Kilgore News Herald Feature Writing Entry No. 1 for TPA BNC

By AUSTIN [email protected]

Representatives of the Kil-gore: 20/20 Vision Com-mittee and city staff metwith property owners atCrosspointe FellowshipChurch Thursday night todiscuss a proposed 1,003-acre annexation around thearea of I-20.

The city council passed aresolution last month for thepreparation of a service planfor the annexation area, giv-ing Carol Windham, cityplanning and zoning direc-tor, the green light to developa preliminary strategy neces-sary to bring the land intothe city limits. Two days afterthe resolution passed, the cityplanning department noti-fied property owners andutility and railroad compa-nies of the possible annexa-tion by mail.

If the annexation is ulti-

By JAMES [email protected]

Incumbent District 7 StateRepresentative David Simpsonwon his re-election bid againsthis predecessor, Tommy Merritt,in the GOP primary electionTuesday, securing a return trip tothe state capitol.

With no Democratic chal-lenger on the November ballot,Simpson’s 10,255 votes – out of16,636 cast in the race – notchthe second term, and he’s ready

to use it to continue shaking up‘business as usual’ in Austin.

“I was very encouraged. Itshowed us that the typical, goodol' boy politics are on the wayout and common sense princi-ples are on the way in,” Simp-

son said Thursday. “I'm encour-aged that some strong, conser-vative freshmen were just elect-ed – I'm looking forward toworking with them.”

Simpson readily admits his firststint in the legislature was con-tentious, often voting againstsenior members, against his ownparty and against every othermember of the body to standalone on principle.

“People really respected my

That Bernie Tiede killed MarjorieNugent, none can question. Butsome do anyway.

He confessed as much to investigatorsin August 1997 – that after six years asher jet-setting companion and oft-abusedservant, he snapped and murdered the81-year-old dowager onNov. 19, 1996, shot herfour times in the back witha .22 rifle in her Carthage home and hidthe body in a deep freeze.

Bernie was convicted of first degreemurder in February of 1999 and sentencedto life in prison; he's incarcerated today inthe Telford Unit of New Boston.

The why of it is still a matter of hotdebate in Carthage, where some residentsstill champion the sweet, effete, effeminatemortician, some deny the murder as analmost inevitable killing of a harsh womanor as self defense and older women write tothe man constantly.

The story made national headlines andnewscasts, the covers of magazines and,today, movie theater marquees as directorRichard Linklater's 'Bernie' turns thespotlight once again on East Texas and acrime that many people still cannot accept.

SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012

KILGORE NEWS HERALD2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES VOL. 81, NO. 44 50 CENTSKILGORENEWSHERALD.COMAMERICA’S NO. 1 SMALL CITY CAPITAL OF THE EAST TEXAS OIL FIELD

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See KILGOROUND, Page 4A

KILGOROUNDMITCH LUCAS

HOW MANY OF us canremember the night wegraduated from high

school?I don’t

have aproblemremem-bering. Mymom hadthe great

idea (sarcasm there, ifyou couldn’t tell) of hiringa videographer to docu-ment mine.

Now, that really IS agreat idea – unless youdecide to have a shout-ing match with your girl-friend right after tossingyour hat in the air. Nokidding. Graduated, hadan argument with mysteady girlfriend at thetime, and tried to bribethe photographer to goaway, all within about afive-minute span.

+ENOUGH ABOUT ME.

Just want to congratulateall the students that havegraduated in recent daysfrom Kilgore HighSchool, West Rusk andLeverett’s Chapel. Thereare a couple of othergraduation ceremoniesthis weekend.

Sabine’s Class of 2012makes the walk today at2 p.m., over at the Dod-son Auditorium on thecampus of Kilgore Col-lege. And Overton’sgraduates will collect theirdiplomas at 2 p.m. to-morrow, and that one’s atDodson, as well.

All kidding aside, con-gratulations to all highschool graduates. Here’sthe advice my fathergave me, and I’m pass-ing it down.

