1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 2: Let's see if you can figure this out. 3 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: Section three. I told you it's cold, baby. Okay, so 4 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: section three, Lot five forty three. 5 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 2: Wait where are we? We're over here right there. Yeah, 6 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 2: we're in the dragway. 7 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: So we're gonna go all the way down one path 8 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: and then two paths and. 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 2: On the site. It's got to be over here. 10 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: My twelve year old daughter and I are searching for 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: Eugene Bird's gravesite in Austin. It's very, very old, but 12 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: it's supposed to be pretty big. Let me look across here. 13 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 2: This is older. 14 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: See if I can find any markers here. 15 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 3: How's the dad house? 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, it says there again. Oh babe, there's markers. Be't 17 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: mare look that. 18 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 2: Hard the spot. 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: The markers are worn from age and weather, so it's 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: almost impossible to read many of them. But we keep 21 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 1: trying because oftentimes visiting the gravesites makes me feel the 22 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: most connected to the people in my stories. Okay, now 23 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: you start looking for the uh yeah, that's regular headstone. 24 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: It's around in here somewhere. We'll keep looking. In November 25 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: of eighteen ninety six, everyone in Austin knew where to 26 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: find William Eugene Burt. He was downtown in the city's 27 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: district courthouse, and he was going on trial for murdering 28 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: his wife and their two little girls. The prosecutor accused 29 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: Eugene of killing them because he was facing financial ruin 30 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,359 Speaker 1: and a prison sentence, His defense attorney announced that they 31 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: would claim that he was insane at the time of 32 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: the killings. The trial was sensationalized in the press. Local 33 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: historian Monica Ballard says that the courthouse was packed with 34 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: people who hoped for just a glimpse of the monster 35 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: who murdered his family. 36 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 4: Hundreds of people packed the courtroom in order to see 37 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 4: what's going on. He would be marched into the courtroom handcuffed, 38 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 4: and his hat would be removed for him. 39 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: Gawkers stared at Eugene. One woman approached him at the 40 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 1: defendant's table and surveyed his face very closely. Eugene seemed 41 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: to either not be aware that she was there or 42 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:59,399 Speaker 1: he just ignored her. Either way, he offered no reaction, 43 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: and then things got even stranger. 44 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 4: After everybody files in and everyone takes a seat, he 45 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 4: would flutter his eyelids closed, and he would remain in 46 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 4: that state until everything was done and court was dismissed. 47 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 4: He just closed his eyes the whole time, and there 48 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 4: would be no indication that he was I don't know 49 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 4: under self hypnosis, if he was cognizant of anything that 50 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 4: was going on. No one was entirely sure. He seemed 51 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 4: to have absolutely no There was nothing going on. 52 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: What was happening with Eugene Burt. When family and friends 53 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: took the stand, many described Eugene's marriage as seemingly happy. 54 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: He was a wonderful father, but others called him selfish, unreliable, 55 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: and unstable. Then his brothers testified for the defense, even 56 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: though they had accused him of stealing their money. 57 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 4: Roscoe and Mond, he did the best they could, and 58 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 4: even Mini took the stand and testified, you know that 59 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 4: she saw no evidence of any reason why he would 60 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 4: do this deed. Yeah, there were character witnesses who who 61 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,679 Speaker 4: came forth and said, no, he was a loving father 62 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 4: and husband, was always giving any expensive presence. And then 63 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 4: his brothers would have to, you know, under cross examination, admit, yeah, 64 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 4: well a lot of times he stole the money for 65 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 4: those presents. 66 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: A parade of people from his life walked through that courtroom, 67 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: all testifying to why a husband and a father would 68 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: have done this, and throughout it all, Eugene Burt registered 69 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: not one reaction, even during one dramatic, unplanned incident in 70 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: the courthouse. 71 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 4: There was one time when testimony was being given about 72 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 4: drawing the bodies from out of the cistern and the 73 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 4: state of the condition of the children, in particular about 74 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 4: how their hands and feet were bound with wire. The 75 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 4: three year old was wearing a nightgown and the toddler 76 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 4: was in just a diaper, and someone had brought in 77 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 4: a baby into the courtroom. And as this testimony is 78 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 4: being given, everyone in the courtroom is being affected, not 79 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 4: only by the testimony, but by hearing this baby in 80 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 4: the back of the courtroom bah da da dah ba 81 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 4: and babbling on. And their hearts are being wrenched because 82 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 4: of this. And they turn and they look at Bert 83 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 4: to see what his reaction is. Nothing. There's just nothing 84 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 4: going on there. And the newspaper says, whose heart could 85 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 4: not be moved? His heart. 86 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: Monica says that Eugene's lack of emotion was interpreted in 87 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: different ways in the media. 