Southern fried True crime covers cases that are not suitable for young listeners, and
there may also be some explicit language used. Listener discretion is advised. It
was nearly eight thirty in the evening on December tenth, two thousand and three,
in Sugarland, Texas. The sun had been down for hours, The
wind, which reached a wopping twenty five miles per hour that morning, had
finally calmed down, and the world seemed almost peaceful, albeit a little chilly
at forty four degrees. It was Wednesday, which was and is church night.
In places like Sugarland, many people have some sort of Bible study they
would just be getting home from, including Fort Benn County Detective Marshall Slot.
Slot had barely walked through his own front door after attending church when he was
paged the Sheriff's department needed him at a crime scene. There was a shooting
in an upper class suburban home. A family of four was attacked by an
armed intruder with a gun. It looked like a burglary gone wrong. Detective
Marshall Slot was shocked. This type of major violent crime was rare in Sugarland
even today. Twenty years later, Sugarland's rate of violent crime is more than
seventy five percent lower than the national average. It's a well worn trope to
say things like this just don't happen here, but in this case it's true.
As the on call detective Slot rushed into the suburban home, what he
saw was devastating. The murder weapon had been stolen from a gun safe in
the house, locked gun safe that had been hidden in a bedroom cross base.
How had the intruder known where the gun was from the jump. Slot
suspected things were not as they seemed in the deaths of Kevin Whittaker and his
mother, Tricia, and he was right. Things were in fact, far
worse. Welcome to episode two twelve, The Whittaker Family Slayings. Patricia Ann
Bartlett was born in January of nineteen fifty two to parents Bill and Nettie Bartlett
in Houston, Texas. From childhood, she always went by the nickname Tricia.
Tricia and her younger brother were primarily raised in Texas, just like their
parents had been before them. We don't know much about Tricia's childhood, However,
we do know that her mother, Ned was a religious woman at the
time of ninety one year old Nettie's death in twenty fifteen. She was known
for playing bridge at her local Methodist church. Perhaps Nettie's Christian beliefs were passed
down to Tricia, because all her life Tricia was a regular churchgoer herself.
Eighteen year old Tricia Bartlett graduated from Houston's Westchester High School in nineteen seventy.
She then enrolled in the University of Houston to earn her bachelor's degree in education.
The friendly young woman joined the Delta Gamma sorority. Following college, Tricia
taught children at various elementary schools. According to those who worked with Tricia,
she was an excellent educator. She had a great rapport with children. Both
parents and staff adored her. One fellow teacher remarked that Tricia was so good
at her job. She felt like Tricia showed her how to be a better
teach and a better person all her life. Tricia was energetic with a zest
for the outdoors. She liked to water, ski and snowski, and she
loved horseback riding. As I touched on before, Tricia was a very religious
woman. Her friends and family described her as godly, sweet, and a
compassionate Christian woman, Tricia regularly attended Sunday services, Bible studies, and women's
fellowship groups at the River Pointe Community Church. The church is located in Richmond,
Texas, which was only a six minute drive from Trisha's home in Sugarland.
Sugarland is a suburb twenty miles southwest of Houston, about a thirty minute
drive. It is home to a bit over one hundred thousand people. It
was under seventy thousand when today's case took place, and by most metrics,
Sugarland is a sweet place to live hun intended. In twenty twenty two,
the average median household income was one hundred and thirty two thousand. That's nearly
twice the average household income for the United States. The area is also known
for its great schools and gorgeous vistas. Sugarland got its name because it used
to be a major sugar producer. Starting back in eighteen forty three, the
Imperial Sugar Company's headquarters, sugar refinery, and distribution center were there, but
in two thousand and one, the Imperial Sugar Company filed for bankruptcy. Two
years later, in two thousand and three, they closed their operations in Sugarland.
Today, Imperial Sugar has been purchased by US Sugar. In two thousand
and three, Tricia lived in a four bedroom house with two and a half
baths with a pretty brick facade and a lush front yard with her husband,
Kent, and her two sons, Kevin and Bart. Norman Kent Whittaker was
born in July of nineteen teen forty eight, to parents Thomas and Velma and
Harris, Texas. From childhood, he went by Kent instead of his first
name, Norman. Kent's father, Thomas and his mother, Velma, were
high school sweethearts. They met in the nineteen thirties, but, like so
many young American men, Thomas was drafted to serve in World War Two.
He enlisted in the US Navy. Fortunately, he returned home from the war
unharmed, and that's when he and Velma, who had been waiting for her
sweetheart, began their family in Houston, Texas. Thomas was a prominent electrical
engineer and later a college professor at the University of Houston. Velma was a
newspaper editor and artist, successful role models for Kent and his three siblings in
the early nineteen seventies, Kent Whittaker went on a blind date. That's how
he met Trisha Bartlett. They had an instant connection, bonding over many things,
especially their faith. Both were regular churchgoers all their lives, and on
June twenty first, nineteen seventy five, twenty six year old Kent married twenty
three year old Tricia and Harris, Texas. Kent became the comptroller and part
owner of a construction company. The company was very successful, so successful that
later Kent and Trisia's youngest son, Kevin, began working for the family business.
