‘Don’t Worry, I Shot Them Both’: Florida Man Charged After Killing Married Couple In Property Dispute Over Basketball Hoop
An ongoing property dispute between a Florida man and his neighbors turned fatal last week when the couple next door was shot to death amid a bitter feud over the placement of a basketball hoop, according to the Palm Beach County authorities.
The victims, identified as Tara Marie Jones and Taylor Glenn Jones, were killed May 4 at their home in the Black Diamond neighborhood of Wellington, a tony suburb of West Palm Beach on the edge of the Everglades, about 16 miles west of downtown.
After finding the bodies of the married couple, police arrested the next-door neighbor, 63-year-old Norman Scott, and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the slayings.
He remains jailed without bond at the Palm Beach Main Detention Center and is scheduled to make his first court appearance on July 11.
The judge in the case has ordered Scott not to make any contact with relatives of the victims.
Investigators described the shootings as “malicious” and “unprovoked,” saying Scott had become enraged over the perceived encroachment of his property.
Both victims were shot at least three times, according to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The gunfire erupted last Saturday just before 5:30 p.m. on the 10500 block of Galleria Street, north of Forest Hill Boulevard and west of State Road 7, according to police.
After hearing the shots, a concerned neighbor rushed over and discovered the victims, later telling investigators that Scott also came outside his house at this time, and when asked if he knew what happened, he allegedly responded, “Don’t worry, I shot them both.”
During the brief exchange, Scott informed the witness that he just argued with the couple over a basketball hoop on Jones’ land that straddled the property line between both homes, according to details in the arrest report.
As the Joneses lay mortally wounded, Scott reportedly dialed 911 and informed the dispatcher that he just shot his neighbors in self-defense after they allegedly attacked him.
However, surveillance-camera footage contradicted Scott’s version of events as the video showed neither victim acting violently or aggressively toward Scott, and no weapons were found near their bodies.
“The video evidence unequivocally establishes the shooting was completely malicious and unprovoked,” an investigator wrote in Scott’s arrest report.
Police obtained a warrant to review surveillance footage from Scott’s property, where he had installed eight cameras. Two of the cameras were positioned directly where the couple was shot.
According to police, the footage shows Taylor Jones walking and moving his child’s bicycle to the front of his home. Seconds later, Scott is seen exiting his front door, holding an aluminum ladder, and waving toward Taylor Jones, as if he was asking him to come talk.
Court documents state that surveillance video showed Scott initiating a conversation with Taylor Jones, and described Scott as “aggressively and belligerently” pointing and waving his hand in the man’s face. In contrast, Jones never made any threatening moves toward Scott, who pulled the gun from his right pocket and started firing, shooting Taylor Jones and sending him stumbling backward to the ground, according to police.
The video showed Scott pointing the gun as Taylor Jones backed away with both hands raised. Scott then allegedly turned the gun on Tara Jones, who was less than 30 feet away and witnessed her husband being shot, police said.
Scott then advanced toward Tara Jones and shot her three times, once in both legs and then in her upper chest.
After this, Scott is seen walking back toward his house, where he passed by Taylor Jones still lying on the ground.
At this point, “Norman Scott proceeds to shoot Taylor Jones two additional times,” police said.
The coronor said the defenseless man was wounded once in his left eye, once in his back and once in his upper right leg.
Police later collected the firearm from a small table inside Scott’s home.
Court records indicate that Scott works as an aircraft mechanic. His defense attorney, Brian Pakett, claims that Scott has no prior criminal record or any history of violence.
“We are confident and believe that, once the truth comes out, there’s a lot more than meets the eye,” Pakett said.