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Jordan Stillers
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Jordan Stillers
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Jordan Stillers
There's a moment in every confrontation when someone decides whether to walk away. On a piece of hunting land just outside Tallahassee, that moment came and went. An argument over access, over rules, over who belonged. And then gunfire. When it was over, one man lay in the road while the other disappeared. Now the dead man's friends and family are trying to pick up the pieces as they wonder how such an everyday argument turned so deadly so quickly. That's next on Blood Trails. This is a story about three hunting buddies. It didn't make national headlines. DATELINE didn't cover the investigation, and you won't find trial footage in a Netflix documentary. But for hunters, what happened to Tim Blyth and his friends hits close to home. This could have happened on any slice of public land anywhere in the country. And the mystery of Tim's death is all the more troubling for the familiarity of its circumstances. It all started on a balmy 78 degree day in December of 2021, when the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office in Florida's Panhandle received a 911 call from man who'd been walking his dog in the St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge.
Norman Grass
I turned on to Purify Bay Road and cruising on down there, I had my dog with me. After we got off the blacktop and it turned to sand, there was two pickup trucks sitting on the right. One was pointing at me. It was a bright shade, shiny new Ford.
Jordan Stillers
This man's name was Norman Grass, and as he drove Past those trucks, he noticed several men standing around the front of that shiny red pickup.
Norman Grass
There was a dude that looked right at me. He was tall and he had a baseball cap on. I kind of think it was camouflage. And I also think I just felt he was a hunter, you know, he looked like the good old we'll call a boy, you know. And nothing else stood out in my mind other than looking at him. And I figured that they were shooting shit about hunting.
Jordan Stillers
Norman didn't think much about this at the time. In later interviews with law enforcement, he wasn't able to remember any details about the other men or even recall exactly how many there were. But when he drove back down Purified bay Road about 45 minutes later, the scene he encountered was seared into his memory.
Norman Grass
As I was coming back and I got close to where these gentlemen were, I seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping bag. And then when I got up to it, I seen two feet. I looked at the head and there was a pool of blood. He was face down. I couldn't see his eye, but I could see the pool of blood around him.
Jordan Stillers
The trucks and the other men were nowhere to be seen. Norman turned around and drove back to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. But he had no desire to take a closer look. He drove around the corner out of sight and called 911.
Norman Grass
I, I rolled up my windows, locked my doors, just sat in the car. Cuz I was the only one that witnessed those guys.
Jordan Stillers
I got to thinking about it, right?
Norman Grass
He looked right at me. My truck is very distinguishable, sure. And I got paranoid. So scary and so shook up. I got my gun off and put
Jordan Stillers
it there on my console, sure. But Norman's strange day was about to get even stranger.
Norman Grass
As you probably found out or will find out, there was two dogs there, two groomed poodles.
Eddie Alday
Where were they at?
Norman Grass
And they were that right where we were at.
Jordan Stillers
Norman says these dogs had tags and were clearly well taken care of, but they were skittish. They ran around like they didn't know what to do. And when police arrived, they refused to be caught. Norman says animal control officers weren't able to wrangle them either. But strangely, they stayed in the area. No one knew why two well groomed poodles would be running around a dead body. But Norman was right about one thing. The man lying in a pool of his own blood was a hunter. Investigators uncovered many more details about the when, how and who of his death. But his friends and hunting buddies are still wondering about the why.
Jimmy Hutto
It's something that you would have never seen coming, period. You know, nobody sees murder coming anyways. Why it was time for him to be called to the Lord or whatever. You know you're going to always have that why.
Jordan Stillers
The events that transpired in those fateful minutes are still shrouded in mystery. But it began with a scenario we've all experienced. A random interaction between two strangers in the woods. How that interaction escalated to a murder investigation that included a missing gun, a would be fugitive, a pig carcass in a driveway, and a claim of self defense is the question that remains with us today. In the end, the answer might matter far less than the carnage it left behind. I'm Jordan Stillers and this is Blood the Murder of Timothy Blyth. Part one Smudge and Smokey Wakulla county is located just south of Tallahassee, but the vast majority of the area is taken up by the St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge and the Apalachicola National Forest. It looks like a great place to live for someone who loves the outdoors, but residents don't see many murders. In 2021, this was the only homicide that occurred in the county. Needless to say, it was all hands on deck when Norman's call came in and Eddie Wester and Brett Ceracci were right in the thick of it.
Detective Brett Srirachi
My name is Brett Srirachi. At the time of the homicide, I was the detective captain and supervised the investigation along with Major Westerly.
Jordan Stillers
Deputies responded to the scene around 1:25pm on Sunday, December 12th. They found the man Norman had seen and soon identified him as Timothy Blyth. Using the driver's license found in his wallet, they learned that Blyth was 52 years old and lived in the nearby town of Crawfordville. He was wearing a camo US Marines hat, and deputies found a can of chewing tobacco, some lip balm and a set of keys in one of his pockets. Those keys went to a silver Toyota Tacoma that was parked not far away. Investigators wouldn't know the extent of Tim's injuries until after the autopsy, but it was clear that he'd been shot multiple times. Blood soaked the shoulder and armpit areas of the mossy oak breakup country camo shirt he was wearing, and the crotch and thighs of his jeans were covered in the same substance. Deputies observed multiple tire and shoe tracks around the body, but no one else was in the area. No other people, that is. Here's Captain Srirachi.
Detective Brett Srirachi
When we first saw the dogs and the way they hung in that immediate vicinity. Our first inkling, at least mine was could they belong to the man that was actually down the decedent on the ground? They were running in circles, but they never went more than 30, 40 yards away and circled and would just. And again couldn't be corralled.
Jordan Stillers
You might expect hunting dogs to get loose in a big piece of public land, but these poodles didn't look like any kind of hunting dogs the detectives had ever seen.
Detective Brett Srirachi
Instead, they're more like show dogs. They've been manicured, they have their puffy fur done just right. And they were very out of place for, for where they were at.
Jordan Stillers
Detectives called animal control because they were worried the dogs might contaminate the crime scene. But Wakulla's finest were unable to capture the large canines until a woman pulled up in a copper colored Hyundai suv. She stopped where the deputies had blocked the road, rolled down her window, and identified herself as Sandra Williams. Here's Major Wester.
Major Eddie Wester
Sandra shows up on scene and the dogs go right to her. So obviously she's the owner. And we were able to determine they were the owners through veterinarian records.
Jordan Stillers
As she put the dogs in her vehicle, she told detectives that the gray dog was named Smokey and the black one was named Smudge. Her husband, a man named Stuart Mone, had called her around 1:30 that afternoon while she was at work to report that the dogs had escaped from the backyard of their home. Stuart said he'd driven down Purify Bay Road, but not all the way, so he wanted her to drive farther down while he looked elsewhere. Sandra explained that they only lived about a mile and a half from the crime scene and they walked their dogs down that road five to seven days a week.
Major Eddie Wester
Well, it was kind of strange. She was actually working at the time and Stuart Monte called her on her phone while he was at home. She's at work and saying, hey, the dogs got out. I think they're on Purify Bay Road. We don't know the context of that entire conversation, but Sandra does come to the scene and the dogs are immediately getting her vehicle.
Jordan Stillers
She couldn't see Tim's body from where she parked her car, but she could see the large law enforcement presence. But her response to all those vehicles, flashing lights and crime scene tape was oddly nonchalant.
Major Eddie Wester
I don't really think she ever questioned why there's so many deputy sheriffs.
Detective Brett Srirachi
I don't think so. Her reaction, he's right, was extremely odd. I mean, just immediately we kind of changed the trajectory of the investigation at that point to try to figure out where these dogs came from.
Jordan Stillers
If those dogs were somehow connected to the murder, detectives knew they'd want to speak to Sandra again. But Smudge and Smokey were clearly her dogs, and they didn't have any concrete reason to detain her. So Sandra drove home. As investigators continued to process the scene, just a few minutes later, the two technicians taking photos of the scene heard something strange, A sound they couldn't quite identify, coming from the woods just across the road from the dead body. While documenting the tire impressions on one side of the road, Ms. Reagan and I kept hearing a sound in the woods.
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
We weren't sure exactly what it was.
Jordan Stillers
It was like a. It would stop and then start again. We made a comment to this to the detectives as we were concerned.
Stuart Mone
We didn't know what it was, and
Jordan Stillers
it needed to be identified. That's Brittany Owens, a crime scene investigator for the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office. It's unclear exactly what the sound sounded like, but it's easy to understand their concern. Whoever had killed Tim was still out there. For all they knew, the murderer could be hiding in the woods, waiting for a chance to ambush law enforcement. An investigator with the State Attorney's office was standing nearby, and he ventured into the forest to figure out the source of the noise. He soon discovered a cell phone lying on the ground about 20ft from the opposite edge of the road. That phone was fortunately not Tim's killer, but it was nonetheless significant. As investigators poured through the data on that device, they found a photo that became the closest thing we have to explaining what happened to Tim and why. As Assistant State Attorney Andrew Dineen said at trial four years later, taking that photo may have been the last thing Tim ever did, and it helped serve justice for what happened Next.
