TX - Sybil Berndt, 88, left to die, decompose after fall, Houston, 10 Jan 2011

wfgodot

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Egad. And don't miss the disturbingly identical pair of mug shots at....

Twins accused in death of mother, 89 (Houston Chronicle)
Twin brothers have been charged with allowing their elderly mother to die on the floor of the home where she had fallen, then leaving the body there for three months while they lived in the house.

Edward Larry Berndt and Edwin Christian Berndt, both 48, are charged with felony murder in the death of Sybil Berndt, 89.
---
The brothers told investigators they were their mother’s caregivers. According to court records, they told police they were trying to watch the BCS Championship football game on Jan. 10 when their mother came in the room "ranting and raving."

The brothers told police that’s when their mother fell and did not get up.
---
(more at chron.com link above)
 
well now someone can sell her house and provide her with a funeral while those disgusting twins can rot in prison and be grateful if they ever get to see a football game of their choice again

she lay there dying as she turned 89, knowing her own sons would not help her (& probably did more than they're admitting in contributing to her "fall" IMO)

I wonder if she had other kids ...
 
We'll see if the mental health issues the twins must apparently have will
mitigate punishment regarding the degree of their culpability in this case.

It only takes a little sanity to call 911 though.
 
WOW...sometimes there are no words.
 
I've got nothing I can post without a hefty TO

:sick:
 
A girl at work was telling me about this today. She said that as she was reading the story, she kept waiting for them to report that they (the twins) were mentally incapacitated, & it never happened.

The article I later read on foxnews advised that they didn't have the money to help her, etc. Blah, blah, blah... Then came the news of the $700K! WTH!?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/1...ther-3-months-charged-murder/?test=latestnews

The brothers told police their mother had fallen and died, and that they didn't have enough money to bury her. They said they didn't call police because they didn't want to go to jail.

Police searched the home and found bank statements from JP Morgan Chase totaling about $700,000, according to court documents.
He said they decided to leave her on the floor because they didn't have money to provide her with medical treatment.

The brothers then decided to leave her on the floor because they didn't have money to bury her.

Bless her heart!!! :-(
 
What a horror show. :mad:

Those men do look like they've got mental issues going on-- kind of slack in the facial tone. idk Maybe they're just evil.
 
Comprehensive, lengthy Houston Chronicle article:

Twins arrested after mother's body found in home
Died day after turning 89

Edwin Berndt told investigators that his mother was conscious and able to speak for about a day after she fell. He told investigators he remembers that his mother died Jan. 13 because it was a day after her 89th birthday.

"They didn't seem to have any real remorse for their mother," Torres said. "I think they were more concerned with what was going to happen to them."

Torres said both men spoke clearly with a bit of Southern drawl and seemed fairly intelligent. Both men graduated from high school.
(much more at link above)
 
very odd story..
1 twin was gifted
they usually kept themselves up, but had let themselves go recently since their mother died. or rather they let her die...
Very blank when talking about her.
They never married or had children from what I can find...
 
Defense attorney: Twin murder suspects are 'scared'

As for that earlier-reported $700,000....
A judge set bond at $500,000 each, saying that because the men have access to their mother’s money, they could be a flight risk. She reportedly had $700,000 in a checking account.

Insanity defense, here they come:
[Defense attorney Robert] Scardino said his clients’ demeanors have been "flat."

"Their responses are in monosyllables. I think they’re scared – clearly. But how much they appreciate their circumstance, I’m not a professional in that arena," he said.

The stuff of horror movies:
When they continued to knock they observed large amounts of flies inside the house, on the inside of the curtains. Officers immediately knew that there was something wrong inside that house," prosecutor Samantha Knecht said.
(Much more at KHOU link above)
 
It boggles the mind.

Oddly enough three things stood out to me in that first article.

1.) They basically both have the same name. Edward/Edwin. Were they both called Ed? If not was it easy to differentiate when called to?

2.) Matching flannell PJ bottoms. That image is disturbing enough without having to read how they left thier poor mother.

3.) They have not left the house in months surviving on junk food. Oh getouttahere. How many chips did they eat each day? At some point you have to go out of the house.

Poor, poor lady.


*****When asked why they didn't help their mother they replied "She didn't ask us to".*****

Honestly although I am my mother's caretaker and my brother's are extremely helpful in making that possible I swear if my mother does not ask them for something they are clueless. That's a tough one as my mom is old school and has all this pride that if someone wants to do something for you you shouldn't ask.:banghead::banghead::banghead:

Sorry for the vent.

O.K. you live with your own mother's rotting corpse after ya let her die alone on a floor and you have flies all over the place and this does not bother you? Something up with that.
 
I heard this story on the radio this morning. They said that she had been there three months, and that her body was covered with insects. The authorities said the smell in the home was horrific.

This wasn't a case of these two choosing to ignore her. Anyone would have been extremely aware that there was a rotting corpse in their home. This is in Houston. It's hot down here. Last week it was in the 90s.
 
Relative says twin murder suspects are mentally disabled

[Cousin of the twins Elvin] Berndt says the twins have always been quiet and kept to themselves.

“They didn't talk that much and when they did it was slow," he said. “They had their own language that they could talk in. Nobody could understand them, but they could,” he said.

In fact, Berndt said Edwin was outside the country home talking to himself just a month ago, which would have been after his mother died.

“He was out here sitting on a tree and somebody drove by and said he was just looking around and talking,” said their cousin.
(much more with video, at KHOU link above)
 
It wouldn't be hard for me to believe they had some sort of mental retardation. They lived at home with mama. As far as I can tell neither one held a job. It's probably their mother who was their caregiver, not the other way around. They should really determine at what level they are functioning before putting them on trial, IMO.
 
It wouldn't be hard for me to believe they had some sort of mental retardation. They lived at home with mama. As far as I can tell neither one held a job. It's probably their mother who was their caregiver, not the other way around. They should really determine at what level they are functioning before putting them on trial, IMO.

I agree. I do not know why people are so quick to say "they are evil". They are obviously severely disabled in some way. Living on junk food for 3 months while stepping over a bloated rotting human corpse? That is NOT cruel or cold-hearted that is just plain mentally disabled!

Sheesh if the authorities had not come these two could have starved to death in another 2 months when the food ran out.
 
How do we explain the 1 twin being gifted then???
 
I agree. I do not know why people are so quick to say "they are evil". They are obviously severely disabled in some way. Living on junk food for 3 months while stepping over a bloated rotting human corpse? That is NOT cruel or cold-hearted that is just plain mentally disabled!

Sheesh if the authorities had not come these two could have starved to death in another 2 months when the food ran out.

I agree wholeheartedly. When the food ran out, though, at least one of the twins can drive:

Edward drives and recently showed interest in working on the farm, [their cousin] said.

Also, one of the twins was seen in the period after his mother died, at the family farm near Danevang TX - 90 minutes from Houston, so I imagine a trip to an ice house for junk food would have been do-able:

In fact, [the cousin] said Edwin was outside the country home talking to himself just a month ago, which would have been after his mother died.

http://www.khou.com/news/Relative-says-twin-murder-suspects-are-mentally-disabled-119819259.html
 

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