Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s James “Tim“ Norman was convicted of commissioning the murder-for-hire plot that took the life of his nephew and co-star in 2016.
Norman, 41, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the March 2016 shooting death of his nephew Andre Montgomery Jr., according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Missouri.
Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s James ‘Tim’ Norman Found Guilty of Murdering His Nephew
The jury’s verdict came after deliberating 17 hours over three days, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Per the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Missouri, James arranged the murder of his nephew through intermediaries in an attempt to cash out on a $450,000 fraudulent life insurance policy that he took out on Montgomery in 2015.
The life insurance policy included “numerous false statements regarding Montgomery’s income, net worth, medical history, employment and family background,” the release stated.
RELATED: Man Murders Girlfriend’s Parents Over Disputes About Covid Social Distancing, Gets Life in Prison
Norman’s co-defendants including Travell Anthony Hill, Terica Ellis and Waiel “Wally” Rebhi Yaghnam plead guilty before trial, the release stated.
“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.”
James was arrested on federal charges and was booked into the Madison County Detention Center on Tuesday in August 2020, WLBT reported. Norman allegedly conspired with Ellis, an exotic dancer, to kill his nephew so that he could get the life insurance payout.
RELATED: Matthew Coleman Left ‘Shrine’ to His Young Kids Before He Allegedly Murdered Them
“There exists probable cause to believe that James Timothy Norman conspired with Terica Ellis and/or others known or unknown to investigators at this time to use a facility of interstate commerce, namely, a cellular telephone, to commit a murder-for-hire in exchange for United States currency,” the complaint stated.
The complaint said that Norman took out multiple life insurance policies on Montgomery in 2014, listing himself as the sole beneficiary. Those policies include a life insurance policy for $250,000 through Americo Insurance Company, as well as two different policies through Foresters Insurance for $200,000 and $250,000.
He attempted to obtain a replacement policy through Foresters Insurance in 2015 but was denied, per the complaint. Norman appeared with Montgomery on OWN Network’s Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s — which documented their family’s soul-food business — for nine seasons from 2011 to 2018