Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, aka Bart Whitaker, was reportedly involved in the murders of two family members that happened on December 10, 2003. His victims include his mother, Patricia Whitaker, and his 19-year-old brother, Kevin Whitaker.
For his crimes, the court sentenced him to death. This verdict was reached under the Texas law of parties. However, upon his father’s request, officials changed his death sentence to life imprisonment, but this new punishment did not allow him the possibility of parole. Whitaker was supposed to be executed on February 22, 2018, at 6 p.m. at the Polunsky Unit near Livingston, Texas. His sentence commutation took place just 40 minutes before his execution.
The case against Bart Whitaker will be covered in detail in the newest episode of Oxygen’s Final Moments. It will air on Sunday, November 19, 2023, at 7 pm ET on Oxygen. The name of this episode is “The Last Celebration.”
The official synopsis of the episode reads, “A night celebrating Bart Whitaker’s college graduation ends in horror when a gunman attacks him and his family, killing his mother, Tricia, and brother Kevin; as police try to unravel the tragedy, they uncover family secrets and a surprising suspect.”
What did Bart Whitaker do?
In December 2003, Bart Whitaker hired his roommate, Chris Brashear, to take the lives of his mother, brother, and father. According to ABC News, the 23-year-old falsely announced to his family that he was going to graduate. To celebrate his achievement, the family went to a popular Cajun restaurant.
By the time the family returned home, Chris Brashear was already waiting in the Whitaker to carry out the killings. In 2009, Bart Whitaker told 20/20, “I wanted them dead. It was my idea.”
Chris Brashear reportedly shot and killed Bart’s mother, Patricia, and his brother, Kevin, who died within minutes of being shot. He even tried to kill Bart’s father, Kent. However, he survived. To divert suspicion, Bart pretended to struggle with Brashear and got shot in the arm while doing so. Moreover, when first responders arrived at the crime scene, Bart reportedly told them that the crime was committed by a black man so as to evade suspicion on Chris Brashear.
Although he moved to Mexico next year and lived under a false identity, a capital murder warrant was issued against him on September 15, 2005. Following the announcement of reward, the acquaintance who assisted Bart to escape reported about the latter’s whereabouts to the police. After the US and Mexican authorities cooperated to arrest Bart Whitaker, he was handed over to the US government the same month, after which he was arrested for the murders of his mother and brother.
