Real-Life ‘Bernie’ Tiede Released from Prison

More than 17 years after murdering 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent, Bernie Tiede, the convicted murderer depicted in Richard Linklater’s comedy Bernie, has been released from prison.

Tiede was convicted of shooting Nugent in the back of the head and storing her body in a freezer.  He was originally sentenced to life in prison for his crime, but after attorney Jodi Cole saw Linklater’s film she felt the case did not add up.

After re-evaluating the case, Cole discovered that the 55-year-old had been sexually assaulted as a teenage boy, and had been too embarrassed to reveal such information during the original trial.

Cole’s evidence convinced prosecuting attorneys to request a reduction in Tiede’s sentence, which was granted. Tiede’s bond was set at $10,000 and after posting bail, he was released and is required to live in an apartment above Linklater’s garage and receive consoling for sexual abuse until the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals approves the reduced sentence.

While Linklater’s film depicts that the townspeople of Tiede’s hometown of Carthage where sympathetic towards the matter, their options of him have changed “180 degrees,” and fell his release is “bittersweet.” Also, Panola County District Attorney Danny Davidson stated that living in Austin is necessary for Tiede because locals “don’t want him walking the streets.”

Linklater on the other hand refers to Tiede as “a sweetheart guy” and that “there’s really no darkness in Bernie.”  He openly wondered, “What’s that guy doing in prison still.”

While Tiede is released from prison, he still faces theft charges for spending Nugent’s money after her death.  Davidson said that nothing will move forward until the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals approves the sentence reduction.

No timetable has been set for when the court might act.

Bernie Tiede was a funeral director who had befriended the wealthy elderly women. The two grew close, so close that Tiede was written into her will, he quit his job to become her business manager and the two traveled the world together.

Tiede said he was driven to murder the women due to her increasingly demanding temperament.