) Bernhardt Tiede was released. "So what was the attraction?" Besides most of the religious and conservative locals assumed Tiede was gay, which was never a problem. Marjorie Nugent had earned a reputation of being a cold, vile and antisocial woman whom not one person enjoyed being around. . "When was the last time you saw your grandmother alive?" His father died in Abilene when Tiede was fifteen. "Doing good, doing a lot of good in Carthage," said Ruth Cockrell. ", "Just park your car, jump over the gate, run," Linklater said. Plural. More from US And he got one. Davidson then went to bat for the killer he had once helped convict. Jack Black as Bernie Tiede in Richard Linklaters 2011 film. Tiede shot Nugent four times in the back and placed her body in a freezer,. Tonight, CBS's 48 Hours will re-examine the case in their episode "The Mortician, The Murder, The Movie. " and all I wanted at that moment was my mom.". These days Bernie is biding his time in a Kenedy, Texas prison until at least 2029, when he first becomes eligible for parole. "Let's move now to November 19, 1996. It was updated on July 22, 2017.]. Mortician Who Inspired 'Bernie' Movie Sent Back To Prison For Widow's Murder. And the Nugent women, all busy college students at the time, admit there was a reluctance to reach out to Grandma Marjorie. Bernie Tiede: You just have no earthly idea. Marjorie Nugent met Bernie Tiede when her husband died in 1990. When Shanna was 16, her grandfather died. Van Sant asked. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. He said that after the murder, he had prepared the body, and placed it in a freezer. Got her up " Tiede replied, as his attorney, Jodi Cole, interrupted the interview. Early. 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," Shanna Nugent explained. "But I took that really personally, 'cause I don't live in Hollywood. "That morning I felt like I wasn't a part of the shooting," Tiede said. "I get a call from my dad he and I drive down," Alexandria Nugent said. [32] In June 2016, the 1997 theft charge against Tiede was dropped. [7] Tiedes father, who never forgave himself[clarification needed], started drinking frequently.[8]. "I had caused the death of somebody that I loved. "Yes," he replied. "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, he never forgave himself for that," Tiede tearfully told "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant. The Nugent granddaughters found it all beyond belief. As nine months passed, Tiede said Nugent was in Ohio visiting her sister, or in the hospital recuperating from a stroke that left her speechless. "What do you conclude in terms of why this murder occurred?" A man grabs a .22 rifle and shoots an elderly widow in the back four times, killing her. "Put her in a freezer and kept spendin' her money while she was dead," said Davidson. She says more than $3 million disappeared and Marjorie cut off communication with her family. Black became so intrigued, he agreed to play the lead role -- but not before he and Linklater paid a visit to a Texas maximum security prison to try and understand just who Bernie Tiede really was. He could do everything from makeup, hair. Tiede had met Nugent in 1990 at the funeral of her husband R.L. "Which is the top max sentence. "He's just a super generous sensitive guy, and is everybody's best friend and just very helpful," said Linklater. Until May 2014, he was serving a life sentence. The motion filed by Cole earlier in the week claims Marjorie Nugent's son, Rod Nugent, Jr., and an original administrator of Marjorie Nugent's estate were involved in a "scheme" to steal or embezzle money from the estate. "I looked at my dad and I said, 'They found her.' Baruch also touches on possible motive beyond the money Bernie would get after Marge's death, alleging the murder was committed at least ion part because Bernie was trying to cover up money he'd allegedly stolen from Marge throughout their friendship a direction the previous trial had been unable to explore and which might have influenced the conviction. "I was acting in the plays.". "I think the attraction for Marjorie was the same as it was for everyone in town. Write An Essay On The Movie Bernie - 726 Words | Bartleby The two eventually became inseparable companions, although she was more than 40 years his senior. "She was very distraught. "Did it darken your world in some way?" "And he said, 'Hey I never told you about this thing that I've been obsessed with, this story about this fellow Bernie Tiede," Black said. It was there that the two met and forged their unusual bond. Tiede visited them for days and weeks after the funeral, making sure they were all right. While Tiede's guilt is not in doubt, his life sentence for killing 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent in 1996 has since been dismissed. Primo said he worked with Nugent's husband, Rodney Nugent, on business ventures. Bernie Tiede is the son of Bernhardt Tiede (19121973), a native of Olegnow, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. They took lavish vacations abroad, and Tiede became known around town for the. They say Tiede didn't have a "dissociative episode. Van Sant asked. Now that a second jury has also given him a life sentence, Nugent says her family feels vindicated. When she disappeared, nobody seemed. "I was so relieved when they came for me and arrested me," he sobbed. Tiede also confided in Cole, what he says is his darkest secret -- about that childhood sexual abuse he claims he suffered at the hands of an uncle. Those are the next procedural steps.. "Almost, people really saw him like that," added Lisa Cockrell. He was temporarily released on bail in 2014, pending a resentencing hearing. [34], Tiede resided in the Telford Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for at least 15 years. "I said, 'Look at that. This is a bizarre case where truth really is stranger than fiction. Many believed her to be the meanest woman in Carthage, lording her wealth and status over the town. He was there for her," said Black. "One of his excellent qualities was he was a gourmet cook," said Paine. They moved back to Carthage in 1989 (just a year before my uncle died), buying a controlling interest. Bernie Tiede, who was first convicted for the 1996 murder in 1999, was later granted an appeal based on the theory that he was in a dissociative state at the