88 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 4: Their opinion vacillated between Oh, he's certainly holding up well 89 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 4: under the strain, and how can he be so cold 90 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 4: and heartless as to not hold any reaction to the 91 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 4: testimony that's being given about him? What a cold blooded 92 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 4: killer he must be. There were both ends of the 93 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 4: spectrum there. 94 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: We know that a defendant's demeanor and court can really 95 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 1: sway a jury. If the suspect doesn't take the stand, 96 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: jurors might slyly observe them at the defense table, talking 97 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,799 Speaker 1: with attorneys or a visiting with family members on breaks. 98 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: That image can affect how a jury votes. So Eugene Bert, 99 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: who was handsome and young, did himself no favors by 100 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: appearing so disconnected from the trial. He even seemed to 101 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:42,919 Speaker 1: doze every once in a while. But why, Descendant Patricia 102 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: Charles has a theory could Eugene. 103 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 5: Have been drugged in any way during these proceedings? Like 104 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 5: how could he not have reacted when the little child, 105 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 5: you know, was crying or fell or something. And I'm thinking, well, 106 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 5: if somebody's given you morphia, maybe it just doesn't matter anymore. 107 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: Patricia brings up a quote from a newspaper article from 108 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: one of the physicians who examined Eugene a man named 109 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: doctor Wallace. Doctor Wallace got on the stand during the 110 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: trial and said, you know, Judge, I haven't been feeling well, 111 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: so I took a bit of morphine this morning, so 112 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: hopefully I'm lucid enough to testify. The judge said, sure, 113 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: no problem at all. I asked forensic psychiatrist doctor Christine 114 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: Montrose about Eugene Bird's odd reaction in court, his lack 115 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: of emotion. 116 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 6: Is there a whole range of reasons that someone could 117 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 6: be falling asleep in the courtroom? Sure, morphine could be one, 118 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 6: and you know, psychiatric symptoms could be another, and disinterest 119 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 6: and lack of remorse could be another. You know, all 120 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 6: of those possibilities are probably true. 121 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: So Eugene's apathy and court might have been drug induced, 122 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: not a lack of remorse, And in the late eighteen 123 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: hundreds his sedation might have been court ordered. It made 124 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: me one about modern day defendants. Can they ever be 125 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: forcibly drugged? Retired law school professor Linda Frost says no, 126 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: but with some caveats. 127 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 7: Today, you wouldn't sedate a criminal defendant so that they 128 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 7: could get through the trial. That said, there is a 129 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 7: lot of law around whether you can force medication so 130 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 7: that somebody is competent to stand trial. So it doesn't 131 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 7: mean that somebody won't be medicated by the arm of the. 132 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 4: State in order to go to trial. 133 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 7: And of course people take medications for all sorts of reasons. 134 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 7: People may be medicated, but for the state to force 135 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 7: medication there has to be more of a legal justification 136 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 7: other than well, he's going to be very stressed out 137 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 7: and this will calm him down. 138 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: It could be to control symptoms for mental health conditions. 139 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 7: It also could be that they are psychotic, and schizophrenia 140 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 7: can have active symptoms that were more familiar with the 141 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 7: kind of word salad, the acting out. But it also 142 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 7: could be a lack of engagement and a lack of emotion, 143 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,680 Speaker 7: a turning inward. So we don't really know why he 144 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 7: would have been that way, whether it was medical, whether 145 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 7: it was psychological, or whether it was malintent and a 146 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 7: lack of feeling. 147 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: The stakes for this trial were very high for Eugene Burt. 148 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: If he were found guilty by reason of insanity, his 149 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,719 Speaker 1: life would be spared and he would be institutionalized if 150 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: he were found guilty, but saying he would die at 151 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: the gallows. Eugene's defense team admitted that he had killed 152 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: Annie and Eleanor and Lucille. Monica Ballard says that his 153 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: attorneys never tried to accuse anyone else. 154 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 4: The evidence was so circumstantial that it was him, that 155 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 4: it could be no one else. 156 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: That was never brought up, that it could be ever 157 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: anyone else, no. 158 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 4: Other suspects, No, and he was never brought up to testify. 159 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 4: They thought they could do it without him testifying. 160 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: Because he's probably going to dig himself a bigger hole. 161 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: So they were smart. 162 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 4: So their defense was he was insane. He had to 163 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 4: have been insane to have done this. If he was 164 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 4: indeed a loving father, an adoting husband, he must have 165 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 4: suffered from temporary insanity in order to do this, that 166 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 4: those were moments of temporary insanity. 167 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: But here's the problem. During Eugene Burt's murder trial, his 168 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: attorneys never provided any evidence that he was legally insane. 