INSIDE

Facebook:Kilgore News Herald

Twitter:KilgoreNews

SPORTS: The East Texas PumpJacks begin their season this week-end. They’re home on Wednesday.

See Page 10A

SHOPPING SMART: Look in-side for money-saving specials fromChar-Burger Stockade, ConawayHomes, CVS Pharmacy, Walgreensand WalMart.

Panola County DistrictAttorney Danny BuckDavidson is closing in on5,300 felony convictions af-ter 18 years in office.

He keeps extra copies ofthe roster close at hand, di-vided by year. But Bernie's,during Danny Buck's firstterm in office, is the onethat won't go away.

For months, after the storybroke following the discov-ery of Marge's body andBernie's capture, DannyBuck endured the ire ofmany townspeople, their dis-belief that he was going totry Carthage's leading manfor murder, whatever he hadconfessed to. Bernie had do-nated $100,000 to a church,saved failing businesses,showered gifts and loans andfavors on his neighbors. Hewas a nice guy.

"The town, obviously,doesn't know some of themore horrible things that Iknew. Bernie was stealingmoney from her. Bernie wasdoing a lot of things behindher back. He did have a veryactive other lifestyle, proba-bly from you and myself, inthat he liked older women

By JAMES DRAPER

See Page 7A

Simpson retains House seat with62 percent of primary electorate

INSIDE:• Precinct 3 Commissioner

race set for runoff• Jimerson remains Rusk DA• Rusk County sheriff ’s field

narrows to two for July 31

NEWS HERALD photo by AUSTIN KING

FREEDOM! Kilgore Intermediatestudents on Friday left campusfor the last time this school year.See SIMPSON, Page 3A

NEWS HERALD photo by JAMES DRAPER

Bernie Tiede was known in Kilgore long before he made national headlines for the murder ofCarthage widow Marjorie Nugent in 1996 – the rough letters of his name are still inscribed inthe concrete of the patio behind his childhood home on Danville Drive.

Murder’s MarkMore than 15 years later,

Bernie Tiede’s actions show a lasting impact on Carthage

and wider in East Texas

They’re gonnamake a big

star outta me

NEWS HERALD photo by JAMES DRAPER

Director Richard Linklater(right) greets fans duringthe Red Carpet premiereof his film ‘Bernie’ Thurs-day at 4 Star Cinema.

By JAMES [email protected]

Richard Linklater's 'Bernie'isn't exactly a love letter to EastTexas, but it's certainly a'Thinking of You,' nestledsnugly between the grief andsympathy cards and the onesyou'd send only to close family– they'll get the joke.

See PREMIERE, Page 8A

City staffmeet withpropertyowners onannexation

By AUSTIN [email protected]

The Kilgore IndependentSchool District board oftrustees welcomed its twonewest members, John Sla-gle and Reggie Henson.

Slagle beat former trusteeDale Sistrunk in the recentboard election and Hensonis taking the spot of MarkDickey, who decided not torun again. After the pair wassworn in, the board enteredinto closed session, and up-on returning elected JanetMarley as the new presidentof the school board. Formerpresident Terry George isnow the vice president.

Before Slagle and Hensonwere inducted, the board

KISD trusteesshuffle boardleadership

See ANNEXATION, Page 6A

See SCHOOL BOARD, Page 6A

903.984.20061615 Hwy. 259 N., Kilgore, TX 75662www.kilgoreford.com

903-983-14941201 Stone St. • Kilgore, TX

www.walmart.com

LOCAL KILGORE NEWS HERALD ◆ PAGE 7ASATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012

and young guys," Danny Bucksays. "He loved the style of therich and famous. He loved that.He loved to entertain. He lovedto buy gifts, shower you and Iwith gifts, be a benefactor – but itwas with Nugent's money."

The pair met at the funeral ofMarge's husband, Rod, a geolo-gist who'd made a fortune in theoil-and-gas business and otherventures. "Tall, dark, handsome,young," the 38-year-old was theassistant funeral director, offeredMarge his coat when she feltchilled at the graveside serviceand doted on the wealthy widow.

