Man who inspired film ‘Bernie’ to return to court

CARTHAGE, Texas (AP) — The man whose murder conviction inspired the dark comedy Bernie is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing as he tries to stay out of prison.

The hearing for Bernie Tiede is set for Tuesday in the East Texas town of Carthage. His trial scheduled for January will have a twofold purpose: a sentencing phase for his murder conviction and a trial on theft charges. Tiede’s theft charge has been pending since he was found guilty of murder.

Tiede served 17 years in prison for killing wealthy widow Marjorie Nugent and storing the 81-year-old body in a freezer. He was released last year after the district attorney who prosecuted him agreed that the former mortician was wrongly sentenced to life imprisonment.

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