Closing arguments start for Bernie Tiede sentencing retrial
May 6, 2014: Bernie Tiede smiles after a court hearing granting his release at the Panola County courthouse in Carthage, Texas (FOX NEWS)
HENDERSON, Texas (AP) — An East Texas jury will decide whether an ex-mortician convicted in the 1996 fatal shooting of a wealthy widow must return to prison.
Closing arguments began Friday afternoon in the Bernie Tiede (TEE'-duh) sentencing retrial in Henderson.
The body of 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent was found in 1997 in a freezer at her Carthage home. Authorities say Tiede and Nugent traveled the world using her money but had a turbulent relationship and he misused her funds.
Tiede was convicted in 1999 of killing Nugent and received life in prison. The story was the basis of the film "Bernie."
A judge in 2014 allowed Tiede to be freed on bond after the county prosecutor agreed that the penalty should not have been life behind bars.
State prosecutors handled the sentencing retrial.