"He was relentless in his pur-suit of obtaining money fromwealthy women," Danny Buckmaintains.

Lloyd Tiller handled the Nu-gents' multimillion-dollar invest-ments for years. Two weeks afterRod's funeral, the Kilgore stock-broker called on Marge to reviewthe various stock and bonds. Shewas on the phone with Bernie,though Lloyd didn't know who itwas at the time.

"That's the first red flag that Igot. We were sitting in her denoffice, and she was giggling andlaughing and stayed on thephone with him about 10 to 15minutes while I was waiting,which I thought was pretty un-usual," he said. "It was light,comical. Not a very somberphone call.

"I was thinking, 'Golly, man, thebody hasn't even cooled off yet.'"

Uncanny, too, that the town'slocal nice guy would take upwith one of its most venomousresidents.

"She was rough. She was unap-preciative, number one. Just verymean-spirited. If you did some-thing right with her you were ahero and if a stock went downand you lost money, she was vi-cious," Lloyd remembers. Hispath didn't cross Bernie's muchat first. "Mainly it was just social– I would go eat with Mrs. Nu-gent and meet her at differentplaces. Bernie would more or lesstag along. As time went by Iwould see him gradually try togain control, try to entrenchhimself in her life."

For all his charming exterior,Bernie was a predator – he'dmade another attempt to rip-off awealthy widow in Lake Charles,La., before moving to Carthage,Lloyd maintains.

"It was his mode of operationtheoretically to find rich ladiesand mooch off, live off them andget in their pockets. He saw hercoming. I'm sure he was a pro atit. This wasn't his first rodeo."

Long before Carthage, Bernie'searly years were spent in Kil-

gore. His father, Bernhardt Tiede,Sr., worked for a time as KilgoreCollege's Director of Fine Artsand Choir Director before mov-ing the family to Abilene.

Shalia and Jerry Pybas live inBernie's childhood home onDanville Drive. They bought itfrom his father in 1970, negotiat-

ing through a local realtor beforethey moved here from Houston.

They never really knew Bernieand only interacted with the sen-ior Tiede through Kilgore Col-lege, Shalia says, but the homecarries the stamp of the familyand of the boy who would growup to be a murderer.

Designed by his mother andbuilt in 1953, an upstairs linencloset still has marks separatingBernie's space from his sister's.When the Tiedes poured a newpatio behind the home, the kidscouldn't resist the lure of the softconcrete, scrawling their nameslike thousands of other children.

"We always thought it was fun-ny," Shalia said Thursday, "whensomeone said something aboutthe trial going on we'd say, 'Well,his name's on our patio."

Locals remember Bernie'syouth, attended Sunday Schoolwith him, heard him sing in thechoir, competed with him in de-bates and speech contests.

Billy George Vaticalos, a Kilgo-re native and Longview hairdress-er, interacted with both Marjorieand Bernie long before the twoever met.

"I remember Bernie when hewas just a baby," Billy said. "Hewas just a little bitty thing."

At the same time, Billy wasMarjorie's dedicated stylist at theVogue in Longview. She wasn't asbad as people say, he insists. "Imanaged to put up with her for30 years," from 1966 to a weekbefore her murder in '96.

Young Bernie grew, moved away,developed his taste for high-styleand culture and finally discovereda well-spring in Marge Nugent.The pair enjoyed the highlife, trav-elling across the country andaround the world, spending lavish-ly and indulging their mutual tastefor the fine things.

"Bernie was probably one of themost talented individuals as far asknowledge of the arts and music.He was extremely well-read andknew a lot about Broadway plays.He was a great conversationalistfor an 80-year-old widow. He likedwhat they liked," Lloyd said. "I

went to church a couple of timeswith her. A couple of the sermonsI heard him deliver were just im-peccable quality. His voice, hecould have been a great speaker ifhe wanted to. And a beautifulsinger. He had more talent thanone could imagine."

