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Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent | Morbid | Podcast

November 23, 2023 / 01:29:32

This episode covers the murder of Marjorie Nent by Bernie Teed, exploring their complex relationship and the community's reaction. Key discussions include Bernie's background, his role as a caretaker, and the events leading to Marjorie's death.

Hosts Ash and Elena introduce the case of Bernie Teed, born in Tyler, Texas, who became a beloved figure in Carthage, Texas. They discuss his early life, career in the funeral industry, and his relationship with the elderly Marjorie Nent, who was known for her wealth and difficult personality.

As Bernie and Marjorie's relationship developed, he became increasingly involved in her life, leading to speculation about their connection. The hosts highlight how Bernie’s generosity towards the community masked his ulterior motives, including financial exploitation.

The episode details the shocking murder of Marjorie, who was shot multiple times by Bernie, and the subsequent discovery of her body in a freezer. The hosts discuss the community's disbelief at Bernie’s actions and the trial that followed.

Finally, the episode touches on the aftermath of the trial, including Bernie’s conviction and the mixed reactions from the community, illustrating the complexities of human relationships and morality.

TLDR

Bernie Teed murdered Marjorie Nent, exploiting her trust and wealth before hiding her body for months.

Episode

1:29:32
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hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is [Music] morbid more bit and I have that who that
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wonderful girl that Tik Tok stuck in my head [Music] I love all the ones that's like me when
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I haven't eaten in like 4 hours and I'm bitching at my husband and I walk in after a snack and he's like I know those
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are funny relatable guys Tik Tok is fun I [ __ ] love Tik Tok fun sometimes I want to make Tik TOs and then I try to
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the only Tik toks I can do are um the like the little generator things yeah ex same way I don't know what else to do I
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don't either and it's hard because you have to use that like cap cut thing yeah yeah it's I give influencers some credit
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content creators on Tik Tok killing it like I was say when we um talked to Tyler about this Tyler ghost honey the
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most wonderful magical mystical Whimsical human ever he is truly we were I told him how I was like I don't know
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how you how do you live like how do you live having making one Tik Tok just destroys me for like three months like
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it's so much work whenever I I like this probably happens to you too whenever I make a Tik Tok Tik Tok people are like
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oh my God Ash like you posted you're yeah like wow you exist I'm like I'll do another one in three months yeah don't
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worry we'll figure it out Som we have lots of ideas and we always say we should do Tik to yeah we came up with
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one today but we'll do it eventually I know we should do that one that would be funny but I I don't even think it's like
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a trend anymore it's all right but like we're always I'm never I was going to say you're like I never never I am never
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trending I am never trendy I am never on Trend I'm never any of that fun stuff so
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I love a good Trend let's bring it back let's bring back [Music] oh hi I wish you guys could have seen the
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face and movements that went along with that locked eyes with me and just did the whole thing and I said I'm so
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uncomfortable my favorite is when they go hi that's on the muscle plays at the wedding list there you go I like that
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goodbye must plays on the wedding list correct correct well here we are here we are [ __ ] youy what' you say said goofy YY
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goofy YY I thought you said good for YY good for goofy YY good for yui that's us
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all right we should get into I got a chuckle out of Mikey Mikey thinks we're funny he's working on our head shots we
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did head shots today yeah cool all right so that's our life hope yours is good too love you love you love you mean it
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like genuinely all right I have a real bummer of a case for you today oh wamp wamp I know it's this is a baffling one
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to me just the reaction of people to murder like the reaction people had to the brutal murder of a elderly woman oh
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is wild oh boy yeah we're going to be talking about Bernie teed and the murder of margerie marjerie nent I know this
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yeah I've known I don't know the details but I know of this one that's exactly where I was before I you know kind of
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dived in but then I dove in and I was like I got to get out of here cuz I gotta get out of here y'all are [ __ ]
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so let's just go right into it Bernie has a hard name to say because his real name is burnhard burnhard I always want
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to pronounce the d like burnhard hard it's like letter boxed letter boxed there you go yeah but Bernie teed was
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born on August 2nd 1958 Tyler Texas to burnhard teed senior and I believe it's Leila May Jester oh what an adorable
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name Leila May Leila May is a really cool name Lea may I love a first and last name combo that's like that goes
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together like that you know what I mean yeah I like that now uh burnhard was a music Professor which is really cool and
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Lila was a homemaker cute yeah and for the earliest years of Bernie's life the family lived in I believe it's Kilgore
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where his father worked as an instructor in the fine arts department at Kore junior college but unfortunately in 1960
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when Bernie was just 2 years old his mother was actually killed in a car accident oh jeez yeah really tragic
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start now his father waited three more years before remarrying in 1963 to a woman named Clara Wy uh and after the
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movie Why Did I Say movie after the wedding the family moved that's why to live in I believe it's abene Texas right
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abene sounds good to me I only say it once so if you're cringing you to cring once so starting at an early age Bernie
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took on the role of caretaker in the family like especially after his mom passed away and then when his father
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died in 1973 after battling a long illness Bernie immediately volunteered to get a
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part-time job to help support his sister and his stepmother his sister said in a
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1998 interview with Texas monthly magazine I really think that because of the loneliness he went through in his
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childhood Bernie made it his calling to serve people and times of their own need
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oh so it's it's really interesting the the path that you take throughout this case because you it's I'm like where did
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you Veer off course yeah that I think that's again I don't know the details of this but I remember that this case was
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one that was like very confusing because it's like what happened yeah it's like he just snapped yeah really now but
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before that happened that desire to take care of other people led Bernie to a part time job at a local funeral home
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where at just 15 years old he spent his afternoons doing yard work and then down
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the line he eventually started helping with the funerals okay now in 1973 East Texas where gender roles and
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heteronormativity were kind of expected Bernie was something of an anomaly he was a presence that unintentionally but
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directly defied those social expectations but on the other hand he was so charming and nice that everybody
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couldn't help but like him oh so there were things about his personality that you know where he lived people wouldn't
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usually be cool with but just because of who he was they they were cool with it isn't that funny that it's like huh yeah
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so you didn't like these things these completely just innocuous things that you decided aren't aren't right or or
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socially okay but because he's such a nice person he couldn't help but just ignore them and it's like H it's almost
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like you should look at who people are imagine that no never let's not do that no let let's let's base it off of
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something totally ridiculous oh yeah and that's not to say that there weren't people out there that just completely
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didn't accept him because he would get bullied from time to time for having a quote unquote effeminate personality but
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overall he was really popular with his classmates there were of course the group of [ __ ] that bullied him but
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for the most part he had a loving Squad well that's good yeah and I'm glad he had that when he was when he was like a
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decent person exactly see it's so confusing it's just it's such a tough case yeah but his sister said he was
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popular at high school and for kicks he'd sneak the hearse on Fridays out of the funeral home and drive a bunch of us
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around abene sorry I said it again that sounds fun yeah I would have thought that was great you would have been the
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one you'd be like okay okay but Bernie's warm friendly personality it did make him an ideal fit for the funeral
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industry you need somebody like that when you're dealing with grief and everything that comes along with it yeah
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and after graduating from high school he enrolled at MCN State University in Lake
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Charles Louisiana where he eventually got an associate degree in mortuary science which pretty cool that is pretty
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cool reminded me of you no thank you you're welcome mortuary science reminds me of you I don't have that degree but
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thank you oh you don't no Oh I thought you did no that's a whole different one of theti and like Mortuary stuff is a
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whole different very uh involved degree ah shout out to my morticians out there hey yo hell yeah
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let's go but after graduating Bernie found work at a local Funeral Parlor where he spent years and years learning
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the trade and then he moved to Carthage Texas and there he found work at Hawthorne Funeral Home and he was able
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to get an apartment just behind the funeral home so he lived close by that's a nice commute it's a great commute and
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he was close with the funeral the owner of the funeral home for a little while Don lip it said he was probably the most
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qualified young man I've ever seen he waited well on families he would sing solos behind the screen during the
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funeral and he was a darned good in Balmer he had a talent of making the hair of the deceased look really
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natural man yeah loaded statement I was just GNA say so much to unpacking that statement it's just like he was a damn
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good in Balmer which it's like you know what it's necessary yeah the whole point
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is to look great absolutely you know like to look nice and Serene and peaceful and you know and look like what
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your family members remember you looking like so like you know it's it's it's a skill that someone has to have hell yeah
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and he was also a good singer and good at dealing with the families you know yeah I always thought about that when we
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did autopsies I was like the embalmer shout out to them yeah because a lot of times I was like oh like you got your
