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[Music] now moment's emergency my wife and I need an am from bleeding I was called at approximately
00:00:19
4:00 in the morning on February 3rd 2018 there had been a home invasion robbery in the area of hail Plantation you said
00:00:27
someone was in your house yes I'm being advised that the wife has severe injuries and was currently being trauma
00:00:45
alerted to our area Hospital you woke up to her scream and Tall figure with he Masters a fighting
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with you see I felt something Sharp Susan relle almost died that night if Susan had died the truth of
00:01:08
what happened that night would die with her when Susan Michelle comes out of surgery she tells investigators that
00:01:15
there is no Intruder and that the person who inflicted all of the injuries that she
00:01:21
is suffering from is Michael relle this case is about the power of money it's about the power of Desire for
00:01:31
control when Susan asked for a divorce Michael relle snapped when he was faced with the
00:01:39
prospect that he would have to give her half of his fortune he made a calculated
00:01:43
and premeditated decision to kill this is the knife that was used to stab Susan the bending in this knife you
00:01:54
believe is a result of it hitting bone and it bent the blade that's correct all rise for the
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jury members of the jury we're just going to lay here until you die Sue we're just going to lay here until
00:02:11
you die those are the words of that defendant Michael relle spoken to his wife of 10 years Susan
00:02:23
Michelle I got close to her right here and her hand comes out and was there anything in her hand yeah a
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[Music] knife there's no way on God's green earth that my father would stab anyone was Mike's daughter Caroline a
00:02:48
source of conflict in the marriage absolutely didn't you tell Michael relle that you hated
00:02:55
Caroline those words came out yeah and in fact you called her a [ __ ] MH is that right
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[Music] yes never in 1 million years would I think that my wedding would be the Catalyst of all of
00:03:20
this who do you believe brought the knife into that incident Susan relle who do you believe was the
00:03:29
attacker in the February 2nd incident Susan rouel and who is the victim my father
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[Music] [Music] where were you and how did you learn that your father on February 3rd 2018
00:04:39
had been arrested I was in Chicago with my husband and I got an incoming call on my cell
00:04:49
phone this is a collect call from it was a recording that said an inmate from the
00:04:55
alacha county jail has called you an inmate at the County department minutes later the phone rang again Caroline
00:05:03
relle quickly answered and heard the voice she'd known her entire life and he said Caroline you have to get me out of
00:05:12
here you need to call my lawyer and I dropped to the sidewalk and I just sat on the
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sidewalk the events leading to the arrest of Mike relle began to unwind very early that morning after he called
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police tell me exactly what happened I don't know someone's in the house and next thing I know I wake up next to my
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wife and we're bleeding Mike reported that he and his wife Sue had been stabbed by an intruder inside their home
00:05:43
in an upscale section of Gainesville you're fine with the subject and he just ran off he managed to scare him off yeah
00:05:50
I guess Sue's injuries were life-threatening and as menx rushed to save her detective David Visconti was
00:05:58
called to the scene there was no force entry initially observed by any of our deputies no
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broken window no knocked down door nothing like that at all no sir still Visconti had no doubt that
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something terrible had happened inside that house there was most certainly a struggle there was a vast amount of
00:06:20
blood around the bed that was located on the wall of the bedroom but overall the scene was
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missing something V said and he did not believe a violent Intruder had been there typically we'll see many things
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knocked over Furniture items broken um indentations in the walls in the drywall did you see any of that none of those
00:06:42
things were present what's more the r shells had security cameras covering the outside of the house the Intruder
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allegedly fleeing the house from that direction is something that would have been captured on video the veteran
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detective was becoming suspicious then hours later Sue awoke from surgery and broke this case wide open telling
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detectives that the story about an intruder attacking them was a lie she claimed that Mike concocted the whole
00:07:12
thing and that he was her true as salent Mike was arrested and charged with attempted
00:07:21
murder he could never have done anything like this Mike's ex-wife Deee Hoffman was incredulous I have known Michael
00:07:31
James relle since I was 19 and I wouldn't be here today if I thought Mike was possibly capable of
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harming another person deei met Mike in college they married and had two daughters Caroline and Kate during your
00:07:48
many years with Mike was he ever physically abusive to you he never touched me not ever
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never but like in many marriages there were problems Mike made millions in the technology business but his job required
00:08:05
him to travel all over the world truthfully he wasn't around much so it was it was hard in 2005 after 25
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years of marriage deei asked for a divorce deei said she moved out of the family home so their children away at
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College could always return to the house where they were raised but soon another
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woman unexpectedly joined the family I moved out in July but then all of a sudden Susan moves into our house Sue
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was then 38 years old and a hospice nurse she and Mike 49 met on Match.com and Dei says Sue quickly became the lady
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of the manor Dei says everything she left behind including her dog became Sue Mike and I were really opposites he was
00:09:01
engaging and outgoing and I was really and I think I still am more reserved not quite so
00:09:10
exuberant and I think he was looking for exuberance Caroline remembers the first
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time she met Sue at a dinner and my dad seemed to be laughing and having a good time but Caroline says she couldn't help
00:09:25
but notice how much Sue was drinking we never seen anyone take down five to six martinis and be able to
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stand and speak some two years after they met Mike married Sue in August 2007 Mike stopped traveling and bought a
00:09:48
local business the couple's happier times are reflected in some of the thousands of text messages that surfaced
00:09:55
during legal proceedings Mike refers to sue as his trophy bride and writes that their lives together are simply
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amazing but Caroline says Sue became jealous of the close relationship she had with her father and tried to keep
00:10:14
them apart she had such walls around him he wouldn't call me unless he was in a car
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alone he wasn't allowed to take my call in front of her but surprisingly when Caroline announced
00:10:32
in 2016 that she was getting married Sue was happy to help but Caroline says Sue
00:10:40
wanted to do it her way Sue was pretty adamant about throwing me a shower my mother was invited but none of my
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mother's friends were invited so the majority of the guest were Sue's friends and
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family but Caroline admits the shower was a lot of fun and she was looking forward to the wedding Sue helped her
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pick out a dress I tried on a dress and I liked it and Sue kept telling me like this is your dress this is your dress
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it's so beautiful you have to have this Sue handed over her credit card and it was done do you mind me asking how much
00:11:25
the dress was worth this is so go I think it was 11 $1,000 the wedding itself in November
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2017 would be a royal like of fair the setting was the Sumptuous oeka Castle on Long
00:11:46
Island 160 people attended the wedding and Caroline says the day was magical my husband and I know how lucky we are to
00:11:57
have had that weekend it was beyond beautiful Caroline says it was nearly perfect except for something that caught
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her eye an unusual mark on her father's face the last thing I saw before walking
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down the aisle at my wedding was this White Scar from here to here and in my mind I was like what is
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that weeks later she found out Mike revealed to Caroline what he said was a dark disturbing secret he claimed Sue
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had been physically abusing him for [Music] [Music] years I called him on his birthday
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and I said how are you doing and he just started crying it was late November 2017 just 3
00:13:08
weeks after her fairy tale wedding when Caroline says her father shared a disturbing secret about Sue that he had
00:13:15
promised not to tell and he said sue was arrested and he said she started attacking me and I think he was so
00:13:30
victimized that he was really scared to tell anyone Sue had been charged with domestic battery but the details of what
00:13:41
happened that day would not become public until 2 years later at Mike's trial for attempted
00:13:48
murder he swear at theed when they both testified about the last tumultuous months of their marriage ma'am please be
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seated speak clearly microphone what was the state of their marriage I think it was in the lowest place that it could
00:14:04
possibly be before a divorce I was upset Sue told prosecutor David Byron that shortly after Caroline's wedding Mike
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told her it had gone nearly $15,000 over budget was it fair to say that you were partially upset with
00:14:20
defendant but mostly at Carolyn yes Mike says Sue attacked him when the fight escalated she throws the phone at me
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chares around the bed pushes and just start her meeting like this but Mike didn't call 911 that day Sue
00:14:38
did I just felt as though things were a little out of control when police arrived Sue admitted
00:14:48
to pushing Mike and agreed to go to their beach condo to diffuse the situation but she was arrested half an
00:14:55
hour later when she hadn't yet left the house he said please place your hands behind your back you're under
00:15:04
arrest Sue told the jury that she was ordered to stay away from Mike she moved to their beach condo and got counseling
00:15:12
