And there it was. "She would kinda be called a blue blood," said Davidson. "That's what this whole case hinges on," said Jack Black. "This is a real case, with a real murderer. Nugent says he eventually stole $3.8 million of her money, which Marjorie was oblivious to at the time. Tiede was taken in for questioning, and he admitted to Nugent's murder to police in August 1997. "I just made up one thing or another," said Tiede. [25], Between the time of his release in 2014 and his resentencing hearing in April 2016, Tiede resided in Austin, Texas, at the garage apartment of filmmaker Richard Linklater, who had offered to assist him; this was a condition of his release. John served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves from 1973 - 1978. Despite town gossip, there was nothing sexual about it, Tiede said, thinking of Nugent more as a mother figure and a friend. "Mr. Linklater. He knew just what to say to bring a smile to anyone who needed it. He could connect, yeah, exactly," Shamburger agreed. Tiede's motive for murder came into focus. "Even today, is there a Bernie Tiede Fan Club in Carthage"" Van Sant asked Davidson. "It's grim when, you know, you see an old lady on video being pulled out of her freezer. "But Bernie is not built for conflict. CARTHAGE, Texas | One way or another, Bernie Tiede, has been dealing with death and darkness since he was 3 years old. [33] In August 2017, a Texas appeals court upheld the 99-year prison sentence. And I feel pretty good about it," said Davidson. And she goes, 'I don't know who you are and you need to leave.'". "Could Marjorie be mean?" "Our folks surrounded him like mother hens. You dont ever expect anyone in your family to be murdered, Nugent says. On April 22, 2016, following Tiedes re-sentencing trial, the jury imposed a new sentence of 99 years or life for Tiede. Marjorie Nugent was the richest widow in an eccentric town full of rich widows. "And I ended up attending the trial and started thinkin' maybe there's a movie here," he told Van Sant. So I backed my car out of the garage. Teen Is Stabbed 32 Times By Ex After She Started Dating Someone Else: 'He Wanted Her Dead', Pa. [6] Tiede graduated from Cooper High School in 1976. "Yes, and Jodi Cole did a lot of work towards that miracle happening," Tiede replied. Finally, however, he steeled himself to get rid of her for good. A few days later, Tiede checked in on her at her house. Thats when Marjorie met Tiede, who was working at the funeral home which made the arrangements. Nine years after he met Marjorie Nugent at her husband's funeral, Bernie Tiede was sentenced to life in prison. Mike DeGeurin, Tiedes attorney, tells PEOPLE that the next step is a motion for a new trial and then an appeal. "It was a complete lie.". In 2014, Bernie filed a writ with the court alleging that his rights had been violated, that police had shamed him into confessing, and most shockingly, that Marge's abusive behavior toward him resurfaced trauma he'd experienced as a childhood victim of sexual abuse. "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. "Some people are sayin', 'Hey let him go.' Bernie had embalmed Marge's husband and sang at his memorial service. "They went on great adventures together," Black said. He and his daughter entered his mother's house, where they found her body in the freezer.[13]. Nugent was more than 40 years his senior. Van Sant asked. When Marge's husband died, reports ID, Bernie embalmed him and even sang at his service. "He provided money. "He was her man servant the guy hired to take care of her every need," Black explained. 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. Jack Black as Bernie Tiede in Richard Linklaters 2011 film. Rod filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tiede, claiming he had embezzled more than $3 million from his mother.[16]. "That's enough of that. "The jury did not relate to him. 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. "Put her in a freezer and kept spendin' her money while she was dead," said Davidson. And he got one. "And so I said, 'Let me read this thing.'". She brought that to meone day. And the Nugent women, all busy college students at the time, admit there was a reluctance to reach out to Grandma Marjorie. "They loved each other?" Marjorie Nugent showered him with cash, clothing, cars -- even flying lessons and planes to go with it. ", "East Texas widow killer Bernie Tiede, subject of hit movie, gets 99 years to life in re-trial", "Bernie's lawyer's file appeal to court's decision", "Bernie Tiede won't face charge that he stole millions from East Texas widow he killed", "Bernie Tiede's attorney claims Nugent family stole money from victim's