Jonathan Hirsch

And in a way, I kind of feel like this story is the reverse of Crime and Punishment.

because it tells the story of someone who can forgive a willful, planned act of murder.

And that's Kent, of course.

And it just makes you think, because I don't know if I would be able to see past that.

But it's very clear to Kent what his moral purpose is after he finds out that his son did this.

Yeah, I mean, you got skin in the game.

Like, there's a little bit of a bias when it's your kid.

But I think what's sort of interesting, what kind of comes next for Kent is he understands the consequences that are at play.

But what he doesn't feel the state should make a determination about is the life of Bart.

So he believes his son should accept responsibility and serve the appropriate prison sentence for that crime.

But he doesn't believe that his son should be put to death.

This is totally not the kind of place where you want to test that law.

Coming up, a capital murder trial and a shocking decision.

Right.

Yeah.

And so we're in like 2007 at this point, a few years after the crime.

Bart goes on trial for capital murder in Fort Bend County.

Chris and Steve, his accomplices, are also charged with their charge separately.

So prosecutors lay out the full arc in the criminal trial, right?

Like the years of recruitment attempts, the faked graduation, the staged burglary, the coordinated shooting.