Kevin Michael Whittaker was born on March nineteenth, nineteen eighty four, in
Houston, Texas. During Kevin's high school years, he attended the Fort ben
Baptist Academy. It's a private Christian school. While there, Kevin played baseball
and ran track, but he wasn't just an athletic guy. He was also
very well liked by his peers. He was elected junior class president and was
awarded the Servant's Heart Award. Outside of school, Kevin loved to hunt and
fish, and he, like the rest of his family, was a regular
church goer. People who knew Kevin recalled that he was a passionate Christian.
After graduating from high school in two thousand and two, Kevin attended Houston Community
College and Texas A and M University at different times. For a while,
Kevin's goal was to graduate as a member of the Texas A and M University
Corps of Cadets, a student military organization. Kevin's friends and family explained that
he was a very mature young man who appreciated justice. His friends would say
that Kevin was a faithful, loyal, and determined young man who never compromised
anything. A career in the US military seems like it would have fit Kevin's
personality perfectly, but for the time being, Kevin was happy working in the
family business. In two thousand and three, the Whittaker family appeared picture perfect.
Everything seemed to be going their way. Fifty one year old Tricia had
retired from teaching, almost fifteen years before normal retirement age. Fifty five year
old Kent's successful career meant that they didn't need two incomes. Nineteen year old
Kevin was a sophomore in college and working for his father and Kevin's older brother,
Twenty three year old Bart was attending sam Houston State University in Huntsville,
Texas. Their home was beautiful, their family was beautiful. It looked like
their entire lives were beautiful. No one could have expected the tragedy to come.
I'm going to pause now for a short commercial break. On the morning
of Wednesday, December tenth, Bart called his family to share some exciting news.
He had just finished his final exams at sam Houston State University, which
meant he was about to graduate college. One of Tricia's friends recalled how meaningful
this moment was for Tricia. She was proudly looking forward to her son's graduation.
To celebrate, Bart asked if the whole family could go out for dinner
that night. So the Whittakers drove about fifteen minutes to a nice seafood restaurant
called Papado. It was in the nearby city of Stafford, Texas. They
had a great time at dinner. They joked around, told stories, and
took pictures. Bart was served a special dessert that had congratulations written in chocolate
syrup across the bottom of the plate, and his parents gave him a Rolex
watch, which is an extravagant gift new rolexes were priced between three and six
thousand dollars back then. It was a nice family celebration for a young man's
accomplishment. Around eight o'clock that evening, Kent, Trisha, Bart, and
Kevin made their way back home. They walked in the front door of their
Sugarland house at about eight twenty pm. That's when suddenly a mal intruder shot
all four members of the Whittaker family as they walked in the house. Kevin
had gone through the doorway first. He was shot in the chest. His
mother was on his heels and was also shot in the chest. Then came
Kent. A bullet hit him in the shoulder. The force of it pushed
him flat on his back out onto the front porch. Bart, who was
the last Whittaker to enter the home because he had forgotten his cell phone in
the car, watched his family be slaughtered. He saw his brother Kevin gurgle
on his own blood as he lay dying. He saw his mom and dad
cut down when the hot metal ripped through their bodies. Trying to help,
Bart rushed the shooter, but he couldn't identify him. The shooter was wearing
a black ski mask and black clothing, though Bart could tell he was white.
He tried to wrestle the gun away from the man. In the process,
Bart was shot in the arm. Then suddenly the intruder managed to get
away. A getaway driver had been waiting. The two criminals fled into the
night, leaving a whole family bleeding out in their own home. Kent later
told reporters that as he felt the blood drain out of him, he thought,
oh my god, he shot all four of us. A neighbor named
Cliff Stanley heard gunshots of the Whittaker's place and quickly ran over. He surveyed
the horrific scene and could tell right away that nineteen year old Kevin Whittaker was
dead. The other Whittaker family members weren't in much better shape. Kent,
who was still lying on the front porch, told Cliff that he was bleeding
badly. When Cliff asked what happened, Trisha moaned, he shot us.
Around this time, someone called nine one one. It's unclear who, though
it was likely Cliff. He told Kent, don't worry, buddy, help
is on the way, but Bart also could have called nine one one.