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work cut out for you here I would imagine that would be difficult especially you know depending on how you
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leave this world exactly so so again shout out to mortician hello but Bernie he didn't just excel at work he gained
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quickly he quickly gained a reputation around town as a helpful cheerful man to just about everybody Carthage resident
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poarta said he was very quick to shake her hand and ask how you were doing and if you told him you weren't doing too
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well he would drop everything to talk to you and see what he could do and when he
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wasn't sewing curtains for his elderly neighbors or helping them with their taxes he was showering them with gifts
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and momentos damn yeah according to that uh funeral owner there Don lipy he said the
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UPS truck started arriving in Carthage every day with something that Bernie had ordered from a catalog but like for
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other people wow yeah and you're like what the [ __ ] is going on Bernie it's so
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strange when's it going to happen I'll let you know but whether it was at the funeral home in church or literally just
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on the street Bernie seemed to add something to the community that everybody recognized as valuable mhm but
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at the same time his gentle disposition his love of Broadway show tunes and his noticeably single relationship status
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did make him the subject of some small town gossip which is stupid because you're like here's this awesome person
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and we're all just going to like quietly talk [ __ ] about him because he's single
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and like likes show tunes I know like people need people need to mind their own [ __ ] business to be honest it's
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like just let them like show to again who I I don't know exactly what happens after this so I'm sure I'll change my
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tune later like well [ __ ] that but like right now I'm like if somebody's and chill just let them like what they like
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that's the thing you know if you like show tunes you like show tunes get out of show tunes I don't like show tunes
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but I hope if you like show tunes you have the best time singing them just like you know Life's Too Short everybody
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thing just live stop worrying about what other people are liking it's my favorite
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[ __ ] way of my favorite motto my favorite way of life Live and Let Live exactly if if no one's hurting someone
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of course of course if you're being a dick don't don't let that happen trouble but Don lipy said he wasn't badl looking
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and there were numerous girls in the community who would have dated him but he showed no romantic interest in women
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his age at all I think some of the men during their coffee shop talks would insinuate that Bernie was a little light
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in the loafers which um light in the loafers yeah it's a very rudely insulting way to say that somebody is
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gay wow I've never heard that nor had I I had to look it up Strangely I was like
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light in the loafers and then I forgot that Google existed so I was sitting there for like 10 minutes like light in
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the loafers and then you're like oh it's 2023 I can Google this can Google this and it's that's although you're like I
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don't really this is not a fun thing to have on my Google search history but let's go I didn't want like my cookies
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to be a part of that but no definitely not I don't even know what those are but none of us do nobody knows what cookies
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are even if you say that you know what cookies are you don't and you have to accept them everywhere you go now and we
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all just do yeah some but sometimes I say no me too I get sometimes I get strong and I say no yeah me too but
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other times I say except all accept all yeah it honestly it just depends how I'm
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feeling that day it's [Music] true but yeah so basically people at this point people really like Bernie but
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there he is the subject of small town gossip of people insinuating that he's gay because he doesn't have a partner
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and he likes show tunes which like and it's that time and it's all yes and I don't really you know whatever so either
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way whatever whatever either way whoever he was Bernie did seem to have a way with older women at least as far as
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things at the funeral home were concerned according to skip hollandsworth quote some of the older
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women in town loved him so much that they told their children Bernie had to sing at their funeral when they passed
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on wow I know like they were like listen I'm putting it in my will it's he's literally like Kirk from Gilmore Girls
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like befriending all the old ladies he getting and getting their rings at the end yeah for now for now but it was that
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strong empathy and compassion that Drew a newly widowed margorie nent to Bernie and their meeting set in motion
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unfortunately a chain of events that would forever change the lives of many people in Carthage Texas this was also
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like it was also cheerful and juny a lot of it was cheerful and JY and I don't I'm now now we're going down it's like
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going up the the hill of the roller coaster and you're about to take that dive see that's actually my favorite
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part but hey no not Lo entirely so that's where I am right now yeah on the um hypothetical no not
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hypothetical metaphorical roller coaster I don't like it there but on like the legit roller coaster I love that part
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well there you go it's a little bit about us here we are so let's talk about Marjorie let's talk about her margorie
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her made name was mid yet and she had been born in a small town just outside of Carthage in 1915 and she met her
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future husband Rod nent while they were both attending Louisiana Tech after graduation they got married Rod took a
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job with Magnolia oil and his job required them to move around like all over the place they'd spent time in
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Louisiana New Mexico Texas you name it but their longest stay was in Midland Texas they spent over 12 years there and
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mostly raised their son Rod Jr there okay then in 1989 they moved to Carthage and at that point Rod senior was
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seriously considered retirement and just wanted to settle down close to margery's
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Hometown margorie might not have been born in Carthage but it was clear that the nents were the antithesis of other
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recent transplants Like Bernie who quickly and easily integrated themselves into the community okay that wasn't
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quite the case for the nents oh after buying and controlling interest in the First National Bank of Carthage the
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couple quote built a sprawling 6,000 ft Stone home at the edge of town surrounded by a stone wall and
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electronic gate Gates damn goals holy [ __ ] I want electronic Gates electronic Gates I'm going to put that on my vision
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board damn so the high stone walls and the electronic Gates surrounding the new jent house uh certainly didn't endear
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them to the locals and it was said that neither did marjorie's attitude I will warn you ahead of time that a lot of
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people didn't have nice things to say about her which is really shitty reporting on the case because I would
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have loved to find something that I you know could report on that doesn't sound like biased or anything or like
00:16:32
something that's yeah just you know like talking crappily about somebody and maybe there's something in here but a
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lot of people were kind of nasty to her but I would like to say that I bet there
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was a a few things about margery's personality course there's always that's the thing that's why it sucks when you
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only hear the bad stuff CU it's like you don't want to only hear the good stuff and you don't want to only hear the bad
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stuff like everyone's a a rounded out person that's the thing that's the thing and I think this was also later in her
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life she'd also eventually will find out that she's going to lose her husband so
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she's not in like the best time of her life if I was older and lost my husband I don't think I'd be the most friendly
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human on the planet either I'd be [ __ ] miserable so I can't give her like I'd be a a horrible person to be
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around so same you know what margerie I feel you girl I do too so I'm sure you great in your personal life ABS [ __ ]
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lutely and Rob thought so so let's go so there you go so that aside you know the
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house didn't really endear them to people because it was It was kind intimidating yeah intimidating exactly
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that's the perfect word for it and it it kind of said like we don't really want anything to do with you like that's what
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these electronic gates are all about so like leave us alone meanwhile that's just I'm like I'm like game see game oh
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I'm like yeah those I would actually have a sign on them that said leave me alone like i' I'd see that and be like
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hell yeah fellow people hater like's let's go you just go up to their security camera and do like a rock on
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rock on side hell yeah Sol brother we will never speak but see game I'm totally kidding
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everybody don't worry I mean you know so the thing was margorie didn't leave the
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house very often to go into town and whenever she did people said she had a way of rubbing people the wrong way one
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resident said if she had if she had held her nose any higher she would have drowned in a rainstorm it's like okay
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God forbid anybody be confident and you're like w that was a funny way of saying that that was a read mean exactly
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and also you get to that point in life you should be able to hold your head high I mean I hope at that age I have my
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nose so high that I'll drown in a I don't have any problem with people's confidence you know walk around feeling
00:18:41
how you want to feel you shouldn't the problem comes when you look down on people yeah that's where the problem
00:18:47
comes you want to hold your head up high hold that head up high girl hold that head up high I hope everybody feels that
00:18:54
way sometime in their life exactly don't look down on people while you're doing it exactly and what people didn't know
00:19:00
was that one of her relatives confirmed that she struggled with a kind of quote unquote low-level depression oh so she
00:19:06
was struggling internally and it's like nobody took the time to to realize that or you know empathize with that at all
00:19:14
that's the other thing I know we're throwing a lot of like life lessons in here but I'm feeling it in this case you
00:19:19
know because it's just it's layered but it's like that's the other thing you don't know what somebody's going through
00:19:23
in their private life or their pri or their insides you know what I mean like that's why don't don't just read people
00:19:29
right away give people the time of day yeah that's the thing but those those low levels that she would hit they were
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said to make her unpleasant and irritable okay and this relative said it was like these blue periods came on and
