11 News reports

Bart Whitaker sits on Texas death row for the murders of his mother and brother in an effort to collect on a $1 million inheritance. On Saturday, the former Sugar Land resident was the feature of a CBS “48 Hours Mystery” special.

Among those featured in the piece was Whitaker’s father Kent, who was the only survivor of a hit organized by Bart who was able to convince others to pull off the dastardly deed.

But Whitaker’s exposure goes beyond the national TV show. The 27-year-old has a blog he is posting from behind the prison walls of death row.

Among his ramblings online Whitaker discusses how “Bart” is dead and that he should be called Thomas. Whitaker also asks people to contact him and even suggests how they can contribute to his inmate commissary account.

State law forbids Whitaker from making any money off his crime, but while there appears to be no revenue generated from his blog, victims’ rights advocates are railing against Whitaker’s blog.

Prisoners’ rights groups, however, insist he and others who are incarcerated should not be denied their First Amendment Right and that such blogging efforts may actually have a positive impact on a prisoner, even condemned to death like Whitaker.

The online journals are part of a growing trend.

Whitaker's father, who survived the attack, retypes his son's blogs for the Web site.

"Most are put on by prison or anti-death penalty advocates," victims' advocate Andy Kahan said. "I've not seen one that is administered by someone he actually tried to kill.

"Unfortunately, due to First Amendment constraints, there is little you can do to prevent death row inmates for, from that perspective, airing their viewpoints," he said.

Prison rights advocate Ray Hill also has an opinion about the blogging.

"Let's fall back on the good, old American tradition: Everyone has a right to say their peace," he said. "We're having too many exonerations for people who were wrongfully convicted to decide we're going to silence and who we're not."

What Whitaker can't do is sell his artwork for profit in Texas. An empty "Arists" tab on the blog has peaked Kahan's interest.

"If there's any attempt to make any profit from selling his artwork, I think that's where we'll have leverage as far as the law goes," he said.

One of the only things 11 News found that Bart wrote about the murders was, "I did come clean and accept responsibility for my actions."

What was not seen was any mention of his mother or his brother or why he wanted to kill his family.