169 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: They had character witnesses detailing what a good man he was, 170 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: how he was never violent. They admitted that he was 171 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: a murderer, but they never clearly stated why he was 172 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: legally insane. And I think it's because they knew that 173 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: Eugene Bert wasn't legally insane. Legal insanity was set at 174 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: a high bar even in the eighteen hundreds. The defendant 175 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: had to be unable to understand their actions were wrong. 176 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: According to most legal experts, people who are legally insane 177 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: don't cover up their crimes because they don't understand that 178 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: what they've done is a crime on the witness stand. 179 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: Doctors fumbled around with the term moral insanity in the 180 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. Psychiatrists who were called alienists were trying to 181 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: sort out how someone could be physically sound and mentally 182 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: sound but they would still do evil things like murder 183 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: their family. Moral insanity was about as close a label 184 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: to psychopathy as they could get. But that's different from 185 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:45,559 Speaker 1: mental illness. Mental illness can manifest itself in many ways, 186 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: extreme mood changes, withdrawal, excessive fears or worries. Psychopathy is 187 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: an antisocial personality disorder. Psychopathy manifestations are much narrower. A 188 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: lack of ability to love to establish per relationships, as 189 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: well as extreme egotism. Eugene Burt didn't seem to exhibit 190 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: any of those characteristics. I asked doctor Christine Montrose to 191 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: explain a little more about psychopathy. She says, to begin with, 192 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: let's avoid using the term psychopath. 193 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 6: We've shifted away from using nouns to describe people. So 194 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 6: a person is not a schizophrenic, they're not a sociopath. 195 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,199 Speaker 6: It's a person who has schizophrenia, you know. It's a person. 196 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 6: Just like a person with diabetes. We're not describing any 197 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 6: longer as a diabetic. We're describing them as a person 198 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 6: with diabetes. So I think sociopath and psychopath are these 199 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 6: labels that tend to me to have more of a 200 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 6: of an antiquated historical flair. 201 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: Who are we describing? 202 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,959 Speaker 6: These are people who I think the lay person would 203 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 6: describe as kind of lacking the moral compass that the 204 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 6: rest of us have, not really an awareness of right 205 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 6: or wrong, Difficulty feeling concern or empathy toward other people, 206 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 6: Frequent kind of self serving behavior, risk taking behavior. 207 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: They don't care about other people. 208 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 6: I think when someone is not just demonstrating antisocial traits 209 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 6: that mean that they're lying and stealing and conning, but 210 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 6: instead they're really engaging in kind of sadistic behavior and 211 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:28,079 Speaker 6: taking pleasure from someone else's pain. 212 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,559 Speaker 1: I'm not sure that was Eugene Bird's behavior. He planned 213 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: the murder of his family and then covered it up. 214 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: It doesn't sound like he took pleasure in it, but 215 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: who knows. He seemed disconnected during his trial and even after, 216 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:44,559 Speaker 1: but he might have been resigned to dying on the gallows. 217 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: Descendant Jeremy Charles says that the eighteen hundreds must have 218 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,479 Speaker 1: been a very confusing time for psychiatry and psychology. 219 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 8: I think a psychologist today would have a field day 220 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 8: looking over these trial notes from the physicians of the 221 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 8: time and trying to make heads or tails of what 222 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 8: Eugene Bird actually was and had he participated in other 223 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 8: illicit activities prior to these murders. 224 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: Linda Frost says that many doctors in the eighteen hundreds 225 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: weren't qualified to determine someone's sanity, and many doctors now 226 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: aren't either. 227 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 7: It's also important to think of the role of doctors back. 228 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 4: In the day. 229 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 7: They did all sorts of different things, right, Having a 230 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 7: medical degree doesn't automatically qualify you to do a forensic assessment. 231 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 7: Most doctors today should not be doing forensic assessments now. 232 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 7: Under the Texas Code, my gynecologist could do a forensic assessment. 233 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 7: Is my gynecologist skilled and qualified to do that? No, 234 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 7: but under the code, doctors can do that. 235 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: On December first, eighteen ninety six, after a murder trial 236 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: that lasted less than two weeks, both sides rested. The 237 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: all male jury deliberated that night over dinner, women wouldn't 238 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: be allowed on juries in Texas until nineteen fifty five. 239 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: The jury discussed the case the next morning over breakfast 240 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:15,560 Speaker 1: before casting their ballots. Judge R. E. Brooks read the 241 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: jury's verdict. They were unanimous. 242 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,040 Speaker 4: He is found guilty and sentenced to hang. 243 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: That might not have been much of a surprise, after all, 244 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: the defense never offered the jury any alternative suspects, and 245 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: they seemed to offer little proof of Eugene Burt's insanity. 246 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: His team immediately pledged to appeal. Everyone in the courthouse 247 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: turned to Eugene Burt. Reporters noted that he didn't even 248 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: bat an eye. No reaction, only silence. As Eugene walked 249 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: back to his jail cell, a reporter asked him about 250 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: the verdict. Eugene replied, I have nothing to say until 251 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: the Court of Appeals passes on the appeal that would 252 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: be made the prisoners in his jail bloc all asked 253 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: about the verdict, he replied very matter of factly guilty. 