But to many, the brutality of the murders combined with a lack of a clear motive suggests that Bart Whitaker isn't a repentant, but a cold-blooded murderer, a sociopath who deserves nothing less than a death sentence. So Kent Whitaker forgave his son, and pleaded with the jury to spare Bart's life.īoth Bart and Kent Whitaker claim that Bart is a changed man, one who realizes he made mistakes, feels remorse and takes responsibility for his actions. His conviction made Bart eligible for the death penalty, but by this time, his father Kent had reached a conclusion that would surprise many and register as incomprehensible to some: he said he had prayed to God and asked for guidance, and God had told him to forgive. The jury agreed, and convicted him of capital murder in connection with Tricia and Kevin Whitaker's deaths. Almost two years later, after a case full of twists and turns that included discoveries of prior unsuccessful murder plots, Bart's escape to Mexico, the confession of a getaway driver and the dredging up of a bag of evidence from the bottom of a lake, police were finally able to arrest Bart Whitaker and charge him with hiring two accomplices to help kill the family.Īt his trial in March 2007, prosecutors alleged that although it wasn't Bart Whitaker himself who had pulled the trigger, he was responsible for his mother and brother's vicious murders because he masterminded the plan. Marshall Slot began to see him as less of a victim and more of a suspect. Bart Whitaker was shot as he faked a struggle with the fleeing gunman, and police initially thought he was a victim as well.īut in the following weeks, Bart Whitaker's story began to unravel, and Sugar Land police sgt.

Tricia and Kevin died from their gunshot wounds, but Kent survived. In December 2003, Whitaker's mother Tricia Whitaker, brother Kevin Whitaker, and father Kent Whitaker were ambushed by a masked gunman as they walked in the front door of their Sugar Land home after a night out. Bart Whitaker is awaiting execution for a brutal crime that sent shockwaves through his hometown of Sugar Land, Texas: hatching a plot to kill his entire family.

April 27, 2009— - 29-year-old Thomas 'Bart' Whitaker, an intelligent, well-spoken young man from a model American family, who grew up with loving parents and a brother who adored him, is currently sitting on death row in Texas.

Murder by family by kent whitaker