Lloyd's concerns about Bernieand Marge's relationship grew.

"I thought it was very suspi-cious from the get-go. I alwaysthought he wasvery effeminate,which is fine, butI had an inklingthat his sexualpreference wouldnot be females,which is his busi-ness," Lloyd ex-plains. "One thingI will say, he was alikable guy. Iimagine a lot ofolder ladies reallyput their trust inhim. He was kindof like a teddy bear to them."

In their years together, Margedisinherited her children andother family members. She putBernie in the will, gave him ac-cess to her money. Bernie used it

"He probably started taking alittle money out of her account,and it just snowballed," Lloyd says.“It was a nice chunk of change hehad pulled out of those accounts."

The relationship soured. aBernie, the wolf in sheep's

clothing, had picked a she-wolffor a benefactor, Lloyd says.

"There's always two sides to apancake, and she drove him nuts.She would get him in a frenzy,"Lloyd said. "Once she got herclaws into you, she was very ma-nipulative."

The man endured more thanhis fair share of abuse, DannyBuck allows.

"I really think Mrs. Nugent feltlike she had bought and paid forBernie," he says. Yes, at one pointMarge locked him inside her prop-erty, one of a string of hurts. Buthe could have walked away. "If yougot to the point that you were ei-

ther going to have to get awayfrom them or kill them, you couldprobably get away from them."

Marge's hairdresser watched therelationship turn. Billy knew thecouple socially, has pictures ofthem in his home, and listened totheir stories of trips across thecountry and around the world –Russia, Italy, France, Portugal – onMarge's dime.

He keeps his thoughts on theirrelationship to him-self, but it came upseveral times amongthe other patrons ofhis salon.

"You had a fewpeople make someremark. I said, 'Lis-ten, there is noth-ing goin' on. She'staking him, andhe's letting her.'"

That was beforeMarge disappeared,before a late-noticehair appointment

in November 1996 – "The weekbefore he killed her he came tomy salon."

According to Billy, Berniemade Marjorie's appointment atthe last minute, in the midde of arush for the hairdresser, forcinghim to put her off, make her wait– never a good idea.

"I managed to work it in," Billysaid, but he thinks it was a setup:Bernie called a week later andtold the hairdresser Marjorie wasupset to be brushed aside, thatshe would not be coming again."He had to get rid of me becausehe knew I would be calling andcalling and calling until I foundwhere she was.

"Hell, she was dead when hecalled me."

Besides that, Billy said, duringthe widow's last appointment atthe salon, while Marge was underthe dryer, Bernie drove the hair-dresser to pick up his Cadillac.

"On the way down there hesaid, 'She's about to drive mecrazy,'" Billy recalled. He told themortician to buck up or walkout: 'She'll get mad as hell andshe might run you off for a fewdays, but no one else is going todo this crap you're doing for her.'

"A week later, he killed her."

For Lloyd, the first real sign oftrouble was a missing Christmas

turkey and lost 'Thank You' note.A valued client, Lloyd sent a bird

to Marge every year and every yearreceived an elaborate card in re-turn. In 1995, "She had gotten soornery with me that I took her offthe Christmas turkey list." Notsurprisingly, Marge missed the an-nual gift and called in search of it.Promising it had probably gottenlast in shipping, Lloyd sent her hisown and, of course, received agushing note in return.

"The next year, '96, I sent herone but I never got a 'Thank You'note from it," Lloyd said. Odd,but it wasn't until the earlymonths of 1997 that he becamereally suspicious. "In January Ithought it was weird. In FebruaryI got really perturbed. She wasn'tanswering my phone calls, and I

knew something was wrong. Shehad about $4 million worth ofbonds coming due, some of themwere due, so we had to put themoney somewhere else.

"I left messages on her recorder,message after message – shewouldn't return my call. I foundthat highly unusual because shewas making money in the stockmarket; most people return yourcalls when they're making money."