254 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: Eugene seemed lucid, even composed, and he seemed resigned that 255 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: he would die. If I had seen Eugene Bird's strange 256 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: courtroom behavior, I'm not sure what I would have thought. 257 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: But regardless of whether he was sane or not, his 258 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: lawyers hadn't proven it, so execution was on the table. 259 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: The debate over whether to execute someone who is mentally 260 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: ill is centuries old. We know that there are often 261 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: circumstances where the suspect is predisposed to mental illness, I 262 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: asked forensic psychiatrist doctor Christine Montrose about that. 263 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 6: We know that there are mental illnesses that run in family, 264 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 6: and we know also that there are, you know, mental 265 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 6: illnesses that spontaneously arise for people who have no history 266 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:08,959 Speaker 6: of mental illness in their families. And then there are 267 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 6: people whose families are riddles with psychiatric disease who emerge 268 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 6: psychologically intact. 269 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: What does all that mean? 270 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:20,880 Speaker 6: Certainly, if your family on both sides has people who 271 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 6: suffer from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or some of the psychiatric 272 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,679 Speaker 6: illnesses that we know to be more heritable. Would you 273 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 6: be at elevated risk compared to someone who didn't have 274 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 6: any of that in their family. 275 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:33,920 Speaker 9: Yes? 276 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 6: Does that sentence you to the certitude that you are 277 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 6: going to also suffer that same fate? No, it really doesn't. 278 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: But Bird's descendant, Julie Norton says that if Birds had 279 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: been mentally ill, that she's conflicted over his fate. 280 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 9: When I look at a criminal, I am offended by 281 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:06,399 Speaker 9: that person, but I also feel like there is some cause. 282 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 9: It had to be something that wasn't just his mother 283 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 9: and father, because his two brothers didn't kill anybody. Something 284 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 9: caused it. I don't think that's how that kind of 285 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 9: thing happens. I don't think that's inherited in families. 286 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: So mental illness isn't enough of a defense for you. 287 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 9: It is a horrific story. I don't think it's understandable. 288 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 9: It's clearly not logical. No logical person would do that. 289 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,679 Speaker 8: So it seems pretty cut and dry, and they have 290 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 8: all the evidence that they need. However, the judge that 291 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 8: oversees the trial says, wait a second. He kind of 292 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 8: puts the brakes on things, and he wants to investigate 293 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 8: Eugene Bird's mental capacity. 294 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,880 Speaker 1: By January, Judge Brooks had not yet set an execution date, 295 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 1: and then came word that the Governor of Texas was 296 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: stepping in. Judge Brooks thought that the jury's verdict was just, 297 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: but he had to respect an order from the governor, 298 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 1: and it was an order made after an influential and 299 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: respected businessman intervened. Eugene's older brother. 300 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 4: Brother Roscoe, rides to the rescue again. God love him. 301 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 4: I mean, after the rabbit, I think I would have 302 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 4: written off my relatives. 303 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: I have found that families are much more committed in 304 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: some ways. In the eighteen hundreds. 305 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 4: Brother Roscoe put to a request for a stay of 306 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 4: execution and it is signed by Governor Culbertson that you 307 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 4: can't execute William Eugene Bert because he is now insane. 308 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 4: The trial drove him insane, and it would be heartless 309 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 4: to execute an insane person. He belongs in an institution. 310 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:52,199 Speaker 1: What was all the evidence from the end of the 311 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: trial until they were making this admission. 312 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 4: It was the fact that during his trial he showed 313 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 4: no emotion, and that he was constantly observed in his 314 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 4: cell even after his sentencing to show no cognizance that 315 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 4: his life was about to end. There was no sense 316 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 4: of desperation or anything like that. They just didn't understand 317 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 4: how anybody could be facing this and not have it 318 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 4: drive them mad. 319 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: Okay, so what happens. 320 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 4: He's given another trial in January of eighteen ninety seven. 321 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 1: But all of this was because of Roscoe, not Eugene. 322 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:36,520 Speaker 4: Eugene didn't want this second trial. He wanted to hang, 323 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 4: and so when Roscoe came through and said, oh no, no, no, 324 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 4: he's insane, you can't kill him. They reported on his reaction, 325 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 4: the newspaper said, over in a cell, Bert displayed little 326 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:48,680 Speaker 4: or no excitement. 327 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: Perhaps Roscoe felt badly. Roscoe and Monty were the ones 328 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,400 Speaker 1: who accused Eugene of stealing from them. He was going 329 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: to be arrested and likely convicted. That might have been 330 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: a trigger for the murders. Or maybe Roscoe really did 331 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: believe that his brother suffered from insanity. Eugene Burt was 332 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: now back in an Austin, Texas courtroom, and he didn't 333 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: really want to be there. He wanted to be done 334 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: with all of this. He was ready to be hanged. 