for alcohol and anger management Weeks Later Mike declined to pursue the battery charge and it was dropped
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prosecutor Shan Brewer did she have a problem with alcohol Susan relle has testified that at times when would drink
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um she would lose her time but Mike says Sue's actions went Way Beyond a bad temper he told the jury she had
00:15:37
tormented him for years she lunged at me again punched me in the face um scratched my face punched me in the arms
00:15:44
and bent my glasses actually she would throw things at him very heavy things like
00:15:52
vases and very heavy coffee mugs Sue denies abusing Mike and Mike never reported any of the alleged incidents to
00:16:03
police is it true that you have seen your father with a black eye he's sent me multiple pictures of him with a black
00:16:13
eye Mike did take photos of some injuries which he shared with Caroline and later the
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jury he is a picture that he showed me of his face gushing blood and there was one mark from here to here the
00:16:31
prosecution admits this injury may have been caused by Sue but they say the evidence shows Sue was fighting for her
00:16:39
life after Mike attacked her there are text messages where she accuses him of smothering her with a pillow which in
00:16:48
fact is the same instance that she ended up scratching him in the face despite the alleged abuse and Sue's arrest Mike
00:16:56
says he still loved his wife and wanted to stay married in February 2018 he asked Sue to come to Gainesville for the
00:17:09
weekend Mike had asked me to come in he wanted us to work on the marriage they decided to go to their
00:17:17
favorite Steakhouse that Sue on home security video getting ready and enjoying a glass of wine Mike arrives
00:17:26
home and the two share a kiss before heading out but over stakes and more wine Old Wounds reopen he just received
00:17:36
a text message from Caroline Sue says that's when Mike admitted he had betrayed her trust by telling Caroline
00:17:44
about Sue's arrest he and I both agreed that we weren't going to discuss that Mike drove home alone Sue followed in an
00:17:54
Uber her anger spilling into a series of text messages about Caroline good luck with your [ __ ] she will ruin any
00:18:03
relationship you have once home they went to separate parts of the house Sue continued her angry
00:18:15
text I am filing for divorce I will leave in the morning the last text from Sue is sent
00:18:25
at 10:13 p.m. you have serious bound issues with your daughter later Sue says she was alone in
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the guest room when Mike entered there are no cameras inside that room and he just hopped on top of me and
00:18:49
I felt like there's pressure right here and then all of a sudden I saw a knife come out
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I said oh my god mik did you stab me and he said yes at some point does he say something
00:19:06
to you he said uh Sue we're not getting a divorce Sue says Mike was on top of her pinning her arms with his legs in
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the struggle her left thumb was sliced then she says mike stabbed her again am I neck right
00:19:26
here Sue says m then started slashing her wrist felt like he was mutilating me my
00:19:38
hand it was like just I couldn't feel anything and I could see into my arm losing blood her life in danger Sue
00:19:51
says she vomited and lost control of her bodily functions she says she tried to wriggle
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out from under Mike and they ended up lying sideways across the bed he just said to me SE it's going to lay here
00:20:07
until you die Sue says as she was lying there struggling to stay awake she saw Mike
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raised The Knife yet again desperate she offered him a way out I said Mike we don't have to divorce
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I won't divorce you just put the Knife Down SU says after Mike Put The Knife Down she begged him to call for help but
00:20:33
he would only do that if she agreed to say an intruder had stabbed her when she agrees to go with his story
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of The Intruders she saved her life a toxic marriage text brimming with hate and a bloody room Mike rell's future
00:20:53
will now depend on whether he can convince jurors that he is the real [Music] [Applause]
00:21:02
victim what is the strongest evidence that supports Sue's account see more of the trial evidence at 48
00:21:14
[Music] hours.com when First Responders entered this bloody scene in the early morning
00:21:29
hours of February 3rd 2018 they'd been told by Mike rouselle that a stranger had broken into their home and assaulted
00:21:38
his wife and then him with a knife but in court now with his defense attorneys Patrick mcginness and Anne Fel
00:21:48
Mike admits that story was a lie and says he's finally ready to tell the truth he says despite Sue's drinking and
00:21:56
violent outbursts he was hoping to reconcile that night I don't care if she's a melow drunk the rest of her life
00:22:03
just the anger's got to go but at dinner once again they fought about Caroline and that fight continued back at the
00:22:12
house after that Mike and Sue stories diverge Mike says he came into the guest room a little after 10: and was startled
00:22:20
to see Sue kneeling on the bed holding a knife I said sue give me the knife and then next thing I know I felt searing
00:22:27
Heat that's that's all I remember and I'm just trying to get my hands on it and I'm on the bed with her now we're all on
00:22:35
her knees Mike doesn't say how he got his hands on the knife but he says as they struggled and fell over on the bed
00:22:43
he felt the blade go into Sue's stomach she's falling backwards and I'm falling in front on top I felt the knife
00:22:50
penetrate here and I I rolled off as fast as I could because I was afraid if that went in her it would kill her Mike
00:22:58
offers no explanation for how Sue was stabbed in the neck or thumb but he does say about 1 minute into the struggle he
00:23:08
somehow calmed her down and put the knife Out Of Reach now you're both bleeding during this point in time right
00:23:15
yeah but it's not spurting and there's no blood at all you can see on Sue through the through here Mike says he
00:23:22
wanted to call for help right away but Sue wouldn't let him because she was the she'd be arrested again I said see we
00:23:32
need to go to the hospital and she said then make up a story so I don't get arrested Mike says they argued about a
00:23:40
possible cover story but then as bizarre as it sounds they just lay together bleeding for several hours having what
00:23:51
Mike says was one of the best conversations of their lives about future vacations to Europe we talked
00:23:59
about going to Germany on the Rind and Mosel river cruise maybe we'll do burgundy next if Mike is speaking the
00:24:06
truth this happy conversation happened on a bed soaked with blood and human waste Greece CU we've never been to
00:24:13
Greece in Carol Mike never mentions that Tuscany in Florence and prosecutor David
00:24:19
Byron suspects why is this believable I don't think it's believable at all he held her there and he can't admit that
00:24:26
Michael relle had months and months to go over the evidence and construct a story that fit with things that he
00:24:32
couldn't admit according to Mike at about 3:00 a.m. their dog Susie wandered in to this bloody scene where violence
00:24:42
was about to erupt again I get up out of the bed to deal with a dog and and behind me was the knife and next thing I
00:24:53
know she sliced her right wrist with her left hand did you talk to her about why
00:24:58
she cut herself yeah she said she doesn't want to go to jail I said sue I'm not going to send you to jail I'm
00:25:05
not going to get you arrested calm down she goes you promise you promise I said yes as Mike tells it sue cooked up the
00:25:14
whole idea to lie a police and he reluctantly agreed in order to protect her I said then the only chance I have
00:25:24
is to turn the cameras off to give a window of opportunity to say someone broke in and did this to us Mike says
00:25:31
after Sue cut her own wrist he left the room to turn off security cameras and stage of Breakin 25 minutes passed
00:25:39
before he called 911 and turned the cameras on again and he's doing that with the knowledge that With Every Beat
00:25:47
of her heart more of her blood is pouring into that bed but the defense thinks the blood at the crime scene
00:25:54
helps to prove their case people lie the forensics don't lie and that's why the blood spatter was so important in this
00:26:02
case Michael berkin is a former doctor and blood stain pattern analyst who testified for the
00:26:11
defense what do you consider the most important blood evidence inside that bedroom the arterial spurt patterns
00:26:19
berkeland says he reviewed records which stated a small artery in Sue's wrist was
00:26:25
cut that night and he believes the blood here on the pillowcase and here on the nightstand came from that artery the
00:26:33
important thing about arteries though is that you get blood coming out of that With Every Beat of the heart berkeland
00:26:41
uses stage blood and a small syringe to demonstrate the way Sue's blood may have
00:26:47
traveled making a line or fine spray of drops so the blood in your opinion gives
00:26:55
us a timeline as to when Sue's wrist was actually cut correct because arteries don't close up on their own remember Sue
00:27:04
says the attack including the cuts to her wrist started sometime after 10:13 p.m. but Mike says Sue cut her own wrist
00:27:14
at around 3:00 a.m. hours later berkeland says if Sue's wrist was cut before 11: she would have died long
00:27:23
before help arrived how much time do she have to live in your opinion if the wounds happen no later than
00:27:31
11:00 she's dead before it ever hits midnight which leads you to believe what when it comes to this injury to the
00:27:41
wrist Michael story makes more sense the defense team says if we can't trust Sue's account about what time things
00:27:50
happened then her entire story is suspect it is absolutely impossible to have happened the way she claims it
00:28:03
[Music] [Music] did inside the this box this is the knife that was used to stab Susan
00:28:33
encased in protective plastic this is a lot of blood this is a lot of blood are the remnants of the vicious
00:28:41
confrontation inside that bedroom that prosecutor Shan Brewer is certain contain evidence of an attempted
00:28:51
murder this is Mike rell's pajamas yes and they are soaked in blood and whose blood is that well Susan is
00:29:02
the one that had the injuries that provided uh the mass amount of bleeding so if blood could talk this blood is
00:29:09
telling you what this blood is telling me that um Michael was on top of her while he was stabbing her and um she was
00:29:16
bleeding quite a bit without any Aid prosecutors say this evidence backs up Sue's testimony that Mike attacked
00:29:26
her they also say the items on that bedside table help prove this was not a dynamic fight between two people David
00:29:36
Byron says that only one person had control of the situation Mike rouselle there's a full glass of wine there's
00:29:44
some glasses there's a lamp and it's evidence of the fact that Michael relle was so physically capable of
00:29:52
constraining her that none of those things are Disturbed and the prosecution disputes defense expert Michael Berk's
00:29:59
claim that these stains on the nightstand came from spurting blood from Sue's wrist instead their experts says
00:30:07
the blood was most likely cast off flung from the knife and not from Sue cutting
00:30:13
her own wrist the castoff shows that he was swinging that knife as he's plunging
00:30:18
it into her stomach and into her neck call Dr bur to his head prosecutor Brewer not only attacks Bern's