The estate was valued at about$12 million, Lloyd said, and, be-sides her knife-edge personality,it was the money that ostracizedher from her family – she disin-herited the lot in 1991, the sepa-ration contributing to her disap-pearance raising few eyebrows formore than half-a-year.

"She never spoke. never heardfrom them. The whole time I didbusiness with her, she never had aconveration with her son. It allsurrounded a dollar bill. That justshows what money can do toyou. It's just sad."

On his birthday, Feb. 15, 1997,Lloyd visited the Nugent homeon his way back from a horseshow. Younger then, and lighter,he scaled the fence, walked the100 yards to the house andknocked.

"It was dark and there were nolights on. This would have beenin the afternoon. No one wasthere. The car was there. Thehome seemed like it was deserted.I became pretty concerned then.It gave me a really eery feeling."

Lloyd stepped up the frequencyof his calls but still didn't reachBernie until March. Marge wasvisiting her sister in Ohio, he wastold. Lloyd demanded she callhim – he needed to reinvest themoney.

"He said, 'Just go ahead and dowhat you need to do.' I didn'thave the authority to do that,"Lloyd explains. "It was the end ofApril that I called him and gotpretty rough with him. I said,'Look, a lot of people are gettingconcerned about this. I want toknow where she is.'"

Scott & White Clinic in Tem-ple, Bernie said, recovering froma stroke.

"He puts the cell phone downand I hear, 'Marge, do you want totalk to Lloyd?' I hear this faintvoice (made up by Bernie), 'No,I'm too sick. I'll talk to him later.'It was perfect, I thought it was her.He faked me. That just blew meaway. I was that stupid. I guess Iwas that busy with other cus-tomers. I wish I had pursued thisstronger, but I guess climbingsomebody's fence is pretty strong."

As weeks turned into monthsand Marjorie still hadn't

turned up, some people turnedto Billy, asking about his long-time client:

"Have you seen Marjorie?""Nope, I haven't laid eyes on her."

Bernie's stories, meanwhile,kept changing, and Billy didn'tbuy the line about Marjorie stay-ing incognito in Temple while re-covering from her stroke, hiding

NEWS HERALD photos by JAMES DRAPER

Danny Buck Davidson is in his 18th year as Panola County District Attorney. With more than 5,000 felony convictions underhis belt, the one that is still making headlines centers on Bernhardt Tiede, II, prosecuted by Davidson in February 1999,convicted and sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder. (Below) Bernie’s companion, employer, abuser and ulti-mately victim Marjorie Nugent had her hair dressed for 30 years by Kilgore native Billy George Vaticalos , who walked theRed Carpet at 4 Star Cinema Thursday night at the premiere of Richard Linklater’s dark comedy, ‘Bernie,’ starring JackBlack as the killer, Matthew McConaughey as Davidson and Shirley MacLaine as Marge.

‘She’s about to drive me

crazy’Continued from Page 1A

Kilgore stockbroker Lloyd Tiller managed Marjorie Nugent’s investments. His suspicionof Bernie Tiede began early on, he said, as the man firmly entrenched himself in the wid-ow’s affairs. Nevertheless, it is still unbelievable that Bernie could kill the woman. “Shepushed him so hard that he snapped. And I'll always believe that."

See BERNIE, Page 8A

The film had its Red Carpet pre-miere in Kilgore Thursday night,with the director, co-screenwriterSkip Hollandsworth and scores of thefilm's local stars, extras and charac-ter's real-life inspirations turning outfor the kickoff screening at 4 StarCinema, all proceeds benefitingLongview Ballet Theater.

"My Jack Black black comedy," asLinklater puts it, features his 'School ofRock' cohort as Bernie Tiede, the cul-tured, mannerly mortician who in No-vember 1996 shot and killed his long-time companion and benefactor, Mar-jorie Nugent, in her Carthage home.Two other Hollywood A-listers roundout the principal cast, ShirleyMacLaine as the wealthy but mercurialvictim and Longview native MatthewMcConaughey as Tiede prosecutorDanny Buck Davidson.

