Welcome to Sweetie Pie 's star Tim Norman found guilty of killing 21-year-old nephew in murder-for-hire plot
James "Tim" Norman, who starred in the OWN series Welcome to Sweetie Pie's, was found guilty of killing his nephew and former costar Andre Montgomery Jr. after staging a murder-for-hire plot.
The soul food restaurateur, 43, was convicted Friday of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in relation to the fatal shooting of his 21-year-old nephew in March 2016, per a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of Missouri.
After taking out a $450,000 life insurance policy on his nephew, Norman arranged Montgomery's murder through intermediaries in order to receive the payout from his death, the release said. It added that his three codefendants — Travell Anthony Hill, Terica Ellis, and Waiel "Wally" Rebhi Yaghnam — had all pled guilty before trial.
Robin L Marshall/Getty for OWN 'Welcome to Sweetie Pie's' star Tim Norman was found guilty of killing his nephew Andrew Montgomery Jr. in a murder-for-hire plot.
Norman and Yaghnam had filed "five separate life insurance policy applications" on Montgomery since October 2014, all of which contained "numerous false statements regarding Montgomery's income, net worth, medical history, employment, and family background," per the release.
"On the day of Montgomery's death, Hill and Norman met in St. Louis and Norman told Hill that a woman would be calling with Montgomery's location," the release stated. "After receiving a call from the woman, Terica Ellis, Hill fatally shot Montgomery with a .380-caliber handgun at 8:02 p.m. and then disposed of the gun and his phone. He was later paid $5,000."
Ellis admitted to finding Montgomery for Norman in the past and shared that she knew Norman was planning to take "some form of action" against his nephew, but "did not know Montgomery would be shot," the release said. On the night of the murder, she told Norman and Hill about Montgomery's whereabouts via a prepaid burner phone that she had previously purchased with Norman.
According to the release, Norman paid her $10,000 for finding his nephew and told her to dispose of her burner phone after the murder.
Norman was arrested on federal charges in August 2020. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 15.
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