335 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 1: Unlike his first trial, this time the courtroom discussion was 336 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,640 Speaker 1: focused squarely on Eugene's mental condition. 337 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 4: There were a parade of physicians, psychologists as they were 338 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 4: during the day, people who worked for the mental institution, 339 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 4: who had the most exposure to knowing what an insane 340 00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 4: person looks like. 341 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,880 Speaker 1: Only the trial ended, the jury retired behind closed doors. 342 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 4: Everybody testified and everybody had their say, and at the 343 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 4: end of it there was a hung jury. 344 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: The jury couldn't reach a verdict. No one could seem 345 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,879 Speaker 1: to determine if Eugene had been truly insane, and the 346 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,199 Speaker 1: state wouldn't execute an insane man. So there was a stalemate. 347 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: What would happen to Eugene Bert Eugene reacted like he 348 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: always had. He had no reaction, Monica reads a newspaper 349 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 1: article from eighteen ninety seven. 350 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 4: If he was uneasy about the coming of today or 351 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 4: the uncertainty of his existence, he did not manifest it 352 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 4: in the least. He talked to Jaylor Hughes quite freely 353 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 4: yesterday and evidenced no apparent interest in the outcome of 354 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 4: the fight to save his life. So the second trial 355 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,679 Speaker 4: did not have the whole historyonics or alex attainment that 356 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,360 Speaker 4: the first trial did. 357 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 1: And now there was a third trial, and this one 358 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: was much more interesting than the last. The defense brought 359 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: up Eugene's traumatic birth. Remember, his father reported that his 360 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: wife Cleo, had some psychotic episodes during her pregnancy and 361 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: she had to be restrained during Eugene's birth. The defense said, 362 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:26,199 Speaker 1: perhaps that caused his insanity. Doctor Christine Montrose helps me 363 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: wrap my head around that. Can your actions later in 364 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: life be connected to what happens in the womb? 365 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,680 Speaker 6: I don't know that we know the answer to that question, Kate. 366 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 6: I mean, is it possible that if someone sustained physical 367 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 6: trauma during birth or neurologic trauma during birth, that that 368 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 6: could then affect their ability to self regulate? That I 369 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 6: think we could say with more confidence. But in terms 370 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,159 Speaker 6: of like the psychological experience of having gone through a 371 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 6: traumatic birth as a neonate, I don't have any idea 372 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 6: about that. I feel like a stretch of defense. 373 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: To me, it sounds like we can rule out to 374 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: birth trauma as a cause for Eugene's violence later in life. 375 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 4: And so the third trial came along. One thing that 376 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 4: was really bugging me about about the trial was that 377 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:19,879 Speaker 4: the last medical expert to testify was doctor J. W. McLaughlin, 378 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 4: and he was a Bert's family physician and doctor McLaughlin 379 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 4: had been listed as a witness for the defense, but 380 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 4: was absent from the city at the time the defense 381 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 4: made its case. 382 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: Doctor McLaughlin offered testimony that was confusing to everyone. I 383 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: think even he was confused because he constantly contradicted himself. 384 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 4: McLaughlin determined that Bert was morally insane, but then on 385 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:51,720 Speaker 4: cross examination, the state quite simply asked McLaughlin if he 386 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 4: had ever noticed insanity in Burt, to which McLaughlin replied 387 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,119 Speaker 4: that no, he had never observed that, and then, on 388 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 4: a redirect the day said his opinion of a man 389 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 4: who had murdered his wife and children entirely without motive, 390 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:07,439 Speaker 4: what do you think of that man? And McLaughlin said, well, 391 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 4: that man would be insane. What So, in other words, 392 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 4: anytime someone was asked, is this man insane? If they 393 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,120 Speaker 4: knew him, they would say, no, that man is not insane, 394 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 4: But asked about the situation disconnecting from the person that 395 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 4: they knew, they would agree, yes, that man is totally insane. 396 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 4: So it was the familiarity with Burt that made everybody 397 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 4: just as confused as when it starts. 398 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 1: So this comes back to the mystery surrounding Eugene Burt. 399 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,640 Speaker 1: He seemed so normal, with the exception of a few 400 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,919 Speaker 1: outbursts here and there over the years, and of course 401 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,679 Speaker 1: the thieving and the fraud, but he was normally composed. 402 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: He seemed like a loving father and husband. How could 403 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: this happen? 404 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 4: What you saw in the courtroom is what he still 405 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 4: is often aloof personal times, serene, a little creepy, but sane. 406 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 4: There was no wild behavior. There were no fits of 407 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 4: weeping or fear, no pleading for his life. 408 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: The jurors returned and another hung jury. Once again, a 409 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: panel of men couldn't decide if Eugene Burt should die 410 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: because he was cold hearted, or if he should live 411 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: in an institution because he was legally insane. Jeremy Charles 412 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:32,200 Speaker 1: says Eugene might not have been legally insane, but he 413 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,880 Speaker 1: does think that Eugene was mentally ill. 414 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 8: One of the things that sticks out to me is 415 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 8: that at the trial in eighteen ninety eight, to determine 416 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 8: his moral sanity, he writes a letter. I don't think 417 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 8: it's in his own defense. It's so bizarre. He's almost 418 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 8: speaking about himself in the third person. This, I think 419 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,359 Speaker 8: goes to his mental state at the time. 420 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 1: In one of those letters, eugene Bert wrote, Great God 421 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: be thanked the hellish brute that took me the sweets 422 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: of my life, that snapped the human chords of my heart, 423 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 1: that took from me and sent to heaven, my loved ones. 424 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,159 Speaker 1: We'll never see the fulfillment of the ends of lawful justice. 