Andrew Deneen
This was Mr. Blyth speaking out from the grave and identifying the person that
Jordan Stillers
was about to kill him. Part 2 Tim, Jimmy, and Louie. If you read about this case online, you'll find very little information on Tim Blyth. You might find that he was born in 1969 and worked as a heavy machinery operator for a construction company in Tallahassee. You might find that he lived in the nearby town of Crawfordville, had served with the Marines in the Gulf War, and loved to hunt and fish. If you really dug deep, you might also find that he'd been married twice and had a son with whom he was not close. But you won't find anything about what he was like, his personality and interests, how he interacted with others or how he approached hunting and fishing.
Jimmy Hutto
We're like brothers, man. Yeah, the same family, but we, you know, been around together for a long time.
Jordan Stillers
That's Jimmy Hutto. Jimmy first met Tim in the early 90s, and they became close after Tim married Jimmy's aunt. That marriage didn't work out, but the two men remained close. Their relationship, Jimmy says, was built on their shared love of the outdoors.
Jimmy Hutto
Literally. My wife would have to ask us that. We'd have to take a weekend off because we had plans with the kids or she wanted a date night. Yeah, if that gives you any kind of idea.
Jordan Stillers
Jimmy and Tim weren't alone in their pursuits. In the late 90s, they met another man named Louis Angelotti, who made up the third musketeer of their hunting and fishing trio.
Louie Angelotti
And we had a little group that we did a couple archery quota hunts on. Me, Jimmy and Tim. We stayed together. I mean, we've been together ever since. Since then. And if we weren't hunting. Tim loved the bass fish. He loved the bass fish.
Jordan Stillers
Like most hunting buddies, Tim, Louie and Jimmy love to give each other a hard time. Jimmy said they'd make fun of Louie for not having steady legs and falling out of the boat. And he remembers messing with Tim about the size of the buck he shot.
Jimmy Hutto
He said, oh, I killed a big old buck. Can you come down and see if you can spot him and everything? And I get over there and I said, I thought you said you killed a good buck. He said, I did. It's gotta be at least an eight point. I said, heck, no, it's a spike. And he's like, no, it ain't. That ain't mine.
Jordan Stillers
Tim's death and Jimmy's ongoing health problems have fractured their trio. And I can tell they miss the camaraderie that comes with hunting, fishing, and sharing the fruits of their labor.
Jimmy Hutto
Whoever killed the first deer of the season, if we was out and about in the woods, we would take the backstrap of that first deer and we would do a cookout out there in the woods. And we would invite two of our good friends that didn't hunt because they were too, you know, they were older, they really wasn't physically able. You know, that was what we enjoyed doing. That's what he enjoyed doing.
Jordan Stillers
Louie says Tim was outgoing and talkative, but not the kind of guy to pick a fight. In fact, most of Louis memories of Tim revolve around his willingness to help others.
Louie Angelotti
He was the kind of guy that if you needed a penny he'd give you a dollar. And he may only only had two. He'd one of them. That's just who, who he was.
Jordan Stillers
One day, the trio stopped by a grocery store to gather supplies for a hunt. Tim was wearing a hunting jacket that Louie had given him for Christmas. A jacket he almost never took off. As the men walked inside, Tim noticed a man sitting on the ground outside the doors.
Louie Angelotti
You could tell it was cold, it was cool, misty cloudy haze. Just one of them little duck cutting mornings. Basically a fellow was sitting outside. He didn't. He wouldn't ask him for nothing, wouldn't beg. And I said, I said, bud, you look cold. He nodded his head. I walked in, look, looked behind me. Tim stopped and just started talking to him. Next thing I know, he came and gave that man the jacket that I gave him. His favorite jacket, the one that he wanted the most. He gave it to that fell on sitting on the ground. I said, tim, you gave him that jacket. He said, he's army bed, he's cold. He needs it more than I do.
Jordan Stillers
Louie recalled another time when Tim ran into a stranger while hunting the same unit where he was killed a few years later.
Louie Angelotti
This guy was not seeing no deer. So he was talking to this fella and Tim said, I'm going to bring this man over here by me. Maybe he can kill one. See, see one of these deer. And he ended up killing a deer. It was a gun.
Jordan Stillers
Gun hunt. I don't mean to make Tim sound like Mother Teresa. I imagine his two ex wives would tell very different kinds of stories. And I'm sure like all of us, Tim had his rough edges. But you can tell a lot about the way a man is perceived by how people act at his funeral. To understand why that's true in Tim's case, you need to know a little backstory.
Louie Angelotti
They nickname him Dig D I G as a kid because he liked to dig in the dirt.
Jordan Stillers
True to form, once he was discharged from the military, Tim got a job as a heavy machinery operator for a construction company called M Inc. Where he worked for the next 20 years.
Louie Angelotti
Well, the owner of that company told him, and I was with him one day, he said, this man right here, there is not a piece of machinery or color that's. That's made. This man cannot operate. He could look at something and fill a grade. And he didn't have a big education like an engineer, but he could run a grade. He was just a natural.
Jordan Stillers
Tim's sudden violent death was a blow to that community, and they showed their appreciation for his life and his work. At his funeral, there was a lot
Louie Angelotti
of excavating in construction companies in tallahassee. All of them shut down for that day and went to that funeral. All of them, even the ones he didn't work for, all of them shut down. They had a convoy of dump trucks, excavators on behind semis, and all them went by the sim cemetery and all them laid the horns down. I said, dad. I told his dad, I said, they're all right. They're for him.
Jordan Stillers
I could be wrong, but I don't think Tim's co workers would honor him in that way if he was a jerk. They didn't just like him because he was good at his job. He likely treated his colleagues the same way he treated that guy at the grocery store or the stranger who couldn't bag a deer. That willingness to help friends and strangers alike is part of what makes his loss so difficult for his family and friends to process. It's also tragically part of the reason he was at the refuge by himself the day he was murdered. Louis explained that the refuge is divided into two units, the wakulla unit and the panacea unit. Tim, Jimmy, and Louie had all drawn a tag for the panacea unit, while Louie had managed to draw tags in both. The day Tim was killed, the wakulla unit was holding its general gun hunt, while the panacea unit was holding the mobility impaired deer hunt. Tim decided to scout the panacea unit that day in preparation for the following weekend. Meanwhile, Louie was hunting the wakulla unit.
Louie Angelotti
He said he was going up the scout on Sunday. I said, well, if you'll wait till noon, I'll come on down and you and I will go scout. He replied back, no, you sit on that scrape and you kill that big buck. So I sat there on Sunday. While I'm sitting in that tree on Sunday not coming down, the incident happened. Whether he got murdered.
Jordan Stillers
Louis isn't surprised that his friend offered to scout on his own and let Louie hunt the whole day. But he still feels guilty, wondering if his presence might have saved his friend's life.
Louie Angelotti
His dad, when I told him that I was supposed to be there with him, I should have went over there. I was going to. And what his dad said, well, at least we only have one funeral, not two. So when he said that, you know, that didn't sit with me well at all. I mean, just emotionally, that was tough.
Major Eddie Wester
That was tough.
Jordan Stillers
I don't know.
Louie Angelotti
I still feel that if I was there that he would Be with us right now.
Jordan Stillers
Part three. Sandra. It was possible Smudge and smokey had escaped, just like Sandra said. But if those dogs had already run more than a mile from their home, and Sandra admitted they'd never run away before, why would they hang out around Tim's body? Something didn't add up. And investigators knew they had to speak with the other owner of those poodles, Stuart Mone. From what I understand. You know, obviously you want to talk to him, but he didn't seem like he was very interested in talking with you guys. Is that fair to say?
Major Eddie Wester
That's fair to say and almost absolutely not.
Jordan Stillers
Sandra had given detectives Stewart's phone number, but when detectives called it just a few hours later, Sandra answered. Officer Jonathan Owens writes in an incident report, quote, upon handing the telephone to Stuart Moni, he was completely irate and refused to speak with law enforcement. When asked if he was willing to meet law enforcement in reference to speaking with them, he stated no and ended the telephone call. Detectives called Sandra again and asked if she would be willing to come back down to purify Bay road and answer a few more questions.
Sandra Mone
Yeah, my husband is a horse's ass. Yeah. And that's not like he does not like police officers.
Major Chuck Whaley
All right? Because I. I just. I just wanted to ask him some questions about.
Sandra Mone
Well, yeah, I told him that. I said, you're gonna look guilty if you don't talk to him. I'm not talking to no police.
Major Chuck Whaley
Okay.
