Cliff snapped to and realized that both his wife and Kent were right. Rebecca I love your updates, thank you so much for keeping these updates and these cases alive. The authorities also directed Adam Tripp to try to get Bart to admit he planned his familys murder. [8]:Ch.53[pageneeded] Whitaker denied prosecution claims regarding the insurance profit motive, arguing that the only life insurance policy the family had was for $50,000 on his father's life. This site uses cookies to improve user experience. "[16] The trial judge's[who?] ", Kent Whitaker said he still loves his son despite what occurred, describing him as a changed person. It was natural instinct. Tall tale. He fled to Mexico after learning that he was a suspect, assumed a new identity, and lived under the radar for over a year before he was caught and was extradited back to the United States. Watch the podcast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/KillerInstinctYTDont forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: http://bit.ly/KillerInstinctPodcastIf you like the show, telling a friend about it would be helpful! He and his wife, Darlene, had moved into the home just six months earlier. You are a good candidate for governor of Texas. Theres also the question of what turned Bart Whitaker into a homicidal fiend. Somethings going on outside. Re my letter reproduced, at the time of the clemency hearing I was moved to write cos its so unfair that because an offender did well in prison and his (living) victim (father) forgave him and lobbied for him, he gets to live when many others whose instant crime in my book was less evil die. [44] Ira Wells, in particular, points to Whitaker's participation in the program to exemplify the questions, declaring Whitaker's prison writing powerful in its ability to "shock readers into a sensory appreciation of the radical strangeness of [his] life lived". In this case the Texas parole board can make inconsistent decisions and swerve criticism by never giving their reasoning. Their oldest son, Bart, whom he had never met, since Bart lived up north in Willis, Texas, was about to graduate on Saturday. "The reason you did not take X-rays of the brain was you already reached you conclusion," Harpootlian said. Bart called 911, explaining that he was shot in the arm and had just chased the shooter out the back door. I am writing as a member of the public with no connection to the above, his relatives, or his crime. Dirty Deeds We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. The couple had two sons, Brandon and Dane, who had gone off to college. Murdaugh, who has been disbarred, admitted to the thefts, which could carry decades in prison,on the stand last week. remaining immediate family member. Whitaker was convicted for the December 10, 2003, murders of his mother and 19-year-old brother; he was sentenced to death in March2007. Whitakers father insists that he would be victimized again if the state put to death the last remaining member of his immediate family, said Gov. Defense attorneys asked that the jury be able to visit the scene of the killings to help them understand how small the storage room is where Paul Murdaugh was killed and the distance between the two bodies. Sign up for The Lineup's newsletter and get our recommended reads delivered straight to your inbox. The couple relaxed and watched television. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices. Dr. Ellen Riemer testified Tuesday that she stood by the findings of her autopsy that the fatal shot was fired upward. The feed room where Paul Murdaugh's body was found at the Moselle Road property, March 1, 2023. Many thanks, Helen so glad youre enjoying the site! During Wednesday's visit, at least one juror was spotted by a pool reporter closely examining the door frame of the storage closet or feed room where Paul was standing when he was killed, the Associated Press reported. Thanks, Rebecca. Marcus I totally agree. You missed something. Greg Abbott has chosen to commute the execution of the Sugar Land man convicted in the 2003 murders of his mother and brother. Prosecutors brought Crosby back to the stand to talk more aboutMurdaugh stealing millions of dollarsfrom his clients and the firm the Murdaugh family founded more than a century ago. [22][non-primary source needed][21] The appeal was certiorari denied. Apparently, Barts bloodlust had been brewing for even longer than originally thought. Bart had also said he always felt he couldnt live up to his parents expectations (a halfway decent explanation for lying about college, but way short of mitigating murder). [citation needed][clarification needed], Kent Whitaker had already forgiven his son and his co-conspirators for their parts in the murders (reported on as early as 2007),[20] and had tried at the time of his son's trial, years earlier, to persuade the jury not to deliver a death sentence. Rudy ratted him out, and the law hauled Bart back to the U.S. Trio of convicts. (Kent also said he forgave shooter Chris Brashear.). But from the outside, his home life and social life seemed near perfect. He felt so frustrated. [2][3] Abbott cited the fact that Whitaker did not fire the gun and that his father, Kent, "insists that he would be victimized again if the state put to death his last remaining immediate family member", as the reasons for the commutation. Bart didnt specifically refer to any plot, but a phone call recording caught him trying to bribe Adam to keep quiet in return for $20,000. In 2007, he admitted he was "100 percent guilty" and that he hated his parents and brother at the time. Forensic Files didnt mention it, but Bart had a prior arrest record for breaking into his high school and stealing computers after which his parents sent him to a private Christian academy, according to the LA Times. Still, in an effort to unnerve the young men, police continually made it clear that they were watching them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McGreavy. We need more like you! of Texas but thanks all the same! I too am writing from UK (maybe you gathered). Thank God Bart is behind bars now, where he can be as lazy as the Texas prison system will allow and the rest of us are safe from him. According to a Houston Chronicle account, after an emotional, contentious 12 hours during which some jurors at first disagreed about whether Bart constituted a continuing threat to society, Bart got a sentence of death by lethal injection. scheduled closing arguments for the morning of March 5. in return for his admission of guilt, and was instead tried for capital murder. Let me see what I can do, Cliff attempted to calm his neighbor. Abbott accepted the state parole boards rare clemency recommendation. The person who fired the gun that killed the victims did not receive the death penalty, but Mr. Whitaker, who did not fire the gun, did get the death penalty. In February 2018, each of the seven board members separately voted to commute Barts sentence, and the governor concurred. Help!. Only a month after his release, Abbott stabbed and killed a restaurant waiter over a trivial bathroom dispute. Kent, hold on to this. Just hang in there. Bart's brother Kevin entered the family home first and reportedly smiled when he saw the masked Brashear. [11], Whitaker appealed his death sentence, suggesting nine points of error. When asked about the race of the assailant he said, Maybe black I dont know.. Tricia Whitaker continued to moan in agony. His mother Tricia and brother Kevin both died. [35], Thomas Whitaker and other inmates initiated an unsuccessful class action against the State of Texas, addressing the conditions on its death row,[36][non-primary source needed] where inmates are kept in solitary confinement for 23hours a day. The kind-hearted Kent Whitaker forgave Bart and fought for years to stave off his looming execution. Austin, Texas 78711-3401 WebWhitaker family murders: Crime scene location and resting place. WebA Father's Life 10 Years After An Unspeakable Tragedy. Instead, he returned back to the Whitakers front porch and attempted to comfort Kent. The Stanleys were watching a family show. Related: When Murder Runs in the Family: Frances Schreuder and the Killing of Franklin Bradshaw, Cliffs job as a vice president of a regional insurance marketing company was quite demanding and kept him very busy. The unfairness of the situation is, ironically, an argument against the penalty, illustrating unjustness in US criminal practice. Cliff rose up to take a look. WebIn this book, Kent Whitaker describes the true story of the murder of his wife and younger son, a trail of events which had been arranged by his older son. Adam had replicated a diagram of the houses layout and where the triggerman was to lie in wait. Thomas Bartlett \"Bart\" Whitaker had a loving family that he threw away the night he plotted to have them murdered. (I live nr-ish Rutland ). Cliff met Tricia the day he and his wife had moved in. Cliff and Darlene looked at one another quizzically. Yes! Money tangled. [42] He also contributed[clarification needed] to Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement. Where is he now? The bag contained a chisel with paint matching that on Kevins gun safe. A neighbor named Cliff Stanley raced onto the scene and used his own T-shirt to stanch Kents bleeding bullet wound. There appears little or no question, then, that this was not a fully-considered crime, and, moreover, one that seems to require a peculiar callousness given his relation to the victims. [39] These are reported to have been earned while he was on death row. Write all you want, Bart, but youre a true sociopath just playing all the angles, and youre never, ever getting out. WebMiraculously, after being shot in the shoulder, Kent Whitaker survived his attacksomething that Bart hadnt anticipated. While out having a celebratory dinner, no one in his family could've imagined the horror that waited for them when they got back home. "You're angry at him for stealing your money," Harpootlian said. I do not support the death penalty but given that it exists in the State, that due process appears to have been followed, and that the offence is in my view and that of the jury egregious, it seems to me gravely important that this punishment execution is applied consistently if it must be applied at all. If they pull up, she said in reference to police officers, and they see you with that shotgun, theyll probably shoot you, too. He looked at Kent and asked, What happened?, Kent looked at his friend with pleading eyes and reiterated, Im bleeding, Cliff.. WebBartlett Whitakers trial began in March 2007. On Dec. 10, 2003, after the Whitakers returned from a dinner to celebrate what Bart said was the completion of his final exams, an unknown gunman shot all four of them as they entered their house in Sugar Land, a wealthy suburb of Houston. Want more true crime books? I think this needs to change because in matters of life and death the public has a right to know why, when X has been adjudged by a jury as deserving of death, a panel not unanswerable to the public makes a private decision to overturn. WebThomas Bartlett Whitaker (born December 31, 1979) is an American man convicted under the Texas Law of Parties of murdering two family members as a 24-year-old. Once the jury leaves, one reporter, photographer and videographer will be able to see the property. WebHey there freaky fam! At night, when Kent would return home from his job at the Bartlett Construction Company, the couples would congregate out in the front yard and catch up on the days events. He succeeded in annihilating two-thirds of the other Whitakers but, instead of an office visit with an estate attorney, Bart got himself a trial with a judge and jury. Cliff immediately headed in the direction of Kent Whitaker, his own safety not crossing his mind. I swear I heard a shooting outside.. (Photo: Inside Story) On December 10, 2003 the entire Whitaker family Kent, his wife Tricia, and sons Bart and Kevin were gunned down inside their home in Sugarland, Texas, by a masked man who had been waiting inside for them. He quickly moved back and leaned over Kent to see how he could help. [citation needed][43], Whitaker won prizes in PEN America's Prison Writing Program for his essay "Hell's Kitchen",[44][d] Today, Bart resides in the William G. McConnell Unit, or McConnell for short, in Beeville, Texas. Divers recovered it. Hes no longer listed with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Related: The Case of Michael Petersona Perfect Husband, or the Staircase Murderer? Whitaker had unknowingly forgiven his own son for Related: Murder in Little Egypt: John Cavaness, the Small-Town Doctor Who Killed His Son in Cold Blood. Serious needling. Directly next door to the Whitakers home on the east side, their relatively new neighbor, Clifton Cliff Stanley, sat in his recliner in his familys living room. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Alex Murdaughs Ego Pushed Him To Kill His Family Rather Than Lose His Good Reputation, Prosecutors Said During Closing Arguments, I Knew Something Bad Was Going On: Alex Murdaughs Brother Described The Phone Call He Got On The Night Of The Murders, Alex Murdaugh Was Days Away From Unraveling Because Of A Boat Crash Lawsuit, But The Killings Of His Wife And Son Changed Everything, Alex Murdaugh Sobbed As Jurors Saw A Snapchat Video From His Son Allegedly Placing Him At The Scene Of The Murders. Copyright 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Bart needed a way to ensure his family didn't attend that graduation. The defense expert suggested a blast with the weapon's barrel would have stunned the shooter with bone fragments, blood and other gore, delaying the time the shooter could have gone after Maggie Murdaugh. [8]:ch.50[pageneeded], On December 10, 2003, Thomas Bartlett "Bart" Whitaker falsely told his family that he had just taken his final university exams and would soon be graduating from SHSU. https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/severs-roger.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7geqiz8wb7I, The Lindbergh Kidnapping: Forensic Files Lost Episode, Dawn Fehring: A Missionary Dies Too Young, Ron Gillette: An Air Force Man Who Didnt Exactly Aim High. The dog kennels and hangar at the Murdaugh family property on March 1, 2023, The entrance to the kennels at the Murdaugh family property on March 1, 2023, A bullet hole in the glass of a window at the Murdaugh family property in Islandton on March 1, 2023, The entrance to the house at the Murdaugh family's property in Islandton, March 1, 2023. ", "The Governor, the father, and the murderer", "Gov. Over here in the UK, CBS Reality shows these episodes as Medical Detectives, and seem to show the same ones quite regularly. I dont want you getting shot.. This must change. Hipp said that Kent and Tricia had heard about the plot, but didnt take it seriously. But Rudy Rios couldnt resist a $10,000 reward offered for information on Barts whereabouts. What a waste. Bart was close to 19-year-old Kevin, a college sophomore who looked up to him. Bart would later tell ABCs 20/20 that he never felt as though he fit in. [citation needed] They drove to the nearby Pappadeaux restaurant in Stafford for a celebratory dinner. Clifton, get out of there! she shouted frantically. commutes death sentence for man convicted of masterminding murder of mother, brother", "Driver in SugarLand murder plot gets 15years", "Testimony ends in Whitaker's murder trial", "Reprieve for man who plotted own family's murder", "Father forgives son who had mom, brother killed", "Man condemned in family murder plot loses high court appeal", "Judge sets execution date for SugarLand man who had family killed for $1million inheritance", "Texas Prison System stalls release of public information on executions", "Before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles / Request for Commutation of Death Sentence to a Lesser Penalty", "A father's plea: Spare my son [Friday letters]", "Members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles David G. Gutirrez, Chair", "Texas Parole Board Recommends Killer Be Spared From Death", "Texas Governor Weighs Parole Board's Advice on Inmate's Fate", "Governor Abbott commutes death sentence of Thomas Bartlett Whitaker", "[Commutation of death sentence of Thomas Bartlett Whitaker]", "Bart Whitaker talks about eventual execution", "Convicted killer accused of writing, selling book while in prison", "Voices from Solitary: The war of all against all", "Writing for Justice Fellowship 2018-2019", "Death row bloggers get help from victims", "Letters from death row: Faith behind bars", "Works of justice: An interview with Writing for Justice fellow Thomas Bartlett Whitaker", "Buried alive: Stories from inside solitary confinement", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Bartlett_Whitaker&oldid=1138499579, Recipients of American gubernatorial clemency, California State University, Dominguez Hills alumni, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from January 2022, Articles with incomplete citations from January 2022, Articles lacking reliable references from January 2022, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from January 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing expert attention from January 2022, Articles needing cleanup from January 2022, Cleanup tagged articles with a reason field from January 2022, Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from January 2022, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Pages using infobox criminal with motive parameter, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Vague or ambiguous time from January 2022, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from January 2022, Articles to be expanded from January 2022, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from January 2022, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from January 2022, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from January 2022, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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