Later on, several newspapers would request the nine one one call recording through the
Texas Public Information Act. Texas Attorney General indicated that authorities did not have to
release that information, and it appears that they never did. Regardless, someone
probably Cliff called nine one one, and within minutes several patrol cars were on
the scene. Moments later, other emergency vehicles arrived as well. Fifty one
year old Tricia Whittaker was put on a life flight helicopter, but she was
declared dead shortly after she arrived at the Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. After
Tricia Kent was also flown by helicopter to the hospital. Twenty three year old
Bart was taken to a local hospital and treated, but nineteen year old Kevin
was pronounced dead at the scene. Both Kent and Bart would fully recover from
their injuries, but they were left with the devastation that Tricia and Kevin were
gone forever. Tricia and Kevin's funeral services were held at ten am on Tuesday,
December sixteenth, two thousand and three, at the Sugar Creek Baptist Church.
Mother and son were buried side by side in the Memorial Oak Cemetery in
Houston, Texas. Several other family members were buried in the same cemetery,
including Trisha's own parents. Tricia's tombstone epitaph Reed's wife, mother, sister,
daughter, a teacher loved by all. Kevin's is engraved with son, brother,
friend, a man after Christ's heart. More than one thousand people attended
Tricia and Kevin's joint memorial, during which several people made a point to tell
Bart how much his younger brother Kevin had looked up to him. Britney Barnhill,
who went to senior prom with Kevin, told Bart you were his hero.
Meanwhile, Fort Benn County was hard at work investigating the case. Initially,
the authorities were pretty sure that this was a standard burglary gone wrong by
a stroke of bad luck. The Whittaker family had walked in on an armed
intruder robbing their home. But the burglary theory soon felt hinky. The facts
were just not adding up. Take the crime scene. At first glance,
the main bedroom looked like it was ransacked, but upon closer inspection, the
dresser and nightstand drawers had been opened neatly the exact same distance. Usually,
burglars are in a hurry, they're yanking out the dresser drawers, often leaving
them dumped on the floor. And that wasn't the only thing. As it
turned out, no valuable items were taken from the Whittaker home. The intruder
had not even stacked items near a door. Sometimes that happens if the burglar
is filtering through things while preparing to bolt, but this burglar hadn't done that.
They hadn't even touched the Whittaker's laptops or jewelry, two items that are
usually target number one for theft. Then there was the matter of the murder
weapon. The intruder had used a nine millimeter glock handgun to shoot the Whittakers,
but he didn't bring the gun with him. Instead, this intruder had
found a gun safe in a fairly concealed area of the Whittaker house. It
was well hidden in a bedroom cross space that thief had used a tool to
pry it open. So this person knew to bring a tool strong enough to
open a locked gun safe, but they didn't think to bring their own gun.
And how did they find the gun safe? Had they been planning to
look for it all along? Detective Marshall Slot told forty eight hours this is
looking more and more like this person knew the gun was here and obtained it
for a specific reason. The next logical question is which of the Whittaker family
members owned this gun. It was Kevin's. It had been a gift from
his older brother Bart. Naturally, detectives were checking out Bart and Kent's stories
of that night. Bart told the authorities how he and his family had gone
out to dinner to celebrate his impending college graduation. It only took a couple
of phone calls to find out Bart Whittaker had been lying to his family.
He had not finished his final exams for sam Houston State University on December tenth.
In fact, Bart wasn't even enrolled in SHSU. He was on academic
probation. He had not stepped foot into a college classroom since the previous spring,
and according to his transcripts, he wasn't anywhere near graduating. Based on
Bart's credit hours, he was still a freshman. Police always looked closely at
the family first in these situations, and Bart's huge lie about graduating made him
a suspect. The Fort Ben County detectives knew about Bart's deception before the funeral
services for Tricia and Kevin, and they had informed Bart's father, Kent,
of their suspicions. Kent was determined to find Tricia and Kevin's killer. He
cooperated fully with the authorities at all times, but he didn't take this allegation
against Bart seriously. According to his interviews with CBS, he couldn't fathom that
Bart would have heard his own family, and when Kent confronted his son,
Bart denied everything except about his upcoming graduation. He told his dad that the
stress of school was too much for him and that he lied because he needed
a break from school. According to Fort Ben County Assistant DA Jeff Strange,
Bart claimed he had shared the truth with his mother before she was killed.
But Bart did deny any involvement in the vicious attack on his family. He
himself had been shot, he insisted. Still, the investigating officers had a
feeling Bart was somehow to blame, especially after his police interviews. During the
questioning process, he was incredibly vague. He kept saying he had forgotten information.
His answers were littered with I guesses and I don't remembers. At the
exact same time, mourners were shaking Bart's hand and giving him tyry eyed hugs
during the funeral of his mother and brother. Detectives considered Bart the lead suspect.
