Crime Documentary - The Marjorie Nugent story
- 7 years ago
Viewer discretion is advised. Some may find this content disturbing. This is a documentary I found interesting.
Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede II (born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician and convicted murderer. Tiede confessed to the shooting of a wealthy 81-year-old widow, Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in Carthage, Texas on November 19, 1996. The murder is the subject of the 2011 film Bernie, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Jack Black as Tiede.
Tiede met Nugent in March 1990 at her husband's funeral, with which Tiede helped while assistant director at Hawthorn Funeral Home. The two eventually became inseparable. In 1991, Nugent altered her will and disinherited her son, leaving her entire $5 million estate to Tiede. By 1993, Bernie left his job to work for her full time as her business manager and travel companion.
In November 1996 Tiede killed Nugent by shooting her in the back four times with a .22 rifle. He then placed Nugent's body in a freezer used to store food at her Carthage home. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, Nugent's estranged son, Amarillo pathologist Rod Nugent, traveled from Amarillo to Panola County nine months after her death, where they declared Nugent a missing person. After entering Marjorie's residence, Rod and his daughter found his mother's body in the freezer, wrapped in a white sheet.
Tiede was taken in for questioning, and he admitted to Nugent's murder to police in August 1997. Tiede stated that after the murder, he cleaned the body and placed Nugent in a freezer. After this, Tiede admits, he had given gifts to several friends in Carthage using Nugent's money, which she had previously given him power of attorney to use.
A jury sentenced Tiede to 50 years in prison for Nugent's murder. Tiede appealed his sentence and the appellate courts ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to have found premeditation. Tiede filed a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus, in which Tiede alleged that his constitutional rights were violated in the first trial because of newly discovered evidence. He alleged in the writ that the 81-year-old Nugent was controlling and emotionally and verbally abusive toward him, driving him to murder her in a dissociative state brought on by years of sexual abuse from his uncle. The Texas Criminal Courts of Appeal approved the writ.
According to the deceased's estranged son, Dr. Rod Nugent, Tiede alienated Nugent from her family, friends and the business associates of her late husband. Dr. Nugent told the Globe-News: "It appears this Bernie Tiede kind of systematically estranged my mother from all these people one at a time ... At some point they became angry with my mother."
When interviewed, Panola County, Texas District Attorney Danny "Buck" Davidson said that the town of Carthage was "split up" in regards to their opinion of Tiede. Davidson told the Longview News-Journal, "People remember him (Tiede) as being real nice and doing nice things, and they'd like my office to go real easy on him. And then, there's a group that wants no mercy."
Tiede was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. Rod Nugent filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tiede, claiming Tiede had embezzled more than $3 million from Marjorie Nugent.
Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede II (born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician and convicted murderer. Tiede confessed to the shooting of a wealthy 81-year-old widow, Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in Carthage, Texas on November 19, 1996. The murder is the subject of the 2011 film Bernie, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Jack Black as Tiede.
Tiede met Nugent in March 1990 at her husband's funeral, with which Tiede helped while assistant director at Hawthorn Funeral Home. The two eventually became inseparable. In 1991, Nugent altered her will and disinherited her son, leaving her entire $5 million estate to Tiede. By 1993, Bernie left his job to work for her full time as her business manager and travel companion.
In November 1996 Tiede killed Nugent by shooting her in the back four times with a .22 rifle. He then placed Nugent's body in a freezer used to store food at her Carthage home. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, Nugent's estranged son, Amarillo pathologist Rod Nugent, traveled from Amarillo to Panola County nine months after her death, where they declared Nugent a missing person. After entering Marjorie's residence, Rod and his daughter found his mother's body in the freezer, wrapped in a white sheet.
Tiede was taken in for questioning, and he admitted to Nugent's murder to police in August 1997. Tiede stated that after the murder, he cleaned the body and placed Nugent in a freezer. After this, Tiede admits, he had given gifts to several friends in Carthage using Nugent's money, which she had previously given him power of attorney to use.
A jury sentenced Tiede to 50 years in prison for Nugent's murder. Tiede appealed his sentence and the appellate courts ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to have found premeditation. Tiede filed a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus, in which Tiede alleged that his constitutional rights were violated in the first trial because of newly discovered evidence. He alleged in the writ that the 81-year-old Nugent was controlling and emotionally and verbally abusive toward him, driving him to murder her in a dissociative state brought on by years of sexual abuse from his uncle. The Texas Criminal Courts of Appeal approved the writ.
According to the deceased's estranged son, Dr. Rod Nugent, Tiede alienated Nugent from her family, friends and the business associates of her late husband. Dr. Nugent told the Globe-News: "It appears this Bernie Tiede kind of systematically estranged my mother from all these people one at a time ... At some point they became angry with my mother."
When interviewed, Panola County, Texas District Attorney Danny "Buck" Davidson said that the town of Carthage was "split up" in regards to their opinion of Tiede. Davidson told the Longview News-Journal, "People remember him (Tiede) as being real nice and doing nice things, and they'd like my office to go real easy on him. And then, there's a group that wants no mercy."
Tiede was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. Rod Nugent filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tiede, claiming Tiede had embezzled more than $3 million from Marjorie Nugent.