A federal jury in Missouri convicted reality star Tim Norman on Friday of all charges for his role in the murder-for-hire killing of his nephew, 21-year-old Andre Montgomery Jr.
Norman, 43, was found guilty of two counts of federal murder-for-hire, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said in a news release.
Norman showed no emotion as the verdict was read, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
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Prosecutors argued that the motive in the case was greed, and jurors heard seven days of testimony.
“Norman took out a life insurance policy worth $450,000 on Montgomery, then arranged through intermediaries for his nephew’s murder so that he could profit from it,” prosecutors said in Friday’s news release.
Kalyn Griggs, Montgomery’s sister, told reporters outside the courthouse that justice was served.
“The lesson is: I don’t care how much money a person got,” Griggs said, “you cannot underestimate their greed.”
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Wearing a “Justice for Andre” T-shirt, she called Norman a “monster” and said her brother feared for his life in the weeks leading up to his death.
Both Norman and Montgomery starred on the OWN reality series Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s. The series centered on St. Louis soul food chain Sweetie Pie’s, which was founded by Robbie Montgomery, Norman’s mother and Andre’s grandmother. The show ran from 2011 to 2018.
In the criminal complaint, prosecutors said Norman’s plot was years in the making.
“In 2014, Norman obtained a $450,000 life insurance policy on his 18-year-old nephew, Andre Montgomery, on which Norman was the sole beneficiary,” prosecutors said in a previous statement. “On March 21, 2016, Norman contacted the life insurance company in an attempt to collect on the life insurance policy he had obtained on his nephew.”
The complaint said James Timothy “Tim” Norman conspired with an exotic dancer named Terica Ellis and others to carry out the plot.
A total of four people were indicted in the case. All three of Norman’s co-defendants pleaded guilty before going to trial.
On June 3, 2022, Travell Anthony Hill, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire. Prosecutors said Hill fatally shot Montgomery with a .380-caliber handgun and then disposed of the gun and his phone. He was paid $5,000 for the killing.
On July 22, Ellis pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire conspiracy charge. She was paid $10,000 for finding Montgomery just before he was killed and disposing of her phone.
Waiel “Wally” Rebhi Yaghnam pleaded guilty to a charge of wire and mail fraud conspiracy. Following Montgomery’s murder, Yaghnam helped Norman file a claim on Montgomery’s life insurance policy.
The FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case.
Norman was taken into custody in Jackson, Mississippi, in August 2020, and charged in the death of Montgomery, as previously reported.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15.
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