There was every reason to think that Bart had somehow attempted to kill his
entire family, especially after an old friend of Bart's came out of the woodwork
with some shocking allegations. Detective Marshall Slot told forty eight hours, bells and
whistles started going off. Why is this kid lying to us? What's he
got to hide? I'm going to pause now to hear a word from today's
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and sixty five day returns quins dot com slash SFTC. Thomas Bartlett Whittaker was
born on New Year's Eve, nineteen seventy nine in Harris, Texas. His
middle name was his mother's maiden name, and he went by the short nickname
instead of his first name. In the nineteen nineties, Bart attended Clement's High
School and he did well there. He was a smart guy. His classmates
remembered his quick sense of humor. A friend of the family said that he
was fun, witty, and respectful. Most people thought that Bart was a
good son. He was a good son to both of his parents, but
was perhaps closer to his dad. Kent and Bart often bonded over their passion
for biking. They would frequently take long bycrides together. Kent later stated in
interviews that he and his son talked about everything. Of course, parents often
have blind spots because Bart had his fair share of secrets. In high school,
he had a friend named Adam hip On at least one occasion, Bart
and Adam had stolen more than one computer. We don't have any details on
this crime. They might not have even been caught at the time. We
only know the minor details relating court documents. After graduating from high school,
Bart studied at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. That's where he met two
other young men, Will Anthony and Justin Peters. Like Bart, they also
came from well off families and they were high achievers. Will would go on
to pursue a career in the military, and Justin had been a National Merit
scholar in high school. The three college boys were described as clean cut and
all American, but Bart, Will and Justin were anything but clean cut.
According to court testimony, in December of two thousand, Bart told Will and
Justin that he wanted to kill his own family. He said that he them.
According to assistant DA Jeff Strange, Bart wanted to inherit his family share
of the construction business, but he knew he couldn't murder his entire family on
his own, so he asked Will and Justin to help. The plan was
simple. Will was going to be the shooter. Bart would give him a
black shirt and a ski mask to hide his identity. Then, per court
documents, Bart would take his family out to dinner at a restaurant. Meanwhile,
the masked Will would lay in wait and the Whittaker family home. As
Bart's family was entering through the front door following the mill, Will would shoot
them one by one. Then Bart would inherit his family's estate, which was
worth approximately one point five million that's more than two point five million today,
and he would pay Justin and Will for their troubles, though the agreed upon
amount was not clear. Everything was set in place, but when Will was
attempting to break into the Whittaker home through a back window, a loud security
alarm went off. Will fled. Unfortunately, Justin's potential role wasn't published anywhere,
but we can assume that he was supposed to be the getaway driver.
So this plan didn't work, but it certainly sounds familiar. About a year
later, Bart started discussing a similar murder plot with his high school buddy Adam
Hip. Bart wanted Adam to be the shooter this time. He even drew
Adam a diagram of the Whittaker home. This time, Bart knew he needed
to leave a door unlocked, and he wanted Adam to shoot him in the
arm so he would appear to be a victim too. According to Eightya Jeff
Strange, Bart was going to get a gun for Adam from his old college
roommate Justin Peters. But in this of two thousand and one, one of
Adam's friends heard about this murder plot. This friend, Jennifer, who knew
Bart too, approached him about this horrific plan. When she asked Bart if
he was actually going to murder his family, he responded in the weirdest way.
He gave her a hug and whispered in her ear that everything was going
to be okay. Then Jennifer did what all of these people should have done.
She contacted the police. When the authorities came to Bart's parents about his
plan to kill them with Adam Hip, they waved it off. Bart was
trying to kill them. Are you sure, our son, Bart? I
can practically, hear how ludicrous that could sound to a parent. The idea
that your flesh and blood could be plotting your death sounds insane. Bart's parents
had showered him in vacations, cars, gift college tuition, and more.
He had lived a lavish lifestyle compared to most, not that all these material
things should matter. Tricia and Kent loved Bart. This was not a secretly
abusive household. Kent and Tricia Whittaker cared about their sons. Ultimately, the
idea that Bart was going to kill his family was chalked up to a strange
misunderstanding. Soon Bart brainstormed yet another murder plot against his family. We know
about it because he told Adam hip. Adam later testified to it in court.
Allegedly, Bart was going to set his family's lakehouse on fire. He
intended for his parents' brother and more relatives to die inside the burning building.
Such a horrific way to die, and he was planning on hurting more people.
And like his other schemes where he thought an injury could save him from
guilt, he planned on getting burned in the fire too. That way,
when he escaped alive, no one would ask questions but according to Adam's testimony,
Bart never took any actions on this plan. In two thousand and one,
Bart moved about one hundred and fifty miles from Waco to Huntsville, Texas.
He was transferring from Baylor to Sam Houston State University. In Huntsville,
Bart worked at the Bentwater Yacht and Country Club. While there, he developed
a friendship with a coworker, twenty one year old Chris Alan Brisher. Bart
and Chris ended up renting a townhouse together near Willis, Texas, and they
lived in the same complex as twenty one year old Stephen Wayne Champaigne. They
all became close. Bart even got Stephen a bartending job at the Bentwater Club.
By now you know Bart's son and Dance. He wanted to murder his
family, and he wanted both Chris and Stephen to help him do it.
