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Bernhardt Tiede II (; born August 2, 1958) is an American mortician who was convicted of the November 19, 1996 murder of his companion, wealthy 81-year-old widow Marjorie "Marge" Nugent, in
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,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He was 38 at the time of the murder. These events are the subject of the critically acclaimed film '' Bernie'' (2011), a
dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
directed by
Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...
and starring
Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...
as Tiede. The film attracted attention to Tiede's case, and new evidence was discovered. He was temporarily released on
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...
in 2014, pending a resentencing hearing. Despite the new evidence, Tiede was sentenced to 99 years or life.


Family and early life

Bernie Tiede is the son of Bernhardt Tiede (1912–1973), a native of Olegnow,
Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast ( uk, Воли́нська о́бласть, translit=Volýnsʹka óblastʹ; also referred to as Volyn or Lodomeria) is an oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is Lutsk. Kovel is the westernmost town an ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Of German descent, Tiede had immigrated in 1926 as a child with his family to the United States. The elder Tiede had served as a professor of music and choral director at Our Lady of the Lake College in
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,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
(1946–1948), at
Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...
(SMU) in
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
(1948–1957), at
Kilgore College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate deg ...
in
Kilgore Kilgore may refer to: Fictional characters * Kilgore Trout, a recurring character in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut * Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore, a character in the Francis Ford Coppola movie ''Apocalypse Now'' * Teddybear Kilgore (AKA Kilgour), a char ...
(1957–1968), and then
McMurry College McMurry University is a private Methodist university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1923 and named after William Fletcher McMurry. The university offers forty-five majors in the fields of fine arts, humanities, social and natural scien ...
in Abilene, where he served as director of the McMurry Chanters until his death. In addition to his work as a university professor, the elder Tiede also served as church music director and as a vocal performer. Bernie Tiede's mother was his father's first wife, Lela Mae Jester (1933–1960). They married in 1957, and Bernie was born in the next year in Abilene. Jester was killed in an automobile accident when the boy was two years old. Tiede’s father, who never forgave himself, started drinking frequently In 1963, Tiede's father married Clara Kathryn Wiley (b. 1938), who became his stepmother. His father died in Abilene when Tiede was fifteen. Tiede graduated from Cooper High School in 1976. and had a special flair fo
hair and cosmetics
He became a mortician, working in
Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
as assistant director of the Hawthorn Funeral Home. He was very popular in the town.


Marjorie Nugent

Tiede met the wealthy widow, Marjorie Nugent, in March 1990 at her husband's funeral, which Tiede had helped arrange as assistant director at Hawthorn Funeral Home. The two eventually became inseparable companions, although she was more than 40 years his senior. In 1991, Nugent altered her
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
, and disinherited her only child, Rod Nugent, leaving her entire $10 million estate to Tiede. By 1993, Bernie left his job to work for Nugent full time as her business manager and travel companion. In November 1996, Tiede killed Nugent by shooting her in the back four times with a
.22 caliber .22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm). Cartridges in this caliber include the very widely used .22 Long Rifle and .223 Remington / 5.56×45mm NATO. .22 inch is also a popular ...
rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
. He placed her body in a freezer used to store food at her Carthage home. According to the ''Amarillo Globe-News,'' Nugent's estranged son, Rod, an
Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...
pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...
, had grown concerned about not being able to reach his mother. After traveling to Panola County nine months following her death, Rod declared Nugent a
missing person A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, de ...
. He and his daughter entered his mother's house, where they found her body in the freezer. Tiede was taken in for questioning, and he admitted to Nugent's murder to police in August 1997. He said that after the murder, he had prepared the body, and placed it in a freezer. After this, Tiede acknowledged using Nugent's money for civic activities, gifts to academic and civic groups, and to friends. She had given him power of attorney over her funds. A jury convicted Tiede of
first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
, and sentenced him to 50 years in prison. When he
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
ed his sentence, the appellate courts ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to have found premeditation, a condition of the charge. After the film '' Bernie'' (2011) was released, attorney Jodi Cole became interested in Tiede's case and met with him, filing a post-conviction writ of ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
,'' in which Tiede alleged that his constitutional rights were violated in the first trial because of newly discovered evidence. He further alleged in the writ that the 81-year-old Nugent was controlling and emotionally abusive toward him, and that he had murdered her in a
dissociative state Dissociation, as a concept that has been developed over time, is a wide array of experiences, ranging from a mild emotional detachment from the immediate surroundings, to a more severe disconnection from physical and emotional experiences. The m ...
resulting from years of sexual abuse as a child by an uncle. The Texas Criminal Courts of Appeal approved the writ. According to Rod, Tiede had alienated Nugent from her family, friends, and business associates of her late husband. He told the ''Globe-News:'' “It appears this Bernie Tiede kind of systematically estranged my mother from all these people one at a time ... At some point, they became angry with my mother.” When interviewed, Panola County District Attorney Danny "Buck" Davidson said that the town of Carthage was “split up” in regards to their opinion of Tiede. Davidson recounted to the ''Longview News-Journal'', “People remember iedeas being real nice and doing nice things, and they'd like my office to go real easy on him. And then, there's a group that wants no mercy.” At the resentencing trial, Tiede was sentenced to
life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. Rod filed a
wrongful death Wrongful death claim is a claim against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are compensated for the harm, l ...
lawsuit against Tiede, claiming he had
embezzled Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
more than $3 million from his mother.


Imprisonment and release

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


Resentencing hearing

The resentencing trial began on April 6, 2016. During the resentencing trial, Marjorie's granddaughter, Shanna Nugent, spoke directly to Bernie, and stated, “You are nothing to me.” Shanna and her father, Rod Nugent, both asserted that Marjorie was a kind woman on good terms with her family (in contrast to the portrayal in the film), whom Tiede conned in order to spend her fortune without her knowledge. Other witnesses' testimonies differed. For instance,
Gregg County Gregg County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 124,239. Its county seat is Longview. The county is named after John Gregg, a Confederate general killed in action duri ...
Commissioner Darryl Primo testified that in a conversation he had with Marjorie between 1991 and 1996, she spoke favorably of Bernie's spending, as she proclaimed, “I’ll spend every dime f my moneybefore I leave it to my family.” Merrell Rhodes, the victim's sister, recalled of Marjorie, “I was always afraid of her... I never forgot that she was my sister... I always loved her as a sister, actually, even when she did ugly things, and she did.” Merrel's son, Joe Rhodes, attested to the movie's accurate portrayal of his aunt. He noted several acts of his aunt's abusive behavior toward him in ''
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'' article titled “How My Aunt Marge Ended Up in the Deep Freeze.” On April 22, 2016, the jury of ten women and two men issued a new sentence of 99 years or life for Tiede. After three weeks of testimony, they had deliberated for just over four hours.


Appeal and incarceration status

A week after his resentencing, his lawyers filed an appeal to the court's decision. In June 2016, the 1997 theft charge against Tiede was dropped. In August 2017, a Texas appeals court upheld the 99-year prison sentence. Tiede was the subject of the '' 48 Hours'' episode titled “The Mortician, the Murder, the Movie,” which discussed his crime, as well as his brief re-entry to society and subsequent resentencing. Tiede resided in the Telford Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for at least 15 years. , Tiede was incarcerated at the John B. Connally Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Kenedy, Texas, for several years. He currently resides at the