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when they did she could be very biting in her comments to people Margie was a difficult woman to love but I also think
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it's important to point out that this was a bit of a different time where people didn't really have the
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understanding of mental health that they do now so I do Wonder had this happened
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more recent if margerie would have had the same reputation cuz she sounds like she was
00:20:02
just struggling a bit exactly you know but in retrospect most people were able to realize that Marjorie wasn't exactly
00:20:08
as as unpleasant as she was guarded and uninterested in going out of her way to make friends but if Bernie teed's warm
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welcome into Carthage tells us anything it's that in smalltown Texas friendliness and good-natured warmth can
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go a long way when it comes to integrating yourself into a community and conversely being a little close
00:20:28
closed off and guarded can have the opposite effect and that caused marjerie to become something of an outcast in her
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hometown okay which sucks yeah that really sucks it does so her Outcast status became starkly apparent when her
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husband died unexpectedly from heart failure in the 90s uh in 1990 quote only a handful of people came to the funeral
00:20:48
to offer her their condolences which like that's [ __ ] that's really shitty that's shitty I don't know but I don't
00:20:55
know about these people I don't either I feel like even like cuz you're talking about the people who are like shitty to
00:21:01
Bernie because even though he's a good person they're just mad that he likes show tunes and then these same people
00:21:07
were like she's kind of being shitty to her it's like I don't know yeah seems like the call is coming from inside the
00:21:12
house town sure does but you know who did go and offer their support was Bernie ah he was not only a comfort in
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his capacity as assistant funeral director but also as a friend according to one resident Larry uh Brumley I
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believe quote the nents including Mr nent knew Bernie's parents and their Association goes back many years they
00:21:31
knew him as a child wow over the years they've maintained their connection and had an interest in him and helped him so
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both of them did yeah now while the majority of Carthage residents did their neighborly duty of politely passing on
00:21:44
condolences after the funeral on the rare occasions that they did see margerie in town Bernie was really the
00:21:50
one among the residents who took a genuine interest in margerie district attorney Danny Buck Davidson would later
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say I don't know if Miss nent had a sing single friend in the town other than him
00:22:00
oh which is heartbreaking that's really sad and according to skip hollandsworth Bernie quote would later tell others
00:22:06
that he could see the loneliness loneliness etched in Miss Nan's Stern face as she stood by the casket oh my
00:22:12
God she was internally going through a lot oh and it's sad because he he is good to her for a while like for a
00:22:22
little bit and like sees this but it's weird because like he is good to her for a little bit but then it it really
00:22:30
quickly veers off course yeah this is just such a strange one it really no warning signs it feels like like I'm not
00:22:38
seeing anything here that's like oh okay eventually you do we get some eventually
00:22:43
in my opinion sure okay I think like somewh CU so far I'm like this just seems like oh whatever like just two sad you
00:22:52
know Souls that are misunderstood exactly that's exactly what it is but that's the thing so he saw her you know
00:22:59
as this lonely woman and it kind of activated his caretaker personality and Drew them to each other okay so in the
00:23:04
months following Rod's death Bernie started carving out larger and larger chunks of his time to check in on the
00:23:10
newly widowed margerie okay and by then she was living alone in that spring mansion that they had built just a
00:23:16
couple years earlier wow and Bernie would visit the house for lunch he would take Marjorie to see plays and musical
00:23:22
performances at the nearby college and he would leave notes of endearment around the house for her to find after
00:23:27
he God and marjor St stock broker Lloyd tiller said Bernie made her smile he gave her plenty of attention and he was
00:23:35
an excellent conversationalist it was like he made her feel young again damn so all seems lovely it kind of like
00:23:41
revitalized her spirit a little bit Yeah and before long Bernie and margorie seemed Inseparable however despite what
00:23:48
the local gossip said their relationship was purely platonic and never remotely romantic but margorie quickly grew
00:23:57
possessive of Bernie they thought and she started repaying his acts of kindness with her own demonstrations of
00:24:02
affection typically in the form of expensive gifts like a $122,000 Rolex that she bought him damn a rly rly rolly
00:24:10
with a d wrench so for a woman with a reputation of being cheap and kinly Margie and Bernie's relationship baffled
00:24:18
a lot of the town's residents who just clearly have a lot of time to gossip yeah and Bernie's friend Larry Brimley
00:24:23
told the reporters she depended on him a lot she would cling to him and people looking on could see that margorie was
00:24:29
becoming very possessive of Bernie and even though I just said that their relationship was never anything but
00:24:35
platonic that didn't stop some other residents from speculating and spreading rumors that Marjorie and Bernie were not
00:24:41
just friends most of the rumors actually seemed to come from the other widows in
00:24:46
town because they were jealous that Bernie had been spending less time with them as he and Marjorie grew closer yeah
00:24:52
which is interesting yeah that is but eventually innocent acts like Bernie napping at marjorie's house or the two
00:24:58
sharing a cabin on a cruise were being interpreted as EV evidence of a romantic relationship or something unsavory of
00:25:05
course so you can see where yeah people got their ideas from yeah people people love some gossip oh they sure do but one
00:25:13
of marjorie's relative set of the relationship quote I think Margie truly enjoyed the companionship with Bernie
00:25:18
and I think Bernie truly enjoyed Margie's money so there you go black and white right there there you go and that's
00:25:25
where you start to see like maybe that a little bit of a warning sign that he really liked her money yeah marjorie's
00:25:33
family I could see that for sure red flag red flag red flag that's a red flag and marjorie's Family's feelings about
00:25:39
Bernie may not have been entirely misplaced in the early 9s Bernie was earning an annual salary of $118,000 per
00:25:47
year as an assistant funeral director that was barely enough to cover even the essentials much less the excessive
00:25:55
spending on gifts for friends and neighbors that he quite frequently engaged in Bernie's sister told writer
00:26:00
skip hollandsworth Bernie was a biah he not only wanted to experience the Finer Things in life he loved buying as much
00:26:07
as he could for others he'd order the same items over and over like three of the same chairs or boxes of cross pens
00:26:14
just so he could give them away wow now the overspending constantly put him behind on his bills and to make matters
00:26:21
worse he owed the IRS around $44,000 in back taxes and under the circumstances Bernie
00:26:27
acceptance of the lavish gifts and large SS sums of money from marjerie make sense but that doesn't mean that his
00:26:34
friends and family necessarily approved of the arrangement between the two of them yeah at the end of 1993 Bernie told
00:26:42
his boss Don that marger had actually offered to hire him as her business manager and quote escort her on trips
00:26:48
around the world for a much higher salary than he was making at the time now the owner of the funeral home Don
00:26:54
lipy was stunned by the news and he warned he was a little concerned he said you know what kind of woman Miss nent is
00:27:01
whatever you think you're going to get out of her you're going to have to earn every penny of it damn and Don's wife
00:27:07
Sally agreed saying Mrs nen is already so possessive of you she's already making you drive out there every morning
00:27:13
just to fix her coffee is that really what you want for yourself which you know I I don't I
00:27:21
don't know if it was the coffee making that he wanted for himself I don't know I think it was like uh I'm going to
00:27:26
travel the world and get paid handsomely who the [ __ ] really would say no to that
00:27:31
exactly that's the thing now this wasn't the first time somebody had warned Bernie about the rumors going around
00:27:37
town about his relationship with Marjorie in fact about a year earlier Don lipy had expressed to Bernie that he
00:27:44
was concerned the relationship could affect his business at the funeral home oh he said quote they did a lot of
00:27:50
things together people probably assumed it was romantic I told him Bernie you can't be funeral director here and do
00:27:56
that this is a small town so everybody was also falling victim of like the small town of it all here
00:28:02
that's the thing yeah very much the small town of it all mhm but about a month after that conversation Marjorie
00:28:09
ended up offering Bernie that job as her business manager and he did end up quitting his job at hawor funeral home
00:28:16
to become margery's full-time companion oh boy and quote unquote business manager I was like his degree is in um
00:28:23
mortuary science does he have a business degree I don't know no I don't know about that no but just don't know as
00:28:31
margery's new business manager Bernie had access to a lifestyle that had always been very far out of his reach
00:28:37
but very much desired so with money borrowed from margorie he bought a small house about a mile from her estate and
00:28:44
he would throw lavish parties to show off this upgrade of his and social status his sister said Bernie found
00:28:51
himself living a dream for the first time in his life he got to be somebody all right yeah so so
00:28:57
everybody's getting something out of this uh I suppose for a little bit and rightfully so in the beginning I was
00:29:05
going to say right now it's like okay it's working for everybody guess you are performing a service you are being paid
00:29:10
for it that's wonderful I'm I'm not here to say anything but CH get not okay wiely because he wasted no time
00:29:18
acclimating to his new role and access to wealth which several people in the Newen inner circle found suspicious
00:29:25
which personally I know if some random man started showing up and hanging out with my grandmother yeah I would be a
00:29:31
little sus about that that's where the uh that's where it becomes an issue I think because remember she has like a
00:29:37
child she has a son I would start I would have some issues with that yeah I'd be like what's the deal here what's
00:29:42
the end game and if somebody that was not a family member had access to my grandmother's bank account Like Bernie
00:29:48
had access to marjorie's bank account o and also had check signing privileges yeah I would not feel good about that I
00:29:56
would not be happy about that no but he did have all those Privileges and when marjor stock broker questioned whether
00:30:04
you know he could be trusted to have access to so much money I guess margorie exploded and told tiller the stock
00:30:11
broker she could absolutely trust Bernie and that if he had a problem with that she would move her stocks elsewhere whoa
00:30:17
so she was like how dare you insinuate that I can't trust him damn which makes you even sadder when you find out that
00:30:24
she went to she stood up for him like like that yeah I was just going to say cuz like Jesus like he really must have
00:30:31
brainwashed her yeah so similarly when marjerie changed her will in late 1993 to make Bernie the sole beneficiary of
00:30:41
her entire estate family members had questions yeah when one of her family members asked her why she would cut her
00:30:47
only child out of her will margorie said quote she didn't want to leave a scent to her son or her immediate family
00:30:53
because they didn't appreciate her whoa and appreciate was quote unquote but can
00:30:58
you imagine your mom cutting you out of her will cuz she says you don't appreciate her [ __ ] shoot that would be
00:31:06
a devastating blow that would be not well [ __ ] not for the like material reason but just for like the damn like
00:31:13
that is yeah that's sending a message someone taking you out of their will like not the monetary part of it just
00:31:19
the Act and the message exactly that is that's big cuz that is your last like that is you Shuffle pulling off this
00:31:27
Mortal coil and saying [ __ ] you to the person you took out of your will birds in the
00:31:34
[ __ ] that's upsetting behold my field of [ __ ] it is Barren forever and then to leave it to like another young
00:31:41
man who's probably similar in age to you that you may have known because again the N jents knew Bernie when he was a
00:31:47
child that would [ __ ] me up yeah yeah in addition to Bernie's considerable salary
00:31:54
he also accompanied marjerie on trips around the world to places like Egypt Russia they took various cruises all
00:32:01
over the place together and soon enough it seemed that the access to marjorie's Fortune was too much of a Temptation for
00:32:09
Bernie oh no and this is where it goes a r we go completely off course he started
00:32:15
regularly withdrawing small quote unquote small to medium amounts of money from margery's account and handing it
00:32:21
out around town to people who most needed it so you're like he's like a weird like
00:32:29
Robin Hood but like yeah but like with stolen money I was just gonna say it with money that like like it's not like
00:32:36
this lady has done anything terrible and like no like it's not like she like you know
00:32:42
like kills kids or something there's no to give them give it away she doesn't deserve it but it's
00:32:48
like yeah like no you can't do that you sure can't but it's like you I don't know if in his mind he's thinking or con