Chris was to be the shooter, Stephen was going to be the getaway driver.
This time, Bart successfully orchestrated an attack on his family. Chris Brusher
was in fact the shooter and Stephen Champagne was the getaway driver. Finally,
Bart Whittaker's horrible schemes came to fruition on December tenth, two thousand and three.
He was there when his entire family was ambushed. Getting the minor injury
as part of the plan, but kent surviving was not part of the plan.
On the night of the ambush, Chris ran from the Whittaker house and
jumped in the car with Stephen. When Stephen asked him what happened, Chris
said he had shot them all. Then, according to Eightya Jef Strange,
Stephen and Chris went drinking, using the money stolen from the Whittaker house to
their tab. Five days after the murders of Tricia and Kevin Whittaker, the
Fort Benn County Sheriff's Department received a big break in their case. Bart's old
pal, Adam Hemp, was now a Dallas bank teller. After hearing about
the Whittaker family tragedy, he called the Fort Bend authorities. Adam wanted to
provide some important insight about Bart Whittaker. At eleven thirty pm on Monday,
December fifteenth, Adam met with Detective Marshall's Slot in a parking lot behind the
police department. According to court documents, Adam told the detective everything about Bart's
two thousand and one plot to kill the Whittakers, about the diagram Bart had
drawn him, about the potential lake house fire, about Bart's inexplicable hatred of
his family, and of course Bart's incessant desire to inherit his family's estate eight
of one point five million dollars. Adam spoke to the detective for approximately three
hours, and that's how the investigating officers were damn near certain they knew who
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
thought he might have been involved in the plot to kill the Whittaker family too,
but he wasn't. Adam had been working at the bank late into the
evening of December tenth. With Adam's airtight alibi, he was no longer considered
a suspect. After talking with Adam, the police found Bart's old roommate,
Justin Peters. Justin admitted to everything too. The information Justin provided led the
authorities to Will Anthony. Meanwhile, Adam agreed to help the authorities under police
instruction. He called Bart several times and recorded their conversations. Adam told Bart
that he was reaching out because the police were traveling to Dallas to talk to
him. Then Adam brought up the failed two thousand and one murder scheme and
how it was oddly similar to what happened to his family Sponts. Bart tried
to pay Adam to lie to the police. They agreed on a price of
twenty thousand dollars. In April of two thousand and four, Bart began mailing
small increments of cash to Adam. He used an old address on the mailers
and the pseudonym k SoSE. According to Eightya Jeff Strange, one of Bart's
favorite movies was The Usual Suspects, which, if you aren't familiar, features
a criminal mastermind villain named Kaiser SoSE. But Bart Whittaker was no Kaiser SoSE.
He had left his fingerprints all over the envelope containing the cash he had
sent to Adam. Additionally, investigators learned that Bart had a roommate named Chris
Brasher. Then they found out about Bart and Chris's neighbor and co worker,
Stephen Champagne. When Sugarland detectives interviewed Chris and Stephen, they had the two
men submit sense samples. While stephens sent samples didn't match anything, Bloodhounds alerted
that Chris's sent sample was in numerous concerning locations, the murder weapon drawers in
the main bedroom, the gun safe, and a glove that had been recovered
from the crime scene. Initially, Chris denied any involvement in the Whittaker murders,
but when the detectives told Chris they could definitively link him to the crime
scene, he appeared horrified and panicked. From the winter to the spring of
two thousand and three, Bart lived with his father, Kent, in the
same Sugarland home where his mother and brother were killed. Kent continued living with
his son because he did not believe Bart was involved in the murders, despite
what authorities told him. Kent told the Houston Chronicle the police were carrying on
an investigation I felt was misplaced, and if they were right, what could
be more horrifying. In late June of two thousand and three, Bart could
tell law enforcement was getting closer to charging him when Justin Peters called him.
Bart was spooted, so he ran. Bart told his father he was going
out to a club one night. He said he would see Kent the next
day, but Bart never came home. Instead, he stole ten thousand dollars
from Kent, and on June twenty eighth, two thousand and four, Bart's
Chevy Yukon was found abandoned in a parking lot in southwest Houston. For more
than a year, authorities had no idea where Bart Whittaker was. It was
like he had vanished into thin air, but they were still working the case.
They spent a lot of time monitoring the phone calls of people Bart knew,
like Chris Brosher and Stephen Champagne. Chris still lived in the Houston area,
but Stephen had moved to the West Coast. Twenty three year old Stephen
had graduated from Marine Intelligence School. By the summer of two thousand and five,
he was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California for months, investigators had been
hounding him for more information. In late August of two thousand and five,
Stephen made a trip back to Texas. There, he met with Fort Ben
Detective Marshall Slot at a Starbucks. After some hemming and hawing and pressure from
the FBI, Stephen finally admitted to everything. Shortly after, he provided a
video recorded confession during which Stephen implicated himself, Chris, and Bart in the
murders of Tricia and Kevin Whittaker. After his confession, Stephen took the law
enforcement officers to a bridge that crossed Lake Conrod. Stephen explained how he and
Chris had dropped a canvas bag with evidence there. The police soon recovered it.
