CARTHAGE, Texas — A former mortician whose killing of a rich widow shook an East Texas town and later inspired a movie is a free man after a judge agreed to reduce his life sentence and release him on bond.

Bernie Tiede’s freedom Tuesday was part of an agreement with the same district attorney who prosecuted him for the death of his 81-year-old longtime companion, Marjorie Nugent, who disappeared in 1996 and was found dead in a freezer in Carthage nine months later.

Tiede’s bond was set at $10,000 and after posting bail, he was released to go live in Austin with filmmaker Richard Linklater, who co-wrote and directed the 2012 dark comedy “Bernie” that was inspired by the case and starred Jack Black in the title role and Shirley MacLaine as Nugent. Linklater volunteered to take in Tiede, who will be under strict bond conditions.

A state criminal appeals court still must formally sign off on the sentence reduction.

The now-55-year-old Tiede, who was well liked in the close-knit community of Carthage, was convicted in 1999 in the death of Nugent, who had a reputation among townspeople as a crotchety cheapskate.

Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson agreed with Tiede’s appeals attorney, Jodi Cole, who said he deserved a lighter sentence because he was sexually assaulted as a child and also had an abusive relationship with Nugent before her death.