Last week, federal prosecutors made a decision in the case involving “Sweetie Pie’s” star Tim Norman, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder-for-hire plot that led to his nephew’s death.
James Timothy Norman, who starred in the OWN television show and helped run the chain of restaurants of the same name, is awaiting trial for charges of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities (cellphone) in the commission of a murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. He is one of three defendants charged in the plot to murder 21-year-old Andre Montgomery Jr., the grandson of Sweetie Pie’s owner Robbie Montgomery, in March 2016.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors said they will not seek the death penalty for Norman nor his alleged co-conspirator Terica Ellis, according to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The death penalty review process is activated automatically when a federal criminal charge is punishable by death. The review does not reflect prosecutors’ desire to impose it. That review process is still pending for another suspect, Travell Anthony Hill, who was charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire on Nov. 3.
Federal authorities allege Norman obtained several life insurance policies on Montgomery, his nephew, in November 2014. Norman was the sole beneficiary on the policies. 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, according to the complaint. Prosecutors and investigators accuse Norman of taking a combination of life insurance funds, equaling more than $50,000, to have Montgomery killed. They believe he got Ellis to lure his nephew to a St. Louis park, where he was gunned down.
In October, Norman, 41, entered a not-guilty plea to the charges.
According to Norman’s biography in the “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” section on the OWN website, Norman spent 10 years in prison on robbery charges. He was charged for misdemeanor assault charges in Harris County, Texas, in 2018, after he was accused of punching a former employee in the face, according to the Clarion Ledger.
Norman, his mother Robbie Montgomery and Montgomery starred on the OWN reality television show about the restaurant for several years. In late October, Robbie Montgomery publicly thanked her supporters for their thoughts and prayers regarding the charges against her son. She did not speak about Norman’s charges, but she said she appreciated the “love, prayers, cards, calls and messages.”
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