00:30:24
conclusions he also challenges his credibility letting jurors know that his medical
00:30:30
license was suspended and he was later arrested for storing body parts from autopsies in Tupperware containers in an
00:30:40
unusual place you were storing them at Uncle Bob's storage shed weren't you in a climate control room were you storing
00:30:47
that at Uncle Bob's storage shed yes and the actual organs you were storing included brains and hearts I did
00:30:54
have some hearts and brains yes berklyn says the organs were preserved for private cases he was working on while he
00:31:01
was still a licensed doctor I used the storage locker because they were safe and secure either that or I put them in
00:31:10
my house this was safer than my house the charges were later dropped prosecutors also want the jury to know
00:31:19
that the severity of Sue's wrist wound suggests she did not do it herself the one that was truly life-threatening was
00:31:27
the the cuts that the defendant made to her wrist she was cut all the way down to
00:31:33
the bone Mike's injuries were a lot less serious as you can see he had some small
00:31:41
cuts on his fingers and stomach and Sue says these larger cuts to his forearms were in fact
00:31:49
self-inflicted he put the knife in my hand and he stabbed himself in the arm and what about that story Mike told
00:31:59
investigators that an intruder did all this the prosecution says it was all his idea to cover up what he had
00:32:11
done he turned off the cameras and did things to make the police believe that there had been a
00:32:18
burglar and the motive for this alleged attack the prosecution believes it was all about money that Mike didn't want to
00:32:26
give up half of his Fortune millions of dollars in a divorce you didn't tell this jur and
00:32:33
that after all you've been through it didn't seem fair for sus save half your money yeah that is true it does seem
00:32:39
fair the prosecution refutes Mike's claims that he still wanted to reconcile the troubled marriage by pointing out
00:32:48
that he had visited three dating sites Ukrainian single girl Arena she's 18 years old
00:32:56
right I looked at picture from women with clothes on yes sir I understand they had clothes on Sir
00:33:02
question I'm asking is you were looking for your next girlfriend right yeah I'll
00:33:06
tell you exactly what I was looking for sure all I want out of a woman in my life is someone to be kind and nice to
00:33:13
me that's all I care about I looked at pictures and descriptions of how they would treat their male and soon I looked
00:33:19
at these together many times and in our relationship and saying s that's all I need from anybody please be nice to me
00:33:27
please the defense counters that Mike's other internet searches prove that he was
00:33:33
being abused by Sue did you visit numerous sites related to battered husbands yes I do he has all of the
00:33:44
economic resources he's not cut off from any family members Michael relle doesn't
00:33:49
meet any of the criteria for what a battered spouse is the defense also tries to counter Sue's claim that Mike's
00:33:57
attack came after she threatened divorce they produced dozens of text messages going back to 2015 that show Sue had
00:34:06
made that threat many many times you actually say for the 50th time I want a divorce it's just an expression like
00:34:15
saying for the you know 100th time but it is about 50 times isn't it I don't know I didn't
00:34:24
count and defense attorney and finel suggests those texts also reveal Sue's destructive
00:34:33
intentions have you told him I hate you yes okay you've said I will destroy you yes and on your anniversary in
00:34:45
2017 hate you happy 10th anniversary I'm divorcing you you you said that yes in her closing
00:34:55
argument finel insists Mike would never try to kill for money she says Sue was the aggressor that night and Mike was
00:35:05
just defending himself she hates everybody she hates his daughters she hates his former spouse that's how
00:35:15
hateful this woman was and is but the prosecution says there is no question Mike wanted Sue
00:35:26
dead this is not a frenzy struggle between two adults this is a blood bath committed by one person who has
00:35:33
imprisoned the other on that bed in the war of the rells jurors will soon decide which one they
00:35:43
believe whose story Rings true Mike or Sue relle see more of their home security footage on Facebook at 48 hours
00:35:58
[Music] as the jury goes out to deliberate um what are those minutes and hours like for you I I just like
00:36:11
couldn't talk to anyone I spent the past year and a half like mentally preparing
00:36:18
myself for the worst and hoping for the best Caroline does not have long to wait
00:36:27
all right for the jury after a 9-day trial it took little more than 4 hours for the jury to reach a verdict they say
00:36:36
a quick verdict is often a prosecutor's verdict it's a thought that creeps into your head but you never really know what
00:36:41
a jury's going to do members of the jury I understand you have riched a verdict we have your honor would you please pass
00:36:47
it to my we the jury we f as follows to defendant Michael James relle in this case as to count one the defendant is
00:36:58
guilty of attempting first-degree murder as charged in guilty Mike relle is convicted of the most serious count
00:37:06
against him we were all so shocked as to count to the defendant is guilty of false imprison in quick succession the
00:37:15
jury also finds relle guilty of four additional crimes including false imprisonment and tampering with evidence
00:37:24
J number 51 is this your true verdict yes jurors utterly reject Mike's story of a
00:37:31
knife fight with his wife prosecutor Shawn Brewer says justice was served to a man who lied to
00:37:40
investigators and to the jury Michael went through Great Lengths to try and kill Susan he just wasn't very good at
00:37:46
it and what's more Brewer says mike relle tried to kill Sue not once but twice while he was in jail awaiting
00:37:56
trial and informing came forward to claim Mike tried to hire a hitman to kill sue a charge Mike strongly denies
00:38:05
do you believe that your father in jail plotted to hire someone to murder his wife no honestly I don't mean to laugh
00:38:15
but it is beyond laughable as we were interviewing Caroline she got a phone call that surprised us
00:38:25
Dad hi I'm good I'm with 48 hours right now literally with cameras Mike relle allowed me to ask a few
00:38:37
questions Mike I just want to hear you tell me did you take a knife into the room that night on February 2nd 2018 and
00:38:46
attack your wife absolutely not and you're telling me the truth absolutely on my children's lives
00:38:55
all I did was defend myself and I got attacked in December 2019 everyone returns to
00:39:05
judge William Davis's courtroom for sentencing the victim in this crime suru shelle does not appear in
00:39:13
person standing face the judge and raise your right hand please when it's Caroline's turn to speak the moment is
00:39:20
charged with emotion no one is as positive caring and generous than this man I will
00:39:35
say I am and will always be a proud daughter one of the most caring kind gentle people I've ever met
00:39:47
several colleagues and Friends speak of Mike in glowing terms he's a good person
00:39:53
the Mike relle I know is a standup gentleman heard then judge William Davis took Center Stage Mr Melle will you
00:40:02
please stand Mike was about to learn his fate the person I heard through the evidence and the witnesses was somebody
00:40:10
who was cold they were brutal on count one the attempted U first degree premeditated murder I'm
00:40:18
going to sentence you to 30 years imprisonment in all told the judge gives relle 30 years not the 50 years
00:40:27
requested by prosecutors but for Mike who is 64 years old it is in essence a life
00:40:38
[Music] sentence here are two sophisticated people very wealthy living in Paradise
00:40:46
in one of the most beautiful parts of Florida and yet they couldn't work this out it's tragedy isn't it absolutely I
00:40:53
mean when you hear who Michael and Susan Michelle were before this all occurred they lived exemplary and mostly normal
00:41:02
lives and to see it get to this point really is a tragedy the war of the rousell is not
00:41:10
over Mike and Sue are divorcing and continue to fight over the marital assets including the house where Sue was
00:41:19
nearly stabbed to death the murder for higher charges against mik shell were dropped a California lawyer murdered
00:41:33
this looked like a targeted assassination this guy dressed as a delivery man across the country a
00:41:39
matching deadly attack at a judge's home who would want to hurt the judge where the crimes connected 48 Hours next on
00:41:46
CBS [Music] andrean McDonald had a very very strict regimen she followed it daily nice drop it that a girl she would
00:42:17
be at the gym at 5:30 in the morning in the office by 8:00 on March 1st they had
00:42:22
no indication she would be late she didn't show up for work this was very significant to her
00:42:29
employees they called the gym and found out she never showed up to the gym which
00:42:34
is like a religion to her after calling Andre repeatedly it's going to voicemail
00:42:41
you know the anxiety starts steing like I start panicking for andine to be missing is
00:42:48
not possible the biggest issue for me were the fact that her phone was missing her
00:42:56
purse was still there there her keys were on the counter and her Vehicles were still there if her vehicle's there
00:43:02
her purse is there her keys are there if she's missing is there a concern of an Abduction the deputies obviously didn't
00:43:11
know what to think at this point they were just beginning the investigation what we did learn is Andre
00:43:20
McDonald a beautiful Jamaican woman was brought to the United States by uh Andre
00:43:27
her husband as a major in the Air Force and had top secret security clearance they began a assisted living
00:43:37
business where they in short order became millionaires the picture of the American
00:43:45
dream she's not boastful or anything like that she's just that humble person andreen had a great reputation in not
00:43:56
only the assisted living community here in San Antonio and we're on the side of the street this morning and we're giving
00:44:03
out food for those less fortunate she was very very generous with her wealth and her time God bless you kind of a a
00:44:12
rising star of the of San Antonio absolutely a very much so a rising star they were always laughing together
00:44:22
they were always joking around the home didn't seemed to be in terrible disarray no furniture was
00:44:30
knocked over or anything was broken I found there was blood on the wall in an area that was kind of odd
00:44:40
there was blood and hair on a light switch we assumed that something happened there it was a crime scene of
00:44:47
some sort I was on social media and I saw that initial poster that came up with her face
00:44:57
and then it says missing on the top andrean is not the person to go take off somewhere no one knows where she
00:45:04
is supporters for andreen McDonald renewed their search efforts when the months went by and the days went by and
00:45:12
they haven't found anything in my mind that's not such a bad thing because if they're not able to
00:45:21
find something that solidifies her being dead I mean she's alive right and somewhere
00:45:28
[Music] [Music] [Music] in the afternoon of March 1st 2019 after 29-year-old andreen McDonald was
00:46:26
reported missing by her mother Moren a bear county sheriff's deputy arrived at the McDonald home in an upscale gated
00:46:34
community in San Antonio within minutes Sheriff javar Salazar says his Deputy made a disturbing Discovery one of my
00:46:43
deputies had seen what they believed to be Blood on the wall and possibly hair and in the backyard normally
00:46:51
beautifully landscaped another troubling clue a random burn pile right here I saw the burn pile we
00:47:04
