Tim Norman Trial Begins, Reality Star Alleges He Was Targeted

Wednesday marked the beginning of the murder trial for former reality star Tim Norman, who is accused of masterminding the 2016 murder of his nephew/ fellow Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s star Andre Montgomery Jr.

Source: MADISON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI DETENTION CENTER / Official Mugshot

But before we get into all of that, we have got to talk about how Norman is out here trying to claim corrupt cops are the reason for his arrest and not the fact that multiple people involved in Montgomery’s killing have pleaded guilty and implicated Norman.

From the Riverfront Times:

Last summer, a journalist researching a potential podcast about Andre’s murder wrote Norman a letter while Norman was in St. Genevieve County Jail awaiting trial. The journalist got a five-page letter in return, laying out a theory of the case in which Norman (who refers to himself as a “T.V. dude”) is being targeted by the government because of his participation Black Lives Matter protests following the police killing of Michael Brown. The journalist shared the letter with the RFT.

“There were cops on Kim Gardner’s bad cop list after this T.V. dude for years,” the letter states.

The letter goes on, “The Fraternal order has been messing with T.V. dude ever since the Mike Brown stuff…T.V. dude was really out there protesting with a lot of employees. His mom warned him.”

OK, so I have never been one to defend cops against allegations of corruption. And I am pretty sure the Fraternal Order of Police is the real-life version of the Legion of Doom, except none of its members have super powers beyond the ability to lie faster than a speeding bullet after shooting first and shouting “I was in fear for my life” second. Still, I gotta say—c’mon, son.

First of all, damn near every Black celebrity not named Candace Owens has outwardly supported Black Lives Matter. The idea that the government would randomly single out some has-been reality “TV Dude” and arrest him for a murder-for-hire plot just sounds like a bit of a reach.

And again, Mongomery’s shooter, Travell Anthony Hill, said Norman hired him. Terica Ellis admitted to luring Montgomery to his death and said Norman put her up to it. And former music producer and insurance broker Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam admitted he helped Norman obtain a life insurance policy on Montgomery that “stipulated a $200,000 payout if Montgomery died of something other than natural causes, as well as a $50,000 payout if he died within the next 10 years,” according to the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch. So, no—Norman isn’t in jail because cops are corrupt. He’s there because there is overwhelming evidence pointing toward his guilt.

Anyway, according to Fox 2, federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri alleged that months before Montgomery’s killing, Norman told Yagham via text message that his nephew “ain’t gonna be around much longer.” Prosecutors also brought up the life insurance policy, which they said amounted to $450,000, and named Norman as the sole beneficiary. Prosecutors said that Norman and Yagham submitted four separate life insurance applications filled with false information about Montgomery and representatives from three of the companies said they canceled the application process due to incomplete paperwork or inability to obtain the necessary information to issue a policy.