425 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: How happy to lay and dream to hear the howls 426 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 1: and shrieks and screams of his tortured soul. The jury 427 00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 1: read copies of the letters. Did eugene Bert's writing convince 428 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: jurors that he was legally insane? There was yet another trial, 429 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 1: and this time the jurors finally agreed on a verdict. 430 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: Eugene Bert was deemed sane. It was finally over, and 431 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: eugene seemed pleased. He was sentenced to hang on May 432 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,199 Speaker 1: twenty seventh, eighteen ninety eight, almost two years after he 433 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: killed his family. But his brothers appealed to the courts 434 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: one last time. 435 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 4: And on May twenty third, another appeal was made, but 436 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 4: the governor was like, no, no, no, this man wants 437 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 4: to die, so let him. 438 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: The appeal was rejected, he would die on May twenty seventh. 439 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: There was no saving him. 440 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 2: Now. 441 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: Former federal investigator Fred Burton believes that Eugene Bert was 442 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,360 Speaker 1: rightly convicted. He doesn't believe that someone who is legally 443 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 1: insane can methodically premeditate a crime like Eugene clearly did. 444 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: Whether he would be rightly executed is another story for 445 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: a different season. 446 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 10: At what point did they quote unquote snap, how do 447 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 10: they go about and functioning in a very complex kind 448 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 10: of murder? I would argue that they don't. Now, you 449 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 10: could say that that person is not functioning in a 450 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 10: normal kind of space like the average person is. But 451 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:02,040 Speaker 10: that person was very methodical and very detail and certainly 452 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 10: knows right from wrong by the efforts to cover up 453 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 10: that crime. 454 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: Regardless, Eugene Bert had always maintained his innocence. 455 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 4: The night before his execution, Bert spent all night writing, 456 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,960 Speaker 4: and he apparently disliked what he wrote because he tore 457 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 4: a lot of it up. And then he dozed in 458 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 4: a chair with his feet up on a table, which 459 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 4: apparently was his habit rather than lying in a bed, 460 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 4: And then after a hearty breakfast, he said he was 461 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 4: really hungry. He wrote his last public statement in which 462 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 4: he claimed to have killed those who murdered his family. Yeah, 463 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 4: he said, the man who killed my family, I took 464 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 4: care of him a long time ago. 465 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: Why do you think he did that? Do you think 466 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: that's real or do you think that was just a front? 467 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 4: I think in his mind it was real. If he 468 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 4: had some sort of dissociative condition, he made that disconnect, 469 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 4: maybe even on the train, maybe when he saw missus 470 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 4: driscoll and decided in his mind he killed off that 471 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,719 Speaker 4: part of him who did that deed. As for what 472 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 4: awaited him, he wrote, I'm prepared to accept the situation 473 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 4: with as little complaining as possible, face the new foe, 474 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 4: and have my banner of satisfaction unfurled to the breeze 475 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:23,720 Speaker 4: until it and I sink into everlasting oblivion. Had some 476 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 4: Victorian writing right there, flowery, flowery language. 477 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 2: One. 478 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 8: I think he's in a way admitting to his body 479 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 8: committing the crimes. But it wasn't his soul or his 480 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 8: mentality that was committing the crimes. And that part of 481 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 8: him has already been punished by some supernatural force, God 482 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 8: or whatever you want to think about it. And so 483 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 8: that's an interesting admission on his part to speak of 484 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 8: it in that way, basically admitting guilt, but at the 485 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 8: same time not by claiming that it wasn't something else 486 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 8: was in control of his body at the time of 487 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 8: the murders, basically. 488 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: I interviewed doctor Anne Wohlbert Burgess for my other show, 489 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 1: Wicked Words. She's the criminal psychologist who helped shape the 490 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: FBI's behavioral science unit in the nineteen seventies. She told 491 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,960 Speaker 1: me that she's asked serial killers to draw their crime scenes, 492 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: and often they draw from the point of view of 493 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: someone floating above the bodies, totally disconnected from the crimes. 494 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 1: That might have been the case with Eugene Burt. 495 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 4: So he was led to the scaffold calmly. He looked 496 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 4: over the crowd of about one hundred spectators and reporters, 497 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,640 Speaker 4: and he commented, there are so many more people here 498 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 4: than I thought there'd be. It was in the courtyard 499 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 4: of the county jail, so that's probably probably quite crowded. 