estate", https://inmate.tdcj.texas.gov/InmateSearch/viewDetail.action?sid=05931666, http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/bernie-tiede-appeal-hinges-on-new-abuse-claim/ngWCC/, http://marjorienugent.com/content/nugent-family-files-full-brief-opposing-bernie-tiedes-release, https://web.archive.org/web/20141129034531/http://www.cbs19.tv/story/27147808/nugent-family-releases-checks-allegedly-forged-by-bernie-tiede-argues-they-are-evidence-of-motive-in-murder, http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20141030-bernie-victims-family-wants-killer-back-in-prison.ece, http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/11/financial-documents-show-the-extent-of-bernie-tiedes-criminal-behavior-before-he-murdered.html/, https://web.archive.org/web/20141117184614/http://www.cbs19.tv/story/27390720/nugent-family-reveals-full-scope-of-bernie-tiedes-alleged-scam, https://www.shutterbulky.com/bernie-tiede-story/, "How My Aunt Marge Ended Up in the Deep Freeze", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernie_Tiede&oldid=1149843064, American people of German-Russian descent, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Texas, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing cleanup from August 2022, Articles with bare URLs for citations from August 2022, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from August 2022, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2023, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from April 2023, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 19:31. So when a grieving, vulnerable widow came to the Hawthorn Funeral Home, Tiede saw an opportunity to do what he did best. 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. "Rick Linklater is just as conned as my grandmother was," said Shanna Nugent. Cole poured over the files, knowing that Tiede's life sentence hinged on Danny Buck Davidson's argument that the murder was premeditated. "Sudden passion. "Well, I felt like she felt like she could trust me, I guess,"said Tiede. ""That is the real story," Van Sant queried. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Man convicted of murdering companion, stuffing body in freezer", 'mean-bernie-film-features-cooper-grads-unlikely', "Judge Agrees to Release Murderer "Bernie" Backed by Austin Filmmaker", "History of Bernie's secret: Facts of sexual abuse could have been key to defense". "We were in a heated discussion, I told her, 'I can't do this anymore' 'I can't be your friend anymore. Instead, they eventually learned of the chilling events that led to her death. Bernie Tiede is the son of Bernhardt Tiede (19121973), a native of Olegnow, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. Tiede shot Nugent four times in the back and placed her body in a freezer,. 'Bernie' victim's family wants killer back in prison - Dallas News "Bernie Tiede is what?" She'll call when she gets back.'". Van Sant asked. "And I said, 'He's an angel all right, he's an angel of death," said D.A. "We had that strange encounter in 1994 where we didn't feel welcome," said Susan Jenull. The Nugent family would have their own take on Cole's ideas. Bernie Tiede, the mortician who made $24,000 a year, now had access to Marjorie Nugent's 10,000 square foot mansion, her checkbook, and a world of opportunity. "And we said, 'Who is this?' "It was so quick. "And Bernie is in charge of his funeral.". 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. "She was very mean-spirited, very abrupt with me," he said. Van Sant asked Tiede. And another thing, newly widowed 74-year-old Marjorie Nugent was loaded with cash as much as $6 million. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, Nugent's estranged son, Rod, an Amarillo pathologist, had grown concerned about not being able to reach his mother. His father died in Abilene when Tiede was fifteen. The Big Heat: Haunted House for Sale. Any Takers? 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. "So we're going to talk about that in a non-fictionalized, non-Holywood-ized kind of way. He also points to accounts that Bernie's behavior in town after the murder didn't change, and that Bernie declined to call Marge's disposition toward him as "mean" at trial. HENDERSON Convicted murderer Bernie Tiede is a calculating, money-hungry, cold-blooded killer who set his sights on elderly women, including Marjorie Nugent who he killed in 1996. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. First published on July 22, 2017 / 11:09 PM. The film attracted attention to Tiede's case, and new evidence was discovered. [11] By 1993, Bernie left his job to work for Nugent full time as her business manager and travel companion. Taking great pride in his work, he was a consoling shoulder for the bereaved throughout the late 1980s and early 90s especially the elderly. He essentially claimed he'd been dissociating when he'd murdered Marge, and a psychiatrist agreed. They took lavish vacations abroad, and Tiede became known around town for the. 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. Write An Essay On The Movie Bernie - 726 Words | Bartleby "Turns out he was generous with Mrs. Nugent's money," said Davidson. So what was the real truth? "He stole her money when he was about to be found out, he shot her and killed her. Despite the new evidence, Tiede was sentenced to 99 years to life. "I think it's the classic case of a kind of disassociated moment," said Richard Linklater. He is solicitous, gentle, tactful.