Inside was a vacuum cleaner, a license plate, money, a water
bottle with Chris's DNA on it, the chisel Chris had used to break into
the gun safe, the ammunition from the murder weapon, and two cell phones
that Bart had given to Chris and Stephen to use while carrying out the plot
to kill his family. Following the discovery of this evidence, arrest warrants went
out for Stephen Champagne, Chris Burscher, and Bart Whittaker. Stephen and Chris
were arrested by mid September. They were transported to Texas jailhouses, but Bart
was still at large until a man claiming his name was Mike Jones called Detective
Marshall Slot. He said, I know where Bart Whittaker is. I helped
him get there. All Mike wanted in return was the ten thousand dollars reward
money. As it turns out, Mike Jones was actually Rogelio Rios. He
went by Rudy. Rudy met Bart when they both worked at a hotel restaurant
in Houston. Rudy was a busboy and Bart was a waiter. One day,
Bart was complaining to Rudy about how the police were on his back,
so Rudy offered to help. He explained that he had family in Mexico.
They could get Bart out of the United States for a fee. Bart paid
Rudy three thousand dollars out of that ten thousand he had stolen from his father,
and began a new life in the small town of Serrovo, Mexico.
Siovo has a population of about eight thousand and is about four hundred miles southwest
of Sugarland, Texas. Now, Bart went by the name rudy Rius,
and he told people that he was a wall from the United States military.
He claimed that he had served in Afghanistan until his team was ambushed in a
horrific firefight, during which Bart claimed he was shot in the arm. That's
why he had fled and why he didn't want to return to the US.
Bart lived in Mexico for fifteen months. There is no indication that he intended
to return to the States. Instead, he learned some Spanish. He rented
out an apartment from the real Rudy Rios's father, Andy, began dating a
young woman named Cindi lu Selinus, and Cindy helped Bart get a job at
her family's furniture store. Actually, Bart became really close to Cindy's siblings,
parents, and other relatives. He told the Salinases that they were the family
he never had. Bart told Cindy that he was an only child, and
he also told her that his mother was a sex worker. He claimed that
he never loved his mother because she never loved him. After the real Rudy
Rios contacted the Fort Bend authorities, Mexican officials captured Bart Whittaker, he had
fled from Seravo to Monterey, Mexico to avoid capture, but law enforcement nabbed
Bart when he went to a job interview at a local restaurant. On Thursday,
September twenty second, two thousand and five, twenty five year old Bart
Whittaker was arrested in Laredo, Texas. When Kent first laid eyes on his
son after his arrest, Kent said, well, you look like you're okay,
to which Bart replied yes, and then Bart began apologizing profusely for the
entire ordeal. By December of two thousand and five, the Fort Ben District
Attorney's office announced that they would seek the death penalty against Bart Whittaker. Fred
Felkman, the assistant DA who prosecuted Bart's case, felt that he easily met
the criteria for it. According to Felkman, Bart had showed he was a
continuing threat, Plus there were zero mitigating factors in Bart's life that could explain
his behavior. After all, Bart had not been abused or neglected, or
suffered from any known mental illnes. In fact, he had experienced a childhood
many Americans dream of. Felkman told CBS, I find it hard to believe
anybody wouldn't think he deserved it. One year later, in December of two
thousand and six, Bart sent eighty A Fred Fvelkman a Christmas card. He
wrote to Fred, keep your family in mind during the holiday season. This
was interpreted by many as a veiled threat against Fred's family. Since the double
homicide had occurred, Bart's father, Kent, had spoken publicly about how he
had forgiven his son Chris and Stephen for murdering Tricia and Kevin. Kent attributed
his forgiveness to his Christian faith. He told the Houston Chronicle, it wasn't
human. This was a gift I believe God gave me. Kent also said
to the Chronicle, I realized that maybe God had allowed me to live so
I could display that uncann additional love. Kent's Christianity was also a main factor
as to why he advocated against Bart receiving the death penalty. While Kent agreed
that Bart should remain in prison for his crimes, he did not understand why
Bart had to be put to death. While the state sought the death penalty
against Bart, they agreed not to seek the death penalty for the shooter,
Chris Brasher and the getaway driver, Stephen Champagne, had accepted a plea deal
in exchange for his testimony during Bart's trial. He would be sentenced to only
fifteen years in prison. I'm going to pause now for a short commercial break.
