Bernie Tiede, the mortician who was convicted of killing his companion Marjorie Nugent in 1996, will receive a new sentencing hearing.
Tiede was convicted of the shooting death of 81-year-old Nugent in a case that inspired the 2011 movie “Bernie,” starring Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine and directed by Richard Linklater.
Nugent's body was found in a freezer in her home near Carthage, Texas.
Tiede was released from prison earlier this year after his attorneys argued that jurors weren't told he felt abused by Nugent or that he was sexually abused as a child.
On Wednesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a new sentencing.
Tiede has been living in Linklater’s garage apartment since his release in May, Time reported.
“There is no happy ending here,”
the victim’s granddaughter Shanna Nugent said, according to the Austin American-Statesman. “A confessed, convicted murderer is free. And any chance for justice for my grandmother is likely gone.”
Tiede has embezzled more than $3 million from Nugent, according to a Dallas Morning News blog by Tod Robberson.
Panola County’s prosecutor Danny Buck Davidson has 10 days to file for a new punishment hearing or Tiede will remain free, Robberson wrote.
“Danny Buck Davidson is starstruck and he needs to recuse himself,” family spokesman Ryan Gravatt said, according to Robberson. “A simple Internet search shows him arm-and-arm with the Hollywood celebrities who have been paying attorneys for two years to get Tiede a new trial. In light of this, does Davidson really represent the views of Panola County residents? No, he does not. The Texas Attorney General’s office should handle the retrial.”
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