00:32:57
vincing himself that he's like Robin hooding I think and it's like that's not how that works honey most definitely I
00:33:02
think so oh Burnie I think he thought he was some and and this is just my opinion
00:33:06
this just my opinion he thought he was doing good here I think there's some missing pieces here Bernie and I'm sure
00:33:15
in again this is just my opinion I'm sure it was one of those scenarios where it's like well she's Rich As [ __ ] so
00:33:20
she's not going to miss it and like she's not spending it so I might as well give it to people who need it yeah but
00:33:24
it's like you that's almost like for lack of a better term like playing God kind of yeah well it's just like that's
00:33:30
not yours that's not your role to divy out yeah exactly but he sure did with money stolen from margery's account
00:33:38
Bernie quote bought at least 10 cars for people who couldn't afford one a home [ __ ] a home for a struggling young
00:33:48
couple scholarships to students at Penola college and he pledged $100,000 to the new building campaign at
00:33:58
First United Methodist Church damn I'm I'm just like so I'm like you're you have like
00:34:13
this one part of that is is good question like it's there yeah the idea yeah it's the methodology correct that I
00:34:25
have a problem with but like you're like yeah that's awesome so nice like that feels great
00:34:33
but like invest your own money and watch it grow and to her or say yeah and be like you know like this is just like a
00:34:41
really great thing that you would be able to do and since I can see you know what's happening in your financial life
00:34:50
here yeah if you felt so inclined it might be nice to help some people out you know get some of those good good
00:34:58
feelings going like just start talking to her about it and be like I could help you like we could do this small and like
00:35:05
if you wanted to do this you can't you can't take it with you when you leave so like you might as well can't take it
00:35:10
with you it's a tax right off that would have been the like ideal thing to if you
00:35:13
have this notion Bernie then just talk to her about it at least at the very least and at that point just be like
00:35:20
okay if you're not willing to do it before you you know depart this Earth maybe put in your will that like you'd
00:35:26
like to do some good with your money and stuff or just [ __ ] wait it out my guy
00:35:31
she left her entire [ __ ] estate yeah then you can do whatever you want with it you can help everybody else like
00:35:37
apparently you want to that's what's so strange about this I'm like it sounds like you want to help people but you're
00:35:42
he definitely not doing it in a good way there's really no doubt about the fact that he wanted to help people but
00:35:47
there's just like I said so many other ways to go about this and this case is it's just so bizarre very strange yeah I
00:35:54
don't know how to feel I'm feeling stress you'll know how to feel when we get to the end of it that's good this
00:35:59
ends I like to know how very brutally and very very I mean murder is always uncalled for and this specific one is
00:36:07
just like wow so with Bernie as her business manager Marjorie assumed that she didn't need to monitor her accounts
00:36:14
that's what she hired him to do yeah and the thing was though if she had been monitoring those accounts she would have
00:36:19
realized that Bernie had kind of become the community's oneman social safety net
00:36:24
yeah it sounds like it and developer using her money to help residents go to college open small businesses stay
00:36:30
afloat until their next paycheck you [ __ ] name it all the good things that you could do with money that is
00:36:36
yours but while she did Place absolute trust in Bernie the real reason for her ignorance of Bernie's I guess you could
00:36:44
say well-intentioned thefts was likely due to the onset of dementia which was first noticed by Bernie in
00:36:52
1995 oh so that makes it even more [ __ ] up in my opinion yes it abs absolutely does now just a year after
00:36:58
going to work for his friend Bernie started to feel like Marjorie had become more controlling of everything around
00:37:04
her and far less willing to tolerate any inconvenience or disappointment which is
00:37:09
a symptom of a certain kind of dementia 100% like we've all seen the commercials
00:37:14
or yep unfortunately have had to deal with it people that we love people can change when they're going through that
00:37:21
now in a conversation with his own sister Bernie said Marjorie had fired the gardeners quote because the flowers
00:37:26
hadn't bloomed in time and became Vigilant and almost paranoid about the armadillos that occasionally made their
00:37:32
way into the yard and his sister actually remembered this conversation and said I asked him why he didn't quit
00:37:37
and he gave me this tortured look and said because I'm her only friend I have to stay I'm the only one she has o which
00:37:44
is interesting because you're actively stealing from an elderly woman with woman with dementia but you also maybe
00:37:53
care about being the only friend that she has and it's like do you care about being the only friend she has or do you
00:37:59
care about the good feeling that you get when you donate her money to others that's the thing it feels like he's
00:38:07
positioned himself as the only friend she has uhhuh which is a powerful thing in someone's life to have that
00:38:16
much you know authority over everything with her and also youve positioned yourself as her only
00:38:23
Confidant which I mean like obviously that is she's been lonely a lot in her life that it feels like you're taking
00:38:30
advantage yeah this feels like a vulnerable situation a vulnerable woman and you've positioned yourself as
00:38:37
someone she can trust and that you'll be here for and then you're going around being like I'm the only one she has it's
00:38:42
like I don't know my guy that seems like you put yourself in that position that's
00:38:46
the thing and that takes away any of the you know that takes away any of like the
00:38:50
good deed points you would have gotten at any point during this and it's like great you're doing good deeds like
00:38:56
fantastic but I do think there's something to be said about people that do good deeds
00:39:00
because they genuinely want to make people you know feel good or get people out of a tough situation or people that
00:39:07
do something good because of the feeling that it gives them well and that's and it's usually like a lot of people do
00:39:14
these things silently yeah and they don't tell anyone M and they just do it because they wanted to do it and that's
00:39:21
it and it's like and it's always seems to be a thing where if you don't shout it from the rooftops you're not doing it
00:39:27
or you're you know somehow you know so it's like it it feels like he was doing it to get some of the PS on the back
00:39:35
here for doing it which I'm not saying you shouldn't get pats on the back for doing great things like by all mean I
00:39:39
love being like hell yeah people doing great things totally but like there's a balance yeah this it feels this feels
00:39:46
imbalanced to me exact it feels like it's imbalanced onto a more taking advantage side of thing than doing good
00:39:52
for doing good and it has now even though Marjorie hadn't been a very social person to begin with as 1997
00:39:59
dawned there were a few people who found it odd that they hadn't seen from her or
00:40:03
heard her excuse me seen her or heard from her in months but when people would ask about her Bernie would say she was
00:40:09
away or she'd been ill and bedridden for weeks in December of 1996 he lavishly decorated her estate for Christmas but
00:40:17
when anybody would ask where she was he would say she'd gone to her family he she'd gone to Ohio to visit
00:40:23
family it's like but okay but all right sure so by the spring of 1996 marjorie's absence had become
00:40:33
noticeable to more than just those close to her but Bernie continued to explain her absence Away by saying actually she'
00:40:39
suffered a stroke and she was in a nursing home outside of town recuperating and at that point
00:40:45
marjorie's cousin Ruth uh cockrel had become deeply concerned that something had happened to margerie but she didn't
00:40:51
really know what to do about it which I understand I yeah what do you would you do at that point like can you call the
00:40:58
police with nothing to really like be sus about and I'm sorry I forgot do you how old is she she was like in her early
00:41:07
80s at this point like I think she was proba really elderly yeah and remember she has
00:41:13
dementia like that's so so sad margerie I know and now her finally somebody is like wait a second this is weird but
00:41:20
they're not quite sure what to knows what to do this cousin of hers Ruth said I was worried something had happened her
00:41:26
but I didn't know who to talk to about it Bernie was so beloved in Carthage that if I suggested he had done anything
00:41:31
wrong I would have been laughed out of town damn which like that and that shows you how beloved he was by these people
00:41:39
which you also have to wonder did you do all of these things maybe in the back of
00:41:45
your mind somewhere knowing that you were going to get rid of this woman and you could because you were so beloved
00:41:51
and she was not necessarily by the people in town that's the and it's like when you start thinking about it because
00:41:57
now that I know that he's like a murderer uh it's it's like it it taints all of this
00:42:04
because it's almost like you look at like John Wayne gasy everybody loved that guy yep and
00:42:10
it's like that's that's a tactic absolutely because then when it comes down to Brass tax at the end everybody's
00:42:17
going well no like shut up anybody who brings it up would be like shut up not Bernie we love him and it's like they
00:42:23
all get shut down and it's like that's a tactic you it's almost like a cult leader thing it's like you take control
00:42:29
of everybody's minds and then everybody will fight for you when the truth comes out that's why this case is so
00:42:34
interesting because you can look at it through so many different lenses and I and I I have like writing it and then I
00:42:41
am right now all over again yeah you really can look at this like a hundred different ways because down the road
00:42:47
when we do find out what happened you look at it through another lens entirely like maybe he did just snap damn it's
00:42:54
interesting and tragic yeah but honestly Mar's cousin was not far off feeling that way to the residence of Carthage
00:43:01
Bernie was a beloved man for more than a decade he was so sweet to everybody that
00:43:06
the idea of him harming anybody literally seemed impossible to people and since taking his job with margorie
00:43:13
he'd become like the town benefactor which only increased his reputation to say and that's more power
00:43:20
so put simply even if something had happened to Margery it would have never occurred to anybody that Ernie had
00:43:26
something to do with it which is interesting because again he's literally like one of the only people she has
00:43:34
[Music] yeah but finally in July of 1997 an unidentified person had become so concerned about margery's welfare that
00:43:52
they did call the sheriff's department to request a well-being check now maybe it's a testament to the local sentiment
00:44:00
about both margorie or Bernie or maybe the Sheriff's Office was just really [ __ ] busy but for some reason that
00:44:07
well-being request went unnoticed for nearly a month I'm sorry what a month somebody
00:44:17
called that checkin and they didn't get around to it for nearly a month so you call a the
00:44:27
authorities and say hey hey hey haven't heard from my loved one my elderly loved
00:44:32
one very worried about them I'm so worried in fact that I would love you the authorities to go check on her check
00:44:41
on her wellbeing they say totally totally they absolutely cool cool cool and they hang up the phone and then they
00:44:47
don't do it for a month nearly 30 days that's incredible the lawsuit that I would
00:44:58
incredibly shocking like I'm just I and just like how do you what the [ __ ] how
00:45:06
how and then like after the 30 days what do you you're just like oh I guess we should go check on her like what that's
00:45:13
the thing I don't know if I'm astounded by like I'm literally shocked yeah when somebody from the sheriff's department
00:45:21
finally did reach out to Bernie in August remember this is a small town too yes this is like a big bustling City
00:45:27
that they got the billions of welfare checks the same person that took that Wellness call probably [ __ ] drove
00:45:33
past her home on the way home yes it's like just stop in do the welfare check nope nope no holy [ __ ] NOP nope nope but
00:45:40
when somebody finally did reach out to Bernie in August after getting that wellness check in [ __ ] July receiving
00:45:45
the request for it Bernie was out of town at a concert in Vegas and he said Marjorie had actually recently checked
00:45:52
into a hospital in Temple under an assumed name and that she didn't want to be bothered so sheriff's deputies were
00:45:59
like okay that's a little sus maybe we should have checked on this sooner little B and they called the hospital
00:46:04
and were informed that nobody matching marjorie's description had been admitted and nobody had been Che checked in under
00:46:10
an assumed name huh uhhuh so for the first time since Bernie arrived in Carthage some residents of the small
00:46:18
town did start to wonder perhaps Bernie teed wasn't quite the angel everybody had judged him to be yeah maybe we
00:46:23
should start looking into that and now on able to verify Bernie's story about margorie checking into the hospital
00:46:29
deputies ended up calling margery's son rod in Amarillo who came to Carthage with his daughter to help locate his
00:46:36
mother so rod and his daughter went to the house and searched for any sign of Margery but came up completely
00:46:43
empty-handed it was like she just literally vanished Into Thin Air but Rod's daughter did mention that she
00:46:50
thought it was strange that the large chest freezer in the kitchen pantry had been taped sh
00:46:56
shut H which like why did it take the granddaughter noticing that and not the deputies oh man so the comment prompted
00:47:05
sheriff's deputies to take a look inside the freezer and when they did they discovered the body of margerie nent
00:47:12
wrapped in a white sheet buried underneath a pile of frozen food oh my God so so [ __ ] up what the [ __ ] so
00:47:22
given the extent to which Bernie had gone to put off questions about marjor whereabouts in the months leading up to