Bart's trial began in March of two thousand and seven. He was held
in Fort ben County. He was represented by defense attorney Randy MacDonald. As
far as trials go, this one was pretty much open and shut. It
only took six days. And there's no question as to why. The prosecution
had Bart's father Kent as an eye witness to the murderers. They had bagged
the evidence from Conrod Lake, they had Bart's recorded phone calls with Adam Hip,
they had Adam Hip himself there to testify, and they also called to
the stand Justin Peters and Will Anthony. And of course the state had Stephen
Champagne's testimony as per his plea deal. During the trial, Stephen devastatingly revealed
that Bart was continuing to plan his father, Kent's murder even after the deaths
of Tricia and Kevin. When Stephen and Bart were eating dinner together in February
of two thousand and four, Bart said the job wasn't finished. Then he
outlined plans for Kent's death. Meanwhile, Bart's defense team all but conceded that
Bart had orchestrated the massacre of his own family. They called zero witnesses to
the stand. The evidence against Bart was so insurmountable that their only goal was
to try to get him life in prison rather than death. On March fifth,
two thousand seven, after two and a half hours of deliberation, the
jury convicted twenty seven year old Bart Whittaker of capital murder for his mother and
younger brother. During the sentencing process, which in Texas is known as the
punishment phase, Bart himself testified. He said, as per court documents,
I am one hundred percent guilty for this. I put the plan in motion.
If I had not done so, it would not have happened. Bart
agreed that he had robbed his mother and his younger brother of their lives.
He even agreed that he had robbed his surviving father, Kent, of his
life in some ways. Bart claimed that he felt remorse. When asked why
he did what he did, Bart said, I have come up with a
lot of reasons for how I got to where I was going, but they
do not explain it. I always felt that whatever love they sent me was
conditional on a standard that I just never felt I could reach, which sounds
like he is still blaming his family for their own murders. Selfish to the
rotten end. In an attempt to dissuade the jury from giving him the death
penalty, Bart told them that he was not going to be an ongoing threat.
He explained that the only people I've ever hated, and I know it
was not for the right reasons, but the only people I ever hated were
my parents and my brother Randy MacDonald. Bart's defense attorney responded, but the
irony of it all is that your dad is actually the one that's come to
your rescue and puts you back on track, to which Bart said, he's
become my best friend in the last year. But Assistant District Attorney Fred Veelkman
didn't buy what Bart was selling. He later referred to it as crap.
During the court proceedings, Velkman asserted that Bart was just playing the remorseful son
because he was trying to get out of the death penalty. If Bart hadn't
been caught, he wouldn't be saying any of this. Felkman thought Bart was
just making the best of a bad situation by manipulating the jury. Velkman may
have been convincing, but it was still a difficult decision. The jury took
twelve hours of deliberation over the course of two days before they returned the verdict
on Thursday, March eighth, two thousand and seven, that Bart Whittaker was
sentenced to death by lethal injection. For the record, I appreciate any jury
that deliberates that long over the death penalty. It may be the law of
their state and they had to be death penalty certified. But they clearly took
that momentous decision seriously. A juror told the Houston Chronicle, we were almost
split evenly on whether or not he was a continuing threat. Most jurors were
swayed because Bart had lived a life of extreme comfort. How could someone who
had so much want to murder the people who had given it to him.
Ultimately, the final juror who was holding out that Bart was not a continuing
threat folded. They realized that Bart was driven by lies and deceit. This
holdout duror said of their changed mind. I think that the core person always
surfaces. After Bart's trial in September of two thousand and seven, Chris Bresher,
the getaway driver, accepted a plea deal. Rather than be charged with
capital murder, he accepted the lesser charge of murder, which other states refer
to as second degree murder. As the actual shooter, Chris was sentenced to
life in prison with the possibility of parole in thirty years. I'm going to
pause now for a final commercial break. Following his trial and sentencing, Bart
appealed several times. None of these appeals were successful. The U. S.
Supreme Court denied his appeal without explanation. In October of twenty seventeen,
after Bart exhausted his final options, his execution was scheduled for Thursday, February
twenty second, twenty eighteen, at six pm in Huntsville, Texas. For
years, Bart's father, Kent, had continuously spoken to news outlets about commuting
Bart's sentence. Kent firmly believed that his son should receive life in prison,
not death. Kent said to reporters were not asking him to give him or
let him go. We just want them to let him live and incredibly,
Kent Whittaker's campaign for his son's life worked. A week before Bart's execution.
Kent spoke with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles two days before the execution
was scheduled. The seven member board unanimously recommended clemency for Bart. The board's
decision Tuesday was seven to zero, and no one seemed more shocked than Kent
Whittaker. This is Texas, he said, this doesn't happen, and I
am just so encouraged that the system has worked. This was the right thing,
the right thing to do, but clemency could actually only be granted by
the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. When that fateful Thursday arrived, Kent
visited his son one final time to say goodbye. Bart ate his last meal.
It seemed that despite all of Kent's work and the board's decision, Bart's
death was near, But forty minutes before Bart was to be injected with lethal
drugs, Governor Abbot commuted his sentence. Instead of being executed, Bart would
remain in prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.
