‘He is dead’: Suspect found covered in blood after man killed on Palm Harbor patio
PALM HARBOR, Fla. (WFLA) — A Palm Harbor man was accused of killing another man at his home after the victim failed to return a vehicle he loaned to him.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a home on Shore Drive on Tuesday after a neighbor reported that Matthew Paul Weldon, 37, came to her door, covered in blood and said he had just killed a man.
The agency said when deputies arrived at the home, Weldon was still covered in blood, and he told them “he’s dead.”
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The victim, identified as Carroll Bryan, 49, was found lying on the back patio with “multiple blunt force injuries to his head, neck, and arm,” according to the sheriff’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives said the two men met at a bar two weeks before the incident and negotiated a vehicle loan a week later. Weldon became upset when Bryan failed to return the vehicle at the agreed-upon time, and an argument ensued when he brought it to Weldon’s home.
Authorities said Weldon struck Bryan on the back of the head and continued beating him after he hit the ground.
Weldon sustained minor injuries in the incident. He was charged with second-degree murder and booked into the Pinellas County Jail.
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Investigators were at the home for nearly 20 hours. People in the neighborhood complained about the sheriff’s office not releasing information about the incident sooner.
“Well, we knew that there was something wrong, obviously right but then nothing really happens much back here. I mean, this is a really quiet area back in here,” said Eric McLendon, a co-owner of the Ozona Fish Camp, which is located next to where the murder happened.
McLendon said people kept asking what was going on, but authorities were tight-lipped.
”I don’t know what’s going on. We keep asking and they keep saying no. I don’t know when they are going to tell people, but I mean, they’ve been here all night,” McLendon said.
Down the street, Meg Collins said she heard there had been a murder at the home.
”I was surprised to learn last night on the newscast that it was a disturbance because we all knew that it ended in a death,” said Collins. “It happened right around the time all the kids were coming home from school, so there were kids riding their bicycles right past where the sheriff’s had their guns out and everything.”
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