00:47:27
the Discovery it was pretty obvious to investigators that at the very least he knew how she ended up in the freezer
00:47:34
yeah so sheriff's deputies spread out across Carthage and eventually found Bernie getting ready to take the local
00:47:40
little league baseball team and their families out to dinner that's where they found him
00:47:48
what still doing good deeds just yeah he's just out there knowing what's going on knowing
00:47:56
that he placed an elderly woman in a freezer but he's out there in front of everyone being like aren't I great let's
00:48:04
thecal can you [ __ ] imagine if your child was on that little league team and then you later on you found out
00:48:11
why the sheriff's approached Mr Bernie teed as you were about to go out to dinner with him with your whole ass
00:48:16
child this is outrageous outrageous yeah truly he uh was then once he was located
00:48:23
brought into the sheriff's office for questions now at first he fed surprise that they
00:48:28
would even want to speak to him at all and he actually started crying when they told him about marg's body being
00:48:35
discovered in the freezer and confronted with the truth Bernie told the deputies
00:48:39
she'd been kidnapped months earlier and he'd been negotiating with the kidnappers by phone ever since shut up
00:48:45
Penola County Sheriff's Captain David uh I believe it's Jeter said he said he got
00:48:51
one phone call from the kidnappers a month and then he said that he got a recent call that informed him quote the
00:48:57
time is near I can't me we're getting very theatrical now he loves a show tune so
00:49:05
unfortunately not being um very skilled in the ways of Deceit it was very apparent to Bernie that the
00:49:11
investigators were not buying his act no but for some reason he stuck to his story it was only after Jeter and his
00:49:17
partner returned from searching Bernie's home and informed him they found quote unquote unchristian-like videotapes in
00:49:24
their search oh Jesus that he caved and admitted to killing margerie nent so this is
00:49:31
speculation but to me and to uh probably everybody it sounds like what they found
00:49:37
was movies that confirmed people's thoughts about Bernie's love interests yes you know hopefully you got the you
00:49:48
know which it's like why would that have anything they were int they were intimidating him because they were like
00:49:55
oh we found get out sorry I was not putting that very obvious thing together no that's
00:50:00
okay I didn't that first either like they were saying like we found these and like we're going to let people know so
00:50:07
do you want to tell us something exactly okay that makes sense so according to skip hollandsworth when investigators
00:50:12
asked why he' done it quote Bernie looked at the officers in bewilderment as if the answer were obvious at last he
00:50:18
said that Miss nent had become quote very hateful and very possessive and with that he was charged with murder on
00:50:24
August 19 you can't murder people because of that sure can't can't Mur people you can just like leave yeah you
00:50:30
could quit and just uh not hang out with her anymore but then you wouldn't have access to all her money and be the
00:50:35
town's hero damn and that would really stink damn so his bond was set at 1.5 million million doll while the district
00:50:43
attorney reserved comments until they received a full autopsy report now the news the news of marjorie's death came
00:50:49
as a big surprise to the small community but it was nothing compared to the confusion most people felt when they
00:50:55
learned learned who was responsible for her death oh people must have lost it they lost their [ __ ] they didn't believe
00:51:01
it even though he quite literally like he was like I he admitted it yeah Don lipy told reporters were just shocked he
00:51:07
was just a pillar of the community and another person twink Ross spokeswoman for Penola College where Bernie had
00:51:14
donated generously to the Arts programs she echoed that disbelief saying a lot of our students are devastated over this
00:51:20
it's shocking it's just the most absolute tragedy damn and the sad thing is the tragedy I think they were talking about
00:51:29
was more about finding out that Bernie murdered someone not that an elderly lady had been murdered yeah you know
00:51:37
what I mean 100% it was focused on who did it and not what happened who was killed right it's my it's like
00:51:45
everyone's like wow this is a tragedy and it's like I know right like this poor woman lost her life and they're
00:51:50
like and it was Bernie and it's like maybe we could just talk about the person who's dead in a free I don't know
00:51:56
yeah maybe that would be great [ __ ] covered in frozen food oh God you were This Woman's friend apparent like
00:52:02
allegedly you spent all this time with her I'm sorry you have to be there has to be something very very
00:52:10
wrong with you if you can leave an elderly woman's body in a freezer cover her up with frozen food and then just go
00:52:19
about your life spending her money no like something is wrong with you something's very wrong like
00:52:25
I don't know about that so within days of his arrest it was becoming clear where people in Carthage stood on the
00:52:31
matter while margorie nent was commonly described as possessive and a quote unquote wealthy recluse with a hard
00:52:38
tough side to her Bernie was described by friends and neighbors as the kindest most gentle man a very compassionate and
00:52:46
caring person y'all like he killed an elderly woman I don't care if she was grumpy or
00:52:54
not yeah you can't can't kill grumpy old people no all old people would be dead you can't do that and it's like and
00:53:00
they've earned the right to be grumpy true yeah they lived a [ __ ] life bro yeah when I'm old I'm going to be grumpy
00:53:05
as [ __ ] I'm already grumpy and I'm 37 so it's like I'm going to be intolerable
00:53:09
when I'm old that's fine take care of you and it's like thank you I appreciate that got you girl same I won't spend
00:53:15
your money I appreciate that but it's like you're all talking about the Good Deeds he did with This Woman's money and
00:53:22
without consenting Consulting with her first what about the really really really really really bad deed that he
00:53:28
did you guys want to talk about that that one should overshadow the Good Deeds I would think yeah you know that's
00:53:33
just me though but it wasn't just like the residents in the town it was even investigators that seemed reluctant to
00:53:40
investigate the murder yeah and you know to consider Bernie a murderer yeah but the more and more they investigated the
00:53:47
case the more obvious it became that this was not a crime of passion 2 days after his arrest the Penola County
00:53:54
District dist attorney added a charge of felony theft and increased Bernie's bond
00:53:59
to $2.75 million once it was determined that he'd been stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from marjorie's
00:54:07
bank accounts after her death holy [ __ ] mhm district attorney Danny Buck Davidson told pre told the Press quote
00:54:14
he had the power of attorney to sign checks for her but that terminated after her death or at her death so it's like
00:54:20
what the hell so it's like yeah you're continuing to write these crazy checks yeah and the fact that he did continue
00:54:26
to write the checks after Marie had been killed suggested that he in fact killed
00:54:31
her to continue accessing her Fortune absolutely and if that were determined to be the case that would Elevate the
00:54:36
charges to the case to a case of capital murder damn yeah but even the news of the new charges had little effect on how
00:54:46
people in town viewed Bernie knowing full well that he continued to access This Woman's money and Forge [ __ ]
00:54:54
checks or I I guess not well yeah it is Ford she's dead you can't sign checks at
00:54:58
that point after she he killed her people are like well wow she was grumpy and we love Bernie wow she was grumpy
00:55:06
and we loved Bernie like what the [ __ ] look in the mirror and say that statement that's the thing like it truly
00:55:11
is like she's grumpy that's literally all it is she's unpleasant like she never did anything to hurt anybody yeah
00:55:18
like she's walking she really just kept to her [ __ ] self beating people with a cane as she goes down the street like
00:55:23
Jesus like even that I'm like you know just like stay in your house yeah but like nobody you know can't kill people
00:55:30
over this [ __ ] no you sure can't and like what the this is layered it's layered and it's [ __ ] at every ler
00:55:38
Reverend EB Beasley of the First United Methodist Church who got a lot of money from Bernie told reporters that makes it
00:55:44
even more difficult to deal with but he was quick to add it doesn't mean the church has decided to turn its back on
00:55:49
Bernie the Bernie teed that's being discussed in the news today is not the Bernie teed this congregation knew he
00:55:55
was a very popular member of the church I'm sure he was he was a leader here yeah you know until he murdered an
00:56:01
elderly woman yeah and also he was a leader there because he was giving the church the elderly woman's money that he
00:56:08
stole directly from her account hold on to that cash yeah hold on to that c wipe
00:56:13
your eyes with that cash Methodist Church like Jesus come on come on like you got to come out and be like this is
00:56:19
[ __ ] up and we'd like to give it back and we'd like to like we' like to just put it back in her account or it's like
00:56:25
at least say like wow this is wild and like he's terrible and we don't condone this like maybe come out and say that
00:56:33
period not like but that's not the Bernie that we know in love guess what I don't give a [ __ ] about the Bernie that
00:56:39
was before this I care about the Bernie that's a murderer and him going to jail now well guess what it was the Bernie
00:56:45
that you knew in love because he was still coming to church spending her money after killed her yeah after he
00:56:51
murdered her oh my God so as locals worked through their confusion and conflict investigators started putting
00:56:58
together the pieces of what had led to marjorie's death they were like how did we get here according to Bernie's
00:57:02
confession he arrived at margery's house a little after 7:00 a.m. on the morning
00:57:06
of November 19th 1996 November she was discovered in August I was just gonna say wait a
00:57:15
second wait so November December January February March April May June July August nine months she was in freezer
00:57:25
and he's just walking around spending her money almost a year a full pregnancy [ __ ] 9
00:57:33
months yeah damn and also it's like that [ __ ] welfare check yeah one of those months on another on another level but
00:57:41
so on on the morning of November 19th 1996 he prepared her morning coffee and then he went back home to shower before
00:57:47
going back to marjorie's house around 10:00 a.m. he told deputies quote she had become evil and wicked and very
00:57:53
possessive over my life life and according to Bernie this was actually not the first time he had considered
00:57:59
killing margorie he told them I thought of hitting margerie in the head with a bat or anything for a couple months
00:58:04
prior to November 19th 1996 but I did not want her to suffer Oh I thought of murdering this woman for
00:58:12
a while actually could have you could have just like not hung out with her anymore you could have just left your
00:58:17
job yeah you could have just like not been there but once he returned to marjorie's house that morning he said
00:58:22
she almost instantly began ranting at him which remember She's suffering from dementia my Jesus then at one point
00:58:31
Bernie noticed the 22 caliber rifle that Marjorie had actually told him to buy to
00:58:35
deal with pests and he saw it leaning against the wall and so he picked it up and started going into the garage to put
00:58:41
the gun away but marjerie was following closely behind him according to Bernie there was nothing in particular that
00:58:47
caused him to shoot her on that day he told his sister I started thinking about having to live with her for the rest of
00:58:53
her life and I just couldn't take it I realized I couldn't stand it another day what the [ __ ] so Bernie decided he had
00:58:59
had enough of her nagging at him and he turned the rifle on her he told sheriff's deputies I took the rifle and
00:59:06
shot margorie in the back she fell face first but was still breathing heavily so
00:59:10
I shot her again I may have shot her again I didn't want her to suffer I would like you to stop saying I
00:59:18
would like her I didn't want her to suffer so then why did you shoot her because I would call that suffering
00:59:23
murder I would I would call all suffering my God sir so when he was completely sure that Marjorie was indeed
00:59:30
dead he dragged her body from the garage to the freezer and once he removed the food he placed her body inside and
00:59:37
covered her with a sheet which he kept telling investigators throughout this conversation that they were having was a
00:59:43
l Zen sheet like that made it any better he kept saying over and over again that
00:59:48
it was a l end sheet it's like I don't care if you cover her in a bougie sheet or not you've just murdered her now
00:59:55
oh my gosh and then put food back in the freezer fully covering her body holy [ __ ] once he'd stashed the body Bernie
01:00:03
returned to the garage and swept up the bullet casings along with a pile of uh large leaves which he threw in the trash
01:00:09
and then used the garden hose to wash the blood away finally he sealed the lid of the freezer with two large strips of
01:00:15
tapes uh tape excuse me and in the weeks that followed he kept going to work and
01:00:21
keeping up appearances at the house to make it seem like she was still alive and active inside to avoid questions
01:00:27
from the neighbors oh come on SO for N9 months he kept going back to the house where he killed her he went through is
01:00:38
Dia [ __ ] mcle like there's something happening in your brainium cranium that is something's wrong dor sided that is
01:00:47
dork sided VI that is I Haven said that in a while it's Sinister Vibe that's honestly definition of sinister Vibe
01:00:54
truly so when the autopsy came back it confirmed exactly what Bernie had told the authorities margorie had been shot
01:01:00
in the back four times with a 22 caliber rifle that's the other thing a rifle damn horrible so unable to make bond
01:01:10
thankfully because you know he didn't have margery's money anymore Bernie sat in a Cell at the Penola County Detention
