This is exactly right.

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In order for Howard to be set free, this is the sequence of events. He would have to first stand trial for the murder of his parents and be found

insane. Then he would have to go through a sanity hearing and be found sane so that he could be released as a free person.

That's a lot of steps. That's a lot of steps.

Howard Pearson's murder trial in Austin, Texas, started in November of 1963 amid national media buzz.

He was now 49 years old and at the center of another

courtroom drama. Every major news outlet covered it, one of the wildest stories

and decades. Howard had killed his parents, covered it up, and was then

sent to a mental hospital. From there he had escaped twice, spent years on the run,

only to turn himself in. And then after nearly 30 years of observation,

doctors declared that he was sane. Now the district attorney wanted to put him

behind prison bars, finally.

But Howard's Siblings, Allison Bill, continued to fund his defense.

The jury sat in silence in the crowded courtroom.

Howard's attorney Tom Reevely presented his list of witnesses.

Author Gary Levern says that the majority were physicians and experts on mental disorders.

His argument basically was, he was insane when he killed his parents, but he has spent so much

time in an institution that he has been successfully treated and in addition to that he's burnt out.

If you recover sanity, we call it a burnout.

Rively had a tricky job.

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