Hollandsworth adapted his TexasMonthly article about the killing,"Midnight in the Garden of EastTexas," with Linklater, a Huntsville na-tive who relished the idea of making amovie out of the headline homicide,turning it into an homage to his roots.

"I grew up in East Texas," he saidduring a pre-screening press confer-ence. "America is kind of a small-towncountry. It's about small town life.

"It was interesting the way this eventreverberated, kind of refracted throughthe community."

Beyond the leads, Linklater drew themajority of his cast from the commu-nity itself, amateur actors and com-plete newcomers, each delivering themyriad of quotes Hollandsworthrecorded when covering the Tiede case.

"Outsiders of East Texas watch thismovie and are fascinated by it becausethey can't believe it's true," Hol-landsworth said, thinking he made upthe name 'Danny Buck' and others.But the strangest elements were thetruest ones, he insisted, and he knewthen how powerful a story it could be."I said, 'This is going to be a moviesomeday,' and it took 14 years."

Devoid of the slapstick and hyper-bole audiences expect from a Jack Blackmovie, in writing the film, Linklaterand Hollandsworth avoided addinggags or embellishing the humor, relyinginstead of the sincerely funny andheartfelt performances of local actors tocommunicate the actual perspectives ofCarthage residents at the time of Bernieand Marge's relationship, her murder,his arrest and trial.

"I was basically a transcriber," Hol-landsworth insists. "I had to have thestory told through everybody whoknew them. Everybody's got an opin-ion and everybody starts talking. Therewas this whole comic element to thestory. And it was tragic comedy."

Kay Baby Epperson, Ira Bounds andMarjorie Dome are among a slew ofEast Texans on screen, functioning asLinklater's Greek chorus of gossipsnarrating the film and giving perspec-tive on the characters.

Mixed within the darkness of thefilm – it is, after all, a comedy about amurder – the gossips often steal theshow. Audiences' reactions Thursdayranged from raucous guffaws to deadsilence, hushed by the viciousness andviolence of some scenes and leftbreathless from laughter after others.

It took 14 years for the film to movefrom script to screen and finally shot,cut and released: it's been greeted withrave reviews.

"People looked at the script, with allthe townspeople and the gossips, anddidn't think it would work. I knew itwould work," Linklater said. Audi-ences, especially in East Texas, canidentify with the usually nameless peo-

ple on screen or, at least, recognizethem as characters they see in familymembers and next-door neighbors."That's the reason people respond tothe movie the way they do. It feels veryreal."

The movie won't exactly be an easysell in Carthage – many there havebeen dreading it for years, denouncingit sight-unseen as insensitive andmocking.

"There was a debate if outsiderswould get it, that this is not a parody,it's the way it is," Hollandsworth said,but he remembers the good of the ex-perience and the town, like residents'camaraderie – "Everybody was invitingme in for coffee. It was the best." – andLinklater says he tried to respect thetownspeople while telling the truth ofthe story.

"I'm a local. I'm from East Texas,"Linklater explained. "I'm not going tomake fun. No one needed to lectureme on that."

Carthage resident Donna Young-blood, who attended the film's pro-duction in Bastrop and has a cousin inthe movie, believes the filmmakers dida great job with the script.

"We didn't all side with Bernie. Itwas a terrible tragedy," she said. Young-blood was most-impressed with thelead actors. "Matthew McConaugheydid such a good job and JackBlack...he's just awesome. When hewould become Bernie, you could see ithappening."

It was surreal to see the comedian asBernie, in person and on screen,singing praise songs in his car, per-forming in a musical after he killed thewidow.

"It shows how twisted it really was,"Youngblood said. "He went on withhis life just like nothing had happened.It's two sides of the coin: the good sideand the bad. But which one is he?"

Teresa Edwards, a Spanish teacher atCarthage High School, is a member ofLinklater's gossip chorus, a staunchTiede supporter and constant pen pal.