Sandra Mone
That's just him.
Major Chuck Whaley
So he had a negative.
Jordan Stillers
The other voice you hear is major Chuck Whaley, who interviewed Sandra outside her vehicle not far from where Tim was shot. Sandra explained that just a few years ago, her husband had been attacked by some neighbor dogs while riding a bike. He had called the sheriff to report the incident, but according to Sandra, the officers had talked to the neighbor, but not to Stewart. Stewart felt like the Wakulla county sheriff's deputies had mishandled the situation, which is why he had no interest in talking when they called.
Major Chuck Whaley
Did your husband discuss with you at all today why he thought we might be giving him a call?
Sandra Mone
Just that. Yeah, he says, I'm just not going to talk to any police.
Major Chuck Whaley
Okay.
Sandra Mone
That's it. And, you know, he says that the way that they treated me before that, I just don't want to do it. So he says. And besides, he says, there's nothing to hide. I mean, our dogs were down here. It's nothing to do with either of us.
Major Chuck Whaley
And you don't feel like he'd be willing to talk to Me or anything?
Stuart Mone
I doubt it.
Major Chuck Whaley
Really Must have had a pretty negative experience.
Sandra Mone
Oh, yeah, he was not happy. He's a hothead anyway.
Major Chuck Whaley
Is he?
Sandra Mone
Yeah, kind of.
Jordan Stillers
Sandra told WH that she and Stuart had been married for 40 years and were planning to leave the next day to celebrate their anniversary in the Florida Keys. Stuart had a doctor's appointment that morning in Tallahassee to look at a broken bone in his hand, but he'd spent the rest of the day looking for the dogs and packing for the trip.
Major Chuck Whaley
Did. Did he say whether or not he had been down here at all today?
Sandra Mone
No, he said. I asked him that after I talked. I said, did you walk the dogs today? And he said, no, I didn't. I just went right up there to Tallahassee not too long after you left.
Jordan Stillers
At this point, detectives still weren't sure what to make of Moni's claims. Like Sandra said, just because their dogs were down there doesn't mean they were involved in a murder. Sandra pointed out that those poodles had tracked deer through the woods, and she wondered if they smelled Tim's body and were attracted to the scent. But then, almost as an aside, Major Whaley asks what kind of car Stewart drives.
Sandra Mone
He has a red Ford 150.
Major Chuck Whaley
Okay, and so this vehicle. What kind of vehicle is this?
Sandra Mone
It's a Hyundai.
Major Chuck Whaley
Hyundai. So are the only two vehicles the two of y' all have is this vehicle and his red pickup? Yeah. All right.
Jordan Stillers
Remember Norman grass? The 911 caller, made a point to say that one of the vehicles parked in that area was a shiny red Ford F150, much like the dogs. The presence of that truck indicated that Sandra or Stewart might have been close by. There are a lot of red pickups in Florida, but what are the odds that it was someone other than the owner of those dogs? Major Whaley had established that Stewart drove the same kind of pickup seen by a witness. And earlier in the interview, Sandra had mentioned that the couple kept a pistol in the nightstand by the bed. Major Whaley was keen to learn more about this weapon and its whereabouts.
Major Chuck Whaley
So describe the pistol that you. That you said is in the nightstand. What kind of pistol?
Sandra Mone
I haven't seen it for so long, I couldn't even describe it, other than it's black.
Major Chuck Whaley
It's black in color. Well, let me ask you this. Do you know the difference between a revolver and a semi automatic pistol? A revolver Culver has a cylinder that turns around, and it has a number of bullets.
Sandra Mone
It's not a cylinder. I don't Know, this has a clip,
Major Chuck Whaley
it has a magazine.
Stuart Mone
Okay.
Major Chuck Whaley
All right. So. So it'd be a semi automatic pistol. Do you know what caliber it would be? No idea or anything.
Sandra Mone
No.
Major Chuck Whaley
Well, is it primarily your firearm or is it primary, his firearm, or both? Yalls firearm.
Sandra Mone
We never use it. So I mean, we just bought it for, you know, to have in the house and we don't use it.
Jordan Stillers
Sandra said she hadn't seen the handgun in about six months. And as far as she knows, Stuart doesn't carry a firearm with him in his vehicle. But despite Sandra's claims, things were starting to fall into place for Major Whaley
Major Chuck Whaley
well enough while ago when you said that he was a hothead. Yeah, tell me. Tell me what you mean by that. My wife would know me and so it out as well. So,
Sandra Mone
like, if he has to wait, he just gets real impatient, you know.
Jordan Stillers
Major Whaley keeps his tone easygoing and non threatening, but Sandra isn't an idiot. She can tell what the detective is driving at, and she repeats three or four times that there's no way her husband could have been involved in the death of a stranger.
Sandra Mone
I mean, I know you don't believe me and you're trained not to, but, you know, I just don't think that there's any connection between Stu and. I mean, there certainly is. Not me, because I wasn't. I was at work.
Major Chuck Whaley
If something has happened and later on he's wanting to discuss it. You got my phone. I called you from my cell phone.
Sandra Mone
Well, I turned.
Major Chuck Whaley
I highly recommend. I highly recommend that if I had any.
Sandra Mone
That he was involved. I mean, for sure I would. But he would not. He is not one who can cover his emotions. That's why I say I don't think he was absolutely not involved in this. Because if he had done something serious like that, he had been an emotional wreck. And he's not. He just wants to go on vacation.
Jordan Stillers
Yeah.
Major Chuck Whaley
Let me ask you this. What did he say when you said you were coming up to talk to me?
Sandra Mone
He says, well, don't let. Don't let them bamboozle you.
Jordan Stillers
It was becoming increasingly clear that Stuart Moni was one of the men Norman had seen talking on the side of the road. But Norman had reported seeing three, possibly as many as four individuals. If Tim was one and Stuart was another, there was at least one other person who either witnessed a murder or was a murderer himself. That's next after the break.
Steve Ranella
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Jordan Stillers
Part 4 Eddie All Day Sometimes investigators track a killer for years without catching a break. Other times, it only takes a few hours.
Eddie Alday
Eddie all day A L D a
Jordan Stillers
Y Eddie had been in that section of the refuge earlier that morning taking part in a mobility impaired deer hunt. These hunts allow those with disabilities to chase game under special rules that permit vehicles in areas they would normally be prohibited. But when Eddie tried to return that afternoon to hunt the same section, he saw that the roads were blocked by law enforcement.
Eddie Alday
Detective Eddie Wester walked up to my truck and, and he told me, said, sir, we have the road closed down right now. We had an incident here and I asked him and did it involve a man with two poodles? And he looked at me and said, I need to talk to you.
Jordan Stillers
Eddie explained that he'd shot a deer the day before and he'd been up late processing it. He didn't arrive at the refuge until later the next morning, so he decided to just hang out at the check station.
Eddie Alday
And while I was waiting, someone pulled up and it was Timothy Blythe. And he introduced himself and told me that he was wanting to go in a scout because he had the general gun hunt coming up the coming weekend. And we got to talking and, you know, I found out he was a marine and, you know, me being army, you know, we told army stories and marine stories and talked about hunting and stuff.
Jordan Stillers
Eddie says their conversation was friendly and Tim didn't seem agitated or upset. The two men parted ways after a few more minutes, and Eddie made his way to his stand and hunted until around noon. When he got down and headed home in his truck.
Eddie Alday
And as I was leaving, coming out the road, I encountered an individual walking in that had two poodles with him. And just out of a common courtesy, I stopped and I said, sir, I said, you may want to go walk your dog somewhere else. I said, they have a mobility impaired hunt going on in here right now. I said, and the guy sitting on the roads here with guns. And he said, well, this is the refuge. I can come in here anytime I want. This is public land. And I told him, I said, well, I understand that. I said, but, but for your safety and your dog's safety, you could at least put on an orange vest. Then his response was, who the hell are you to tell me what to do? So then I said, well actually you're not going to be understanding of what I'm trying to say. So I said, okay buddy, fine. So I drove off.
Jordan Stillers
As Eddie drove past the check station, he saw that Tim was still there. He pulled over to keep chatting with his fellow veteran. When just a few minutes later, the guy with the poodles drove up in his red Ford pickup.
Eddie Alday
Stuart Mountie pulled up behind my truck and got out and walked around us, made a wide berth, and there's a sign right there that says St. Mark's Refuge. And said, did you see that sign right there that tells you this is the refuge and it's open to everybody, blah blah. And Tim told him, he said, we understand that. He said, but you could at least put on an orange vest. And he told Tim is you're a fucking idiot too. And I told him, I said, well, if you go over to the kiosk there, there's information on that board to explain everything to you about this hunt going on out here. And he went over there and looked at that and then came back to his truck.
Jordan Stillers
I asked Eddie if the guy with the poodles, who he later identified to law enforcement as Stuart Moni, seemed defensive or aggressive.
