MARION COUNTY, Fla. (MCSO / News Release) – On November 3, 2023, at approximately 8:00 a.m., Marion County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes detectives arrested Herbert Swilley for the first-degree murder of his husband, 59-year-old Timothy Floyd Smith.
On Saturday, March 25, 2023, at approximately 10:50 a.m., MCSO deputies responded to an apartment, located at 1980 SE 40th Street Road, Ocala, to conduct a well-being check on Timothy Smith, who did not show up for work on Friday, March 24. When deputies made entry to the residence, they located Timothy, who was deceased. Timothy had a dark ligature mark on his neck and blunt-force trauma to his face and genitalia. Major Crimes Detective Daniel Pinder responded to initiate a homicide investigation. For the next several months, Detective Pinder investigated this case, gathering video surveillance, electronic evidence, and speaking to people who knew Swilley and Timothy.
Through the investigation, it was established that on the night of March 23, 2023, or in the early morning hours of March 24, 2023, Timothy was dosed with a large amount of diphenhydramine (an ingredient in Benadryl and Unisom) that was 30 times higher than the normal therapeutic dose. Following that, Swilley murdered Timothy by choking him to death with an unknown ligature and fracturing his cervical spine. Swilley then used his own vehicle to transport Timothy’s body from their shared residence to a nearby apartment that they maintained. Once there, Swilley placed Timothy’s body inside, staged a fake crime scene, and attempted to destroy evidence using household cleaning agents. Swilley returned to their residence and then drove Timothy’s vehicle to the apartment where he left it. Swilley then walked back to their residence where he accessed their Ring camera application; investigators later learned that surveillance videos from that night were not present. Then, a few hours later, Swilley drove to the landfill where he dropped off what appeared to be two carpets from their residence before going about his day.
The investigation revealed that Timothy had previously suffered domestic abuse by Swilley. It was also learned that Timothy was close to securing a new job in another county and was planning to relocate there without Swilley. Investigators also uncovered that Swilley stood to profit from Timothy’s death, as he was listed as the beneficiary of Timothy’s life insurance policies, which totaled $333,000.00.
Initially, Swilley pretended to be cooperative with law enforcement and provided them with a preliminary statement but the investigation revealed that many of the things Swilley told investigators were false, self-serving, or contradicted by other evidence. When detectives sought to reinterview Swilley about these discrepancies, Swilley’s attorney indicated that he would only cooperate if he was provided with immunity from prosecution for Timothy’s murder.
Earlier this week, a warrant was obtained for Swilley’s arrest and, this morning, he was arrested on the warrant for Premeditated Murder in the First Degree and Tampering with Evidence. Swilley was transported to the Marion County Jail, where he is being held without bond.
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