In response to his commutation, Bart said, I'm thankful not for me,
but for my dad, any punishment that I would have or will receive is
just. But my dad did nothing wrong. The system worked for him today,
and I will do my best to uphold my role in the system.
Bart's commutation was huge news. It was an extremely rare occurrence, as Texas
executes five times as many people as the next closest death penalty state, which
is Oklahoma, and in nine years of being governor, Abbot has only commuted
one other sentence. It was the first time in more than a decade and
only the third time since the death he was reinstated in nineteen seventy six.
In explaining his decision, Governor Abbot cited the fact that Whittaker's co conspirator,
the triggerman, did not get the death penalty and that Kent Whittaker, the
surviving victim, quote, passionately opposed the execution and would be victimized again by
the death of his last remaining immediate family member. He also pointed out that
Bart Whittaker had waived any possibility of parole and would spend the rest of his
life in prison. Along with the board's decision, Abbot said it was the
totality of these reasons which determined his decision. The prosecutor, Fred Velkman,
thought that this decision was inappropriately based on Kent's forgiveness of his son. He
felt the governor and the board were not considering the other people affected by these
murders. Veelkman also said they had ignored psychiatrists and investigator's testimony that indicate hated
Bart Whittaker was manipulative. In later interviews, Velkman suggested that Bart was a
sociopath. Today, the getaway driver, forty two year old Stephen Champagne,
served his fifteen years and is no longer in prison, and if his parol
is granted, triggerman Chris Forsheer, will be fifty five years old when he
leaves prison in twenty thirty seven. Right now, he is forty one years
old and is incarcerated in the J. Dell Wainwright Unit. Bart Whittaker is
now forty four years old. He is incarcerated in the William J. McConnell
unit in Beeville, Texas. While in prison, Bart reconnected with his Christianity
and todate. He has earned two bachelor's degree in English and sociology from Adams
State University. His master's degree is in humanities from California State University. Bart's
writing has been published in Guernica, The Washington Post Magazine, The Marshall Project,
and more, and he started a fairly well known online journal entitled Minutes
Before Six. Originally it was just Bart writing to his father, who would
then publish his work on the blog. Now, incarcerated people from across the
map published writing and art on the blog. Bart also wrote a book about
his views on the prison system, but it's out of print now, probably
due to the fact that in twenty nineteen he faced a lawsuit about his book.
He was accused of trying to make money selling the book on Amazon.
In Texas, offenders cannot profit from their convictions. I read a summary of
his book. Basically, Bart doesn't like prison the end. Bart's father,
Kent, retired from the construction industry and remarried in two thousand and nine.
He and his wife are motivational speakers discussed topics like Christianity, grief and forgiveness
all over the country. Kent has also written a book. It's entitled Murder
by Family, The Incredible True Story of a son's treachery and a father's forgiveness.
I feel tremendously happy that mister Whittaker found peace in forgiving his son and
has moved on with his life happily remarried. It is rare that I can
report on a surviving family member's happiness in this way, especially one that was
wounded with their lost loved ones. Forgiveness is sacrisanct to many Christians, and
I respect that, but I personally agree with Fred Fveelkman about Bart Whittaker's character.
This was no abused, suffering teen who made a rash decision. This
was a manipulative grown man who coldly plotted to murder his loving family for years.
Multiple time times he tried to enlist conspirators as he dreamed only of inheriting
his family fortune. He repeatedly told these people he hated his parents and brother,
blind unreasonable hate. I believe the commutation gives Bart an unearned air of
redemption. It would have been more reasonable for the DA to take the death
penalty off the table to begin with, since Kent Whittaker was so opposed to
it. The jury voted for death, so I'm sure they would have given
him a life sentence without parole. He has that now, and he is
also now the forgiven son, unfairly bathed in a kind of absolution. I
don't like it. I don't believe he deserves this image. As much joy
as I feel for Kent in his new life, my heart still aches for
Tricia and Kevin. Kevin had his whole life ahead of him. He was
cut down so young, before he could even decide what he wanted to be
in life, before he fell in love, before he had his own family.
And Tricia had only just retired. She was probably immersed in things like
gardening, church groups, spending time with friends, and just enjoying her well
earned rest and probably looking forward to grandchildren. Grandchildren that will never be.
Two beautiful lives stolen so unfairly, for such a heartless, selfish reason by
someone they loved so dearly. Southern Fried True Crime is hosted and produced by
me Erica Kelly. Today's episode was researched and written by me and Andrea Marshbank.
As usual, any editorial comments and opinions are my own. Southern Fred's
original music is by all Comparison of Gamma Radio, and the original graphic art
is by Kly Horner Today's episode was edited and mixed by Brendan shechck Snyder of
Southern Gothic and Erica Kelly. Today's case was suggested by Jessica, Donna,
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