Eddie Alday
Oh, oh, that's being nice about it. I mean just the animosity and, and his, his body language, you know, he, he was blading, if you understand why, what I'm saying there, you know, facing me sideways like I thought I was going to attack him. It's a defensive posture. And the whole time my mild red flags in my head are going off, you know, I said, this guy's got issues.
Jordan Stillers
And if you've ever taken a self defense class, you know that the first course of action in a situation like this is to remove yourself from the area which Is exactly what Eddie did.
Eddie Alday
And I told Tim, I said, look, man, I've got to go. I said, I got some stuff. I got to take care at home, and I'll see you when I come back if you're still out here. And this was approximately 1245 maybe.
Jordan Stillers
But Eddie didn't drive away. As Tim and Stuart continued arguing. From his perspective, it looked like Stuart was putting his dogs back in his truck and driving away.
Eddie Alday
He had the passenger door open, and I just figured he's putting his dogs back in there, But I don't know exactly what he was doing.
Jordan Stillers
They weren't, like, taught when you left. They weren't like, arguing like you didn't leave, as they're, like, yelling at each other. Like, it seemed like it was over, the. The interaction.
Eddie Alday
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I wouldn't have pulled away if they'd have been shouting and yelling, you know, at each other. You know, I'd try to de. Escalate the situation, but. But, yeah, there. There was no. Nothing really warranted that.
Jordan Stillers
How that situation is ended with one man dead and the other man fleeing the scene was still a mystery. But after hearing Eddie's testimony, detectives had heard enough. It was time to pay Stuart money a visit. Part 5 the raid. Rather than knocking on his door and hoping he'd cooperate, Wakulla county detectives decided not to take any chances. If Stew money was their guy, they didn't want to give him an opportunity to hide evidence. So that afternoon, they applied for a search warrant for Moni's residence on Jack crum road. Their first move when they arrived at the gate to Moni's driveway was to make sure Sandra didn't get caught in what could be a violent interaction.
Major Eddie Wester
We actually called her on scene and requested her to come out because we were. The potential for violence from Stew Monte was obviously based off of what she had told us about him, you know, being hot headed.
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
We were prepared that if we needed to force entry or breach the door, we were prepared to do so.
Jordan Stillers
That's Patrick Fleming, who participated in the search of Mone's home with the Wakulla county sheriff's office.
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
As we approached the house, someone on the team got eyes on Mr. Moni. When he saw law enforcement, he turned and fled further into the house.
Jordan Stillers
Detective Fleming was the first to enter the house, opening the unlocked front door and chasing Moni back into a bedroom.
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
So as soon as I came through the door, somebody had called that he went to the right. To our right, there was a hallway. I went down It, I didn't see anybody. The first door I came to was also on the right. It was an open door. I came across the corner and Mr. Monte was standing there. He was given verbal commands which he did not comply with. Okay, so what did you do at that point? I, I closed the distance with him and I would. Part of my kit was I had a rifle, so I only had one hand available. I'm right handed as my left hand. So I grabbed him with my, my left arm and he was taken to the ground.
Jordan Stillers
Stuart was handcuffed and detained. And even though he'd been taken down with a significant amount of force, he declined to be checked by ems. Whatever injuries he may or may not have sustained, they didn't keep him from arguing with the deputies.
Stuart Mone
Why did you come in and take me to the ground?
Jordan Stillers
When we get inside somebody's house, we don't know what may or may not happen.
Andrew Deneen
Okay?
Detective Brett Srirachi
We don't know.
Jordan Stillers
We called to you and instead of
Louie Angelotti
coming to the door, you ran inside the bedroom.
Stuart Mone
No, sir, I did not. I went to get my cell phone.
Jordan Stillers
You don't need a cell phone.
Stuart Mone
Yes, sir, I do.
Jordan Stillers
You need to come to the door when the police say come to the door.
Major Chuck Whaley
The door.
Stuart Mone
I went to get my cell phone to come to the door.
Jordan Stillers
Right. Well, I didn't say. We didn't say, please go get your cell phone, come to the door.
Stuart Mone
I don't have to in my own home.
Jordan Stillers
Yeah, when you do, when there's a search. Well, okay. And we announced that.
Stuart Mone
Well, we'll see.
Jordan Stillers
Despite Stewart's protestations, deputies were authorized to seize anything that might be relevant to Tim's death. But they were mostly interested in the black semi automatic pistol Sandra had mentioned.
Major Eddie Wester
But the funniest thing was when we executed the search warrant that evening. In our minds, you know, Sandra, you've told us this pistol is in this nightstand and it never moves. Well, when the detectives went in the bedroom and opened the drawer, she couldn't explain where that pistol could have gone.
Jordan Stillers
They searched the rest of the house as well as Stuart's truck, but that pistol was nowhere to be found. This Detective Srirache told me, was almost as damning as finding the firearm hidden away in a sock drawer.
Detective Brett Srirachi
The absence of evidence is as important as the evidence that we're able to recover. And the fact that Stu's wife was telling us that, yes, we do have a handgun. It's always here. It's always in the bed stand between our two beds. Matter of fact, I had her go into the room with me to point out exactly where it was going to be. And the look on her face was classic because when we opened the drawer and it wasn't there, she just had an absolute shocked look on her face. It's almost. That's when she recognized just the whole totality of this and that maybe Stu was involved more than whatever he was telling her.
Jordan Stillers
They also noticed that despite walking his dogs during a public land hunt and arguing about wearing hunter's orange, Stewart appeared to be quite a hunter in his own right.
Detective Brett Srirachi
This man is a avid, avid hunter. And when I say avid hunter, he also had a very expensive rifle that just was not there at the time. It was being worked on because he went all over the world to do exotic hunts. So his house looked like a taxidermy zoo. Yeah, I mean full size mounts. I mean red staggering. I mean just everything you can think of through this house, I bet you. 30 or 40 minimum mounts, some full mounts.
Jordan Stillers
You can see photos of some of these mounts over@themeater.com blood trails. Detective Sorachi isn't exaggerating. The walls are covered in taxidermy. Everything from a zebra hide stretched on a wall to a five by six elk in the garage to a shoulder mounted black wildebeest in the living room.
Stuart Mone
The big mule deer was shot by my wife.
Andrew Deneen
I saw a damn wildebeest out.
Jordan Stillers
Excuse me, A wildebeest. I've never seen a wildebeest in my life. But you know what?
Andrew Deneen
For somebody that's never seen it, it's impressive.
Detective Brett Srirachi
You know those two bears, that's really impressive. That thing you got in Uzbekistan.
Jordan Stillers
But like I said, that's so cool.
Stuart Mone
When you're 54 and you get diagnosed with prostate cancer, you tend to make some once in a while, lifetime.
Jimmy Hutto
I got you.
Detective Brett Srirachi
But what is that right there?
Stuart Mone
That's a virtual zebra from Zimbabwe. I shot that one. And that's a Hartman's mountain zebra from Namibia.
Detective Brett Srirachi
Do you mind if I just.
Jordan Stillers
You can hear the detectives trying to ingratiate themselves to their suspect by complimenting his taxidermy, which if you're talking to a hunter, is usually a pretty good strategy. But Stewart still refused to tell detectives anything about what happened earlier that day. Before leaving, Detective Srirachi made one final plea.
Detective Brett Srirachi
We have come up with a lot of physical evidence on a lot of different fronts. And there's going to come a time nobody is going to push you, but we would like to talk to you about what may, what information you may or may not have about that. The Reason that being important is it can mitigate your involvement to whatever has happened. Would like that opportunity.
Jordan Stillers
I cannot force you to, nor will
Detective Brett Srirachi
I try or encourage anybody to force you to.
Jordan Stillers
But Stewart didn't budge. He refused to speak to detectives that night and he never agreed to sit down for an interview. During the subsequent years long investigation without a confession or the murder weapon, detectives left the Mooney home that night without making any arrests. Stuart and Sandra had planned on leaving the next day to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in the Florida Keys. Detectives were apparently not worried that their prime suspect would flee the country because they allowed the couple to go on their vacation. But while they were away, investigators began digging into Stewart's movements the day of the murder and his history with the legal system. And it's safe to say they didn't like what they found. Part 6 the neighbors the disappearing handgun, which Stewart refused to explain, wasn't the only indication that the 66 year old had taken steps to hide his involvement in Tim's death. When detectives began canvassing the neighborhood, they found Several who said Mr. Mone had grown suddenly very friendly. On the afternoon of the incident, none
Detective Brett Srirachi
of the neighbors got along with him except for one. There was one neighbor that I think he was, that he would talk with and all of a sudden he's riding this bike, wanting to be seen waving to people, stopping at houses that he never did.
Jordan Stillers
One of those neighbors was a man named Ryan Taylor, who lived less than a mile down the road from the Mone home.