01:01:16
Center while the sheriff's department conducted their investigation now meanwhile the IRS had to be called in to
01:01:23
Aid the case Prim primarily to perform forensic accounting services to determine just how much money Bernie had
01:01:30
stolen from margerie and where it had gone my God according to court records he had stolen over
01:01:37
$250,000 in about a dozen transactions most of them in amounts over $10,000 and in addition to that several
01:01:45
other transactions showed that he had cashed almost $400,000 in checks drawn from margery's
01:01:52
account the majority of which he distributed to neighbors charitable organizations and art programs around
01:01:58
the community I hate that he's like doing good deeds with this cuz you're like [ __ ] dude you could have been such a
01:02:06
good person he you had all the parts there over half a million dollars from this woman he had all the parts to a
01:02:16
charitable man a charitable human and he like what the [ __ ] happened I have no
01:02:21
idea but in one instance he invested almost 10,000 into a play that he was producing it was
01:02:27
written by local video store clerk Jeremy Jones and Jones told reporters we all assumed he was very wealthy I never
01:02:33
questioned it yeah why would you that's the thing why would you yeah and on August 27th 1997 a Penola County grand
01:02:39
jury indicted Bernie on quote charges of murder and theft and the death of margorie nen the indictment noted that
01:02:45
he had spent quote extensive and extremely substantial amounts of marjorie's money in the months uh since
01:02:51
her death which caused the IRS to seize his property and consider additional charges of money
01:02:57
laundering wow I was I was wondering if they were going to go that route uh yeah
01:03:02
so while the local and federal officials worked to build a case against Bernie many in town rallied around him not long
01:03:09
after he was arrested several friends and neighbors actually pulled their own resources to hire a man named Clifton
01:03:17
quote unquote Scrappy Holmes an East Texas criminal defense attorney famous for defending wrongfully accused or
01:03:24
incarcerated individuals but like honey he confessed correct now luckily not everybody was uh an enthusiastic
01:03:32
supporter of Bernie district attorney Danny Buck Davidson found the unconditional support for Bernie
01:03:39
infuriating same he said Bernie is a con man and an accomplished actor he duped a
01:03:45
really nice trusting town he's evil which like retweet yeah reex now Davidson had actually known Bernie teed
01:03:54
as as long as everyone else in Carthage had and up to this point he always thought that Bernie was a nice man yeah
01:04:01
so he understood why locals could struggle to reconcile the man they knew with the man who murdered marjerie which
01:04:07
I can understand that being like holy [ __ ] he duped us all yeah I can totally understand like having to reconcile that
01:04:14
Absol and struggling with that like for sure 100% but it's the willingness to look past what he did that's the thing
01:04:21
just because they preferred him to Margery yeah he said that was baffling and he said a couple people have said to
01:04:28
me that Bernie deserves to fry for what he's done but I know there are a lot more who want who just want the whole
01:04:33
thing to go away they keep asking me if there aren't some extenuating circumstances that would help his
01:04:38
defense and I think good God Almighty do people really think Miss nent was so mean to him that he had to shoot her in
01:04:45
the back in self-defense that's the thing she's an elderly woman she's an elderly woman I don't know how many
01:04:51
times I have to say it don't drink every time I say it cuz whoa jeez but like wow
01:04:57
so the support for Bernie teed in and around Carthage was uh was not just inexplicable to law enforcement it also
01:05:03
proved to be a really big problem when the case made its way to court yeah of the 350 perspective individuals
01:05:10
considered for the jury all but a hundred were dismissed for various reasons unrelated to the case wow and
01:05:17
when judge guy Griffin asked the remaining about a 100 prospective jurors whether they could impartially judge
01:05:23
Bernie for the murder less than half said they could wow less than half so damn judge Griffin said that was just
01:05:32
the first question their attorneys hadn't even begun their questioning at that point we felt we needed to try
01:05:38
again somewhere else so they had to declare a mistrial wow and relocate the trial
01:05:44
outside of this County I'm just like shook by this they supported this man so much that no one in town could
01:05:53
impartially be on a jury to convict him I'm like I don't even know what to say about this I I'm like looking at
01:06:00
pictures of him because I'm like do you have a kind face what is going on he does kind of have a kind face I will say
01:06:05
that wow but while the District Attorney's Office worked to get the trial moved to nearby s uh St Augustine
01:06:11
which is about an hour from Carthage Scrappy Holmes there the defense attorney was in deep negotiations with
01:06:17
the da to arrange for a plea bargain that would make a trial unnecessary but by February of 1999 the negotiations
01:06:24
stalled and all Scrappy would tell the Press was plea negotiations did not turn out so they weren't able to get any kind
01:06:31
of plea bargain here yeah now with no plea bargain in sight Bernie's trial began February 1st 1999 before the same
01:06:39
judge judge guy Griffin in the 123rd district court now despite being just an hour away from Carthage residents of San
01:06:47
Augustine hadn't been following the story and only a handful of those interviewed for potential jury duty
01:06:53
seemed interested in the case which wow you know that's good yeah so that being the case the jury pool was quickly
01:06:59
reduced from 341 individuals to 104 which was just as quickly reduced to the requisite number and Danny Buck Davidson
01:07:08
da prepared to give his opening statements on February 3rd okay now the prosecution's case was simple Bernie
01:07:14
teed had enticed marjerie with promise Promises of constant companionship spent years manipulating her with romantic
01:07:21
promises they said in order to access her Fortune and on the first day of testimony
01:07:26
Davidson called several witnesses to the stand to give the jury details of what they claimed was a sham romance so
01:07:33
taking look at pictures yeah it sure seems like he was he was angling some way it sure does
01:07:42
Robert Evans who was a friend of marjorie's because Bernie was not the only friend she had Robert ever told the
01:07:48
jury how while having lunch with margorie in her home they were interrupted by Bernie who greeted
01:07:53
margorie with a kiss and he told the jury he definitely believed this was just one of the ways in which Bernie had
01:07:59
manipulated margerie oh damn mhm that's [ __ ] up uh yeah and Angela row an acquaintance of margery's offered
01:08:07
similar testimony telling the jury about one instance where Bernie quote brushed
01:08:12
up against Mrs nent with his body in a way I did not think was appropriate oh and she also told the jury about a
01:08:18
shopping trip she'd taken with marjerie where margorie purchased some lingerie and she elaborated it was wasn't the
01:08:24
kind of linger 75-year-old woman should wear I wouldn't think my grandmother should wear it so she was saying like
01:08:30
something was going on something strange was happening here [Music] mhm now the second day of testimony
01:08:50
included a number of law enforcement officials and experts who explained the evidence and gave descriptions of how
01:08:55
the investigation had come together Bernie just sat there sobbing as the prosecution showed the court photos of
01:09:02
the crime scene and the freezer where he had stuffed marjorie's body oh well I mean shut the [ __ ] up you did that yeah
01:09:09
why are you crying now you weren't crying for the past nine [ __ ] months are you crying cuz you're reaping what
01:09:13
you sowed you were literally walking past that that freezer for the past nine months that's the thing put your [ __ ]
01:09:18
crocodile tears elsewhere [ __ ] you dude you put her in a freezer for nine [ __ ] months like you said walked
01:09:25
right by it went out and spending her money and you're sitting there crying at crime scene photos shut up you're crying
01:09:30
cuz you got caught yeah I don't buy this and you're crying cuz you probably see how [ __ ] terrible that looks now that
01:09:35
you're sitting in front of a room full of people who aren't you know accepting your good deeds quote Yeah it feels like
01:09:41
it even feels like he can manipulate you through a story the whole thing cuz in the beginning you're like oh what's
01:09:47
what's going on Bernie seems fine and then when you get to the end you're like [ __ ] you Bernie yeah now the final photo
01:09:52
shown that day which which was the final image the jury saw before being dismissed for the day was the interior
01:09:58
of the freezer the image showed quote bags of ice a white tray and some boxes of food below which could be seen the
01:10:04
small gray oval that was the back of Mrs Newton's head oh like gut-wrenching my God now the next day the jury was again
01:10:13
confronted with photo and video evidence and this time they actually showed margery's body being removed from the
01:10:19
freezer once it had arrived at the State Police lab and the images were so disturbing that the jury sent the judge
01:10:26
a note requesting a 15minute break to compose themselves wow cuz remember this is an elderly wom woman we shot four
01:10:33
times we all have grandparents and or elderly parents like I can't imagine having to see anybody like everybody
01:10:39
knows somebody who's elderly yeah you know now Bernie's defense attorney Scrappy Holmes there lodged a formal
01:10:45
objection to the video claiming that it was maab and was shown only to Prejudice
01:10:50
the jury or shown to show what your client did to this old and confessed to do yeah yeah but yeah it is maob you're
01:10:57
right uhhuh but ask Bernie about it and outside the courtroom he elaborated his objection saying to reporters Stephen
01:11:03
King couldn't have done it any better I feel like he could have I mean shut the [ __ ] up it's also just like
01:11:09
we're not talking about novels here we're talking about actual crime you sound like a piece of [ __ ] talking about
01:11:15
a [ __ ] fiction writer in comparison to like you know like you're like oh Stephen King couldn't read that written
01:11:22
that any better it's like I this is really life so mother maybe just look at the video and see that that's real and
01:11:28
that's what that guy did to her and admitted to doing to her and we're not talking about should yeah you should
01:11:34
take another Avenue here to defend your client cuz you're not doing a great job maybe just don't say anything but
01:11:40
despite having confessed to the murder Bernie did plead not guilty so the trial was necessary to determine his
01:11:46
responsibility and in his defense Scrappy Holmes told the jury Bernie was never motivated by
01:11:52
money wow never motivated by money he stole over [ __ ] half a million dollars from
01:12:00
this woman yeah never motivated by money that's a bold move to go in that direction he said instead that it was
01:12:08
margery's quote unquote possessive demanding nature that had become intolerable and his client simply quote
01:12:14
unquote snapped so what you're saying is that when that becomes too much to handle in your work environment that you
01:12:21
should just kill your boss yeah is is that what you're saying and that's okay you should get away with it cuz you just
01:12:25
snapped absolutely which like I do wonder if he did just snap like you can look at it through that lens because
01:12:33
he has no priors here like you're like well that's this is whole thing is very shocking it's a shocking
01:12:41
act I mean to put her in a to put margerie in a freezer and and walk by her for 9 months something's got to be
01:12:49
WR and spend her money feels more that feels like more than a snap it does you can snap oops in the moment you made
01:12:58
a big mistake but this is this is a lot more than that it just feels like you there's something
01:13:07
you got to have a lot [ __ ] up inside you to be able to do that [ __ ] and to be
01:13:11
able to walk by that freezer and be able to spend her money and go into her home
01:13:15
every day and tell her loved ones oh that she's fine she's just like doesn't want to talk to you and like or like
01:13:22
she's had a broke like he at one point he make up stories and [ __ ] like that's
01:13:27
really diabolical he had that inside of him mhm absolutely but they said in time
01:13:34
marjerie became overbearing and demanding of all of Bernie's time which eventually pushed him to the point of an
01:13:39
impulsive action resulting in her death and they said if his motive was indeed greed as the prosecution had alleged why
01:13:46
would he have gone out of his way to give away the vast majority of stolen funds to the community members and Civic
01:13:52
organizations I don't know man because he has he has a hero complex I think he has a Robin Hood
01:13:59
complex I think that is what is at the root of all of this it's that's a problem too my friend like that's not
01:14:06
that's not good big time so given Bernie's confession Scrappy holm's objective was more or less damage
01:14:13
control in a lesser sentence that was what he was out for so he needed to convince the jury that Bernie had acted
01:14:19
in a moment of passion and impulsivity and that he actually didn't pose anything threat to you know or future
01:14:25
danger to the community but unfortunately for the defense the prosecution did a more than adequate job
01:14:31
of portraying Bernie as a con artist after one thing and one thing only and in his closing statements the da told
01:14:38
the jury from this evidence you can find this defendant was a liar a liar coward
01:14:43
and back shooter so having no other context or familiarity with the defendant the jury had no trouble
01:14:48
believing that this was the case as presented by the prosecution and after less than an hour of deliberation they
01:14:56
returned with a guilty verdict I mean I would I would he literally confessed at one point now given Bernie's confession
01:15:03
the guilty verdict was pretty much expected when it came to the punishment phase however Holmes was hopeful that
01:15:09
his client's reputation would go a long way to secure a lighter sentence Davidson the prosecutor on the other
01:15:15
hand was pushing for a strict sentence he told reporters I think you've got to look at the crime and the punishment