time of the killing due to abuse hed suffered earlier in life. Poor Bernie. to Egypt. John Ralph Nugent Obituary - Tribute Archive "Is this case about money?" When the family got suspicious and told her he was scamming her, "she got really angry. "If I had gone to the police and then been proven wrong, I would have been laughed out of Carthage because people thought so much of Bernie," said Ruth Cockrell. "They loved each other?" "And I go, 'What do you mean you don't know who we are?' "He was definitely feeling the ecstasy of freedom," said Black. [1][2] He was 38 at the time of the murder. She opened the door. His mother dead, his father started drinking hard and died when Tiede was just 15. "And when you spend time with him you want to hang out with him.". Tiede met Nugent at the Hawthorne Funeral Home while preparing her husband . [12], In November 1996, Tiede killed Nugent by shooting her in the back four times with a .22 caliber rifle. Bernie Tiede wasn't about to. Make sure she was up. Bernie killed Marge in November of 1996 and spent the next few months on a spending bender, says ID, investing in businesses, buying cars and even planes for people. "And you were often times the star?" Bernie Tiede - Wikipedia In March of 1990, while working at the funeral of a man who had passed on, 32-year-old Bernie met the deceased's 81-year-old widow, Marjorie "Marge" Nugent. And then I got active in the school here in the drama department," Tiede said. Bernie & Marge: The Mysterious Case Of The Murderous Mortician & The During the resentencing trial, Marjorie's granddaughter, Shanna Nugent, spoke directly to Bernie, and stated, You are nothing to me.[27] Shanna and her father, Rod Nugent, both asserted that Marjorie was a kind woman on good terms with her family (in contrast to the portrayal in the film), whom Tiede conned in order to spend her fortune without her knowledge. He was talented. Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction In 'Bernie' - NPR Just two hours up the road in Dallas, three proud granddaughters have a very different take on just why Bernie Tiede was befriending Marjorie Nugent. MARJORIE NUGENT Obituary (1925 - 2016) - The Star-Ledger "And so I said, 'Let me read this thing.'". "Helping her with anything that she needed help with," he told Van Sant. When the family got suspicious and told her he was scamming her, she got really angry and threw them out, Nugent says. No way out. No one has ever left me.' "This is really eye-opening, guys, to talk to you. The question now is who will the jurors believe? "I met with her about the arrangements," said Tiede. "We had that strange encounter in 1994 where we didn't feel welcome," said Susan Jenull. He joined the gay men's choir and he became a regular at Pastor Sid Hall's church. She then became estranged from most people who cared about her. Van Sant asked Linklater. [3] Of German descent, Tiede had immigrated in 1926 as a child with his family to the United States. Almost immediately, Tiede admitted to murdering Nugent but the locals in Carthage didnt seem to hold it against him. "We got pretty close," Ruth Cockrell replied. I just can't do this,'" Tiede explained. Washington, Baltimore, and then took a cruise down the East coast," Tiede reminisced. Van Sant asked. And then I took her back to the car," said Tiede. "She was having a great time," he replied. July 22, 2017 / 11:09 PM After learning about Bernie Tiede, read up on the real-life murders that helped inspire The Amityville Horror. The family of murder victim Marjorie Nugent, whose killer, Bernie Tiede, was the subject of a 2011 Hollywood movie, is glad that Tiede is back in prison for life. He further alleged in the writ that the 81-year-old Nugent was controlling and emotionally abusive toward him, and that he had murdered her in a dissociative state resulting from years of sexual abuse as a child by an uncle. But he did admit to writing Bernie a letter, sexual in nature. And she opens the door and goes, 'I don't know who you are,'" Shanna Nugent said. 'You can't leave me. "Did you encourage her to do that? After traveling to Panola County nine months following her death, Rod declared Nugent a missing person. Despite locals shock, Tiede and Nugent became inseparable and may have even shared a romantic relationship. According to his confession, he then dragged her lifeless body into the house, put her in the freezer, placed frozen food on top of her and taped the freezer shut. As an assistant funeral director at Hawthorn Funeral Home, Tiede soon became a beloved pillar of the Carthage community, and according to Texas Monthly, wore colorful Tommy Hilfiger clothes, when not wearing somber funeral suits, and drove around town in his Lincoln Continental, smiling broadly at everyone. In the film, Bernie was portrayed as a sweet man who was beloved in the small Texas town of Carthage, while Marjorie was depicted as an abusive villain. Case closed. Tiede had known Nugent for years and became her caretaker and travel companion after her husband died in 1990. As unpopular as Nugent was, her son eventually grew suspicious. When Marge's husband died, reports ID, Bernie embalmed him and even sang at his service. "This woman had been abusing him for a very long time. "In some ways did you feel trapped in this relationship, just as you had been trapped with your uncle?" Her granddaughter expressed shock that the release was granted, and claimed that Richard Linklater's 2011 film Bernie had influenced the legal system. "In small towns anywhere, your reputation is not often defined by who you are, it's by what people think of you," Hollandsworth explained, "and so the reputation did get around town that Mrs. Nugent could be cantankerous.". bernie-tiedes-freedom-was-more-than-a-feel-good-se "Man gets life sentence for killing Nugent", "Witness says sexual abuse triggered Tiede's "dissociative episode", "Ex-Mortician Whose Killing of Widow Inspired Movie Freed Early", ex-texas-mortician-being-freed-from-prison-early, "As 'Bernie' Goes Free, Victim's Granddaughter Says Hollywood Has Wrought an Injustice", "Richard Linklater on Living With Bernie Tiede", Shanna Nugent Delivers the Victim Impact Statement at Bernie Tiede Resentencing, "New Sentencing Trial for Bernie Starts Wednesday", "Bernie Tiede trial: Victim's sister says she was afraid of Marjorie", "How My Aunt Marge Ended Up in the Deep Freeze .