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
Got a knock on the door and I went and answered the door and I looked out the. Because I got these windows on my door. So I look out and there's a guy standing there in like a bicyclist outfit with his helmet on. So I seen what's going on, make sure everything's okay. I opened the door, so what's going on, buddy? He said, so I'm looking for my dogs. He's like, have you seen two dogs running around? I said, no, I haven't seen any. I'll keep an eye out for him. I'll let you know. He told me he lived down the road and then he got on Viking Lift. That was it.
Jordan Stillers
Eddie reported leaving Tim and the poodle walking man between 12:45 and 1:00pm If Ryan Taylor's recollection is correct, it means Stuart hopped on his bike to look for his dogs over an hour after his conversation with Tim because initially his
Detective Brett Srirachi
only alibi was he was out on a bike ride. So when he came back from the national forest. Obviously, he changed his clothes, got into biking clothes, and went up and down and talked to neighbors and waved to neighbors that he never would before.
Jordan Stillers
This was obviously incredibly suspicious behavior, made more so by the fact that Stuart had apparently left his dogs in the refuge, only to ask his neighbors about their whereabouts an hour later. This was even more out of character because, as you heard detective Srirachi mention, Stewart did not get along with his neighbors.
Major Eddie Wester
You know, he had had multiple interactions with the public.
Stuart Mone
This.
Major Eddie Wester
This came known later on, and it was the same thing. He was always looking for a confrontation, always trying to bait somebody into a physical confrontation, probably looking for a lawsuit of some kind.
Detective Brett Srirachi
In the latter years, with him being retired, he basically spent most of his time, from what we saw, at home or walking with his dogs. The few times that he had interactions with people was very negative. And there were many police reports to kind of build that background in the state of Georgia and down here in Florida.
Jordan Stillers
I reviewed the incident reports on these cases. Stuart was an avid bike rider and jogger, but he always seemed to be getting attacked by a neighbor dog. It's hard to fault a guy for being chased by dogs, but I gotta say, it's weird how often this happened. And as you might expect, not all the allegations paint Stuart as the victim. In May of 2018, Wakulla county deputies were dispatched to the Mone's former neighborhood where a woman said that someone had shot her above ground pool with an arrow. More specifically, a headhunter crossbow bolt, which had traveled through the pool and embedded itself in the fence on the opposite side. The woman pointed the finger at Stewart. She said she'd been feuding with Moni because he opposed a new homeowners association rule that would allow above ground pools in the subdivision. She also suspected that Stuart was responsible for two instances in which she found the remains of a wild pig dumped on her driveway. Both had occurred about six months before her pool was shot, and the gruesome lawn decorations had frightened the woman's son so badly that he refused to be left alone. In the second of these incidents, she found a pig's head and spinal column wrapped in a blue plastic bag labeled soiled linen. Detectives determined that the hospital where Stewart used to work had exactly the same bags, but they were never able to find enough evidence to charge Stewart for either the pool shooting or the pig dumping. Major Wester was part of that investigation, and he wasn't shy about voicing his opinion.
Major Eddie Wester
Yes, sir, that's one of those. That's not what I know it's what I can prove, and I'm positive it was him, but I just couldn't prove it at the time.
Jordan Stillers
By now, major Wester, detective Srirachi, and the other Wakulla county investigators had amassed a bulging folder of evidence that pointed to Stuart Mone as Tim's killer. He fled the scene, lied to his wife about how his dogs escaped, refused to explain what happened to his handgun, and tried to construct an alibi by letting himself be seen in his neighborhood. Stuart Moni was still a free man, but detectives were zeroing in on their number one suspect. Part 7 the arrest On February 16, 2022, the Tampa Regional lab for the Florida department of law enforcement concluded its analysis of the tire and shoe tread patterns found at the crime scene.
Detective Brett Srirachi
It was some of the rarest results that they ever get where they actually had 100% match on multiple.
Jordan Stillers
It was all on all of them,
Major Eddie Wester
one tire and the left shoe, which
Detective Brett Srirachi
is many, many times they rule a very, very, very high probability. But to say 100% is somewhat rare.
Jordan Stillers
There was little doubt that Stuart Moni had walked around Tim's body, and his subsequent deceptions made him look, as the saying goes, guilty as sin. Two days after the shoe and tire analysis came back, a judge signed an arrest warrant charging Moni with second degree murder. Now deputies had to actually put him in handcuffs and take him to jail, which turned out to be easier said than done.
Major Eddie Wester
We had set surveillance to take him off and arrest him on the act of war. Had a couple of detectives in an unmarked vehicle watching the residents.
Jordan Stillers
The detective in the unmarked vehicle had driven past Stuart's home and noticed that the couple appeared to be packing for some kind of trip. The hatchback of the Hyundai was open, and the officer spied a blue and white cooler along with other items that suggested they might be leaving the area. As the officer sat in his car and waited for backup to arrive, the couple backed out of their driveway and drove away. Here's where things start to get a little wild. The detective followed them as they drove northbound on Jack Crumb road. Then the couple pulled into another driveway, turned around, and started driving south.
Major Eddie Wester
The funny thing is, as he's passing those detectives, they're coming head to head on Jack Crumb road. They described it as Stu Monte provocatively waving at them.
Jordan Stillers
No one told me exactly which appendage Stewart used to wave, but I think we can all imagine. The deputy turned his vehicle around and saw that the couple had returned to their driveway. But as he passed them again, Stewart pulled out and drove off in the opposite direction at quote, a rate of speed that made it impossible for me to catch up. The detective turned around as quickly as he could, but the Hyundai was nowhere in sight. Subsequent efforts to find the vehicle proved fruitless. Stewart and Sandra were gone. The detectives didn't say this exactly, but you got to think they were worried they had a Bonnie and Clyde situation on their hands. Stewart knew he was being followed by law enforcement, but he drove off anyway. I'm sure. Officials spent several anxious hours wondering whether their simple arrest was about to turn into a multi state manhunt. Then around 3:30 that afternoon, the detective who'd originally lost track of the couple observed Sandra drive back into the driveway.
Major Eddie Wester
We take the vehicle down, do the traffic stop. Sandra is in the driver's seat. Stu is not in sight in the vehicle at the time.
Jordan Stillers
The incident report doesn't describe what Sandra said when they asked her where her husband was, but they didn't really have to.
Major Eddie Wester
And he's in the back laying down in the cargo area with the two pools hiding from us. And we got him in custody then that was kind of the weird, funny part of it. He's cowering down with his dogs.
Jordan Stillers
In Stewart's original deception, he tried to use his dogs to hide his true whereabouts by pretending that they'd escaped from his yard. Instead, Smudge and Smokey had led detectives to his doorstep. This new plan was a variation on that same theme and it had exactly the same result. I asked Major Wester what he thought Stewart's plan was here.
Major Eddie Wester
I think he still thought that he was smarter than everybody else. And surely a and detective wouldn't look in the back of the car for it. I don't know what's on his mind.
Jordan Stillers
Whatever he was thinking, his short stint on the lam was over. But the next chapter of this story was just about to begin. Detectives had done their job. They'd gathered enough evidence to make an arrest. Now it was up to the prosecutors to put it together and tell a story that would convince a jury. But they had a problem. Even though they could play Stuart with Tim at that time, no one knew what had happened after Eddie Alday drove away. That gave Stewart and his legal team the room they needed to sew doubt. Which is exactly what they did when the trial began over three years later. That's next after the break.
Steve Ranella
Last spring, Clay Newcomb and I collaborated with Jason Phelps at Phelps Game Calls in building each of our own favorite turkey diaphragms called prime cuts. Now I'm going to tell you. I love mine because it's easy to use. I'm not going to go. I'm not going to win a turkey calling contest. It's just not going to happen. But when I run this call, I get the sounds that gobblers are looking for. I have a great turkey hunting track record. If you go listen to real turkeys out in the woods, they're not going to win calling contests. Right? That's who I listen to. I can make those sounds on my cut. I also hunt with Phelps's cut and I hunt with Clay's cut because they're all three great cuts. Check out prime cuts@phelps game calls.com. i think you'll be glad you did and you'll find out that the Steve Ranella cut is an easy to use cut for beginning callers who just want to start making good turkey noises and Getting Action
Jordan Stillers
Part 8 the Trial Stuart Mony made bail after he was arrested and he and Sandra continued living in the Crawfordville area as he awaited trial. Louis and Jimmy weren't happy about this development, even more so because they continued to see Stuart and his wife walking their dogs in the refuge. They tried to steer clear of him, but his presence was nonetheless uncomfortable. The same was true for Eddie Allday. Remember, Eddie was the prosecution's star witness. He picked Stuart out of a lineup and he was the only one who witnessed Stuart and Tim arguing. He told me the three years between Stewart's arrest and the trial were incredibly nerve wracking.