01:15:21
should fit the crime and margery's family was also hopeful for the maximum sentence her granddaughter Susan said
01:15:27
we're relieved that there was a guilty verdict he deserves 99 years I mean yeah bye so the next day on February 11th the
01:15:35
court reconvened for the sentencing phase where the jury deliberated for less than two hours and returned with a
01:15:40
sentence of life in prison wow which I mean you murdered someone and stole all their money exactly and they also um
01:15:47
gave him a fine of $10,000 wow now marjorie's granddaughter Susan told reporters this was a horrible terrible
01:15:54
crime and he deserved the worst sentence he got he could get and obviously the jury thought so too and margery's Son
01:16:00
Rod Jr was also in town for the trial he was actually expected or expecting to be
01:16:05
called as a witness but he wasn't called so the sentencing phase was the first time he could speak in the courtroom
01:16:11
since the trial started and when he finally was able to talk he said I'm really here to see Justice done and
01:16:16
forclosure this crime to me is about finding old people who are vulnerable and stealing from them yeah which like
01:16:22
100% absolutely now after he was convicted and sentenced in the whole nine defense
01:16:28
attorney Clifton Holmes immediately fired papers requesting the judge declare a mistrial which was rejected
01:16:34
yeah but followed by the usual round of appeals you know how it always goes now among the issues cited for the appeal
01:16:41
was the claim that the judge refused to allow the defense's psychiatric expert to testify which they alleged could have
01:16:48
confirmed Bernie's quote unquote lack of future dangerousness and provided important evidence as to quote unquote
01:16:54
his mental condition during uh during and after the offense so they were saying you didn't let our psychiatrist
01:17:02
come in and talk about his condition which would have showed that he wasn't dangerous and this is what he was
01:17:07
dealing with at the time of the murder and it's like okay it's valid yeah to an extent for sure but it's like but but he
01:17:17
put her in a freezer anded around and just lived his life and spent her money that's the thing so I don't know if that
01:17:24
would have helped you to be quite honest I think they would have been like yeah this is [ __ ] up agreed Dr Frederick
01:17:31
Mir explained that in his opinion at the time of the murder Bernie was under considerably more stress than normal and
01:17:38
quote might have had some disassociative event that made him temporarily psychologically
01:17:44
degraded now in addition to that when they asked whether bony Bernie would pose a future threat to the community
01:17:50
the doctor stated it is my opinion he absolutely would not pose a threat or danger to inmates cellmates guards
01:17:57
anyone in that system uhhuh so initially the court of appeals Ru ruled that the lower court actually had errored in
01:18:04
their refusal to admit Dr mir's testimony into evidence but when it was sent back for reconsideration the
01:18:11
appeals court did determine that the error was quote unquote harmless and ultimately upheld the sentence because
01:18:17
it's like are are we really trying to say that like he was really stressed out more stressed out than normal so he
01:18:23
murdered someone pretty much cuz like I right now in this moment I am very stressed out I am I have a lot of stress
01:18:30
in my life I don't expect to get away with murdering someone because of it I that one's not no that I'm glad that one
01:18:39
didn't hold up and they weren't like well he was stressed out cuz it's like never an excuse for I I don't know about
01:18:46
that now usually that would be where the story would end in a typical case they said like [ __ ] you to the appeal and
01:18:51
then you said in prison the rest of your life yeah but as we know Bernie's case is far from typical no and there were
01:18:56
going to be some more twists and turns before it you know faded from the spotlight about a decade after Bernie
01:19:02
entered the Texas Department of Criminal Justice the story of margorie Nan's murder at the hands hands of the town's
01:19:08
beloved for mortician made its way to the desk of screenwriter Richard link l later now Richard had read skip
01:19:15
hollandsworth who um I've quoted here his 1998 article about the murder Midnight in the Garden of East Texas it
01:19:22
was published in Texas monthly I definitely recommend reading it but he approached hollandsworth about
01:19:28
collaborating on a screenplay about the case now the film you might remember it it wasn't too long ago it was titled
01:19:34
simply Bernie was released in 2012 do you remember seeing commercials for that oh my God yeah I haven't
01:19:41
watched it still I haven't either but it was a it was a pretty big movie and overall overall it was well received by
01:19:47
critics it was Jack Black yeah I think you're right actually I I hope I'm not remembering that that wrong but I feel
01:19:53
like that just popped into my head double check that for me but I want to say you're right I think it's Jack Black
01:19:57
as Bernie I feel like you're right yeah so the critics they liked the movie but in Carthage link Leader's Hollywood
01:20:06
adaptation of margery's murder was not as well received one resident said of the film if it was fiction it might be
01:20:12
funny but this was a real person in a real town and no I don't think it's funny at
01:20:16
all yeah that's the thing like it is Jack Black and the way it's played off on here from what I'm seeing is like
01:20:24
this looks like a comedy yikes like for I I didn't see it so I won't say it is but like the way they're advertising it
01:20:32
is a little comical oh don't love that very offputting when you know the actual story yeah so and district attorney
01:20:40
Danny Buck Davidson agreed s telling local news station KLTV he put Miss Nan in a freezer and then went and preached
01:20:47
in churches yeah if it was a dark comedy you can't make a dark comedy out of a murder you want to make make a fiction
01:20:54
story out of like you know I've SE dark comedies happen all the time fiction yeah like you made it up like it didn't
01:21:00
actually in fact on Google when you type in Bernie the movie and like this movie
01:21:05
comes up yeah Google says why to watch delightful dark and hilarious dude yeah like delightful dark
01:21:17
hilarious that's upsetting that's wild yeah that's on another level that just shook me yeah well
01:21:28
despite local criticisms of the film some people close to the case actually felt like it was an accurate portrayal
01:21:34
marjorie's nephew Joe uh Joe RH said there are little things in Bernie that aren't exactly true bits of dialogue and
01:21:40
name changed here and there but the big things the weirdest things happened exactly as the movie says they did wow
01:21:47
now more than 10 years after the murder occurred the residents of Carthage actually reconsidered their stance on
01:21:52
Bernie teed after that movie which is interesting that this [ __ ] Jack Black movie made these people change their
01:21:59
opinions uh Diane Davidson said the community has completely turned 180 degrees they want him to service time
01:22:06
wow wild but while locals had turned on the man they once rushed to defend austin-based attorney Jody Cole reached
01:22:14
out to link later to find out more about the story she saw the film and told him
01:22:19
it quote raised some issues I wonder about huh now like many people who had seen the movie or simply heard about the
01:22:25
case to her something just didn't add up like why marjorie's closest friend would
01:22:30
turn on her so quickly without acute provocation and how one of the area's most beloved residents could be so
01:22:36
easily convicted and receive the harshest penalty yeah which if you're looking on it from an outside scope I
01:22:41
mean I've said it this whole time this case is wild like I understand having questions yeah so attorney Cole there
01:22:48
ended up speaking with Bernie after reaching out about like the film's making and watching it and just having
01:22:54
questions upon questions yeah so she ended up talking to Bernie multiple times and eventually filed a writ of
01:23:00
habus Corpus on his behalf arguing that the jury had been prevented from accessing critical testimony that would
01:23:07
have likely influenced their understanding of the crime and their attitudes during the penalty phase after
01:23:13
several interviews with a clinical psychologist Cole actually learned and uh this is a trigger warning for sexual
01:23:18
trauma Cole actually learned that Bernie had experienced considerable sexual and
01:23:23
psychological abuse as a child oh which significantly influenced his cognitive cognitive ability at the time of the
01:23:30
murder according to Bernie Margery quote often demanded and ridiculed him and became critical and accusatory toward a
01:23:36
male Gardener with whom Mr teed had a clandestine sexual relationship oh so the effect they said was essentially
01:23:45
what one would experience in an abusive domestic relationship which ultimately led to margery's murder wow now a second
01:23:52
psychological evaluation conducted by Dr Edward Gripen or gin actually produced similar findings in his report the
01:23:59
doctor wrote after years spent repressing the effects of childhood abuse and hiding his homosexuality in a
01:24:05
community he worried would not accept him Mr teed learned to compartmentalize his emotions allowing him to act
01:24:11
normally for months after the murder so that can explain that yeah now given the
01:24:17
extent to which Bernie's attitude and behavior after marjorie's death factored into his sentence
01:24:23
Cole succeeded in winning Bernie a new sentencing hearing and he was released from prison on in May of 2014 and
01:24:30
actually took up residence in link Leader's Garage in La while he awaited a new hearing what crazy Twist of events
01:24:39
now in addition to the new psychological reports Cole also indicated Bernie's confession had more or less been coerced
01:24:46
arguing that law enforcement officials threaten to release scandalous information to the public if he didn't
01:24:52
tell the if he didn't tell the truth which is what we touched on earlier with those movies that they found now the
01:24:58
allegations of both new evidence and a potentially coerced confession didn't sit well with da Danny Buck Davidson I
01:25:05
actually really like this guy he told reporters a new hearing felt like the right thing to do considering the
01:25:10
circumstances wow he said prosecutors are good guys and we're supposed to do what's right so he wanted to stand by
01:25:16
doing what was right that's pretty badass now another granddaughter of Marjorie shanana Nan disagreed and told
01:25:22
the host of The Today Show it just doesn't feel like this is right it doesn't feel like justice I get that and
01:25:27
I totally get that her grandmother was brutally murdered yeah so Bernie's new hearing finally came in April 2016 and a
01:25:35
new jury learned of his history of abuse and how it affected his actions at the time of the murder and in the months
01:25:41
that followed defense attorney Mike deuren told the jury that Bernie quote killed nent because her abuse triggered
01:25:47
the trauma he had faced when he was younger but it's still not okay to kill someone
01:25:52
exactly they were trying to say like psychologically something Happ that wouldn't happen again for sure now the
01:26:00
attorney also alleged that contrary to what the previous jury had heard about Bernie manipulating and isolating
01:26:05
marjerie in the months before her death it was in fact Marjorie Who quote alienated most of her relatives and who
01:26:11
had a reputation of being unlikable which is like oh we're going back to this again exactly thank you okay cool
01:26:18
so the new jury deliberated for a little over four hours before returning with a
01:26:23
sentence of 99 years or life in prison which weirdly feels like a nod to what her granddaughter said before that he
01:26:30
deserved 99 years it does did y'all get together and help that girl out which like he deserves it he did kill her no
01:26:37
matter what true so with the new sentence on the record Bernie was returned to the te the Texas Department
01:26:42
of Criminal Justice to continue serving his sentence and he remains there to this day damn what a wild [ __ ] story
01:26:52
that is a roller coaster it is and poor margerie that's the thing to to get the reputation that she not only got in life
01:27:01
but in in death is just really sad like I know it doesn't sound to me like most people took the time to try and
01:27:08
understand her what she was dealing with andz regardless of her attitude regardless of what it was or wasn't
01:27:17
exactly nobody deserves that yeah that's [ __ ] up it's really sad and I just can't like I understand movies being
01:27:24
made about you know big cases and all that like that's going to happen that does happen that's happened forever to
01:27:30
make a case like this a dark uh delightful hilarious movie is like yeah whoa and I never saw it nor no neither
01:27:41
have I and I genuinely like everybody who's in that movie I'm like I like those I'm like this it's like shocking
01:27:49
I'm like this is strange it was an interesting to see it was an interesting decision because it's Jack Black Shirley
01:27:58
mlan and Matthew mccon Matthew mccon like all three of them were like the like Shirley mlan plays Margery wow and
01:28:06
it's like did nobody nobody looked into this like what it's it's just a strange move yeah but again I haven't seen the
01:28:14
movie so maybe it's being described wrong maybe I'm not going to say I know anything about it cuz I don't I don't
01:28:19
really have any interest in but very strange watching it just I don't either after hearing the story I don't want I
01:28:24
don't want to watch it at all but damn wild so that is the tragic case of the murder of margerie nent and po margerie
01:28:32
just the small town that really paraded around a man that yeah murdered someone he really he really manipulated
01:28:38
everybody truly and he really placed himself in a position of looking like a hero yep and with that we hope you keep
01:28:46
listening and we hope you keep it weird but not Weir that you oated an entire town into thinking that you're some kind
01:28:52
of Hometown hero and realistically you're walking past a Frieza where you are holding the body of an elderly woman
01:28:57
that you murdered 9 months ago don't keep it that weird you piece of [Music] [ __ ]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most shocking
  • 90
    Most unpredictable
  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Biggest twist

