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Bernhardt Tiede II (; born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician who was convicted of the November 19, 1996 murder of his companion, wealthy 81-year-old widow Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in
Carthage, Texas Carthage is a city in and the county seat of Panola County, Texas, United States. The city is situated in deep East Texas, 20 miles west of the Louisiana state line. Its population was 6,569 at the 2020 census. History Carthage was founded in ...
. He was 38 at the time of the murder. These events are the subject of the critically acclaimed film '' Bernie'' (2011), a
dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
directed by
Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...
and starring
Jack Black Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include a Children's and Family Emmy ...
as Tiede. The film attracted attention to Tiede's case, and new evidence was discovered. He was temporarily released on
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
in 2014, pending a resentencing hearing. Despite the new evidence, Tiede was sentenced to 99 years to life. His case is also featured on the Season 3, Episode 7, titled "Millionairess Mortician", from the show '' Deadly Sins''.


Family and early life

Bernie Tiede is the son of Bernhardt Tiede, a native of Olegnow,
Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast () or simply Volyn (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. It borders Rivne Oblast to the east, Lviv Oblast to the south, Poland to the west and Belarus to the north. Its Capital city ...
, Ukraine. Of German descent, Tiede had immigrated in 1926 as a child with his family to the United States. The elder Tiede had served as a professor of music and choral director at Our Lady of the Lake College in
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
(1946–1948), at
Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...
(SMU) in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
(1948–1957), at
Kilgore College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate ...
in
Kilgore Kilgore may refer to: Places * Kilgore, Texas, the largest US city named Kilgore * Kilgore, Idaho * Kilgore, Nebraska * Kilgore, Ohio * Kilgore College Fictional characters * Kilgore Trout, a recurring character in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut ...
(1957–1968), and then
McMurry College McMurry University is a private Methodist university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1923 and named after William Fletcher McMurry. The university offers forty-five majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and ...
in Abilene, where he served as director of the McMurry Chanters until his death. In addition to his work as a university professor, the elder Tiede also served as church music director and as a vocal performer. Bernie Tiede's mother was his father's first wife, Lela Mae Jester (1933–1960). They married in 1957, and Bernie was born in the next year in Abilene. Jester was killed in an automobile accident when Bernie was two years old. Tiede’s father, who was driving the car in which Jester died, never forgave himself, and started drinking frequently. His father died in Abilene when Tiede was fifteen. Tiede graduated from Cooper High School in 1976. He became a mortician, working in
Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...
as assistant director of the Hawthorn Funeral Home. He was very popular in the town.


Marjorie Nugent

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. The two eventually became inseparable companions, although she was more than 40 years his senior. In 1991, Nugent altered her
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
, and disinherited her only child, Rod Nugent, leaving her entire $10 million estate to Tiede. By 1993, Bernie left his job to work for Nugent full time as her business manager and travel companion. In November 1996, Tiede killed Nugent by shooting her in the back four times with a .22 caliber
rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...
. He placed her body in a freezer used to store food at her Carthage home. According to the ''Amarillo Globe-News,'' Nugent's estranged son, Rod, an Amarillo
pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...
, had grown concerned about not being able to reach his mother. After traveling to Panola County nine months following her death, Rod declared Nugent a
missing person A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as Life, alive or Death, dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accide ...
. He and his daughter entered his mother's house, where they found her body in the freezer. Tiede was taken in for questioning, and he admitted to Nugent's murder to police in August 1997. He said that after the murder, he had prepared the body, and placed it in a freezer. After this, Tiede acknowledged using Nugent's money for civic activities, gifts to academic and civic groups, and to friends. She had given him power of attorney over her funds. A jury convicted Tiede of
first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...
, and sentenced him to 50 years in prison. When he
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
ed his sentence, the appellate courts ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to have found premeditation, a condition of the charge. After the film '' Bernie'' (2011) was released, attorney Jodi Cole became interested in Tiede's case and met with him, filing a post-conviction writ of ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...
,'' in which Tiede alleged that his constitutional rights were violated in the first trial because of newly discovered evidence. 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. The Texas Criminal Courts of Appeal approved the writ. According to Rod, Tiede had alienated Nugent from her family, friends, and business associates of her late husband. He told the ''Globe-News:'' “It appears this Bernie Tiede kind of systematically estranged my mother from all these people one at a time ... At some point, they became angry with my mother.” When interviewed, Panola County District Attorney Danny "Buck" Davidson said that the town of Carthage was “split up” in regards to their opinion of Tiede. Davidson recounted to the ''Longview News-Journal'', “People remember iedeas being real nice and doing nice things, and they'd like my office to go real easy on him. And then, there's a group that wants no mercy.” At the resentencing trial, Tiede was sentenced to
life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...
. Rod filed a
wrongful death Wrongful death is a type of legal claim or cause of action against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as authorized by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are ...
lawsuit against Tiede, claiming he had
embezzled Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trus ...
more than $3 million from his mother.


Imprisonment and release

Shortly after entering the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...
in 1999, Tiede was attacked by fellow inmates. During his imprisonment, he was described by a prison official as “a model-prisoner”. He taught health classes and participated in the prison's choir. Until May 2014, he was serving a
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...
. In May 2014, Davidson and a visiting Judge Diane DeVasto of Tyler allowed Tiede to be released from prison that month on $10,000 bail, after his attorney, Jodi Cole, had learned that Tiede had been sexually abused as a child for multiple years by an uncle. Cole theorized that Tiede shot Nugent while in a brief dissociative episode brought on by her abusive treatment of him, a theory backed by forensic psychiatrist Richard Pesikoff. It has also been suggested that Tiede's handwritten confession (a major factor in the murder being considered first-degree) was strongly influenced by the prosecution's threats of leaking private videotapes of Tiede. When presented with the new evidence, Davidson agreed that, had he known this information in the original trial, he would have sought a lighter sentence. Nugent's family learned about Tiede's release through media reports. Her granddaughter expressed shock that the release was granted, and claimed that
Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...
's 2011 film ''Bernie'' had influenced the legal system. The Nugent family created a website to honor Nugent's memory, posting photos of her and articles relating to her murder. Between the time of his release in 2014 and his resentencing hearing in April 2016, Tiede resided in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, at the garage apartment of filmmaker Richard Linklater, who had offered to assist him; this was a condition of his release.


Resentencing hearing

The resentencing trial began on April 6, 2016. During the resentencing trial, Marjorie's granddaughter, Shanna Nugent, spoke directly to Bernie, and stated, “You are nothing to me”. 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. Other witnesses' testimonies differed. For instance, Gregg County Commissioner Darryl Primo testified that in a conversation he had with Marjorie between 1991 and 1996, she spoke favorably of Bernie's spending, as she proclaimed, “I’ll spend every dime f my moneybefore I leave it to my family”. Merrell Rhodes, the victim's sister, recalled of Marjorie, “I was always afraid of her... I never forgot that she was my sister... I always loved her as a sister, actually, even when she did ugly things, and she did”. Merrel's son, Joe Rhodes, attested to the movie's accurate portrayal of his aunt. He noted several acts of his aunt's abusive behavior toward him in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' article titled “How my Aunt Marge ended up in the deep Freeze”. On April 22, 2016, the jury of ten women and two men issued a new sentence of 99 years to life for Tiede. After three weeks of testimony, they had deliberated for just over four hours.


Appeal and incarceration status

A week after his resentencing, his lawyers filed an appeal to the court's decision. In June 2016, the 1997 theft charge against Tiede was dropped. In August 2017, a Texas appeals court upheld the 99-year prison sentence. 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. Tiede resided in the Telford Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for at least 15 years. , Tiede was incarcerated at the
John B. Connally Unit The John B. Connally Unit is a maximum-security prison for males located in unincorporated Karnes County, Texas, United States. It is located on Farm to Market Road 632, just east of U.S. Highway 181 south of the city of Kenedy,Estelle Unit. He is not eligible for parole until August 3, 2029, which is the day after his 71st birthday. Tiede is currently the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice regarding the lack of air conditioning in its prisons, which the suit estimates kills 14 inmates every year.


References


External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiede, Bernhardt 1958 births Living people American people convicted of murder American people of German-Russian descent American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Texas American funeral directors People from Carthage, Texas People convicted of murder by Texas People from Abilene, Texas LGBTQ people from Texas