Eddie Alday
My situational awareness was was extremely heightened. If my dogs barked, I didn't go to the front door. I went out the back door with a flashlight in my hand and a long gun on my back and a handgun in my hand. And if you knocked on my door after dark, I was going to come around to see who you was.
Jordan Stillers
But after three years of waiting and wondering, Stewart's trial finally began on May 19, 2025. Good morning to you. I'm Judge Lane Smith, the circuit Judge assigned to Walcolla County, Florida. It's my privilege to serve here. This is the case of State of Florida vs Stuart Mone, case number 2022 CF 66. I was told that Stewart went through several lawyers over the years, but he finally settled on a Tallahassee attorney named Rya. The prosecutor was Assistant State Attorney Andrew Deneen, who told me he expected the defense to take one of two positions.
Andrew Deneen
So in this case there was really kind of two routes that the defense needed to choose between. It's either the state can't prove Their case beyond a reasonable doubt based off of the circumstantial evidence and the lack of direct evidence or you claim self defense. We knew that they were going to raise his self defense a few months ahead of trial because of certain things that the defense did. They disclosed a use of force expert that they were intending to call. And that's someone that you usually call when you're claiming self defense. But we never heard Monty's story until he ended up taking the stand at trial.
Jordan Stillers
That's because Stewart flatly refused to give a statement to law enforcement. He never explained why he shot Tim. So his testimony became the focal point of the entire trial. Everyone, Andrew, Jimmy, Louis, Eddie, and maybe even Sandra was curious to hear his version of events.
Interviewer/Attorney
I'm gonna try to speak a little louder, okay?
Stuart Mone
Thank you.
Interviewer/Attorney
Don't anybody think I'm shouting, but just want to make sure you can hear me. Could you introduce yourself to the jury?
Stuart Mone
My name's Stuart Mone.
Jordan Stillers
Stewart's story followed the same sequence as Eddie's, but the tone of the conversation was exactly reversed. In Eddie's account, he calmly warned Stewart about the dangers of walking his his dogs during an active hunt. And Stewart responded with aggression. In Stewart's account, Eddie was the one who yelled at him while he was wrangling his dogs.
Stuart Mone
When I collected them, the gentleman known as Mr. Alday drove up and called me over to his vehicle and in a loud voice said, hey, you shouldn't be out here. Me and other guys are hunting on the refuge roads. You shouldn't be out here.
Interviewer/Attorney
And how did you respond to that?
Stuart Mone
I just commented or reminded him that other forms of outdoor recreation are permitted 365 days of the year.
Interviewer/Attorney
Was there any aggression or animosity between the two of you during that conversation?
Stuart Mone
Not from me. There was from him. As soon as I stated that other forms of recreation are permitted, he got mad and called me a dumbass.
Interviewer/Attorney
How does the conversation or how do you leave the company, Mr. Allday?
Stuart Mone
At that point I mentioned to him twice, you know, that he needed to go read the brown and white sign. And he became further enraged and said, you need to go put a fucking orange vest on. And I told him again, you need to go read the brown and white sign. He told me I was a dumbass and he drove off.
Jordan Stillers
Just like in Eddie's account. The next interaction in Stuart's story takes place in at the information kiosk near the parking lot. But while Eddie says Stuart stopped to continue the argument about his presence on the refuge, Stewart says He just wanted to look at the harvest data posted on the bulletin board.
Stuart Mone
Mr. Alday was sitting in his vehicle, and there was an individual standing nearby his vehicle. And when I pulled up, Mr. Alday shouted and pointed. There's the guy right, right there.
Jordan Stillers
The other individual was Tim. And according to Stuart, he joined Eddie in telling the dog walker that he shouldn't be in the refuge during a hunt. Stuart didn't mention Tim yelling or being angry at this point, just that he seemed to think that only hunters were allowed in the refuge. Eddie drove off as Stuart approached the kiosk. These are the critical moments, and Stuart is the only person alive who was there. So I'm going to give him him the space to lay out his side of the story.
Stuart Mone
I got up there and spent a few minutes looking at everything there, see what had been harvested. And I turned around, and as soon as I turned around from the kiosk, there was profanity. Can I state that? And the tone of voice and everything else.
Jordan Stillers
You already have, so go ahead again.
Stuart Mone
Yes, I'm gonna kick your ass. Eyes ablaze like Charles Manson, just like this.
Interviewer/Attorney
And who said that to you?
Stuart Mone
Ultimately, it was Blythe, but I didn't know who he was.
Jordan Stillers
I just need to pause here and paint the picture. If you're not watching this episode on YouTube. When Stewart reenacts what Tim said to him, he stands up in the witness box, faces the jury, and yells at the top of his voice. He's only about 5ft from the closest jurist, and his hand motions near his face and indicate he's doing his best Charles Manson impression. It's clear he's been preparing for this moment as he should. But I would love to know how this landed with the jury and what
Interviewer/Attorney
happened at that point, I was scared
Stuart Mone
out of my wits. I walked back to my truck, scared because I knew I was in danger of imminent bodily harm. I obtained my firearm from my vehicle, backed away from the door so he couldn't get me inside the truck, and then just stood there in shock and disbelief.
Interviewer/Attorney
And did you have your firearm out at that point?
Stuart Mone
Yes.
Interviewer/Attorney
And was it visible in my hand like this here?
Jordan Stillers
Stuart stands up in the witness box again and appears to indicate that he had the gun at his side, pointed towards the ground.
Interviewer/Attorney
And you're in shock from the yelling that you've received?
Stuart Mone
I'm in shock because I knew he was going to do exactly what he told me he was going to do. Kick my ass.
Interviewer/Attorney
And what happened after he said that? After you're standing there with your gun. What happens next?
Stuart Mone
He kept walking at me and he said, and I'm going to tell Wayne I kicked your ass as if I was some kind of piece of trophy deer meat.
Interviewer/Attorney
And as he continued to approach you, what happened?
Stuart Mone
He assaulted me and hit me in the left hand side of my face at the jaw. So forceful that I temporarily lost the vision in my left eye and the hearing in my left ear. And I had to do this just to restore it. And that's when I discharged my firearm.
Interviewer/Attorney
And what did you do immediately after you discharged your firearm?
Stuart Mone
Tried to collect my thoughts. I was still scared and shocked and. And what amounted to I had a concussive event. Took me a little while to gather my thoughts and then I looked for my dogs. Smokey and Smudge were no longer there. I called for them, looked for them a little bit, and they were not around.
Jordan Stillers
Stewart looked for his dogs for about five minutes before getting back into his truck and driving away. He explains to the jury that Smokey doesn't like loud noises, and so he thought both dogs may have run home at the sound of gunfire. But the dogs weren't there when Stuart returned home. So he donned his biking attire and rode out to ask the neighbors if they'd seen his poodles. He called Sandra a while later to come home and directed her to search Purify Bay Road. He didn't tell her about the shooting at that point because, according to him, he didn't want to ruin their 40th anniversary vacation. He said he'd been planning the trip for eight or nine months and didn't want to spoil it for her. He testified later that when he told her about killing Tim on their way home from the Keys, she cried inconsolably for hours. If Stewart's self defense argument seems a little weak, there are definitely stronger ones, but it's not totally unreasonable. As Andrew explained to me, you don't have to be attacked with a gun or any other kind of weapon to respond with deadly force. These are the instructions that were given to the jury.
Andrew Deneen
Stuart Money was justified in using deadly force if he reasonably believed that such force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or the imminent commission of a battery on a person over 65 years of age against himself.
Jordan Stillers
Tim Blyth was younger and bigger than Stewart. Though the vast majority of murders in the US involve some kind of weapon, about 600 people every year are killed with fists and feet. What's more, as you heard Andrew explain, Stewart would have been justified in using deadly force if he feared great bodily harm, not just death, if he really thought Tim was about to kick his ass and he had good reason for believing so, he had the right to use his firearm. Tim wasn't there to give his side of the story. So Stuart's account is all the jury had. And the defense had one key piece of evidence they hoped would be enough to persuade them.
Interviewer/Attorney
When you were down there, I guess, in Homestead, you had your wife take a picture of you?
Stuart Mone
That's correct.
Interviewer/Attorney
And what did she take a picture of?
Stuart Mone
My left jaw. Face.
Interviewer/Attorney
Why did you want her to take a picture of your left jaw? Was it to document some bruising?
Stuart Mone
Obviously, yes.
Interviewer/Attorney
And this is the bruising that you're saying happened when Mr. Blythe struck you in your left jaw?
Stuart Mone
He beat me. That's. That's blunt force trauma. That's.
Interviewer/Attorney
And would you expect there to be bruising, as we see in those photographs, a few hours directly after being punched by Mr. Blythe?
Stuart Mone
No, sir. Bruising and ecchymosis can happen a day or two later. Depends on the severity of the blow and the.