found a zipper from Andre's blouse it was Andre's blouse mhm Andre's husband Andre Andy McDonald
00:47:14
told the deputy that when he woke up he got their daughter Elena to school before reporting to Lackland Air Force
00:47:21
Base where he served as a cyber warfare analyst once he Learned andreen was missing Andre rushed back home but he
00:47:30
quickly headed out the door again to act on a hunch that andreen who suffered from migraines might have gone to a
00:47:38
nearby hospital for treatment Andre's arrival to the hospital was captured by surveillance
00:47:45
cameras lead investigator Frank stubs on that tape he comes in you can see him asking for McDonald and they tell him
00:47:56
there's somebody in room three named McDonald he arrives back to the house what does he tell them he tells them
00:48:04
that she's in the hospital but when the deputy called the hospital he discovered
00:48:08
that the McDonald who had checked in was not andreen McDonald Andre told deputies that he
00:48:16
rushed back home before seeing his wife because he had left his cell phone at home and wanted to let Moren know he had
00:48:23
found andreen there was some indication to him she was there and injured to some
00:48:29
extent unfortunately the Major's hunch turned out to be wrong when I heard I was oh God I was so upset I was just
00:48:39
thinking that she's some place that we can find her and for Andre's mother-in-law Jackie who lived in
00:48:46
Florida there was uncertainty I had called Andre's phone about a thousand times already saying
00:48:54
andreen whatever it is please please just called me back what concerned everyone was the fact andreen would
00:49:01
never just disappear she was known for her sense of responsibility and dedication to her family and
00:49:11
business how would you describe and dream she knows what she wants and she will never stop until she
00:49:21
get it I did come in before he did right Andre did defeat me and she is so excited andreen created an assisted
00:49:33
living business in San Antonio called Starlight holes when she was just 22 and according to Andre's close friend Andrew
00:49:42
russle in order to start the business Andre he liquidated his 401k Andre bankrolled her dreams and he sold the
00:49:52
BMW that he owned they were doing so well they were doing everything that would make any mother
00:50:01
proud Starlight homes thrived and under Andre's watch the tiny homebased business transformed into a
00:50:10
multi-million dollar Enterprise in just seven years when I started my assistant living I only started with three
00:50:19
residents today STL homes living we have two locations in the San Antonia area childhood friend Mandy says Andre's
00:50:29
success was born out of humble beginnings growing up in Portland Jamaica we didn't have a lot and so we
00:50:39
figured if we wanted to get somewhere in life it would be in America that's where
00:50:43
the dream was Andre's dream of coming to America came true at 19 when she met Andre he was also a native of Jamaica
00:50:53
who at the time was a captain in the US Air Force Andre had returned home to Port Antonio
00:51:00
in May of 2009 to attend a funeral where he met andreen who was 10 years younger
00:51:07
was there an attraction right from the beginning she was excited when she met him excited about the captain in the Air
00:51:16
Force they both decide for her to come to America they married that July was happy to know he had met somebody
00:51:27
that he could have a life with that life would soon include a baby girl Elena Elena was at the center of andrene's
00:51:36
world which made her disappearance so perplexing says Jackie I don't think andrene would just get up and walk away
00:51:46
and leave Elena and nobody hear from her that evening a forensic crime unit examined the stains in the bathroom and
00:51:58
confirmed the initial belief that they were blood while you were going through the house was Andre there yes he was did
00:52:05
you see any signs of bruising on his body any signs of of any injuries that perhaps he'd been in a struggle nothing
00:52:13
that we could that we could determine investigators were hoping Andre had some answers but he said the
00:52:21
last time he had seen his wife was the night before and they said what on Andre described raised more questions than
00:52:30
answers he had told them they had come home from the tax preparers office and that that they had argued
00:52:37
over um uh the business and he went up the road got some gas and just cooled off we were able to obtain video
00:52:47
evidence of him going to the Shell station Andre said when he returned home he and andreen went to separate bedrooms
00:52:56
but according to investigators what Andre didn't mention was the text exchange that happened at the gas
00:53:11
[Music] station for investigators the text messages found on Andre's phone revealed
00:53:24
a marriage in turmoil in including allegations of betrayal accusations of unfaithfulness in these text messages
00:53:32
correct that's correct we have uh a printed copy would you mind reading these from his phone
00:53:40
andreen responds if you bring up aubit again I will divorce you myself auin Hall a businessman living in Port
00:53:48
Antonio Jamaica who according to investigators was andrene's ex-boyfriend and potentially her current love lover
00:53:57
in response to Andre's thread of divorce Andre texts I don't care if you get a divorce you brought auin into our life
00:54:07
auin dated andreen when she was a teenager say investigators andrene's close friend Mandy says the two
00:54:14
rekindled their romance in 2017 during one of her philanthropic trips to the island auin has always been
00:54:23
that first love it wasn't something and got over emotionally Mandy says They carried on their Affair in secret until
00:54:32
the summer of 2018 when andreen got two new tattoos an initial a tattooed on her
00:54:40
hand and a date tude on her wrist Andy was definitely suspicious of what it meant with a Suspicious Mind Mandy says
00:54:50
Andre went to work to solve this tattoo mystery he went and he did his own digging it was on social media where
00:54:59
Andre discovered an interesting photograph of auin branded with the same exact tattoo that was also on andrene's
00:55:08
hand and those numbers 14376 their ain's birthday day month and year she told me that she impulsively
00:55:19
got the tattoo she knew it was something stupid to do enraged Mandy says Andre threatened divorce unless andring cut
00:55:27
off contact with auin covered up her tattoos and promised to never travel to Jamaica without him she did cover up the
00:55:36
tattoos she didn't want to lose half of everything she worked hard for at Andre's 40th birthday party Mandy
00:55:47
says by all outward appearances the McDonald's seemed to be getting along but just 13 days later on March 1st 2019
00:55:57
that's when andrein disappeared the once festive home had transformed into a crime scene as
00:56:07
investigators worked the McDonald residents until 2 the next morning when they couldn't locate Andre's cell phone
00:56:14
investigators checked to see if her credit cards or passport had been used all dead ends we came up dry on on on
00:56:25
all of these inquiries at this point all we had was a missing person within hours of his wife's
00:56:31
disappearance Andre McDonald was a person of interest he stopped answering questions and lawyered up at 2: p.m. the
00:56:40
next day an undercover investigator assigned to watch the McDonald's house noticed that the garage had been damaged
00:56:48
and Andre was backing out of the driveway the investigator followed him to a nearby gun shop where aition
00:56:56
investigators who were called to the scene observed Andre purchasing a 9mm handgun and
00:57:04
ammunition we were under the assumption that he was purchasing a gun to probably
00:57:09
harm himself when Andre walked back to his car investigators confronted him their
00:57:16
violent takedown may be disturbing to viewers investigators moved to detain the Air Force Major and turned him over
00:57:25
to military authorities for a mental evaluation meanwhile investigators returned to the house with a search
00:57:34
warrant and checked andrene's car while there some objects caught their eye there was a shovel there was an axe an
00:57:43
axe uh there was a like a hatchet kind of Mall there was trash bags there were gloves and a couple of gas cans and
00:57:54
there was more inside the garbage can in the house was a receipt from Lowe's that had
00:58:03
been torn up detectives were able to obtain surveillance footage from the hardware store items that were purchased
00:58:11
the day after andreen went missing this is Andre McDonald coming into the Lowe's
00:58:17
he's going to purchase several items you can see him with a basket here you can see there's a shovel in the basket now
00:58:23
he comes up here there's two gas cans there's a a mall or a hatchet here's that axxe what's at play
00:58:32
here it appeared to us that now that his wife is missing um it pointed to the disposal of her
00:58:40
body look at that cart full of ill will right yes and in the corner of the garage investigators would uncover what
00:58:50
they say was the most damning evidence of all we found a a hammer and clothing in the garbage the clothing that we
00:58:58
found appeared to be Andre's clothing investigators say they found traces of Blood on the pocket of these genes
00:59:07
what's on the claw hammer that's of Interest the lab determined that there was the presence of blood on the hammer
00:59:14
and the DNA that they obtained from that that blood sample was from entering we concluded that that hammer was probably
00:59:24
used as the murder weapon this is significant very [Music] significant 48 hours into the
00:59:46
investigation detective stubs believed he had discovered key evidence that implicated Major Andre McDonald in his
00:59:54
wife's disappearance investigators located those items stained with Andre's blood inside the
01:00:02
family's trash can this missing person's case had become much more Sinister and it's pointing toward
01:00:11
what the evidence was pointing towards a murder but there was a problem none of the evidence collected proved that a
01:00:23
murder had actually occurred turning a missing person's case into a homicide case is very
01:00:33
difficult on March 3rd 2019 the Air Force concluded its evaluation of Andre and released him Civil Authorities
01:00:42
quickly moved in and placed him under arrest my daughter my family what do you have to say about this entire
01:00:49
investigation but it wasn't for murder Major Andre McDonald was arrested for tampering with evidence based upon that
01:00:57
torn receipt found at the house listing the items he had purchased from the hardware
01:01:03
store Andre's arrest left his mother Jackie in a State of Shock and disbelief I saw that Andre was taken
01:01:14
into custody and I just collapsed I know he loved andreen why would he harm her and for Andre's mother Andre's
01:01:27
arrest left her head spinning oh God Andre could not H andreen that's what I was saying but who
01:01:39
else adding to everyone's sense of shock confusion and suspicion was Andre's decision to stop cooperating with
01:01:49
detectives Andre's face told us there was no way in hell we were going to break him and make him tell us what had
01:01:56
happened Sheriff Salazar went on local TV asking for help we are asking anybody with any information on her whereabouts
01:02:04
to give us a call at 210 335 soon after the community of San Antonio along with family and friends
01:02:13
came out in droves to look for and dream including a volunteer search Party formed by former Air Force Airman Bobby
01:02:22
green Bobby took us out to one of the areas where he searched for and dream right now we're behind a hospital we
01:02:31
thought he might have taken her here to a wooded area as you walk through here what are you looking for you would look
01:02:38
at tree branches that have been pushed away something that was cut fresh uh tire tracks how many miles did you cover
01:02:47