500 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 4: And to the crowd, he announced, except for the disgrace 501 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 4: attached to the scene, it is the happiest moment of 502 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 4: my life. 503 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: What you read on that. 504 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 4: He so wanted to die. Once he killed off whoever 505 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 4: he thought killed his family, the purpose of his life 506 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:04,480 Speaker 4: was over. 507 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: His arms and legs were pinioned, and he seemed relaxed. 508 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: A black hood was placed over his head. Eugene was quiet. 509 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 1: The sheriff pulled the lever, and Eugene dropped. The Bert's 510 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,120 Speaker 1: family doctor stood underneath and watched as Eugene fell. He 511 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,360 Speaker 1: had known Eugene his entire life. Doctor Whoton noted that 512 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: the killer's body seemed to actually relax, not stiffen as 513 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: was usually the case. It seemed as if Eugene Bert 514 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: was finally at peace with his death. After his body 515 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: was loaded onto a cart, doctor Whutten and several physicians 516 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: examined him. The noose had broken his neck, yet he 517 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: lived for almost twelve minutes. Many whispered that it was 518 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: an appropriate ending for a man who had murdered his 519 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: lovely wife and the little girls. Annie's mother and sister 520 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 1: also seemed at peace finally. They would eventually be buried 521 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: next to Annie and Eleanor and Lucille. Fred Burton says, 522 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: oftentimes family members find themselves conflicted with an execution. 523 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 10: At the end of the day, when you're looking at 524 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:25,680 Speaker 10: these horrific crimes of violence like this case. It's very 525 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 10: easy for people to say, well, isn't that terrible, But 526 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 10: when it becomes personal and it involves a family member, 527 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 10: there's a different feeling. You know, it depends on the 528 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 10: family and the person. But there is this desire for justice. 529 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 10: I wouldn't say vengeance, but I would say justice. Somebody 530 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 10: needs to be held accountable for what took place. 531 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,719 Speaker 1: But what if the killer ends up in a mental institution, 532 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: which is what might have happened with Eugene Burt. That 533 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 1: would not be punitive enough for a lot of families, 534 00:33:57,760 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: not at all. 535 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 10: I think most families would say that that's an easy 536 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:05,080 Speaker 10: cop out, or the system has been gained to the 537 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,200 Speaker 10: point where that person was able to take advantage of this. 538 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:13,520 Speaker 1: But Eugene Bert was never given that opportunity. Jeremy Charles 539 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,319 Speaker 1: says this story of Eugene Bert and his family will 540 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 1: forever confuse him. 541 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,640 Speaker 8: In reality, I think most crimes, you know, are typically 542 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 8: crimes of passion, and I would imagine this probably will 543 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 8: end up if we ever figure out exactly what happened 544 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:29,080 Speaker 8: being just that. 545 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: But this doesn't seem premeditated to you. 546 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 8: It does seem premeditated and in some ways. And that's 547 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,080 Speaker 8: what makes this all so interesting is that it's easy 548 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 8: to go either way, because there's a lot of things 549 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,560 Speaker 8: that he did after the murderers that seemed like he 550 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:44,759 Speaker 8: would have had to have those planned in order to 551 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:46,719 Speaker 8: do it in such a timely manner that by the 552 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 8: next morning he's having breakfast with his servant. 553 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: He is relatively calm and able to function. 554 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:55,880 Speaker 8: Yeah, And that's what makes this kind of interesting is 555 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:57,839 Speaker 8: that you start to lean one way and you're like, oh, 556 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 8: I can totally see that, But then you start leaning like, oh, 557 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:01,920 Speaker 8: oh what about this? Like oh, damn it, I forgot 558 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 8: about that, you know. So this is kind of my 559 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 8: favorite type of crime that are really really difficult to 560 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 8: explain because there are so many different explanations that seem 561 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 8: totally valid. 562 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:17,560 Speaker 1: I agree, there's no simple explanation for me either. Without 563 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 1: modern tests, it's just not clear if Eugene Burts struggled 564 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: with mental illness. So much of this has to be conjecture. 565 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:27,440 Speaker 1: I do a lot of that because I deal with 566 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: very old cases. But I suspect that many suspects in 567 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 1: history did struggle with mental illness, as we know many 568 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 1: do today. Doctor Christine Montrose says that the study of 569 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,719 Speaker 1: mental illness is imperative for society. 570 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:46,319 Speaker 6: My guess is that as we learn more and more 571 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 6: about mental illness and science continues to move forward, we're 572 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 6: going to be better able to trace and predict who's 573 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 6: more likely, under what circumstances to inherit these mental illnesses. 574 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 6: It's not a sentence for people at all, if they're family, 575 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 6: if they have a strong family history. It's a concern, 576 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 6: but not a sure sentence. 577 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:11,120 Speaker 1: We've talked a lot about why this happened. How could 578 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,359 Speaker 1: a man kill his wife and his little girls. Eugene's 579 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,719 Speaker 1: mind might have been mired with mental illness, psychopathy, or 580 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: brain damage. Defense attorney David Shepherd has defended killers who 581 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:27,920 Speaker 1: he says are irredeemable. He says those are all options, 582 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:30,759 Speaker 1: but there might have also been a simpler explanation. 