Eddie Alday
Whatever.
Jordan Stillers
Stuart was a registered nurse, so he actually had the expertise to speak to that question. But there's a reason his attorney wants to call the jury's attention to the timing of his bruising. When the Wakulla county deputies took the stand, none of them recalled seeing a bruise on Stewart's face approximately six hours after Tim allegedly threw that punch. Andrew doesn't question the veracity of the photo. Stewart did indeed have a bruise on the left side of his jaw. But he argues that Stewart sustained that bruise from law enforcement on the night of the raid, not from Tim Blythe earlier that day.
Andrew Deneen
With how much force was he taking to the ground?
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
It was enough to get him under control as quickly as possible.
Andrew Deneen
Is it possible that he could have hit his head or hit his chin on the ground?
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
Absolutely. With a constant is gravity. He went from a standing position to a. To a prone position. So absolutely.
Andrew Deneen
Did he brace himself before impact in any way?
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
I couldn't answer that.
Norman Grass
I don't.
Crime Scene Investigator Brittany Owens
I don't know.
Jordan Stillers
The punch and the bruise are at the heart of this case. And we have no way of knowing exactly what the jury thought of the evidence on both sides. But there were other reasons to think that Stewart may not have been acting in self defense.
Andrew Deneen
Mr. Money, where's the gun?
Stuart Mone
In my backyard.
Andrew Deneen
Where?
Stuart Mone
In the back. Halfway to the back of the property line.
Jordan Stillers
Line.
Andrew Deneen
Is it in something? Is it underground?
Stuart Mone
In a box?
Andrew Deneen
When did you place it there? December 12th, immediately after this?
Stuart Mone
Not immediately, no sir.
Andrew Deneen
Okay, so how long after?
Stuart Mone
Hour or two maybe.
Andrew Deneen
Okay. Why did you put it there?
Stuart Mone
Because of what the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office had previously done to me. I did not trust them at all.
Jordan Stillers
This is the reason Stewart gives throughout his testimony for why he didn't contact law enforcement after the shooting. But as Andrew points out in his questioning, there are other law enforcement agencies that would have also had jurisdiction in this incident. Stewart didn't call the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state level agency, or the law enforcement division of the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service, which could have investigated an incident on federal public land. He also seems to have lied about what he did with the gun. Law enforcement hadn't been able to find it. And after the trial they went back to Stuart's home with metal detectors, but still didn't have any success. Stewart fled the scene and got rid of the gun, but he also failed to render aid.
Andrew Deneen
I mentioned earlier that he was a registered nurse. He didn't render any aid. The medical examiner's testimony was not that Timothy Blyth was necessarily savable, but he didn't die immediately and he fell down and, and didn't move. Moved a little bit, but didn't really move after he, he was killed. So no aid was rendered by Mr. Monty.
Jordan Stillers
Stewart's actions after the shooting don't really align with someone who acted in self defense. But once Andrew pressed him on cross examination, he had trouble explaining the sequence of events in a way that really made sense.
Andrew Deneen
You get hit? Did you go to the ground?
Stuart Mone
I did not.
Andrew Deneen
Took the punch like a standing man?
Stuart Mone
No, I did not. My testimony. You weren't listening to my testimony. Okay, what did I say? I said when he brutally assaulted me, I temporarily lost what the vision in my left eye and the hearing in my left ear.
Andrew Deneen
You then shot him in the body four times without vision in your left eye and hearing in your left ear, right?
Stuart Mone
I did not say that, sir.
Andrew Deneen
Did, did you not shoot him four times?
Stuart Mone
I thought it was only three. And if you would have paid attention to my testimony. I said I had to shake my head just to restore the vision in my left eye and left ear or hearing. And that's when the shooting happened.
Andrew Deneen
How long did that take for you to shake yourself aware?
Stuart Mone
Matter of seconds maybe. I mean, it was a concussive event. And you're asking me for a time.
Jordan Stillers
You can see both sides of this. If you've ever been punched in the face, you know it's tough to estimate time down to the second. At the same time, it's weird that Tim would punch Stuart squarely in the jaw and then stand back and let himself be shot. It's even more weird that a 66 year old man would be able to take a punch in the jaw without falling down or according to Stewart, stumbling back at all.
Andrew Deneen
The evidence was consistent with Timothy Blythe being a few feet away from Stuart Monty getting shot in the abdomen, kind of putting up a defensive posture, raising his hands and turning to his side. And some of the other entry and exit wounds are consistent with that. But the most important part was that it was consistent with Mr. Blythe already being on the ground, face forward on the ground. So when you're talking about a self defense case, there's only so far you can get with, with the idea that, well, I just started pulling the trigger and I, you know, kept pulling the trigger even when he was on the ground. You know, that feels intentional because he's, his body has moved significantly and you're following it and not only is are you following it, but you're following someone that's falling down to the ground.
Jordan Stillers
Right, right. So the first three were kind of from the front and then the last one seemed to be he was shot in the back.
Andrew Deneen
Yeah, I think that that was consistent with the evidence.
Jordan Stillers
Stewart's claims of self defense were weakened by the holes in his own testimony as well as the strength of the prosecution's witnesses. But perhaps the most pivotal piece of evidence came from Tim himself. Remember that cell phone investigators had found lying in the woods across the road from Tim's body? That phone was Tim's. And when technicians were pulled the data from his device, they found something that offered a clue into what happened in the moments right before Tim died. It was a photograph that was taken at 1:06pm when the victim was alive. And that photograph was of Mr. Monty's pickup truck. Tag number read Ford F150.
Andrew Deneen
So you took a look at this photograph and it matched the same license plate number that you knew to belong to Stuart Money.
Jordan Stillers
That is correct. Tim had taken a photo of Stuart's license plate. In his closing argument, Andrew offered a theory about how that phone ended up across the street.
Andrew Deneen
Mr. Monte didn't like that he was standing behind his truck taking a picture of that. He walked over to him, he snatched that phone out of Timothy Blythe's hands, that he threw it into the woods.
Jordan Stillers
This is important, important, Andrew continues, because it undermines Stuart's self Defense claims, even if Tim punched Stewart first, if you
Andrew Deneen
disagree with me about accepting or not accepting some of the evidence, if you think that those photographs that the defense put in the bruising was not caused by the law enforcement officers when they came in that night and tackled him, threw him to the ground, if you think that there was a punch, there is a scenario in this factual pattern that you could still find the defendant guilty because it would not be a justifiable use of force. Again, I go back to that cell phone. It's found off the distance into the woods. Mr. Montney has grabbed it, snatched it out of his hands, thrown it into the woods. He's the aggressor in that situation. Maybe Timbalithe did throw a punch. I don't think it's supported by the evidence. But if you determine that it is, is he not justified in throwing that punch after the robbery of his phone and maybe the destruction of his own property, it's thrown off into the woods. Maybe there's a punch, say that there isn't, but that's when the gunshots happen. Is that justifiable use of force in that scenario?
Jordan Stillers
A key component of self defense law is that you can't be the aggressor and then come claim to be defending yourself. You can't commit a crime against someone and then when they attack you, use deadly force against them. No one knows exactly how Tim's phone ended up in the woods. But if Andrew is right, Stewart had no right to shoot him. Even if Tim punched him in the face. A jury doesn't have to explain why they decide on one verdict or another. So we don't know whether they accepted Andrew's closing argument. But whatever went on in those deliberations, they only took 40 minutes to reach a unanimous decision. We, the jury, find as follows. As to second degree murder, as to the defendant, in this case, the defendant Stuart Mone is guilty of second degree murder. Did the defendant Stuart Mone actually possess a firearm? Yes. Did the defendant Stuart Mone discharge the firearm? Yes. Did the defendant Stewart Mooney discharge a firearm causing the death of Timothy Blythe? Yes, they did. Stuart doesn't seem to react as the judge reads the verdict. He just sits in his seat, hands on his knees, staring passively at the bench. When the trial concludes, he gets up and puts his hands in his pockets as the judge decides to take him into custody until his sentencing. Second degree murder in Florida is what's called a depraved mind murder.
Andrew Deneen
It means that he made a conscious decision to do something that was outside of the safety and considerations of his fellow man, and it ultimately led to the death.
Jordan Stillers
It normally carries a mandatory minimum sentence of about 17 years in prison, but since Stewart used a gun, that minimum jumps up to 25 at his sentencing two months later, the judge gave Stewart life. Part nine stories. Stuart is in the process of appealing his conviction. I reached out to Sandra to ask if she'd be willing to talk to me, but she declined on the advice of her lawyer. If she'd spoken to me, I would have asked her. What to me, is one of the big unanswered questions about this case. How much did Sandra know and when did she know it?
Andrew Deneen
It's. We'll never understand the dynamic of that relationship and what they actually talked about for the years because he was out of custody leading up to trial for years. I have no idea what the story was in the Monte house. I just know what the story was when they came to trial.