it was hundreds of miles as search efforts continued Andre McDonald was released from jail on where is and with
01:02:55
with his wife absent Andre took over management of Starlight homes search efforts continued although investigators
01:03:03
say Andre didn't take part days would eventually turn into months of dead ends as the search for andreen went on
01:03:14
investigators dug further into the couple's relationship learning that they had business problems as well as
01:03:22
romantic ones in WhatsApp messages shared with friends there are arguments over who
01:03:28
really was the brains behind their successful business in one andreen tells Andre
01:03:35
Starlight Holmes is my idea my dream and would not have happened without my drive
01:03:43
back then friends like Andrew Russell became worried about the potential for violence and I have text message from
01:03:52
andreen that's saying someone is going to snap Andrew told investigators that the couple's war of words turned
01:03:59
physical the night before a Christmas party at their home in 2018 where the McDonald's got into a physical
01:04:08
altercation so when I went into the kitchen Andy and and jeene were grappling on the floor the next morning
01:04:14
they were laughing about it I did feel uncomfortable after that I thought the the situation had become
01:04:22
toxic just over 2 months later Andrew Green's blood was spilled in her home and she vanished finally on the evening
01:04:31
of July 11th 2019 133 days after andreen had gone missing there was a break in the case about 7:30
01:04:41
this evening uh the bar County Sheriff's Office patrol deputies were dispatched to this location for a report of some
01:04:47
human remains that were found skeletal remains were located in a farmer's field just 6 miles from the Donald Hol this
01:04:57
man Clifton cundi made the discovery Clifton had taken out his tractor to retrieve a cow skull that had been
01:05:06
spotted right along the tree line of the property I saw the what appeared to be a
01:05:12
human skull in front of the cow skull that must have been a shock a shock yes officials determined that the human
01:05:20
skeletal remains belong to andreen McDonald her sister Cindy Johnson I was at a church praying for
01:05:31
andrin I couldn't do anything I broke down it hit us like a storm cuz we still wasn't thinking like
01:05:45
that never I never saw this coming less than 48 hours later Andre McDonald would be arrested and charged
01:06:00
with his wife's murder see more evidence from the case at 48 hours.com Andre's family had waited for
01:06:20
justice for 4 years it hurts every night before I go to my bed I think about her be County
01:06:30
assistant District Attorneys Steven spear Lauren Scott and Ryan groomer would prosecute McDonald for the murder
01:06:38
of his wife and dream but the prosecution would face an uphill battle despite the evidence found at the
01:06:45
McDonald home the hammer and the blood the prosecution could not say for sure how andreen died because andrene's body
01:06:55
was out in the elements in that field for all of those days medical examiner's office was unable to specify what
01:07:02
exactly caused Andre's death and does that Stephen complicate your preparation no it absolutely does we say he caused
01:07:11
her death however we don't know how if Andre murdered his wife what do you believe was his motive I believe it was
01:07:19
largely because he felt emasculated she was such a rising star had control of these businesses and I think he was Je
01:07:25
jealous of that McDonald who pleaded not guilty was represented by some of the top defense lawyers in San Antonio John
01:07:34
conver Zoe Russell and John Hunter how would you respond to the notion that what caused all this was his
01:07:44
Envy of his wife's success I I don't see any evidence of that Andre is a major in
01:07:50
the Air Force I mean he's incredibly successful on his own right Major Andre McDonald had been
01:07:56
under house arrest since April of 2021 but days before his trial was set to begin January 17th
01:08:05
2023 McDonald who had remained silent about his wife's death began telling an extraordinary story beginning with his
01:08:15
own mother Jackie says her son told her Andre's death was an accident he looked at me and he said
01:08:26
mom I'm going to tell you the truth and he started to cry McDonald then called Andre's mother and sister Cindy who put
01:08:36
the call on speaker phone he gave the family for the first time details of what happened according to him according
01:08:44
to him yes it was a phone call that stunned his defense team was it shocking to you that he had done this shocking is
01:08:53
a good word for it yeah the entire context of the case changed his best thought would be to tell a story in
01:09:02
court McDonald would get to tell his story but not before the prosecution laid out its case in opening stat ladies
01:09:11
and gent inside the trash B in the garage a hammer that hammer has blood on it it is the victim's
01:09:22
blood the defense contended that And Dre's death was an accident this is not a murder case it is
01:09:32
a case about the degree and level of responsibility with evidence of accident a mutual
01:09:44
fight all of which happens in the blink of an eye the prosecution also called forensic pathologist Dr James feig who
01:09:53
testified that andrein SK Al remains had severe injuries consistent with being struck by a blunt object she had a
01:10:02
fractured spinal cord a broken rib and a split jaw but the pathologist could not
01:10:08
determine what exactly had caused Andre's death so the way that I have phrased her cause
01:10:19
of death is homicidal violence including blunt force trauma after 6 days of testimony and 33
01:10:29
Witnesses the prosecution rested the defense had only one witness defense calls Major Andre McDonald McDonald
01:10:39
described the evening of February 28th 2019 while at the tax preparers office with his wife he discovered that andreen
01:10:47
had started a new business a year earlier without his knowledge what did that signify to
01:10:55
basically all that meant to me pretty much that she was robbing me after a heated argument that evening McDonald
01:11:03
says he left the house to cool off at that gas station McDonald says they continued their argument over text and
01:11:12
when he returned home he raised the possibility of divorce and splitting their business in half she became
01:11:20
extremely irate at the thought of splitting the business charges into the room to confront me so when she comes
01:11:28
into the room you know I turn around and she comes like right up in my face so at
01:11:34
that moment he spits in my face so at that point I grabbed her cuz she's like right in front of me so I grabbed her
01:11:41
head I think we had like a a clash of heads and I think it opened up like a cut somewhere on her face McDonald said
01:11:48
andren ran into the bathroom and turned on the lights when andreen saw her bloody face in in the mirror McDonald
01:11:56
claims she attacked him his testimony may be disturbing to some viewers when she comes she's like
01:12:04
throwing like some punches so I'm trying to like duck down and like keep my head
01:12:09
my face from getting hit with the blows I remember like grabbing her like tripping her and then she like Falls and
01:12:14
that's when I kick her like twice but the second kick I think I heard like some type of
01:12:20
weing and then also like in the background I could hear like some foot the footsteps of their young daughter
01:12:28
Elena McDonald said he left to put Elena back to bed and when he returned about 30 minutes later his wife was
01:12:37
dead I became like pretty frany at that point because you know she's dead on the
01:12:43
floor you never thought I need to call in cross-examination prosecutor spear asked if McDonald had thought about
01:12:50
calling 911 I never thought about calling anybody to survive a dead person my purpose at that point was simply to get
01:12:58
her out of the house so that my seven-year-old daughter wouldn't see her mother laying on the floor dead after
01:13:04
putting Elena back to bed McDonald said he dumped Andre's body in this field stripped her naked and returned home to
01:13:12
burn her clothing which left that burn patch in the backyard but what about Andre's Blood on the yellow hammer on
01:13:21
the face of it the evidence doesn't square with McD Donald's account of an accident McDonald had an explanation for
01:13:30
that he testified that when investigators finished searching his home he went back to the field Before
01:13:37
Dawn angry and armed with the yellow Hammer a can of gasoline and a plan my plan was to hit the person that
01:13:48
caused this whole circumstance and you felt it was her fault right it's absolutely her fault what did you do
01:13:54
with the gasoline I poured it on her and then I used the the lighter and set it on fire
01:14:01
McDonald said when the flame subsided that's when he attacked his wife's corpse with the yellow Hammer I hit her
01:14:09
in the face the neck and I just like hit her again as I was walking away why that
01:14:15
last blow as I was walking away yes I guess I was still angry when I was walking away after that gruesome
01:14:23
testimony the defense shifted gears and tried to refocus the jury on their theory of the crime and for the first
01:14:32
time the defense brought up why McDonald acted the way he did that night have you
01:14:39
always believed you acted in self-defense yes I've always believed that from the very beginning thank the
01:14:45
defense played videos showing andreen giving her husband a piggyback ride and working
01:14:52
out would you describe andreen as very strong powerful woman yes I would straight up according to McDonald his
01:15:01
wife could lift up to 300 lb yes ma'am when she attacked you were you in fear yes I wasn't fear of you know being
01:15:12
harmed during that that whole situation they wants you to forget and disregard about all his actions closing
01:15:21
arguments defense Council said that this is self-defense f this is not self-defense it's time to hold this man
01:15:29
responsible for what he did and it's time to find him guilty Andre McDonald did not intentionally or knly murder
01:15:39
Andre McDonald he acted in self-defense and your duty and your obligation is to say not
01:15:48
guilty thank you after 6 days of testimony the jury got the case all the jury approximately 11 hours into their
01:15:58
deliberation the jury sent a note to the judge that says we're hopelessly deadlock what do you make of Andre
01:16:10
McDonald's claim of self-defense chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X
01:16:24
[Music] after almost 11 hours of deliberating the jury was deadlocked unable to decide
01:16:35
if Andre McDonald was guilty of murder manslaughter or Not Guilty by self-defense everything was said in the
01:16:43
courtroom all the evidence were were there he confessed on the stand what he did they saw his demeanor I don't know
01:16:53
what was um the problem for jurors Brandon meden I voted for murder and I saw that we were six and
01:17:00
six and Rudy Ruiz at no point did any juror think that he was innocent or that it was self-defense the problem was
01:17:10
wording because people really picked apart the definitions of murder and recklessness the jury of Six Women and
01:17:18
six men spent hours discussing whether McDonald Had intentionally murdered andreen or or if he had recklessly
01:17:26
killed her making it manslaughter murder carries a life sentence manslaughter up to 20 years and
01:17:35
I think most of us could agree that whatever happened it was Reckless he left her on the
01:17:44
ground and he did not render Aid now the trick was to try and convince the other
01:17:51
jurors that it was murder but as the Del liberations continued some of the jurors had been
01:17:58
swayed with nine now for manslaughter meí says the biggest factor in swaying the vote was Andre McDonald's testimony
01:18:07
there was so little evidence and so a lot of people believe because we don't know anything else other than what he
