Twins accused in mother's murder appear in court
HOUSTON
Edwin Larry Berndt and Edward Christian Berndt, both 48, are charged with murder in the death of their mother, Sybil Berndt. Prosecutors say Sybil Berndt fell back in January in the house she lived in with Edwin and Edward and laid on the floor for three days without being administered medical care or food. After neighbors called for a welfare check, Houston police officers found her body and took the brothers into custody.
The issue of the brothers' mental state was not brought up in court this morning, but both the defense lawyer and prosecutor talked about mental evaluations when we interviewed them.
"A lot of evaluation needs to be done in that regard for those two men," said defense attorney Robert Scardino.
"Obviously, we're going to want them to do some type of mental evaluation," said prosecutor Samantha Knecht.
The judge kept the brothers' bonds at $500,000.