The movie is one of the most inter-esting films in the past 50 years, sheproclaimed Thursday, a tribute to her

hometown, not a jibe."I don't see what in the world they

were worried about," she said. "I thinka lot of people got their nose out ofjoint before they ever knew anythingabout it."

Bernie is doing well, Edwards added,very well.

Serving his life sentence for Nugent'smurder, he works in the craft depart-ment at the Telford Unit in NewBoston and makes hand-stitched me-morials for the recently deceased ofCarthage. He's still a man of faith, Ed-wards praised, reminding her in his let-ters, "I pray for you daily."

"He knows he did wrong. He admitsit, he accepts it," she said. Edwards, forone, wants mercy for him, to see hislife sentenced shortened. Still, shejokes, "I have a lot of people tell me ifhe ever gets out of prison, I'll be hisnext victim. I respond, 'Why would hekill me? I don't have any money.'"

She told him as much in a letter, andEdwards can't wait to tell him aboutThursday's premiere. He'll be thrilledto know the proceeds from the Kilgorepremiere are all aiding the LongviewBallet Theater.

"He's just going to be beside him-self," she said. "I think he's won-derful."

With between 350 and 370 ticketssold at $50 or $150 each, the premiereraised approximately $35,000 for theballet theater, executive director ToniErskine said.

"For a little ballet company, non-profit, in a small town, it's prettygreat," she said during the premiere'safter-party, telling Linklater, "I don'tthink we had an impact on your moviebut your presence here impacted thebottom line of Longview Ballet theater,and we're so grateful."

Linklater, in turn, praised his cast oflocals.

"This is practically a cast and crewscreening for us," he said, inviting theactors to stand before one screening,bringing about 30 people to their feet."These are the real stars of the movie.This movie is about a community, anEast Texas community."

LOCAL SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012KILGORE NEWS HERALD ◆ PAGE 8A

at Scott & White.At seven months, "I said,

'Y'all need to get somethingstarted down there.'"

At eight months, a personwho wanted to remain anony-mous tipped off the sheriff'soffice about Marge’s ongoing,suspicious absence.

They tried to track herdown – she was at the MayoClinic, Bernie said. She wasat Scott & White. She washiding her identity. – "Ofcourse she wasn't there,"Danny Buck says.

And she wasn't filling herprescriptions: the autopsyshowed Marjorie was dyingof congestive heart failure.At the time of her death, shehad about five years to live.

"We became particularlydisturbed when the placewhere she bought her medi-cine hadn't seen her. The lastprescription was filled in No-vember of 1996."

Marge's bank hadn't seenher either. Employees visitedthe house in April of '97 but,at Bernie's insistence, didn'tdisturb her in her convales-cence. Bernie took their doc-uments to Marge's bedroomand brought them backsigned.

Marjorie's son took out aguardianship of a missingperson giving him the au-thority to take possession ofher property and its contents– finally inside the home, af-ter pulling the door off itshinges, officers and familymembers found a stack ofmail that had been growingsince the previous November.And they searched the garage.

"I remember where I was:sitting in my computer roomat home,” Lloyd says. “I got acall...they had just foundMarge. I said, 'Great, good,I'm so happy. Where is she?'"

Dead, at the bottom of aduct-taped freezer.

"Chills just went all overmy body. Bernie was still atlarge. I got up and lockedmy doors. It's a really scaryfeeling."

Danny Buck brought thefreezer into a San Augustinecourtroom at 3:45 on a Fri-day afternoon.

In an unprecedented move,the prosecution requested achange of venue for the trial,from Carthage to San Augus-tine – usually the defenseteam would ask for such amove, fearing a backlashfrom a local jury, but news ofBernie's arrest had brokenhard in town in a differentway, stirring up a massiveamount of support for theman. Danny Buck thoughtthe state was the one thatwouldn’t get a fair trial.

He showed the San Augus-tine jurors a video of investi-gators removing the contentsof the deep freeze and pic-tures of Marjorie. It had tak-en took two days for Mar-jorie to defrost in a Dallascrime lab. Food and vegeta-bles underneath, around andabove her – and a long-neg-lected Christmas turkey.