Episode Highlights

  • Bernie's Unique Charm
    Bernie Teed was a beloved figure in Carthage, known for his kindness and charm.
    “He had a talent for making the hair of the deceased look really natural.”
    @ 09m 10s
    November 23, 2023
  • Marjorie's Struggles
    Marjorie Nent faced community gossip and personal struggles, revealing the complexity of her character.
    “She struggled with a kind of low-level depression.”
    @ 19m 04s
    November 23, 2023
  • Marjorie's Struggles
    Marjorie was a difficult woman to love, struggling with her mental health.
    “She sounds like she was just struggling a bit.”
    @ 20m 02s
    November 23, 2023
  • Bernie's Support
    Bernie became a comfort to Marjorie after her husband's death, visiting her regularly.
    “He made her feel young again.”
    @ 23m 35s
    November 23, 2023
  • Bernie's Generosity
    Bernie began using Marjorie's money to help others in the community, becoming a social safety net.
    “He bought at least 10 cars for people who couldn't afford one.”
    @ 33m 41s
    November 23, 2023
  • Bernie's Manipulation
    Bernie positioned himself as Marjorie's only confidant, exploiting her vulnerability.
    “You've positioned yourself as someone she can trust.”
    @ 38m 35s
    November 23, 2023
  • The Shocking Discovery
    Marjorie's body was found in a freezer, shocking the community.
    “They discovered the body of Marjorie Nent wrapped in a white sheet.”
    @ 47m 10s
    November 23, 2023
  • Bernie's Confession
    Bernie confessed to shooting Marjorie multiple times, claiming he didn't want her to suffer.
    “I didn't want her to suffer.”
    @ 59m 18s
    November 23, 2023
  • Community Support for Bernie
    Despite his confession, many in the community rallied to support Bernie, complicating the trial.
    “Bernie is a con man and an accomplished actor.”
    @ 01h 03m 43s
    November 23, 2023
  • Guilty Verdict
    After less than an hour of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict for Bernie.
    “This defendant was a liar, a liar coward, and back shooter.”
    @ 01h 14m 43s
    November 23, 2023
  • The Movie Adaptation
    The story of Margery's murder inspired a film titled 'Bernie', released in 2012.
    “Do you remember seeing commercials for that?”
    @ 01h 19m 37s
    November 23, 2023
  • Community's Changing Opinion
    After the film's release, the community's perception of Bernie shifted dramatically.
    “The community has completely turned 180 degrees.”
    @ 01h 22m 04s
    November 23, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • Life's Too Short, just live!
    Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent | Morbid | Podcast
  • That's really sad.
    Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent | Morbid | Podcast
  • This feels like a vulnerable situation, a vulnerable woman.
    Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent | Morbid | Podcast
  • You can't kill grumpy old people.
    Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent | Morbid | Podcast
  • He had all the parts to a charitable man.
    Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent | Morbid | Podcast
  • This case is wild; I understand having questions.
    Bernie Tiede and the murder of Marjorie Nugent | Morbid | Podcast

Key Moments

  • TikTok Humor00:42
  • Confidence Struggles18:36
  • Outcast Status20:39
  • Possessive Affection23:57
  • Nine Months57:21
  • Evil and Wicked57:52
  • Psychological Evaluation1:23:52
  • Tragic Outcome1:28:32

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown