212: The Whitaker Family Slayings

WEBVTT

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Southern fried True crime covers cases that
are not suitable for young listeners, and

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there may also be some explicit language
used. Listener discretion is advised. It

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was nearly eight thirty in the evening
on December tenth, two thousand and three,

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in Sugarland, Texas. The sun
had been down for hours, The

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wind, which reached a wopping twenty
five miles per hour that morning, had

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finally calmed down, and the world
seemed almost peaceful, albeit a little chilly

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at forty four degrees. It was
Wednesday, which was and is church night.

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In places like Sugarland, many people
have some sort of Bible study they

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would just be getting home from,
including Fort Benn County Detective Marshall Slot.

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Slot had barely walked through his own
front door after attending church when he was

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paged the Sheriff's department needed him at
a crime scene. There was a shooting

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in an upper class suburban home.
A family of four was attacked by an

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armed intruder with a gun. It
looked like a burglary gone wrong. Detective

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Marshall Slot was shocked. This type
of major violent crime was rare in Sugarland

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even today. Twenty years later,
Sugarland's rate of violent crime is more than

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seventy five percent lower than the national
average. It's a well worn trope to

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say things like this just don't happen
here, but in this case it's true.

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As the on call detective Slot rushed
into the suburban home, what he

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saw was devastating. The murder weapon
had been stolen from a gun safe in

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the house, locked gun safe that
had been hidden in a bedroom cross base.

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How had the intruder known where the
gun was from the jump. Slot

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suspected things were not as they seemed
in the deaths of Kevin Whittaker and his

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mother, Tricia, and he was
right. Things were in fact, far

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worse. Welcome to episode two twelve, The Whittaker Family Slayings. Patricia Ann

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Bartlett was born in January of nineteen
fifty two to parents Bill and Nettie Bartlett

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in Houston, Texas. From childhood, she always went by the nickname Tricia.

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Tricia and her younger brother were primarily
raised in Texas, just like their

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parents had been before them. We
don't know much about Tricia's childhood, However,

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we do know that her mother,
Ned was a religious woman at the

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time of ninety one year old Nettie's
death in twenty fifteen. She was known

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for playing bridge at her local Methodist
church. Perhaps Nettie's Christian beliefs were passed

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down to Tricia, because all her
life Tricia was a regular churchgoer herself.

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Eighteen year old Tricia Bartlett graduated from
Houston's Westchester High School in nineteen seventy.

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She then enrolled in the University of
Houston to earn her bachelor's degree in education.

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The friendly young woman joined the Delta
Gamma sorority. Following college, Tricia

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taught children at various elementary schools.
According to those who worked with Tricia,

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she was an excellent educator. She
had a great rapport with children. Both

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parents and staff adored her. One
fellow teacher remarked that Tricia was so good

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at her job. She felt like
Tricia showed her how to be a better

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teach and a better person all her
life. Tricia was energetic with a zest

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for the outdoors. She liked to
water, ski and snowski, and she

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loved horseback riding. As I touched
on before, Tricia was a very religious

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woman. Her friends and family described
her as godly, sweet, and a

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compassionate Christian woman, Tricia regularly attended
Sunday services, Bible studies, and women's

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fellowship groups at the River Pointe Community
Church. The church is located in Richmond,

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Texas, which was only a six
minute drive from Trisha's home in Sugarland.

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Sugarland is a suburb twenty miles southwest
of Houston, about a thirty minute

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drive. It is home to a
bit over one hundred thousand people. It

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was under seventy thousand when today's case
took place, and by most metrics,

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Sugarland is a sweet place to live
hun intended. In twenty twenty two,

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the average median household income was one
hundred and thirty two thousand. That's nearly

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twice the average household income for the
United States. The area is also known

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for its great schools and gorgeous vistas. Sugarland got its name because it used

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to be a major sugar producer.
Starting back in eighteen forty three, the

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Imperial Sugar Company's headquarters, sugar refinery, and distribution center were there, but

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in two thousand and one, the
Imperial Sugar Company filed for bankruptcy. Two

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years later, in two thousand and
three, they closed their operations in Sugarland.

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Today, Imperial Sugar has been purchased
by US Sugar. In two thousand

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and three, Tricia lived in a
four bedroom house with two and a half

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baths with a pretty brick facade and
a lush front yard with her husband,

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Kent, and her two sons,
Kevin and Bart. Norman Kent Whittaker was

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born in July of nineteen teen forty
eight, to parents Thomas and Velma and

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Harris, Texas. From childhood,
he went by Kent instead of his first

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name, Norman. Kent's father,
Thomas and his mother, Velma, were

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high school sweethearts. They met in
the nineteen thirties, but, like so

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many young American men, Thomas was
drafted to serve in World War Two.

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He enlisted in the US Navy.
Fortunately, he returned home from the war

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unharmed, and that's when he and
Velma, who had been waiting for her

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sweetheart, began their family in Houston, Texas. Thomas was a prominent electrical

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engineer and later a college professor at
the University of Houston. Velma was a

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newspaper editor and artist, successful role
models for Kent and his three siblings in

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the early nineteen seventies, Kent Whittaker
went on a blind date. That's how

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he met Trisha Bartlett. They had
an instant connection, bonding over many things,

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especially their faith. Both were regular
churchgoers all their lives, and on

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June twenty first, nineteen seventy five, twenty six year old Kent married twenty

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three year old Tricia and Harris,
Texas. Kent became the comptroller and part

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owner of a construction company. The
company was very successful, so successful that

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later Kent and Trisia's youngest son,
Kevin, began working for the family business.

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Kevin Michael Whittaker was born on March
nineteenth, nineteen eighty four, in

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Houston, Texas. During Kevin's high
school years, he attended the Fort ben

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Baptist Academy. It's a private Christian
school. While there, Kevin played baseball

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and ran track, but he wasn't
just an athletic guy. He was also

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very well liked by his peers.
He was elected junior class president and was

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awarded the Servant's Heart Award. Outside
of school, Kevin loved to hunt and

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fish, and he, like the
rest of his family, was a regular

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church goer. People who knew Kevin
recalled that he was a passionate Christian.

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After graduating from high school in two
thousand and two, Kevin attended Houston Community

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College and Texas A and M University
at different times. For a while,

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Kevin's goal was to graduate as a
member of the Texas A and M University

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Corps of Cadets, a student military
organization. Kevin's friends and family explained that

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he was a very mature young man
who appreciated justice. His friends would say

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that Kevin was a faithful, loyal, and determined young man who never compromised

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anything. A career in the US
military seems like it would have fit Kevin's

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personality perfectly, but for the time
being, Kevin was happy working in the

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family business. In two thousand and
three, the Whittaker family appeared picture perfect.