Jordan Stillers
Detective Srirachi doesn't seem to think Sandra was any kind of co conspirator. If anything, he paints her as another victim of Stewart's explosive personality.
Detective Brett Srirachi
I also think you have to take into account her personality versus his. Okay. She is an extremely submissive wife, and he is an overreaching, overbearing, very angry individual. And personally, I almost saw at the end of this entire arrest that it almost was a bit of a release or a relief on her with this. I mean, obviously you don't want to lose your husband.
Jordan Stillers
Everything else there.
Detective Brett Srirachi
But I mean, the pressure, the anger, the blame, everything else.
Jordan Stillers
The other big unanswered question is what exactly drove Stuart to take Tim's life? Maybe you think he just snapped, that his anger reached a breaking point when Tim took a photo of his license plate? Or that he's just mentally unstable? Maybe you think Tim really did punch him, and he escalated the fight from there, justifiably or not. I asked everyone I interviewed what they think happened, including the Wakulla county detectives. Here's Major Wester.
Major Eddie Wester
I don't have a professional response to that other than Stu Monte was an evil asshole and I'm glad he's locked up. He was always trying to bait somebody into a physical confrontation, probably looking for a lawsuit of some kind. That's all I know. And maybe he's just accustomed to pushing around Ms. Sandra around the house.
Jordan Stillers
Louie was a little more diplomatic. But he also suggested that Stewart's history of confrontations meant it was just a matter of time before something like this happened.
Louie Angelotti
I mean, I really don't know. The only two people know would be God and Stuart Money. They weren't at shy. I mean, I don't know what sparked this fella. I mean, this is not the first time that he's had confrontations with people.
Jordan Stillers
What Jimmy and Louie do know is that they haven't been the same since their friend was murdered. Like Eddie, they both feel a keener sense of anxiety when they're out in the woods. Louis told me he carries a handgun for protection and he even worries, ironically enough, about wearing an orange vest.
Louie Angelotti
I was at another quota hunt and the game warden said he saw me coming out of the trail to the highway legally. And he said, I saw you. I thought that was you over there. I said, yes, sir. He says, you didn't have your orange vest on in the tree. I said, no, sir, I'm not going to have an orange vest on. He says, by law you have to. I said, I'm an orange pumpkin sitting up there. Now anybody with PTSD is going to shoot me out of the tree.
Jimmy Hutto
We never carried an additional weapon while we was in the woods. You know, I growed up hunting in the refuge. Never once did I fear somebody would shoot me down. Now, we don't go to the woods without a daggum pistol. And every truck that comes by us, we're worried. If you want to, what the effect was, that is, the effect took simple life away from us. That's what it did.
Jordan Stillers
Hunting has looked a lot different for the trio since Tim passed away. But they've done their best to keep his memory alive. After Tim passed, Tim's father gave Louie Tim's Favorite hunting rifle, a.30 06 bolt
Louie Angelotti
Action Savage 110 wood frame Leopold scope. And he basically gave it to me and Jimmy. And I told him, I said, well, I said, you give me that. I said, that means a lot. I said, I guarantee you anytime me or Jimmy go out on a hunt, this gun is coming with us. I said, tim will always be with us. Tim always be with us.
Jordan Stillers
Louis recently took a man hunting who had borrowed his son's rifle. It malfunctioned and he thought his hunt was over. Fortunately, true to his word, Louis had Tim's rifle with him. And he brought it to the man who was sitting in a blind.
Louie Angelotti
And then I get a text. He says, kill the buck. Killed a buck. I drive all the way back around, get over there. And I told him the story about that rifle, the reason why I take it to every management hunt. I told it there and once I Told him he just broke down and cried. He broke down and got on his knees and he just. He cried like a baby.
Jordan Stillers
The man thanked Louie for taking him on a successful hunt and letting him use Tim's rifle.
Louie Angelotti
I said, no, you. You and Tim got it done. It wouldn't me. It was you and Tim. You and Tim got it done.
Major Eddie Wester
And I.
Jordan Stillers
And I called the rifle Tim.
Louie Angelotti
It's Tim. This is Tim, I said. He said, where you going? I said, me and. Me and Tim's going here. And if I tell his dad, he knows I got that rifle there.
Jimmy Hutto
We take turns. Take turns. Or if somebody's hunting with us and. And like, they shoot and they miss, and we can't determine if his gun is all. We use Tim's gun. But every hunt like this hunt that me and Tim's got or me and Louie's got, at the end of the month, Tim's gonna be there, which means a lot to us.
Jordan Stillers
Tim's rifle is keeping his memory alive. But Jimmy told me that Tim himself made sure he'd never be forgotten.
Jimmy Hutto
Tim was one of those. That if it was a major memory to him, like if it was something that we done that was funny or out of. Out of whack, he would tell you that story time and time again, and you would know the story from minute to minute, everything he's going to say. Every time he would come over to the house, he would sit down, we'd sit around the bar, and he'll start telling these stories and. And my wife would say, tim, you done already told me this story. And then he'd still keep going like he never heard what she said. He just would not stop. It was awesome to hear. And since he's passed away, we find ourselves sitting around the table talking about the same stuff. That is probably the biggest memory that keeps him going on. And I kept telling my wife, the reason he's doing that is because I'm losing my mind. And as I'm losing my mind, he's pounding in the stuff so I will never find, forget. And you could just see the smile and the. And glow in his face, you know, Same with any hunter you can tell when stories are so important to them that it just eases the whole group to be able to hear these stories. We used to hear them from our grandpa's. We used to hear them from our daddies, you know, and just to continue that on. And that's what I think out of the whole ordeal Tim was doing was continuing that process. Because my kids can almost repeat every story he had, and then they know dad stories too.
Jordan Stillers
If you're a hunter from a family of hunters, I'm willing to bet that Tim's antics sound familiar. These stories that get passed down from generation to generation are more important than the antlers, rugs, and rifles that do the same. Despite the sudden and terrible nature of Tim's death, his friends know that his legacy will continue for as long as there's someone around to tell the stories that really matter. Thanks for listening to this episode of Blood Trails. If you'd like to see images related to this case, including photos of Tim, the crime scene, Stuart Mone and his taxidermy head on over to themateer.com bloodtrails and click on the case file for this episode. Huge thanks to Andrew Deneen, Jimmy Hutto, Louie Angelotti, Eddie Alday, Major Eddie Wester, and captain Brett Srirachi for their time and willingness to speak with me. As always, send me an email@bloodtrailsthemeateer.com with any questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes. I rely on tips from you to learn about potential cases, so keep them coming. See you next time. Stay safe out there.
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Host Jordan Sillars investigates the murder of hunter Timothy Blyth, whose life was ended following a confrontation on hunting land near Tallahassee, Florida, in December 2021. Through extensive original reporting and interviews with detectives, friends, and witnesses, this episode unfolds the tension, tragedy, and aftermath of a crime that could have taken place on any patch of American public land, raising unsettling questions about conflict, justice, and the shadowy edges of outdoor life.
Setting: St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge, Wakulla County, FL, December 2021.
Incident: Norman Grass discovers a man’s body (later identified as Timothy Blyth) while walking his dog; two well-groomed poodles are seen nearby, acting skittishly.
First police response: Investigators find Tim Blyth, multiple tire and shoe prints, blood-soaked clothes, and two strange poodles.
Tim’s character: Described by friends Jimmy Hutto and Louie Angelotti as generous, loyal, and outgoing; loved the outdoors and helping others.
Community impact: Local construction companies shut down for his funeral; friends keep his memory alive through hunting rituals and shared stories.
Focus on neighbors: The poodles lead investigators to Sandra and Stuart Mone, residents near the crime scene.
Interviews with Sandra Mone: She claims the dogs escaped; notes her husband Stuart is a "hothead" with a long-running grievance against police.
Key clue: Sandra states their only vehicles are a Hyundai and Stuart's red Ford F-150—matching a vehicle seen at the scene.
Eddie Alday's testimony: He meets both Tim and Stuart on the morning of the murder and witnesses the escalating argument about walking dogs during a hunt.
Eddie identifies Stuart as aggressive, Tim as calm.
Evidence: Tire and shoe print analysis comes back as a 100% match to Stuart.
Failed getaway: After a drawn-out surveillance operation, Stuart attempts to evade arrest by hiding in the back of an SUV with his dogs. He's arrested, uncooperative, and refuses to confess.
Stuart’s defense: Claims self-defense, says Tim attacked him without warning and he was "scared out of [his] wits" (59:00).
Prosecution’s case:
Jury’s decision:
Sentence: Life in prison due to use of a firearm.
Impact on Tim’s circle:
Reflections:
For images and further information, listeners are directed to themateer.com/bloodtrails.
Contact: Send questions or suggestions to bloodtrails@themeateer.com.