On Friday, a federal jury found James “Tim” Norman, a former star of the reality TV program “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” guilty of orchestrating the shooting of his nephew. Norman was charged with murder-for-hire, and the jury discussed for nearly 17 hours over three days before coming to a decision, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was accused of plotting to carry out a murder for hire, actually carrying out the murder for hire, and plotting to commit mail and wire fraud.
According to federal prosecutors, 43-year-old Norman hired two assassins to murder Montgomery, 21, on March 14, 2016, and then attempted to collect a $450,000 life insurance policy on his nephew taken out some months earlier.
The long-running OWN reality series about a well-known soul-food restaurant, created in the St. Louis region by Norman’s mother and Andre’s grandmother, featured Norman and his nephew, Andre Montgomery.
According to federal prosecutors, 43-year-old Norman hired two assassins to murder Montgomery, 21, on March 14, 2016, and then attempted to collect a $450,000 life insurance policy on his nephew taken out some months earlier.
Angie Danis, an assistant US attorney, said during the closing statements that Norman was the mastermind behind the plot to murder Montgomery and that Tim Norman’s selfishness was the only reason this scheme existed. According to the prosecution, Norman paid $5,000 to Travell Anthony Hill to shoot Montgomery and $10,000 to exotic dancer Terica Ellis to entice his nephew to the location where he was shot.
Hill admitted using narcotics heavily and that he was “hopped up on drugs that day,” In his testimony, the former reality TV star said that he purchased the life insurance policy on his nephew in order to boost business for Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam, a devoted patron of the family eateries. Yaghnam entered a plea of guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit murder for hire in July. To all of these people, Danis claimed that Norman had crafted an image of being “a mentor and a father figure”, but it was all fiction.
After the verdict, defense lawyer Michael Leonard expressed his and Norman’s astonishment and disappointment in the outcome of the case; the murder was a “made up theory” by prosecutors. He stated that they intended to appeal and that Norman is still certain that he would ultimately succeed.
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