A 35-year-old man was arrested Friday, accused of robbing and shooting to death another man 16 years ago, Polk County deputies say.
37-year-old Tommy Eugene Smith’s body was found on October 11, 1996 in an orange grove near Edison and Berkley Roads in Auburndale. Investigators say, 35-year-old Timothy E. Carey, of Lakeland, is responsible for Smith’s murder. Investigators also say, Cary was 19 years old at the time he robbed and killed Smith.
Smith’s jeep was also found on October 11, 1996, abandoned under the Interstate 4 overpass on Berkley Road in Auburndale. Five days later, a .22 caliber rifle was found near the area where Smith’s abandoned jeep was located.
Investigators got a break with the cold case after a witness stepped forward on Wednesday, October 31, 2012, and informed that he was with Carey on the night Smith was robbed and killed. The witness told detectives that he and Carey were in Smith’s jeep the night of the murder and Carey directed Smith to drive them down a dirt road. He said, Carey then robbed and shot Smith to death when all three got out of the jeep. The witness also told investigators he was forced at gunpoint to drag Smith’s body into an orange grove.
Yesterday, investigators and Latent Print Examiners processed fingerprints found in Smith’s Jeep, and positively identified the prints as Timothy Carey’s.
Detectives placed Carey under arrest and booked him into the Polk County Jail on one count First Degree Murder, and one count Armed Robbery. He is being held on no bond.
Carey will have a video first appearance hearing at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 3, 2012.