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Everything seemed to be going their way. Fifty one year old Tricia had

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retired from teaching, almost fifteen years
before normal retirement age. Fifty five year

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old Kent's successful career meant that they
didn't need two incomes. Nineteen year old

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Kevin was a sophomore in college and
working for his father and Kevin's older brother,

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Twenty three year old Bart was attending
sam Houston State University in Huntsville,

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Texas. Their home was beautiful,
their family was beautiful. It looked like

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their entire lives were beautiful. No
one could have expected the tragedy to come.

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I'm going to pause now for a
short commercial break. On the morning

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of Wednesday, December tenth, Bart
called his family to share some exciting news.

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He had just finished his final exams
at sam Houston State University, which

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meant he was about to graduate college. One of Tricia's friends recalled how meaningful

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this moment was for Tricia. She
was proudly looking forward to her son's graduation.

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To celebrate, Bart asked if the
whole family could go out for dinner

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that night. So the Whittakers drove
about fifteen minutes to a nice seafood restaurant

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called Papado. It was in the
nearby city of Stafford, Texas. They

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had a great time at dinner.
They joked around, told stories, and

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took pictures. Bart was served a
special dessert that had congratulations written in chocolate

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syrup across the bottom of the plate, and his parents gave him a Rolex

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watch, which is an extravagant gift
new rolexes were priced between three and six

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thousand dollars back then. It was
a nice family celebration for a young man's

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accomplishment. Around eight o'clock that evening, Kent, Trisha, Bart, and

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Kevin made their way back home.
They walked in the front door of their

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Sugarland house at about eight twenty pm. That's when suddenly a mal intruder shot

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all four members of the Whittaker family
as they walked in the house. Kevin

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had gone through the doorway first.
He was shot in the chest. His

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mother was on his heels and was
also shot in the chest. Then came

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Kent. A bullet hit him in
the shoulder. The force of it pushed

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him flat on his back out onto
the front porch. Bart, who was

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the last Whittaker to enter the home
because he had forgotten his cell phone in

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the car, watched his family be
slaughtered. He saw his brother Kevin gurgle

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on his own blood as he lay
dying. He saw his mom and dad

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cut down when the hot metal ripped
through their bodies. Trying to help,

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Bart rushed the shooter, but he
couldn't identify him. The shooter was wearing

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a black ski mask and black clothing, though Bart could tell he was white.

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He tried to wrestle the gun away
from the man. In the process,

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Bart was shot in the arm.
Then suddenly the intruder managed to get

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away. A getaway driver had been
waiting. The two criminals fled into the

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night, leaving a whole family bleeding
out in their own home. Kent later

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told reporters that as he felt the
blood drain out of him, he thought,

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oh my god, he shot all
four of us. A neighbor named

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Cliff Stanley heard gunshots of the Whittaker's
place and quickly ran over. He surveyed

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the horrific scene and could tell right
away that nineteen year old Kevin Whittaker was

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dead. The other Whittaker family members
weren't in much better shape. Kent,

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who was still lying on the front
porch, told Cliff that he was bleeding

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badly. When Cliff asked what happened, Trisha moaned, he shot us.

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Around this time, someone called nine
one one. It's unclear who, though

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it was likely Cliff. He told
Kent, don't worry, buddy, help

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is on the way, but Bart
also could have called nine one one.

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Later on, several newspapers would request
the nine one one call recording through the

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Texas Public Information Act. Texas Attorney
General indicated that authorities did not have to

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release that information, and it appears
that they never did. Regardless, someone

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probably Cliff called nine one one,
and within minutes several patrol cars were on

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the scene. Moments later, other
emergency vehicles arrived as well. Fifty one

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year old Tricia Whittaker was put on
a life flight helicopter, but she was

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declared dead shortly after she arrived at
the Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. After

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Tricia Kent was also flown by helicopter
to the hospital. Twenty three year old

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Bart was taken to a local hospital
and treated, but nineteen year old Kevin

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was pronounced dead at the scene.
Both Kent and Bart would fully recover from

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their injuries, but they were left
with the devastation that Tricia and Kevin were

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gone forever. Tricia and Kevin's funeral
services were held at ten am on Tuesday,

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December sixteenth, two thousand and three, at the Sugar Creek Baptist Church.

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Mother and son were buried side by
side in the Memorial Oak Cemetery in

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Houston, Texas. Several other family
members were buried in the same cemetery,

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including Trisha's own parents. Tricia's tombstone
epitaph Reed's wife, mother, sister,

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daughter, a teacher loved by all. Kevin's is engraved with son, brother,

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friend, a man after Christ's heart. More than one thousand people attended

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Tricia and Kevin's joint memorial, during
which several people made a point to tell

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Bart how much his younger brother Kevin
had looked up to him. Britney Barnhill,

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who went to senior prom with Kevin, told Bart you were his hero.

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Meanwhile, Fort Benn County was hard
at work investigating the case. Initially,

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the authorities were pretty sure that this
was a standard burglary gone wrong by

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a stroke of bad luck. The
Whittaker family had walked in on an armed

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intruder robbing their home. But the
burglary theory soon felt hinky. The facts

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were just not adding up. Take
the crime scene. At first glance,

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the main bedroom looked like it was
ransacked, but upon closer inspection, the

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dresser and nightstand drawers had been opened
neatly the exact same distance. Usually,

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burglars are in a hurry, they're
yanking out the dresser drawers, often leaving

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them dumped on the floor. And
that wasn't the only thing. As it

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turned out, no valuable items were
taken from the Whittaker home. The intruder

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had not even stacked items near a
door. Sometimes that happens if the burglar

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is filtering through things while preparing to
bolt, but this burglar hadn't done that.

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They hadn't even touched the Whittaker's laptops
or jewelry, two items that are

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usually target number one for theft.
Then there was the matter of the murder

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weapon. The intruder had used a
nine millimeter glock handgun to shoot the Whittakers,

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but he didn't bring the gun with
him. Instead, this intruder had

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found a gun safe in a fairly
concealed area of the Whittaker house. It

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was well hidden in a bedroom cross
space that thief had used a tool to

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pry it open. So this person
knew to bring a tool strong enough to

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open a locked gun safe, but
they didn't think to bring their own gun.

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And how did they find the gun
safe? Had they been planning to

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look for it all along? Detective
Marshall Slot told forty eight hours this is

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looking more and more like this person
knew the gun was here and obtained it

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for a specific reason. The next
logical question is which of the Whittaker family

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members owned this gun. It was
Kevin's. It had been a gift from

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his older brother Bart. Naturally,
detectives were checking out Bart and Kent's stories

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of that night. Bart told the
authorities how he and his family had gone

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out to dinner to celebrate his impending
college graduation. It only took a couple

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of phone calls to find out Bart
Whittaker had been lying to his family.

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He had not finished his final exams
for sam Houston State University on December tenth.

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In fact, Bart wasn't even enrolled
in SHSU. He was on academic

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probation. He had not stepped foot
into a college classroom since the previous spring,

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and according to his transcripts, he
wasn't anywhere near graduating. Based on

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Bart's credit hours, he was still
a freshman. Police always looked closely at

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the family first in these situations,
and Bart's huge lie about graduating made him

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a suspect. The Fort Ben County
detectives knew about Bart's deception before the funeral

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services for Tricia and Kevin, and
they had informed Bart's father, Kent,

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of their suspicions. Kent was determined
to find Tricia and Kevin's killer. He

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cooperated fully with the authorities at all
times, but he didn't take this allegation

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against Bart seriously. According to his
interviews with CBS, he couldn't fathom that

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Bart would have heard his own family, and when Kent confronted his son,

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Bart denied everything except about his upcoming
graduation. He told his dad that the

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stress of school was too much for
him and that he lied because he needed

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a break from school. According to
Fort Ben County Assistant DA Jeff Strange,

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Bart claimed he had shared the truth
with his mother before she was killed.

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But Bart did deny any involvement in
the vicious attack on his family. He

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himself had been shot, he insisted. Still, the investigating officers had a

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feeling Bart was somehow to blame,
especially after his police interviews. During the

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questioning process, he was incredibly vague. He kept saying he had forgotten information.

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His answers were littered with I guesses
and I don't remembers. At the

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exact same time, mourners were shaking
Bart's hand and giving him tyry eyed hugs

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during the funeral of his mother and
brother. Detectives considered Bart the lead suspect.

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There was every reason to think that
Bart had somehow attempted to kill his

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entire family, especially after an old
friend of Bart's came out of the woodwork

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00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:23.240
with some shocking allegations. Detective Marshall
Slot told forty eight hours, bells and

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00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.799
whistles started going off. Why is
this kid lying to us? What's he

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00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:33.400
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and sixty five day returns quins dot
com slash SFTC. Thomas Bartlett Whittaker was

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born on New Year's Eve, nineteen
seventy nine in Harris, Texas. His

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00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:11.359
middle name was his mother's maiden name, and he went by the short nickname

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00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:15.880
instead of his first name. In
the nineteen nineties, Bart attended Clement's High

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00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:21.599
School and he did well there.
He was a smart guy. His classmates

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00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:26.880
remembered his quick sense of humor.
A friend of the family said that he

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00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:30.559
was fun, witty, and respectful. Most people thought that Bart was a

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00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:34.519
good son. He was a good
son to both of his parents, but

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00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:40.640
was perhaps closer to his dad.
Kent and Bart often bonded over their passion

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00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:45.400
for biking. They would frequently take
long bycrides together. Kent later stated in

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00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:52.599
interviews that he and his son talked
about everything. Of course, parents often

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00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.920
have blind spots because Bart had his
fair share of secrets. In high school,

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00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:02.480
he had a friend named Adam hip
On at least one occasion, Bart

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00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:07.240
and Adam had stolen more than one
computer. We don't have any details on

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this crime. They might not have
even been caught at the time. We

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00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:17.960
only know the minor details relating court
documents. After graduating from high school,

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00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:22.279
Bart studied at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. That's where he met two

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00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:27.640
other young men, Will Anthony and
Justin Peters. Like Bart, they also

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00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:33.279
came from well off families and they
were high achievers. Will would go on

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00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.400
to pursue a career in the military, and Justin had been a National Merit

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00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:42.839
scholar in high school. The three
college boys were described as clean cut and

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00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:48.519
all American, but Bart, Will
and Justin were anything but clean cut.

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00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:55.039
According to court testimony, in December
of two thousand, Bart told Will and

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00:24:55.240 --> 00:25:00.400
Justin that he wanted to kill his
own family. He said that he them.

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00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:06.920
According to assistant DA Jeff Strange,
Bart wanted to inherit his family share

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00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:11.960
of the construction business, but he
knew he couldn't murder his entire family on

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00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:17.640
his own, so he asked Will
and Justin to help. The plan was

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00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:22.119
simple. Will was going to be
the shooter. Bart would give him a

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00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:26.079
black shirt and a ski mask to
hide his identity. Then, per court

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00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.839
documents, Bart would take his family
out to dinner at a restaurant. Meanwhile,

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00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:37.519
the masked Will would lay in wait
and the Whittaker family home. As

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00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:41.160
Bart's family was entering through the front
door following the mill, Will would shoot

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00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:48.359
them one by one. Then Bart
would inherit his family's estate, which was

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00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:52.799
worth approximately one point five million that's
more than two point five million today,

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00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:57.880
and he would pay Justin and Will
for their troubles, though the agreed upon

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00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:04.440
amount was not clear. Everything was
set in place, but when Will was

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00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:10.119
attempting to break into the Whittaker home
through a back window, a loud security

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00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:17.359
alarm went off. Will fled.
Unfortunately, Justin's potential role wasn't published anywhere,

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00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.039
but we can assume that he was
supposed to be the getaway driver.

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00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:26.920
So this plan didn't work, but
it certainly sounds familiar. About a year

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00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:33.200
later, Bart started discussing a similar
murder plot with his high school buddy Adam

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00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:37.559
Hip. Bart wanted Adam to be
the shooter this time. He even drew

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00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:44.039
Adam a diagram of the Whittaker home. This time, Bart knew he needed

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00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:47.319
to leave a door unlocked, and
he wanted Adam to shoot him in the

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00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:52.480
arm so he would appear to be
a victim too. According to Eightya Jeff

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00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:56.400
Strange, Bart was going to get
a gun for Adam from his old college

295
00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:00.759
roommate Justin Peters. But in this
of two thousand and one, one of

296
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:07.319
Adam's friends heard about this murder plot. This friend, Jennifer, who knew

297
00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:12.519
Bart too, approached him about this
horrific plan. When she asked Bart if

298
00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:18.839
he was actually going to murder his
family, he responded in the weirdest way.

299
00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:23.000
He gave her a hug and whispered
in her ear that everything was going

300
00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:30.000
to be okay. Then Jennifer did
what all of these people should have done.

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00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:34.119
She contacted the police. When the
authorities came to Bart's parents about his

302
00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:38.920
plan to kill them with Adam Hip, they waved it off. Bart was

303
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:44.839
trying to kill them. Are you
sure, our son, Bart? I

304
00:27:44.839 --> 00:27:49.440
can practically, hear how ludicrous that
could sound to a parent. The idea

305
00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:56.920
that your flesh and blood could be
plotting your death sounds insane. Bart's parents

306
00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:02.519
had showered him in vacations, cars, gift college tuition, and more.

307
00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:08.079
He had lived a lavish lifestyle compared
to most, not that all these material

308
00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:15.559
things should matter. Tricia and Kent
loved Bart. This was not a secretly

309
00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:22.720
abusive household. Kent and Tricia Whittaker
cared about their sons. Ultimately, the

310
00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:26.160
idea that Bart was going to kill
his family was chalked up to a strange

311
00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:34.160
misunderstanding. Soon Bart brainstormed yet another
murder plot against his family. We know

312
00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:40.640
about it because he told Adam hip. Adam later testified to it in court.

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00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:45.640
Allegedly, Bart was going to set
his family's lakehouse on fire. He

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00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:52.480
intended for his parents' brother and more
relatives to die inside the burning building.

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00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:56.960
Such a horrific way to die,
and he was planning on hurting more people.

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00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.720
And like his other schemes where he
thought an injury could save him from

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00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:07.079
guilt, he planned on getting burned
in the fire too. That way,

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00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:11.839
when he escaped alive, no one
would ask questions but according to Adam's testimony,

319
00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:18.240
Bart never took any actions on this
plan. In two thousand and one,

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00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:22.000
Bart moved about one hundred and fifty
miles from Waco to Huntsville, Texas.

321
00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:29.039
He was transferring from Baylor to Sam
Houston State University. In Huntsville,

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00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:33.599
Bart worked at the Bentwater Yacht and
Country Club. While there, he developed

323
00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:40.559
a friendship with a coworker, twenty
one year old Chris Alan Brisher. Bart

324
00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:45.480
and Chris ended up renting a townhouse
together near Willis, Texas, and they

325
00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:49.599
lived in the same complex as twenty
one year old Stephen Wayne Champaigne. They

326
00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:55.920
all became close. Bart even got
Stephen a bartending job at the Bentwater Club.

327
00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:02.400
By now you know Bart's son and
Dance. He wanted to murder his

328
00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:06.039
family, and he wanted both Chris
and Stephen to help him do it.

329
00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:10.640
Chris was to be the shooter,
Stephen was going to be the getaway driver.

330
00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:18.240
This time, Bart successfully orchestrated an
attack on his family. Chris Brusher

331
00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:23.359
was in fact the shooter and Stephen
Champagne was the getaway driver. Finally,

332
00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:30.599
Bart Whittaker's horrible schemes came to fruition
on December tenth, two thousand and three.

333
00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:34.319
He was there when his entire family
was ambushed. Getting the minor injury

334
00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:40.519
as part of the plan, but
kent surviving was not part of the plan.

335
00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:45.480
On the night of the ambush,
Chris ran from the Whittaker house and

336
00:30:45.559 --> 00:30:49.119
jumped in the car with Stephen.
When Stephen asked him what happened, Chris

337
00:30:49.160 --> 00:30:55.039
said he had shot them all.
Then, according to Eightya Jef Strange,

338
00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:59.799
Stephen and Chris went drinking, using
the money stolen from the Whittaker house to

339
00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:06.039
their tab. Five days after the
murders of Tricia and Kevin Whittaker, the

340
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:11.400
Fort Benn County Sheriff's Department received a
big break in their case. Bart's old

341
00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:18.039
pal, Adam Hemp, was now
a Dallas bank teller. After hearing about

342
00:31:18.039 --> 00:31:22.240
the Whittaker family tragedy, he called
the Fort Bend authorities. Adam wanted to

343
00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:29.400
provide some important insight about Bart Whittaker. At eleven thirty pm on Monday,

344
00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:33.079
December fifteenth, Adam met with Detective
Marshall's Slot in a parking lot behind the

345
00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:41.440
police department. According to court documents, Adam told the detective everything about Bart's

346
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:45.359
two thousand and one plot to kill
the Whittakers, about the diagram Bart had

347
00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:52.039
drawn him, about the potential lake
house fire, about Bart's inexplicable hatred of

348
00:31:52.079 --> 00:32:00.240
his family, and of course Bart's
incessant desire to inherit his family's estate eight

349
00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:06.480
of one point five million dollars.
Adam spoke to the detective for approximately three

350
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:12.039
hours, and that's how the investigating
officers were damn near certain they knew who

351
00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:19.640
their perpetrator was even before Tricia and
Kevin Whittaker were buried. I'm going to

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t r U E crime. Following
the authorities conversation with Adam Hip, they

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thought he might have been involved in
the plot to kill the Whittaker family too,

399
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:15.920
but he wasn't. Adam had been
working at the bank late into the

400
00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:21.760
evening of December tenth. With Adam's
airtight alibi, he was no longer considered

401
00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:25.559
a suspect. After talking with Adam, the police found Bart's old roommate,

402
00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:32.719
Justin Peters. Justin admitted to everything
too. The information Justin provided led the

403
00:36:32.760 --> 00:36:39.280
authorities to Will Anthony. Meanwhile,
Adam agreed to help the authorities under police

404
00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:46.079
instruction. He called Bart several times
and recorded their conversations. Adam told Bart

405
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:51.000
that he was reaching out because the
police were traveling to Dallas to talk to

406
00:36:51.079 --> 00:36:54.519
him. Then Adam brought up the
failed two thousand and one murder scheme and

407
00:36:54.639 --> 00:37:00.480
how it was oddly similar to what
happened to his family Sponts. Bart tried

408
00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:05.599
to pay Adam to lie to the
police. They agreed on a price of

409
00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:09.800
twenty thousand dollars. In April of
two thousand and four, Bart began mailing

410
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:15.039
small increments of cash to Adam.
He used an old address on the mailers

411
00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:22.360
and the pseudonym k SoSE. According
to Eightya Jeff Strange, one of Bart's

412
00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:27.880
favorite movies was The Usual Suspects,
which, if you aren't familiar, features

413
00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:34.480
a criminal mastermind villain named Kaiser SoSE. But Bart Whittaker was no Kaiser SoSE.

414
00:37:35.559 --> 00:37:38.719
He had left his fingerprints all over
the envelope containing the cash he had

415
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:45.079
sent to Adam. Additionally, investigators
learned that Bart had a roommate named Chris

416
00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:50.760
Brasher. Then they found out about
Bart and Chris's neighbor and co worker,

417
00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:55.880
Stephen Champagne. When Sugarland detectives interviewed
Chris and Stephen, they had the two

418
00:37:55.920 --> 00:38:04.559
men submit sense samples. While stephens
sent samples didn't match anything, Bloodhounds alerted

419
00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:10.159
that Chris's sent sample was in numerous
concerning locations, the murder weapon drawers in

420
00:38:10.199 --> 00:38:15.159
the main bedroom, the gun safe, and a glove that had been recovered

421
00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:21.119
from the crime scene. Initially,
Chris denied any involvement in the Whittaker murders,

422
00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:25.159
but when the detectives told Chris they
could definitively link him to the crime

423
00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:31.239
scene, he appeared horrified and panicked. From the winter to the spring of

424
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.599
two thousand and three, Bart lived
with his father, Kent, in the

425
00:38:35.639 --> 00:38:40.400
same Sugarland home where his mother and
brother were killed. Kent continued living with

426
00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:45.800
his son because he did not believe
Bart was involved in the murders, despite

427
00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:51.320
what authorities told him. Kent told
the Houston Chronicle the police were carrying on

428
00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:54.800
an investigation I felt was misplaced,
and if they were right, what could

429
00:38:54.840 --> 00:39:00.440
be more horrifying. In late June
of two thousand and three, Bart could

430
00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:06.480
tell law enforcement was getting closer to
charging him when Justin Peters called him.

431
00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:10.719
Bart was spooted, so he ran. Bart told his father he was going

432
00:39:10.760 --> 00:39:14.960
out to a club one night.
He said he would see Kent the next

433
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:21.679
day, but Bart never came home. Instead, he stole ten thousand dollars

434
00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:24.440
from Kent, and on June twenty
eighth, two thousand and four, Bart's

435
00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:30.679
Chevy Yukon was found abandoned in a
parking lot in southwest Houston. For more

436
00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:35.960
than a year, authorities had no
idea where Bart Whittaker was. It was

437
00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:38.880
like he had vanished into thin air, but they were still working the case.

438
00:39:39.679 --> 00:39:43.920
They spent a lot of time monitoring
the phone calls of people Bart knew,

439
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:49.159
like Chris Brosher and Stephen Champagne.
Chris still lived in the Houston area,

440
00:39:49.559 --> 00:39:53.280
but Stephen had moved to the West
Coast. Twenty three year old Stephen

441
00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:58.880
had graduated from Marine Intelligence School.
By the summer of two thousand and five,

442
00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:05.199
he was stationed at Camp Pendleton in
California for months, investigators had been

443
00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:09.400
hounding him for more information. In
late August of two thousand and five,

444
00:40:09.800 --> 00:40:14.960
Stephen made a trip back to Texas. There, he met with Fort Ben

445
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:21.119
Detective Marshall Slot at a Starbucks.
After some hemming and hawing and pressure from

446
00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:27.360
the FBI, Stephen finally admitted to
everything. Shortly after, he provided a

447
00:40:27.440 --> 00:40:34.400
video recorded confession during which Stephen implicated
himself, Chris, and Bart in the

448
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:39.480
murders of Tricia and Kevin Whittaker.
After his confession, Stephen took the law

449
00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:45.599
enforcement officers to a bridge that crossed
Lake Conrod. Stephen explained how he and

450
00:40:45.679 --> 00:40:52.079
Chris had dropped a canvas bag with
evidence there. The police soon recovered it.

451
00:40:52.119 --> 00:40:57.280
Inside was a vacuum cleaner, a
license plate, money, a water

452
00:40:57.400 --> 00:41:00.119
bottle with Chris's DNA on it,
the chisel Chris had used to break into

453
00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:05.599
the gun safe, the ammunition from
the murder weapon, and two cell phones

454
00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:08.920
that Bart had given to Chris and
Stephen to use while carrying out the plot

455
00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:15.480
to kill his family. Following the
discovery of this evidence, arrest warrants went

456
00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:21.920
out for Stephen Champagne, Chris Burscher, and Bart Whittaker. Stephen and Chris

457
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:28.280
were arrested by mid September. They
were transported to Texas jailhouses, but Bart

458
00:41:28.320 --> 00:41:34.519
was still at large until a man
claiming his name was Mike Jones called Detective

459
00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:37.840
Marshall Slot. He said, I
know where Bart Whittaker is. I helped

460
00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:43.679
him get there. All Mike wanted
in return was the ten thousand dollars reward

461
00:41:43.719 --> 00:41:50.400
money. As it turns out,
Mike Jones was actually Rogelio Rios. He

462
00:41:50.480 --> 00:41:54.519
went by Rudy. Rudy met Bart
when they both worked at a hotel restaurant

463
00:41:54.559 --> 00:42:00.199
in Houston. Rudy was a busboy
and Bart was a waiter. One day,

464
00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:04.719
Bart was complaining to Rudy about how
the police were on his back,

465
00:42:05.400 --> 00:42:09.119
so Rudy offered to help. He
explained that he had family in Mexico.

466
00:42:09.360 --> 00:42:15.400
They could get Bart out of the
United States for a fee. Bart paid

467
00:42:15.480 --> 00:42:20.119
Rudy three thousand dollars out of that
ten thousand he had stolen from his father,

468
00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:23.159
and began a new life in the
small town of Serrovo, Mexico.

469
00:42:24.119 --> 00:42:30.360
Siovo has a population of about eight
thousand and is about four hundred miles southwest

470
00:42:30.400 --> 00:42:35.599
of Sugarland, Texas. Now,
Bart went by the name rudy Rius,

471
00:42:36.079 --> 00:42:39.159
and he told people that he was
a wall from the United States military.

472
00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:45.679
He claimed that he had served in
Afghanistan until his team was ambushed in a

473
00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:51.559
horrific firefight, during which Bart claimed
he was shot in the arm. That's

474
00:42:51.599 --> 00:42:55.079
why he had fled and why he
didn't want to return to the US.

475
00:42:57.039 --> 00:43:02.039
Bart lived in Mexico for fifteen months. There is no indication that he intended

476
00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:07.199
to return to the States. Instead, he learned some Spanish. He rented

477
00:43:07.199 --> 00:43:12.960
out an apartment from the real Rudy
Rios's father, Andy, began dating a

478
00:43:13.000 --> 00:43:17.159
young woman named Cindi lu Selinus,
and Cindy helped Bart get a job at

479
00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:23.239
her family's furniture store. Actually,
Bart became really close to Cindy's siblings,

480
00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:29.639
parents, and other relatives. He
told the Salinases that they were the family

481
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:35.599
he never had. Bart told Cindy
that he was an only child, and

482
00:43:35.679 --> 00:43:40.360
he also told her that his mother
was a sex worker. He claimed that

483
00:43:40.440 --> 00:43:46.039
he never loved his mother because she
never loved him. After the real Rudy

484
00:43:46.119 --> 00:43:52.559
Rios contacted the Fort Bend authorities,
Mexican officials captured Bart Whittaker, he had

485
00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:59.000
fled from Seravo to Monterey, Mexico
to avoid capture, but law enforcement nabbed

486
00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:04.280
Bart when he went to a job
interview at a local restaurant. On Thursday,

487
00:44:04.320 --> 00:44:07.039
September twenty second, two thousand and
five, twenty five year old Bart

488
00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:13.039
Whittaker was arrested in Laredo, Texas. When Kent first laid eyes on his

489
00:44:13.119 --> 00:44:16.239
son after his arrest, Kent said, well, you look like you're okay,

490
00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:23.079
to which Bart replied yes, and
then Bart began apologizing profusely for the

491
00:44:23.239 --> 00:44:29.880
entire ordeal. By December of two
thousand and five, the Fort Ben District

492
00:44:29.920 --> 00:44:36.039
Attorney's office announced that they would seek
the death penalty against Bart Whittaker. Fred

493
00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:40.119
Felkman, the assistant DA who prosecuted
Bart's case, felt that he easily met

494
00:44:40.159 --> 00:44:45.880
the criteria for it. According to
Felkman, Bart had showed he was a

495
00:44:45.920 --> 00:44:52.719
continuing threat, Plus there were zero
mitigating factors in Bart's life that could explain

496
00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:58.280
his behavior. After all, Bart
had not been abused or neglected, or

497
00:44:58.320 --> 00:45:04.000
suffered from any known mental illnes.
In fact, he had experienced a childhood

498
00:45:04.280 --> 00:45:08.880
many Americans dream of. Felkman told
CBS, I find it hard to believe

499
00:45:08.920 --> 00:45:15.440
anybody wouldn't think he deserved it.
One year later, in December of two

500
00:45:15.480 --> 00:45:20.559
thousand and six, Bart sent eighty
A Fred Fvelkman a Christmas card. He

501
00:45:20.599 --> 00:45:25.280
wrote to Fred, keep your family
in mind during the holiday season. This

502
00:45:25.480 --> 00:45:31.599
was interpreted by many as a veiled
threat against Fred's family. Since the double

503
00:45:31.639 --> 00:45:37.400
homicide had occurred, Bart's father,
Kent, had spoken publicly about how he

504
00:45:37.440 --> 00:45:43.920
had forgiven his son Chris and Stephen
for murdering Tricia and Kevin. Kent attributed

505
00:45:43.960 --> 00:45:47.920
his forgiveness to his Christian faith.
He told the Houston Chronicle, it wasn't

506
00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:53.280
human. This was a gift I
believe God gave me. Kent also said

507
00:45:53.320 --> 00:45:58.599
to the Chronicle, I realized that
maybe God had allowed me to live so

508
00:45:58.679 --> 00:46:05.000
I could display that uncann additional love. Kent's Christianity was also a main factor

509
00:46:05.400 --> 00:46:10.360
as to why he advocated against Bart
receiving the death penalty. While Kent agreed

510
00:46:10.639 --> 00:46:15.880
that Bart should remain in prison for
his crimes, he did not understand why

511
00:46:15.880 --> 00:46:21.000
Bart had to be put to death. While the state sought the death penalty

512
00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:23.960
against Bart, they agreed not to
seek the death penalty for the shooter,

513
00:46:24.360 --> 00:46:30.000
Chris Brasher and the getaway driver,
Stephen Champagne, had accepted a plea deal

514
00:46:30.800 --> 00:46:36.679
in exchange for his testimony during Bart's
trial. He would be sentenced to only

515
00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:43.039
fifteen years in prison. I'm going
to pause now for a short commercial break.

516
00:46:49.199 --> 00:46:52.800
Bart's trial began in March of two
thousand and seven. He was held

517
00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:58.519
in Fort ben County. He was
represented by defense attorney Randy MacDonald. As

518
00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:01.599
far as trials go, this one
was pretty much open and shut. It

519
00:47:01.639 --> 00:47:07.400
only took six days. And there's
no question as to why. The prosecution

520
00:47:07.559 --> 00:47:13.000
had Bart's father Kent as an eye
witness to the murderers. They had bagged

521
00:47:13.039 --> 00:47:16.719
the evidence from Conrod Lake, they
had Bart's recorded phone calls with Adam Hip,

522
00:47:17.480 --> 00:47:22.760
they had Adam Hip himself there to
testify, and they also called to

523
00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:29.119
the stand Justin Peters and Will Anthony. And of course the state had Stephen

524
00:47:29.199 --> 00:47:36.119
Champagne's testimony as per his plea deal. During the trial, Stephen devastatingly revealed

525
00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:40.920
that Bart was continuing to plan his
father, Kent's murder even after the deaths

526
00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:46.519
of Tricia and Kevin. When Stephen
and Bart were eating dinner together in February

527
00:47:46.599 --> 00:47:52.400
of two thousand and four, Bart
said the job wasn't finished. Then he

528
00:47:52.440 --> 00:48:00.400
outlined plans for Kent's death. Meanwhile, Bart's defense team all but conceded that

529
00:48:00.440 --> 00:48:06.239
Bart had orchestrated the massacre of his
own family. They called zero witnesses to

530
00:48:06.280 --> 00:48:10.800
the stand. The evidence against Bart
was so insurmountable that their only goal was

531
00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:16.840
to try to get him life in
prison rather than death. On March fifth,

532
00:48:16.920 --> 00:48:21.800
two thousand seven, after two and
a half hours of deliberation, the

533
00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:25.880
jury convicted twenty seven year old Bart
Whittaker of capital murder for his mother and

534
00:48:25.960 --> 00:48:31.320
younger brother. During the sentencing process, which in Texas is known as the

535
00:48:31.360 --> 00:48:37.280
punishment phase, Bart himself testified.
He said, as per court documents,

536
00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:42.719
I am one hundred percent guilty for
this. I put the plan in motion.

537
00:48:43.400 --> 00:48:46.679
If I had not done so,
it would not have happened. Bart

538
00:48:46.719 --> 00:48:51.239
agreed that he had robbed his mother
and his younger brother of their lives.

539
00:48:51.880 --> 00:48:54.599
He even agreed that he had robbed
his surviving father, Kent, of his

540
00:48:54.760 --> 00:49:00.960
life in some ways. Bart claimed
that he felt remorse. When asked why

541
00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:05.360
he did what he did, Bart
said, I have come up with a

542
00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:07.599
lot of reasons for how I got
to where I was going, but they

543
00:49:07.599 --> 00:49:12.719
do not explain it. I always
felt that whatever love they sent me was

544
00:49:12.760 --> 00:49:19.840
conditional on a standard that I just
never felt I could reach, which sounds

545
00:49:19.920 --> 00:49:23.440
like he is still blaming his family
for their own murders. Selfish to the

546
00:49:23.519 --> 00:49:29.440
rotten end. In an attempt to
dissuade the jury from giving him the death

547
00:49:29.480 --> 00:49:34.239
penalty, Bart told them that he
was not going to be an ongoing threat.

548
00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:39.199
He explained that the only people I've
ever hated, and I know it

549
00:49:39.239 --> 00:49:43.960
was not for the right reasons,
but the only people I ever hated were

550
00:49:43.960 --> 00:49:51.159
my parents and my brother Randy MacDonald. Bart's defense attorney responded, but the

551
00:49:51.199 --> 00:49:53.639
irony of it all is that your
dad is actually the one that's come to

552
00:49:53.679 --> 00:49:59.360
your rescue and puts you back on
track, to which Bart said, he's

553
00:49:59.400 --> 00:50:05.599
become my best friend in the last
year. But Assistant District Attorney Fred Veelkman

554
00:50:06.000 --> 00:50:09.119
didn't buy what Bart was selling.
He later referred to it as crap.

