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Jury Finds Blackwelder Guilty Of Murder

News Channel 8 photo by PETER MASA

Timothy Blackwelder took the stand in his own defense yesterday.

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 22, 2008

Updated: 05/22/2008 04:25 pm

TAMPA - Timothy Craig Blackwelder went to his former girlfriend's home, pulled a gun on her husband and fired one shot, killing him as he made a 911 call asking for help, a jury determined today.

Blackwelder, 25, was found guilty on charges of first-degree murder, burglary with assault and violating a domestic violence injunction.

Circuit Judge Robert Foster sentenced Blackwelder on the spot. He received a life sentence for murder, a life sentence for burglary and 364 days in jail for violating the injunction. The sentences will run consecutively, or one after another.

"You widowed a woman who you say you love," Foster told Blackwelder. "You have caused two little girls to be without a father."

Foster expressed shock that Blackwelder took the witness stand Wednesday and tried to blame the crime on the victim's wife, all the while professing his love for her.

Blackwelder, when asked if he had anything to say, stood silent for several seconds.

"I don't know what to say," he said finally. "You gave me two life sentences right?"

"I did," Foster answered. "I hope you never see the light of day."

Then, as was often the case during the trial, Blackwelder got arrogant.

"You can hand it down but you can't make me serve it," he said.

The two-day trial came with more than its fair share of drama.

George Stewart's death was tape recorded as he made the 911 call. When the tape first was played for the jury, Stewart's brother was overcome by grief. He slammed his hand onto a wooden bench and lunged for Blackwelder in a profanity-laced tirade.

Bailiffs subdued Joshua Stewart and he was banned from the courtroom. The trial went on.

Blackwelder had an on-and-off relationship with Stewart's wife, Brittani Stewart. She received a court order to keep him away but, days later, briefly moved with him to South Carolina.

Blackwelder said she called him to her house on Dec. 7. When he got there, he witnessed her shoot George Stewart.

Brittani Stewart denied this. She testified that she was afraid of Blackwelder, did not expect him at her house that day and watched as he shot her husband.

The 911 tape backed her story. George Stewart tells the operator that Blackwelder showed up, then repeatedly refers to the person with the gun as "he," not "she."

In closing arguments today, Assistant State Attorney Jalal Harb asked the jurors to listen.

On the tape, Stewart tells the operator: "He's got a gun."

After a shot, Stewart is heard screaming in pain; then he breathes his last breaths.

"Listen," Harb told the jurors. "Toward the end, right after you hear the pop. … Listen to it. You will hear words by Mr. Stewart."

Stewart says: "Brittani, he shot me. Brittani," Harb told the jurors.

Assistant Public Defender Kenneth Littman focused his closing argument on the credibility of Brittani Stewart. She testified that she loved her husband but was not in love with him, Littman said.

"She can't deny that she thought she was in love with Tim Blackwelder," Littman told the jurors. "She told you that."

Littman asked the jurors rhetorically whether they were willing to convict Blackwelder of murder based on Brittani Stewart's testimony.

But it was much harder for the defense to explain the recording of the 911 call.

"Just because he says something on a tape, and I can't cross-examine him, doesn't make it so," Littman said.

The jurors took about two hours to find Blackwelder guilty.

Pam Sansom, George Stewart's mother, cried as she stood with family outside the courthouse. She said she was relieved at the verdict and sentence.

"I'm just glad he got what he deserved," she said. "He tried to play games and pin this on Brittani."

Brittani Stewart said she sat in court and stewed as she heard Blackwelder testify that she was the killer.

"I was mad as all get-out," she said. "I was so mad."

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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