Florida Man Charged in Husband's Violent Death

Timothy Smith's death at age 59 had the hallmarks of a vicious attack: marks on his neck indicating strangulation and evidence of blows to his genital area and his face. There were suggestions of a hookup gone wrong. Smith's body was found partially undressed in an apartment that he and his husband of seven-and-a-half years, Herb Swilley, 55, allegedly maintained for the purpose of sex with other men.

But Swilley has now been charged, People Magazine reported, and investigators theorize that insurance money was the motive.

The couple lived in Ocala, Florida, and Swilley was "at the scene" when police officers arrived to investigate. However, the responding officers noted, Swilley "allegedly didn't show much emotion after his husband was found dead and was 'void of any sadness or despair,' according to the probable cause affidavit," People Mag detailed.

Moreover, "less than 24 hours after Smith's body was found, friends claim, Swilley and his daughter from a previous marriage, Jordan Swilley, 20, were getting rid of Tim's personal belongings, including family photos."

Swilley's behavior set off alarm bells for friends of the couple, who described Swilley as someone they wouldn't have socialized with if he wasn't married to Smith.

One such friend Candy Baker told People Mag, "None of us would have befriended Herb had it not been for Tim."

Baker added: "He had a really rough personality. He was very cold."

Another friend of the couple, Tammy Warner – who was also at the apartment when investigators arrived – told People that Swilley's swift disposal of Smith's personal effects left her thinking, "What is going on?"

"You didn't want to believe it," Warner went on to say, "but deep down in the back of your mind, you're like, 'This is really not looking good. This is making him look like he's done something.'"

"When discovered, Smith was undressed from the waist down and had a dark ligature mark around his neck and blunt force trauma to his face and genitals," People Mag summarized, "and he had suffered a fracture to his cervical spine during the attack."

Moreover, "Police also say that a toxicology report revealed that he was dosed with 30 times the recommended amount of diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl."

Authorities have pieced together a sequence of events they maintain may have happened on the night of the alleged murder, including that "Swilley killed Smith at their primary residence, then transported his body to the apartment and created a 'mock crime scene,'" People Mag reported.