01:18:16
has told us that we have to take what he told us and he was actually able to convince a lot of the jurors we had that
01:18:23
one juror that he said well I've kicked someone I never intended to kill them medine Ruiz and a
01:18:31
third juror were the staunch holdouts for murder no one was going to change anyone's mind the judge then invoked
01:18:39
what's called an Allen charge urging the holdout jurors to reconsider the evidence and reach a unanimous decision
01:18:47
after another hour of deliberations a verdict and Mr McDonald please stand with your Council
01:18:55
to the count of murder charging the indictment the jury finds the defendant not guilty of the offense of
01:19:03
murder as charged in the indictment and guilty guilty of the offense of manslaughter Andre McDonald was found
01:19:12
not guilty of murder but guilty of the Lesser charge manslaughter Andre's sister Cindy was in
01:19:22
disbelief the man slaughter after he spoke with no remorse no love nothing at all and used
01:19:34
Hammer strip her clothes throw gasoline on her burnt her and they gave him manslaughter that's
01:19:43
crazy I I am going to struggle with this thought until the day I die the prosecution had a mixed reaction
01:19:51
to the verdict I was disappointed how ever the jury rejected his self-defense argument and held him accountable for at
01:19:58
least something for the defense Andre McDonald may not have walked out a free man but this is a win despite how I
01:20:08
believe that this is a self-defense case I do respect the outcome and Dre's best
01:20:14
friend Mandy Hall he's there to tell his story he's there to make up whatever he
01:20:20
wants to make up she she doesn't she can't do that because he took that away from
01:20:26
her Cindy now sees that phone call from McDonald before the trial in a whole new
01:20:32
light as a calculated ploy to deflect blame it's four years it took him four years for him to recognize that he did
01:20:43
what he did and then all of a sudden he's um reaching out to us to let us think that
01:20:49
he's been responsible he didn't mean anything he is lying all a lies it's all a lie after the verdict Sheriff Salazar
01:20:59
reached out to andrene's Father a retired member of the Jamaican army with an unusual
01:21:06
offering I did present Mr Anderson with a gift uh I asked my Deputy to remove the handcuffs from from Andre as they
01:21:13
put him back into the um cell and I gave I presented those cuffs to to Mr Anderson I wanted them to feel some sort
01:21:22
of connection to sending him away to to prison I want to tell you that we really
01:21:28
appreciate it thank you very much God bless you for Andre's mother nothing about
01:21:37
this tragedy makes sense her daughter and the Beautiful Life she had created are gone andreen McDonald who came to
01:21:46
America became a successful entrepreneur and found her purpose in serving others
01:21:53
sadly the business business she created is now closed I miss her very much most times when I think about her I
01:22:05
just it's like I feel like giving up and in those times marine and Cindy lean on
01:22:12
one another we're blessed to have each other to take us through this sad Journey um when I'm weak my mom is
01:22:21
strong when my mom is weak I am strong we have to be strong for Elena Elena now 12 years old is the glue
01:22:33
that binds this fractured family a family that still includes Andre's mother Jackie though she is mainly left
01:22:41
with the memories and the pain of what once was I think I heard for Alena more than
01:22:49
I heard for everyone no child should ever have to go through what she went Moren and Cindy are now raising Elena
01:23:01
it's bittersweet cuz we have Elena Elena reminds us so much of Andre can momy get
01:23:11
kiss love you [Music] a young wife and mother found with a strange mix of drugs in her system hey
01:23:28
there's a needle right here it makes you stop breathing if you have too much was
01:23:32
it murder investigators turned to her journals for answers how crucial were those journals very 48 hours Saturday on
01:23:40
CVS streaming on Paramount plus real people real crimes real life drama [Music] in the mid 1980s a young funeral home
01:24:01
director named Bernie Titi came to the little East Texas town of [Music] Carthage it's beautiful yes I love the
01:24:12
people here in Carthage Carthage is just a small town of 6,000 people a lot of people got very wealthy on oil and
01:24:20
gas there's a lot of little widows in town who have a lot of money none more so than Mrs margorie
01:24:28
Nan Bernie Titi was running a con on my grandmother he picked up a gun shot her four times in the back and
01:24:39
that he buried her in her own de freeze my name is Bernie TAA you may have heard about me this is my St they
01:24:47
did a movie about me called Bernie Jack Black who's going to play you yes [Music]
01:24:55
Richard linklater is my favorite filmmaker I've ever worked with all right cut I'm Rick linklater and I directed
01:25:04
the movie Bernie there was something about this story that stayed with me and I think it was that relationship the
01:25:10
Miss nent Bernie relationship and the Bernie Tito that you know is he a good man he's the sweetest guy you know he's
01:25:18
a great man very complex character is that part of what attracted you to this film The thing about playing Bernie is
01:25:29
that he's lovable and it's really important to Bernie that he be loved perfect submiss and I can relate to
01:25:43
that 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
01:25:52
was tough she was vile and hateful just mean wave hi hello she's very loving I miss her Berney stole $3.8 million from
01:26:04
my grandmother and then he put four bullets in her back at close range how did this happen and that was what the
01:26:09
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
01:26:17
love her and that's where Bernie came in did she ever look at you Bernie and say
01:26:24
ber I love you well we often told each other that yes she was a wonderful woman and didn't deserve to be executed by
01:26:31
Bernie T I have to live with this every day of my life and I don't like that I think the film is asking the
01:26:43
question can the nicest person in the world I don't like thinking ill of Mary be capable of the worst act
01:26:58
[Music] [Applause] [Music] let's go back and start the Bernie story from the beginning where'd you grow up well right
01:27:30
here in East Texas one way or another Bernie TAA has been dealing with death and darkness
01:27:38
since he was 3 years old my daddy and my mother they had a car accident and my mother was riding in the passenger side
01:27:46
of the car and uh um daddy never forgave himself for that his mother dead his father started drinking hard and
01:27:57
died when Bernie was just 15 so a lot of death had occurred in our in our family
01:28:03
things only got worse for Bernie he claims he was molested by his own Uncle Elmer ducet 12 when my uncle began
01:28:11
molesting me ducet has always denied Bernie's allegations did it darken your world in some way yes it
01:28:21
did Bernie learned first hand that the wounded lonely and those the dead leave behind need comforting this was Bernie
01:28:32
Tia's world I guess you could say that's true here Carlton shamburger is the owner of Hawthorne Funeral Home where
01:28:40
Bernie worked for 9 years he was very successful here at Hawthorns and as a funeral director overall he could do
01:28:46
everything he could he was talented could do everything from makeup hair he could sing he could preach even out
01:28:52
coloration than apply highlights it would just be part of what inspired director Richard linklater and actor
01:29:00
Jack Black to collaborate on the Darkly comic movie Bernie too much color does not make one look more alive he was on a
01:29:08
lot of people's list to literally sing them to Heaven he knew how to take care of families he could connect that
01:29:14
quickly could connect yeah [Music] exactly so it wasn't long after 27-year-old Bernie arrived in Carthage
01:29:24
back in 1985 that everyone seemed to know him from the dusty dirt roads one of his
01:29:31
excellent qualities was he was a gourmet cook where Jack Payne and Ira bounds live I think that he was well thought of
01:29:38
amongst the little old ladies in town and at Comer's famous barbecue he taught our Sunday school he preached a
01:29:46
funeral for us even down at the courthouse did you know Bernie TAA yes where local Legend District attorney
01:29:54
Danny Buck Davidson ruled back then and still rules today everyone sense something good had come to town you
01:30:03
think gee I'm glad this guy came here he's an asset to the community everybody love Barney I
01:30:12
come alone well I enjoyed singing in the choir and then I got active also in the
01:30:18
school here in the drama Department I was acting and and and doing in plays and you were often the start often times
01:30:25
often times yes did you feel loved in this community very much so I felt very much loved local ladies Lisa and Susie
01:30:33
cochrell sum it up simply he was a God he God I mean almost people really s like that
01:30:40
yeah he's got a warmth got a magnetism just a super generous sensitive guy and is is everybody's best friend Bernie TAA
01:30:49
always had that human touch he knew just what to say to bring us smile to anyone
01:30:55
who needed it so when a grieving vulnerable Widow came here to the Hawthorne Funeral Home Bernie saw an
01:31:02
opportunity to do what he did best in 1990 the town's leading banker and oilman Rod nent hard-nosed tough but
01:31:17
fair businessman dies skip Hollingsworth covered the case for Texas monthly magazine
01:31:24
and Bernie is in charge of his funeral I inbombed his body and got him ready for
01:31:30
the funeral in Mrs Nan arrives and I'd met with her about the arrangements Marjorie nent would one day be portrayed
01:31:38
by Oscar winning actress Shirley mlan I saw her to the grave site we had the funeral service there and then I took
01:31:46
her back to the car are you thinking to yourself well we've parted ways we did some business and never shall again well
01:31:55
no cuz that's not how I I conduct funerals as I often do with the widows widowers check on them uh go by the
01:32:04
house make sure they're all right did they appreciate your your dropping by oh very much so why don't you know that I
01:32:11
was thinking about you you know these times can be hard well Margie wasn't a Huggy typ person Ruth cochrell would
01:32:19
come to know as much as anyone in Carthage about the friendship of Bernie and marjerie well we are first cousins
01:32:27
were you guys close we got pretty close could marjerie be difficult I think any of us can be
01:32:33
difficult I mean as an old setting hand [Music] sometimes in small towns anywhere your
01:32:42
reputation is not often defined by who you are it's by what people think of you and so the reputation did get around
01:32:48
that Mrs Nan could be cantankerous could Marjorie be mean yes sir she could and another thing newly widowed
01:33:00
74-year-old margerie nent was loaded with cash she would kind of be a call a blue blood as much as $6
01:33:09
million some soaps and a little bubble bath to sooie in the tub Bernie ta wasn't about to be turned away come in
01:33:18
oh that it would be my pleasure I felt sorry for margorie I really did [Music] and soon Marjorie and Bernie were seen
01:33:30
on the scene The Odd Couple of Carthage we'd go to the Cherokee club we would go
01:33:36
to the Jalapeno Tree here in Carthage yeah they were uh they were a pair and it wasn't long before margerie wanted
01:33:44
more than a part-time dinner date and Bernie complied she asked me to leave the funeral home she just wanted more
01:33:51
and more and more of me around she actually hired Bernie and paid him a salary there's this notion out there
01:33:59
that you were attracted to marjorie's money yes um I'm aware of that uh I that was not part of the deal that was not
01:34:08
part of my wanting to be around margorie there's members of margery's family that tell a different story