"Freezer burn does not helpa lady's complexion. She wasfrozen in a very grotesque po-sition. It was pretty horrible.It was a silent video, verypowerful. Two jurors stoodup and screamed," he says.Defense attorney Clifton'Scrappy' Holmes holleredfor a mistrial. "What do youthink that jury thought about

that whole weekend?"The District Attorney

turned Bernie's own refine-ment against him, askingquestions about flying firstclass with Marge, how theytravelled the world, visitedplays, ballets and musicalslike "Less Mizzer Ables."

"He immediately said, 'Youmean 'Les Miserables.' I said,'Oh, did I mispronounce it?Tell the jury about it.'"

It wasn't so much what hesaid, as the way he said it,Danny Buck remembers.

Before, "Bernie was mak-ing like he was just a verysorry person, low. When hecorrected me, it was almostlike he came out of that, andhe became an aristocrat. Hecould not go back into thepoor-me Bernie stage any-more. It was almost like hewas bragging about it. Hewas entitled to the life of therich and famous. He said hehad retired to become Mrs.Nugent's bookkeeper andtravel companion."

The members of the jurywere going to have to workall their lives to keep fromstarving to death, DannyBuck says.

"Ultimately they could notrelate to the aristocraticBernie Tiede."

Danny Buck got his con-viction in February of 1999.Bernie went to prison.They've had no contact sincethe trial. The prosecutor gotback to work.

"I tried a capital murdercase within 30 days of theBernie verdict. I got life on acapital murder case, jury ver-dict. I asked some of the old-timers if anybody had gottentwo lifes within 30 days andnobody could remember."

Today, Lloyd still says hecan't fathom a man likeBernie picked up a .22 andshot Marge.

"I've always had a hot tem-per and pretty volatile. Berniewas always very calm. Hewould be the last person onearth I thought would shoother," he said. "I will neverunderstand how he...he's nota firearm person...how hecould pull up a rifle andshoot her four times.

"Obviously, he was not aprofessional. He was proba-bly a pretty nice guy whoflipped his lid. She pushedhim so hard that he snapped.And I'll always believe that."

Many agree. Not Danny Buck.Nice guy he was, and is,

Bernie killed an 81-year-oldwoman.

"What happened to herwas not right, not fair. Even ifshe was the most hatedwoman in East Texas, like hernephew said and I don'tthink she was," Danny Bucksays. "In his confession...itsaid that he'd been thinkingabout killing her formonths...that she'd becomeevil and mean and possessiveof his time."

Even then, "he was in thewill, he was going to inherither money. Why would youkill an 81-year-old woman?All he had to do was sit acouple of years and do itright. But I think he went in-to the till too many times.Love of money is the root ofall evil. He was greedy. Hekilled the lady that laid thegolden eggs."

BERNIEContinued from Page 7A

NEWS HERALD photos by JAMES DRAPER

Some of the big names behind ‘Bernie’ pose with dancers from Longview Ballet Theatre during themovie’s Red Carpet premiere in Kilgore Thurday night, including (From left) Texas Monthly writerand co-screenwriter Skip Hollandsworth, Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson,director Richard Linklater and Bernie Tiede’s defense attorney, Clifton ‘Scrappy’ Holmes. The pre-miere raised approximately $35,000 for the ballet’s 40th anniversary year.

PREMIEREContinued from Page 1A

Jennifer Hattaway visits with her father, Danny Buck Davidsonat the premiere’s after party. Hattaway said Matthew Mc-Conaughey’s performance as her father in the film was uncan-ny – organizers of Thursday’s premiere and party credit Hatt-away, a Kilgore ISD teacher, for bring the film and fundraiserto town.

NEWS HERALD photos by JAMES DRAPER

Bernie Tiede spent his early years on DanvilleDrive – his father, Bernhardt Tiede, Sr., workedat Kilgore College as director of fine arts andchoir director.