555
00:50:09.960 --> 00:50:15.760
During the court proceedings, Velkman asserted
that Bart was just playing the remorseful son

556
00:50:15.079 --> 00:50:19.920
because he was trying to get out
of the death penalty. If Bart hadn't

557
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:23.599
been caught, he wouldn't be saying
any of this. Felkman thought Bart was

558
00:50:23.679 --> 00:50:30.360
just making the best of a bad
situation by manipulating the jury. Velkman may

559
00:50:30.400 --> 00:50:36.239
have been convincing, but it was
still a difficult decision. The jury took

560
00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:40.199
twelve hours of deliberation over the course
of two days before they returned the verdict

561
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:45.960
on Thursday, March eighth, two
thousand and seven, that Bart Whittaker was

562
00:50:45.039 --> 00:50:52.480
sentenced to death by lethal injection.
For the record, I appreciate any jury

563
00:50:52.559 --> 00:50:55.840
that deliberates that long over the death
penalty. It may be the law of

564
00:50:55.920 --> 00:51:00.559
their state and they had to be
death penalty certified. But they clearly took

565
00:51:00.880 --> 00:51:07.480
that momentous decision seriously. A juror
told the Houston Chronicle, we were almost

566
00:51:07.480 --> 00:51:14.039
split evenly on whether or not he
was a continuing threat. Most jurors were

567
00:51:14.079 --> 00:51:19.199
swayed because Bart had lived a life
of extreme comfort. How could someone who

568
00:51:19.320 --> 00:51:22.719
had so much want to murder the
people who had given it to him.

569
00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:28.880
Ultimately, the final juror who was
holding out that Bart was not a continuing

570
00:51:28.960 --> 00:51:35.519
threat folded. They realized that Bart
was driven by lies and deceit. This

571
00:51:35.639 --> 00:51:39.800
holdout duror said of their changed mind. I think that the core person always

572
00:51:39.840 --> 00:51:45.960
surfaces. After Bart's trial in September
of two thousand and seven, Chris Bresher,

573
00:51:46.320 --> 00:51:52.039
the getaway driver, accepted a plea
deal. Rather than be charged with

574
00:51:52.119 --> 00:51:57.559
capital murder, he accepted the lesser
charge of murder, which other states refer

575
00:51:57.719 --> 00:52:01.840
to as second degree murder. As
the actual shooter, Chris was sentenced to

576
00:52:01.880 --> 00:52:08.239
life in prison with the possibility of
parole in thirty years. I'm going to

577
00:52:08.280 --> 00:52:21.800
pause now for a final commercial break. Following his trial and sentencing, Bart

578
00:52:21.800 --> 00:52:25.639
appealed several times. None of these
appeals were successful. The U. S.

579
00:52:25.639 --> 00:52:30.840
Supreme Court denied his appeal without explanation. In October of twenty seventeen,

580
00:52:32.480 --> 00:52:38.039
after Bart exhausted his final options,
his execution was scheduled for Thursday, February

581
00:52:38.039 --> 00:52:44.440
twenty second, twenty eighteen, at
six pm in Huntsville, Texas. For

582
00:52:44.639 --> 00:52:49.800
years, Bart's father, Kent,
had continuously spoken to news outlets about commuting

583
00:52:49.800 --> 00:52:54.360
Bart's sentence. Kent firmly believed that
his son should receive life in prison,

584
00:52:54.800 --> 00:53:00.639
not death. Kent said to reporters
were not asking him to give him or

585
00:53:00.719 --> 00:53:05.639
let him go. We just want
them to let him live and incredibly,

586
00:53:06.159 --> 00:53:12.119
Kent Whittaker's campaign for his son's life
worked. A week before Bart's execution.

587
00:53:12.679 --> 00:53:16.519
Kent spoke with the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles two days before the execution

588
00:53:16.719 --> 00:53:23.639
was scheduled. The seven member board
unanimously recommended clemency for Bart. The board's

589
00:53:23.639 --> 00:53:29.639
decision Tuesday was seven to zero,
and no one seemed more shocked than Kent

590
00:53:29.679 --> 00:53:34.719
Whittaker. This is Texas, he
said, this doesn't happen, and I

591
00:53:34.760 --> 00:53:38.159
am just so encouraged that the system
has worked. This was the right thing,

592
00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:45.079
the right thing to do, but
clemency could actually only be granted by

593
00:53:45.079 --> 00:53:50.760
the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. When that fateful Thursday arrived, Kent

594
00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:54.440
visited his son one final time to
say goodbye. Bart ate his last meal.

595
00:53:55.159 --> 00:54:00.400
It seemed that despite all of Kent's
work and the board's decision, Bart's

596
00:54:00.440 --> 00:54:05.639
death was near, But forty minutes
before Bart was to be injected with lethal

597
00:54:05.719 --> 00:54:12.199
drugs, Governor Abbot commuted his sentence. Instead of being executed, Bart would

598
00:54:12.199 --> 00:54:15.920
remain in prison for the rest of
his life without the possibility of parole.

599
00:54:16.719 --> 00:54:22.280
In response to his commutation, Bart
said, I'm thankful not for me,

600
00:54:22.400 --> 00:54:25.559
but for my dad, any punishment
that I would have or will receive is

601
00:54:25.800 --> 00:54:30.119
just. But my dad did nothing
wrong. The system worked for him today,

602
00:54:30.440 --> 00:54:34.360
and I will do my best to
uphold my role in the system.

603
00:54:36.000 --> 00:54:40.840
Bart's commutation was huge news. It
was an extremely rare occurrence, as Texas

604
00:54:40.840 --> 00:54:46.159
executes five times as many people as
the next closest death penalty state, which

605
00:54:46.159 --> 00:54:52.480
is Oklahoma, and in nine years
of being governor, Abbot has only commuted

606
00:54:52.559 --> 00:54:57.880
one other sentence. It was the
first time in more than a decade and

607
00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:01.559
only the third time since the death
he was reinstated in nineteen seventy six.