01:34:16
Bernie TAA is what a thief just 2 hours up the road in Dallas these are some of our our old family
01:34:24
photos of my grandmother three proud granddaughters everything that has been said about her is not her have a very
01:34:31
different take on just why Bernie was befriending Marjorie he saw her as a mark he stole
01:34:40
her money when he was about to be found out he shot her and killed her that's the real story that is the
01:34:48
real story [Music] is this case about money yes it is how so I think that defines
01:35:17
everything The Majestic Gates swung open to a kingdom of riches and Bernie rolled
01:35:24
right in I think the Fatal mistake my grandmother made is she ended up buying a $3,000 headstone from Bernie
01:35:35
Titi from that moment he marked her within months of meeting at her husband's funeral Bernie was fulltime at
01:35:44
margorie n jent's ey popping home helping her with anything that she needed help with make her coffee make
01:35:51
sure she was up she was all right he was there he was there for her they loved each other yeah Bernie loves
01:36:00
everybody and I think he's the one person in the world in that era who could feel that from Marge when no one
01:36:05
else could I never thought of them as being lovey Dobies never just just just together just
01:36:13
friends I never saw him kiss you never did nope and da Danny Buck probably never would because there was something
01:36:22
about Bernie that made Folk FKS Wonder back then I'm a gay man and it's hard to be a a gay man and being out in a small
01:36:31
town did margorie know you were gay we never discussed it never discussed no so what was the attraction she's 42 years
01:36:38
older than you right he was targeting wealthy women well I think the attraction for Marjorie was uh the same
01:36:46
as it was for everybody else in town he was just a a lovable guy when you spend time with them you
01:36:54
want to hang out with them less than a year after her husband's death Bernie and margerie
01:37:00
started hanging out big time trading in the back roads for Broadway we'd go up on Friday
01:37:07
morning and then come back on Sunday saw Broadway shows we had a lot of fun together Bernie TAA the mortician who
01:37:17
made about $24,000 a year now had access to margorie Nan's 10 ,000 square foot mansion in Carthage her checkbook and a
01:37:29
world of opportunity they went on great adventures together wave hi hello they had a ball together they traveled the
01:37:38
world we went to Washington Baltimore and then took a uh a cruise down the East Coast we went to uh Germany
01:37:49
England Scotland and Wales to Egypt I went to the pyramids we just went everywhere was she having a good time
01:37:57
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
01:38:09
her toenails all the uh nitty-gritty and for Bernie the perks kept piling up marjerie showered him with cash clothing
01:38:21
cars even flying lessons and planes to go with it and in turn Bernie gave gifts to the
01:38:30
good people of Carthage he provided money he provided scholarships doing good doing a lot of good in Carthage
01:38:39
turns out he was generous with Miss Nan's money he was kind of the conduit to her generosity to her better Angel
01:38:48
she spoiled me rotten but the newans say their Grandma never needed Bernie or any
01:38:53
anyone to teach her kindness my grandmother was a loving sweet woman and she was
01:39:02
kind she was she was kind and she loved telling stories this is really eye opening guys to talk to you this is
01:39:11
really eye openening in 93 like we went there and she opened the door and she hugged me and she kissed me
01:39:19
like eight times but whatever margery's affection for her granddaughter ERS the stakes were about to change margorie
01:39:27
nent filed a new will leaving everything to Bernie and nothing to her family did
01:39:34
you encourage her to do that no she brought that to me uh one day and it was in 1991 why would she do that well I felt
01:39:44
like she could felt like she could trust me I guess it was on one of the next family visits to Carthage that the nent
01:39:52
women got a hint of How Deeply Bernie had moved into their grandmother's life flash forward to
01:40:00
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
01:40:08
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
01:40:15
pictures of Bernie everywhere and we said who is this you know nanny who is this and she said well he's my friend
01:40:24
and the thing that Disturbed me was that all of the pictures of my grandfather were gone for shanana alexandrea and
01:40:32
Susan Grandma margery's new Behavior was disturbing she was like a school girl in
01:40:38
love and the motives of her new companion deeply suspect we believe that my grandmother was in love with Bernie
01:40:45
and believed that he was in love with her when was the last time you guys saw your grandmother alive that visit in
01:40:53
94 and now they worried that Bernie was well on the way to tricking Marjorie out
01:40:59
of millions I think it's the perfect example of a sweetheart scam um that I have ever seen my grandmother believed
01:41:09
he loved her how do you know that cuz I saw her but Bernie tells a different story claiming that after 5 years
01:41:18
attending to Marjorie the relationship had soured and that even though he had his own modest home he felt trapped by
01:41:27
Marjorie and wanted out Bernie claims margery's 247 demands had turned into an abusive relationship she was very uh
01:41:38
mean-spirited very um uh abrupt with me very um could she be abusive yes very much so in some ways would was her place
01:41:47
his gilded cage and she closed the door on that cage yeah we were uh in a heated discussion about um I I I
01:41:57
told her I said I just I've got to I can't do this anymore and I said I I I can't be your friend anymore I just
01:42:03
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
01:42:09
ever left me I know you so I backed my car out of the garage and by the time I got out there she had
01:42:16
locked the gate on me until I finally decid said okay I won't leave you I won't leave well just park your car jump
01:42:23
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
01:42:30
get away from this woman the door's right there Bernie but it's not as simple as that uh people get trapped
01:42:37
people get trapped no exit no way out and at least according to Bernie feeling like
01:42:46
margerie Nan's prisoner reminded him of the abuse he says he suffered as a boy and in some ways did you feel trapped in
01:42:55
this relationship just as you had been trapped with your uncle yes yes I did I think he is a killer I think he
01:43:06
has no remorse I don't believe a word that comes out of the man's mouth [Music] [Applause]
01:43:27
Bernie TAA claims it pains him to recall how controlling and contener margorie nent
01:43:35
could be I don't like the things that she did but I don't like talking about him
01:43:42
either personally and I think he's pure evil let's move now to November 19th 1996 tell me about that day and what
01:43:52
from your perspective led to the tragedy I had gone out to the house to make coffee early
01:44:01
7:30 got her up that's enough of that ex I don't want you to talk about the shooting this is attorney Jody Cole she
01:44:10
would eventually become a big part of Bernie Tia's life this is all public records I do not want him to talk about
01:44:16
the shooting and how his story would be told that's enough yet when we spoke with Bernie jod Cole stopped him from
01:44:24
telling those Grizzly details hard facts everyone from Carthage to Hollywood now knows shot her in the back
01:44:33
four times shot her dead with this 22 caliber rifle the first bullet in her back makes
01:44:41
her paralyzed so she falls straight down onto the concrete he shoots her again he
01:44:46
then walks straight up to her body puts the nuzzle to the gun to the back of her
01:44:51
and shoots it two more times times those graphic details would be missing from the movie I remember right before we
01:44:59
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
01:45:05
of the hardest scenes in the movie marrey you see a scene like that in a script and you Circle it in the
01:45:13
calendar when you're going to shoot that and you think about it a lot marrey can
01:45:16
you say something oh no no no no Jesus no no no what have I done I'm sorry that that happened in my
01:45:25
life I caused the death of somebody that I loved days turned into months as Bernie
01:45:33
kept his awful secret and margery's family they began to wonder what had become of Grandma I started asking my
01:45:42
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
01:45:48
gets back and the nent women all busy college students at the time this was Christmas my grandparents admit there
01:45:56
was a reluctance to reach out to Grandma Marjorie we had the strange encounter in
01:46:02
1994 where we didn't feel welcome and every Sunday he'd come sit right beside me and give me a full report on Margie
01:46:10
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
01:46:15
thing or another you told one she had Alzheimer's another she was in the hospital such a a difficult time and
01:46:24
Mama would tell us what he had been saying and and it's like Mama are you crazy he's either got her locked up in
01:46:32
the house poisoning her or he's already killed her if I had gone to the police and then been proven
01:46:39
wrong I would have been left out of Carthage because people thought so much of Bernie so week after week month after
01:46:53
month passes margery's nowhere to be seen nine months nine months it was August 18th
01:47:02
1997 the nents had finally shared their concerns with the local sheriff I get a call from my dad he and
01:47:14
I drive [Music] down and it's clear that no one's been there for a very long time
01:47:23
so where was marjerie nent I wanted to check the freezer my grandmother was a child of the depression so you didn't
01:47:32
waste food turning back up the hallway so when Alexandria and the sheriff's deputies got to the house she knew
01:47:39
exactly where she wanted to go she walked down this hallway Alexandria knew that if her grandmother had left the
01:47:46
house she would have put everything she kept in the refrigerator in a freezer located inside this this Pantry she
01:47:54
opened the door and there it was it was so quick it was like I walked in I said there's tape on the freezer and this is
01:48:03
freezer she untaped it and raised it up and threw the lid open and there was the top of Miss n's
01:48:12
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
01:48:23
was my mom do I regret the fact that I didn't rush down there to stop him from doing
01:48:29
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
01:48:38
shot them four times in the back as you think how could I have saved them while a motive remained unclear there was Zero
01:48:47
mystery about the prime suspect Barney's name was top of list Bernie was easy to
01:48:55
find he was right in Carthage at home when the sheriff's deputies showed up and brought him in for questioning I was
01:49:03
so relieved when they came for me and arrested me it felt like this big weight had been
01:49:11
lifted off my shoulder how could you come to my house eat my food and sing hymns and my cousin over there in the
01:49:21
Deep Freeze it's Grim when you know you see an old lady on video being pulled out of a
01:49:33
freezer those are images that stay with you and I think it took two days to thow
01:49:38
out and for them to do an autopsy strange yes that same day Bernie TAA confessed to Penola County sheriff's
01:49:46
deputies that he murdered marjerie nent there wasn't a question in anybody's mind everybody knew I think you're right
01:49:54
Danny Buck Davidson would charge Bernie with first-degree premeditated murder and seek the ultimate penalty laugh life
01:50:03
in prison maximum sence and that's when this Twisted Texas tail really got strange people in the community were
01:50:11
coming in saying Berney was a real good guy if he killed her he had a reason for
01:50:16
