ST. LOUIS — It's day four of a high-profile murder trial involving James Timothy "Tim" Norman.
Norman and his family were featured on the reality TV show "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" on the Oprah Winfrey Network for several seasons.
Now, Norman is accused of being behind a murder-for-hire scheme to kill his nephew Andre Montgomery Jr. in 2016.
He is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire, resulting in death.
Norman's also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
Court documents show Norman took out a life insurance policy on Montgomery for $450,000 two years before the shooting.
Three others have been charged and have pleaded guilty to their role.
Day 4
Two FBI Special Agents took the stand Friday morning.
One went through cell phone towers and geolocations tracking down where Norman and other suspects were on the day of the murder.
For the next witness, the prosecutor went down through the entire day of the murder, pinging times and locations.
The agent says a flight tracker shows that Norman flew from California to St. Louis at 12:06 a.m. the day of the murder.
On the day of the shooting, Montgomery was shot and killed at 8:02 p.m.
The agent further explains that flight information shows Norman left a few hours after that at 1:51 in the morning.
He also adds another text.
On Oct. 16, 2018, a text from Norman to his attorney says he was in California the day his nephew was killed.
In the cross-examination, the defense was able to demonstrate Norman would frequently fly back and forth from California.
Defense attorney Michael Leonard asked the agent if they ever determined how many times Norman would drive to and from California in 2015 and 2016.
The agent said no.
Leonard also asked if they ever tapped into Montgomery's cell phone records.
The agent said he was the first to do so when was assigned to the case in November 2019.
The defense tried to make this a point because there is a time frame to review certain cell phone activity.
After lunch, the government rested its case and the defense brought in its witnesses.
Defense witnesses
The first witness was an employee for Sweetie Pie's restaurant who acted as security.
He shares that he knew Norman well and only knew Montgomery from the restaurant.
He explains that he believes Norman and his mother, Ms. Robbie, paid for Montgomery's funeral.
He adds Norman was truthful to him and never saw him violent or rageful.
After this witness, the judge dismissed the jury for the weekend and court will resume on Monday at 9 a.m.