Who is Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam? Missouri man sentenced in connection with ‘Sweetie Pie’ stars’ murder plot
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: The ‘Sweetie Pie’ murder takes another turn as a suspect pleads guilty. On Monday, an insurance agent, Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam, was sentenced to three years in prison for helping the ‘Sweetie Pie’ star James 'Tim' Norman carry out the fraudulent murder of the latter’s nephew, Andre Montgomery Jr. Montgomery and Norman starred alongside Norman’s mother, who helmed the reality show by the Oprah Winfrey Network titled ‘Welcome To Sweetie Pies’. The show focused on the loud, loving, and often singing Montgomery family's lives as they ran their collection of soul food restaurants, expanding their empire, one soulful dish at a time.
Montgomery was killed by Norman’s hired hitman, Travell Anthony Hill, who shot him to death in 2016. Hill pleaded guilty in June 2022 and was sentenced to 32 years in prison. At the same time, Norman was convicted the following September for fraud charges and murder for hire. The insurance policy that James 'Tim' Norman was after stated that a $200,000 accidental death rider would pay out if Montgomery died of something other than natural causes, and a $50,000 term rider would pay if Montgomery died within 10 years of the policy’s issuance.
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Who is Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam?
Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam, 44, was a St Louis resident and Norman’s insurance agent suspected in the murder-for-hire plot that led to the death of Montgomery in 2016. He pleaded guilty on Monday, November 7, 2022, and was sentenced to three years in prison. Yaghnam and Norman conspired to obtain Montgomery’s life insurance by fraudulent means and planned his murder by hiring the hitman who killed Montgomery near Fairground Park on March 14, 2016, when Montgomery stepped outside the recording studio to attend to a phone call when he was shot five times by Hill.
After the murder, Yaghnam and Norman had submitted three separate life insurance applications that contained false statements about Montgomery’s income, net worth, medical history, employment, and family background. According to Montgomery’s grandmother, the perpetrators even took the victim’s phone to hide the evidence.