doing poor Bernie he had his groupies Bernie had his groupies yep some people people are saying hey let them go some
01:50:24
people are saying no put them away for life you just have never seen a story like this come across your desk ever and
01:50:33
people still want to talk about it they're still mystified about what really happened on that November
01:50:39
afternoon that led Bernie to shoot her four times [Applause] i' stay in Bernie TAA had preached and
01:51:03
comforted and sang his way into this proud small Town's everyday life he held a special place in the
01:51:12
hearts of many people in Carthage Texas some folks even suggested Bernie was next door to the angels and I said he's
01:51:20
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
01:51:28
in the back of a little old lady put her in a preure and kept spending her money
01:51:32
while she was dead and you have a community saying leave them alone that's what would they say go EAS
01:51:40
your own Barney it happened so often he asked for a change of venue and he got one the trial of Bernie TAA for
01:51:49
murdering margerie nent was moved 50 m away and in February of 1999 Danny Buck told his tale to a jury who had never
01:51:59
heard about Bernie I thought it was greed and betrayal that's what I sold to the jury Bernie's defense was that he
01:52:09
killed Marjorie in an act of passion that her murder was not premeditated I don't know what happened that morning
01:52:20
but jury did not relate to him they related to me the trial lasted less than a week how
01:52:31
long did it take this jury to make its decision I think it took them maybe 20 minutes to find him
01:52:39
guilty n years after he met Marjorie newon at her husband's funeral Bernie was sentenced to life and prison which
01:52:47
is the top Max sentence and I felt pretty good about it I deserve time I've done a particularly horrible thing the
01:52:58
worst thing in my life Case Closed except for this Richard linklater couldn't get the tale of
01:53:07
Bernie TAA out of his head I ended up attending the trial and started thinking of this maybe there's a movie here Rick
01:53:16
and Skip Hollingsworth wrote The Bernie screenplay and brought it to Jack Black and he said hey hey I never told you
01:53:23
about this thing that I've been obsessed with this story about this fellow Bernie
01:53:28
TAA and so I said let me read this thing Jack Black became so intrigued he agreed to play the lead
01:53:38
role action but not before he and Link later paid a visit to a Texas Maximum Security Prison to try and understand
01:53:48
just who Bernie TAA really was I wanted to come and meet you I still think it's important if
01:53:56
uh if I want to play a real person that I that I should meet you be around people I'm just a people person black
01:54:04
wanted to know what made Bernie tick right down to what he felt in the days after he murdered Marjorie that must
01:54:12
have been incredibly stressful that period with the walls you have no Earth idea it was
01:54:20
absolutely horrendous if you're playing a person and you have access to them you
01:54:24
got to go see them it's just one of the rules of the game I'm very appreciative of of them coming to meet me and I have
01:54:30
to stay here unless something changes oh there's one man in particular I can think of I you like to talk to the movie
01:54:37
Bernie also featured Matthew mccon as Danny Buck Danny Buck's coming to get you first here please in April 2012 it
01:54:47
premiered in Rick's hometown of Austin critics loved it I know you aing this idea that my grandmother was a monster
01:54:57
is ludicrous the Newen family thought it was beyond offensive it was a complete lie it was devastating to us I mean they
01:55:07
took the most awful part of our lives and just laughed about it and joked about it it's like he cast a spell over
01:55:16
the entire area and now the Bernie TAA story was about to take yet another bizarre twist that began right at the
01:55:25
movie premiere a little feisty lady comes up to me and says I bet there was some you know crazy stuff going on at
01:55:32
the trial she's appeals lawyer jod Cole and after watching the movie she got a hunch that the trial of Bernie TAA had
01:55:41
been a miscarriage of Justice I want the world to know that Bernie TAA is a good
01:55:47
person and that this outcome is unacceptable I said look at that he snaps and so I
01:55:56
thought why did he get a life sentence she asked link later if he had the transcripts from Tia's 1999 murder trial
01:56:06
he came with his boxes of transcripts put it on her desk and like I don't know have at it jod poured over the files
01:56:14
knowing that Bernie's life sentence hinged on Danny Buck's argument that the murder was
01:56:20
premeditated and within a couple of weeks she had come to see me is there a miracle that's about to occur yes and
01:56:28
jod Cole did a lot of work toward that Miracle happening All Rise marjerie marjerie are you okay that
01:56:45
morning I felt like I wasn't a part of the shooting 16 years years after he shot marjerie nent dead Bernie
01:56:55
painted a picture for defense attorney jod Cole about how he felt that awful morning I felt like I wasn't even there
01:57:03
and I have learned that that is called a dissociative episode I think it's a classic case of a kind of a
01:57:10
disassociated moment that's what this whole case hinges on a dissociative episode The New Age psychological term
01:57:18
would break the case against Bernie TAA wide open when they are overwhelmed with
01:57:25
stress and emotion they actually disassociate which is leave their body and Bernie's body the theory goes
01:57:35
killed margerie without his mind taking part and he shot her yes involuntarily the nen family would have their own take
01:57:45
on Jodi's ideas not connected with reality thoroughly confused this woman had been a abusing him for a very long
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time and his body acted in a way to end that abuse Bernie also confided in jod what he says is his darkest secret about
01:58:04
that childhood sexual abuse he claims he suffered at the hands of that Uncle jod brought the findings to the DA
01:58:13
and he was sold what do you conclude in terms of why this murder occurred the child abuse and the abuse of
01:58:23
relationship I think that he did not plan on killing her Danny Buck says if he had to do it all over again he would
01:58:32
have sought a much lighter sentence 20 years would have been the maximum sentence not because Danny Buck wants 20
01:58:41
it's what the law says Danny Buck then went to B for the killer he had once helped convict and on May 6th 2014
01:58:51
Bernie TI's life sentence thrown out a new sentencing trial is ordered and Bernie is released from prison for the
01:58:59
time being lots of Miracles have happened in my life the next miracle was in the parking lot Mr linklater picked
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me up and we drove to Austin the real life Bernie Titi just got out of an East Texas prison oh this is Bernie's little
01:59:14
apartment he lived down here he put me up in his apartment at his home in some ways did Bernie become part of the
01:59:22
family yeah very much I mean did you ever babysit your kids yeah in Austin Bernie went about creating a new life
01:59:31
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
01:59:39
Church our folks surrounded him like mother hens just loving him he is definitely feeling the uh Ecstasy of
01:59:49
freedom well my first thought is how is this happening the nent granddaughters found
01:59:57
it all beyond belief Richard linklater ConEd Richard Linker is just as ConEd as my grandmother
02:00:07
was I think I'm pretty uncontable I think Danny bet got enthralled with Hollywood I'll say
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that's BS before the sentencing trial Danny Buck recused himself he was replaced by two prosecutors determined
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to put Bernie TAA back behind bars this was just a straightup execution I think he's conned Hollywood and he's conned
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the whole Judicial System Jane stars and Assistant Attorney General Lisa Tanner weren't buying it Bernie didn't have a
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dissociative episode this case is about abusing elderly vulnerable people it's about abusing margorie nent financially
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and about just coldblooded murder what do we have in front of us here we have just small portions of the paper trail
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Lisa Tanner would allege Bernie regularly forged margerie Nan's signature he was very good at signing
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her signature manually manipulated her bank accounts this is what he showed Marjorie but this is what he really
02:01:12
deposited we had 14 of these altered her brokerage statements the original of this document is literally a cut and
02:01:21
pasted dummied up statement all of this he's pocketing her money both while margorie was alive and after Bernie had
02:01:29
killed her and stuffed her in her freezer the numbers ended up being approximately $3.8 million total
02:01:38
Bernie's motive for murder came into Focus he was about to be found out [Music] about in April
02:01:49
2016 after 2 years of freedom Bernie Tia's new sentencing trial began is the jury here and ready to go it was moved
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to Henderson Texas because Bernie still had so many friends and fans in Carthage
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we'll begin with the state Miss Tanner Lisa Tanner put Bernie in her sights this is a real case with a real murderer
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he did that and Hollywood so we're going to talk about that in a non-f fictionalized non hollywoodized kind of
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way Hollywood means you know lack of morality thank you guys but I took that really personal cuz I don't live in
02:02:29
Hollywood I'm an indie Texas director Rick link later was called to the stand to defend his friend I think he's a
02:02:38
incredibly nice generous man who you know did a horrible thing the director and those who love Bernie
02:02:47
argued he had paid his dues with time already served 16 years yeah I'd say he served enough time
02:02:57
and Bernie's Uncle under oath denied ever having molested Bernie you say never but did admit writing him a letter
02:03:06
sexual in nature Bernie did not testify at the trial I mean I just there there are just some questions that don't have
02:03:15
any answers two dramatic vers verions of margerie Nan's murder have now been told
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one on the big screen the other in a courtroom in Henderson Texas the question now is who will the jurors
02:03:34
believe sudden passion disassociative episode snapping when he took that gun and pointed it down straight to the
02:03:44
ground and put it in her back that justified a life sentence then Bernie are you a danger to society no sir not
02:03:52
at all the jury goes out to deliberate Alexandria what's going through your mind you know at that moment all you can
02:04:02
do is pray on April 2nd 2016 some 26 years after he met Marjorie nent the jury once again sentenced
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Bernie TAA to 9 9 years in prison for 99 years alive everyone in that courtroom knew
02:04:30
that my grandmother was not mean she did not deserve to die and that this man deserved to go away for the rest of his
02:04:41
life when I heard 99 years I mean it was just it was devastating he back in prison for life
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it's very discouraging now what's as certain as his life sentence is this deep in the Heart of Texas Bernie
02:05:01
TAA is [Music] loved even today is there a Bernie TAA fan club in Carthage yes not as big as it once was
02:05:13
but it's here [Music] [Music]