608
00:55:04.480 --> 00:55:08.719
In explaining his decision, Governor Abbot
cited the fact that Whittaker's co conspirator,

609
00:55:08.880 --> 00:55:14.440
the triggerman, did not get the
death penalty and that Kent Whittaker, the

610
00:55:14.480 --> 00:55:20.159
surviving victim, quote, passionately opposed
the execution and would be victimized again by

611
00:55:20.159 --> 00:55:24.920
the death of his last remaining immediate
family member. He also pointed out that

612
00:55:24.960 --> 00:55:30.119
Bart Whittaker had waived any possibility of
parole and would spend the rest of his

613
00:55:30.159 --> 00:55:34.840
life in prison. Along with the
board's decision, Abbot said it was the

614
00:55:34.840 --> 00:55:40.440
totality of these reasons which determined his
decision. The prosecutor, Fred Velkman,

615
00:55:42.000 --> 00:55:46.920
thought that this decision was inappropriately based
on Kent's forgiveness of his son. He

616
00:55:46.960 --> 00:55:52.400
felt the governor and the board were
not considering the other people affected by these

617
00:55:52.480 --> 00:56:00.360
murders. Veelkman also said they had
ignored psychiatrists and investigator's testimony that indicate hated

618
00:56:00.679 --> 00:56:07.480
Bart Whittaker was manipulative. In later
interviews, Velkman suggested that Bart was a

619
00:56:07.559 --> 00:56:13.880
sociopath. Today, the getaway driver, forty two year old Stephen Champagne,

620
00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:19.079
served his fifteen years and is no
longer in prison, and if his parol

621
00:56:19.199 --> 00:56:22.039
is granted, triggerman Chris Forsheer,
will be fifty five years old when he

622
00:56:22.119 --> 00:56:27.719
leaves prison in twenty thirty seven.
Right now, he is forty one years

623
00:56:27.760 --> 00:56:32.440
old and is incarcerated in the J. Dell Wainwright Unit. Bart Whittaker is

624
00:56:32.480 --> 00:56:37.760
now forty four years old. He
is incarcerated in the William J. McConnell

625
00:56:37.840 --> 00:56:43.559
unit in Beeville, Texas. While
in prison, Bart reconnected with his Christianity

626
00:56:44.119 --> 00:56:49.440
and todate. He has earned two
bachelor's degree in English and sociology from Adams

627
00:56:49.440 --> 00:56:57.440
State University. His master's degree is
in humanities from California State University. Bart's

628
00:56:57.440 --> 00:57:02.199
writing has been published in Guernica,
The Washington Post Magazine, The Marshall Project,

629
00:57:02.480 --> 00:57:08.199
and more, and he started a
fairly well known online journal entitled Minutes

630
00:57:08.239 --> 00:57:14.559
Before Six. Originally it was just
Bart writing to his father, who would

631
00:57:14.599 --> 00:57:19.360
then publish his work on the blog. Now, incarcerated people from across the

632
00:57:19.440 --> 00:57:24.159
map published writing and art on the
blog. Bart also wrote a book about

633
00:57:24.199 --> 00:57:29.400
his views on the prison system,
but it's out of print now, probably

634
00:57:29.519 --> 00:57:32.719
due to the fact that in twenty
nineteen he faced a lawsuit about his book.

635
00:57:34.199 --> 00:57:37.800
He was accused of trying to make
money selling the book on Amazon.

636
00:57:37.599 --> 00:57:45.559
In Texas, offenders cannot profit from
their convictions. I read a summary of

637
00:57:45.639 --> 00:57:52.000
his book. Basically, Bart doesn't
like prison the end. Bart's father,

638
00:57:52.119 --> 00:57:57.079
Kent, retired from the construction industry
and remarried in two thousand and nine.

639
00:57:57.119 --> 00:58:02.119
He and his wife are motivational speakers
discussed topics like Christianity, grief and forgiveness

640
00:58:02.239 --> 00:58:07.400
all over the country. Kent has
also written a book. It's entitled Murder

641
00:58:07.400 --> 00:58:13.800
by Family, The Incredible True Story
of a son's treachery and a father's forgiveness.

642
00:58:14.920 --> 00:58:20.320
I feel tremendously happy that mister Whittaker
found peace in forgiving his son and

643
00:58:20.400 --> 00:58:24.800
has moved on with his life happily
remarried. It is rare that I can

644
00:58:24.840 --> 00:58:30.559
report on a surviving family member's happiness
in this way, especially one that was

645
00:58:30.599 --> 00:58:37.280
wounded with their lost loved ones.
Forgiveness is sacrisanct to many Christians, and

646
00:58:37.400 --> 00:58:45.800
I respect that, but I personally
agree with Fred Fveelkman about Bart Whittaker's character.

647
00:58:45.840 --> 00:58:51.880
This was no abused, suffering teen
who made a rash decision. This

648
00:58:52.079 --> 00:58:57.880
was a manipulative grown man who coldly
plotted to murder his loving family for years.

649
00:58:59.480 --> 00:59:05.280
Multiple time times he tried to enlist
conspirators as he dreamed only of inheriting

650
00:59:05.320 --> 00:59:10.280
his family fortune. He repeatedly told
these people he hated his parents and brother,

651
00:59:12.239 --> 00:59:19.440
blind unreasonable hate. I believe the
commutation gives Bart an unearned air of

652
00:59:19.519 --> 00:59:23.480
redemption. It would have been more
reasonable for the DA to take the death

653
00:59:23.519 --> 00:59:29.079
penalty off the table to begin with, since Kent Whittaker was so opposed to

654
00:59:29.119 --> 00:59:32.280
it. The jury voted for death, so I'm sure they would have given

655
00:59:32.360 --> 00:59:38.400
him a life sentence without parole.
He has that now, and he is

656
00:59:38.480 --> 00:59:45.719
also now the forgiven son, unfairly
bathed in a kind of absolution. I

657
00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:51.800
don't like it. I don't believe
he deserves this image. As much joy

658
00:59:51.920 --> 00:59:54.960
as I feel for Kent in his
new life, my heart still aches for

659
00:59:55.039 --> 01:00:00.920
Tricia and Kevin. Kevin had his
whole life ahead of him. He was

660
01:00:00.960 --> 01:00:04.840
cut down so young, before he
could even decide what he wanted to be

661
01:00:04.920 --> 01:00:08.440
in life, before he fell in
love, before he had his own family.

662
01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:15.159
And Tricia had only just retired.
She was probably immersed in things like

663
01:00:15.239 --> 01:00:22.280
gardening, church groups, spending time
with friends, and just enjoying her well

664
01:00:22.320 --> 01:00:29.679
earned rest and probably looking forward to
grandchildren. Grandchildren that will never be.

665
01:00:30.199 --> 01:00:37.840
Two beautiful lives stolen so unfairly,
for such a heartless, selfish reason by

666
01:00:37.840 --> 01:00:49.239
someone they loved so dearly. Southern
Fried True Crime is hosted and produced by

667
01:00:49.239 --> 01:00:53.159
me Erica Kelly. Today's episode was
researched and written by me and Andrea Marshbank.

668
01:00:53.519 --> 01:00:58.920
As usual, any editorial comments and
opinions are my own. Southern Fred's

669
01:00:58.920 --> 01:01:01.800
original music is by all Comparison of
Gamma Radio, and the original graphic art

670
01:01:01.840 --> 01:01:07.800
is by Kly Horner Today's episode was
edited and mixed by Brendan shechck Snyder of

671
01:01:07.840 --> 01:01:12.599
Southern Gothic and Erica Kelly. Today's
case was suggested by Jessica, Donna,

672
01:01:12.679 --> 01:01:16.400
Michelle and Kyle. If you have
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673
01:01:16.480 --> 01:01:22.760
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674
01:01:22.880 --> 01:01:28.519
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