583 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:35,200 Speaker 3: You don't have to fit into a dism category or 584 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:38,880 Speaker 3: axis to be a terrible person and do terrible things. 585 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:42,040 Speaker 3: They're not schizophrenic, and they're not any of those things. 586 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:46,320 Speaker 3: They're just goddamn mean people and do bad things. 587 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 4: William ejen Burt was buried quietly in Oakwood cemetery in 588 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 4: the family plot, far away from the remains of his 589 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:01,319 Speaker 4: wife and children, who were buried under her maiden name 590 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:06,919 Speaker 4: Powers in Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery. During the brief ceremony 591 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:11,320 Speaker 4: of heavily veiled woman approached, laid a small bouquet of 592 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:15,000 Speaker 4: flowers on the casket, and retreated Anonymous, who was thought 593 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:16,719 Speaker 4: that she was a friend of the families. 594 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 1: Despite Eugene Bird's crimes, his family was still very respected. 595 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:28,680 Speaker 1: His victims, Annie, Eleanor and Lucille were featured in newspaper 596 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: articles for years after Eugene Birt was executed, and then 597 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,000 Speaker 1: their story was lost to time, like the stories of 598 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,439 Speaker 1: many victims. Their home on Ninth Street is no longer there. 599 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:43,880 Speaker 1: It was the scene for three gruesome, tragic murders, killings 600 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,640 Speaker 1: that still seemed to haunt the spot where the house 601 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:51,600 Speaker 1: was even almost one hundred and thirty years later. Listened 602 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:52,640 Speaker 1: to this coincidence. 603 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:57,800 Speaker 8: One of the victims of the Annihilator murders was a 604 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,000 Speaker 8: woman named Susan Hancock, and she was murdered Christmas Eve 605 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:01,880 Speaker 8: eighteen eighty five. 606 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,799 Speaker 1: This was the murder scene that Eugene Burt visited when 607 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:09,360 Speaker 1: he was a teenager. Aside from that, there's another connection 608 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:10,360 Speaker 1: to Sue Hancock. 609 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,760 Speaker 8: The connection is that her daughter ends up marrying a 610 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:19,840 Speaker 8: man named Serbery. In nineteen hundred. She actually is running 611 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 8: a boarding house at g S two seven East ninth Street, 612 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:26,279 Speaker 8: the very same house that the Burt murders took place in. 613 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,440 Speaker 8: So there is an odd connection in that one of 614 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 8: the victim's daughters ended up living in the same house. 615 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,440 Speaker 1: That property where the Berts built their lives and Eugene 616 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,919 Speaker 1: destroyed their family seems to have bad luck. 617 00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:44,319 Speaker 4: And as for where the home once stood, nothing prospers, 618 00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:48,600 Speaker 4: nothing stays very long. That building is under constant renovation, 619 00:38:48,960 --> 00:39:05,600 Speaker 4: but never occupation. It's as unsettling as this whole story. 620 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:10,320 Speaker 1: There's another worker can't read it. I don't know, babe. 621 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 1: We might be going down a dead end here. My 622 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:19,480 Speaker 1: daughter and I are still wandering through Oakwood Cemetery in Austin. 623 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:24,080 Speaker 1: We're searching for Eugene Burt with no luck. We were 624 00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:26,840 Speaker 1: so happy to have found any powers and the girls 625 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:30,120 Speaker 1: back in the Mount Calvary Cemetery. It was clear from 626 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:34,640 Speaker 1: their family plot that they were valued and loved. Eugene 627 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:38,120 Speaker 1: Burt does have a headstone somewhere in Oakwood, next to 628 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,239 Speaker 1: his parents and his brother Monty. But it's a very 629 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:44,719 Speaker 1: cold day and we're tired, so we give up on 630 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:50,000 Speaker 1: finding William Eugene Burt. Normally we would be very frustrated, 631 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:56,920 Speaker 1: but this time we're not. Oh, vibe, this might be 632 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:01,360 Speaker 1: too cold. He's out in here somewhere. It's I actually, 633 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:03,080 Speaker 1: in some ways like this better. I don't really know 634 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:05,759 Speaker 1: if I want to find him because he doesn't deserve. 635 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 2: It, because he was a killer. Yeah, who cares? 636 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,960 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this season of tenfold More Wicked 637 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,480 Speaker 1: on Exactly Right. You can hear the trailer for our 638 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:38,319 Speaker 1: next season in one week next Monday. If you love 639 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: a good, real ghost story, My new audiobook original The 640 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:46,719 Speaker 1: Ghost Club is available for pre order now wherever audiobooks 641 00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:49,280 Speaker 1: are sold. I can't wait to tell you the real 642 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 1: story about the world's most famous ghost hunter, who was 643 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,400 Speaker 1: the head of the world's most famous ghost club, and 644 00:40:56,480 --> 00:41:02,879 Speaker 1: how he investigated England's most famous haunt. Please also check 645 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:07,759 Speaker 1: out my new book All That Is Wicked. This has 646 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:12,480 Speaker 1: been an exactly right tenfold War Media production producers Jason Whaling, 647 00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:18,160 Speaker 1: Alexis Mrosi, and Natalie Rinn Editors Jason Whaling, David Fabello 648 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: and Kate Winkler Dawson researcher Kate Winkler Dawson, sound designer 649 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: Eric Friend, composer Curtis Heath. Artwork by Nick Toga. Executive 650 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 1: producers Georgia Hartstark, Karen Kilgarriff and Daniel Kramer. Follow us 651 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 1: on Instagram and Facebook at tenfold war Wicked and on 652 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,520 Speaker 1: Twitter at tenfold war and If you know of a 653 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:44,120 Speaker 1: historical crime that could use some attention, especially if it 654 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:48,560 Speaker 1: happened in your family, email us at info at Tenfoldwarwicked 655 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:57,760 Speaker 1: dot com