Tree House suspect taken into custody

Authorities remanded into custody Tree House murder suspect Franklin “Ty” Tucker on a $3.1 million bond late last week at an airport in Oregon after he failed to take a drug and alcohol screening at his schedule time.

Authorities reportedly took Tucker into custody on Friday, May 3, in the smoking section of Portland International Airport in Oregon, Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward said. Judge James Morgan III had issued a bench warrant for Tucker to be taken into custody after he failed to submit to the screening at the scheduled time, Ward said.

A judge in Oregon will have to hold an extradition hearing, where Tucker would most likely agree to be transported to Monroe County. He will be taken cross-country in a transport van where he would be in shackles or secured in some way, Ward said.

Tucker admitted he did not do the drug and alcohol screening at the scheduled time, but tried to and the agency conducting the screening was experiencing computer-related problems and he had to return at another time, he told The Keys Citizen before being taken into custody on Friday. He did eventually take the test, he said. He was in contact with his pre-trial services case manager about the issues, he said.

Tucker planned to fly to Key West to resolve the issue, as he told The Keys Citizen he wanted to file a motion to quash the violation and keep the current roughly $70,000 bail. Tucker was initially bonded out of jail on a roughly $2 million bond, but later had the bond reduced.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Tucker, Rory “Detroit” Wilson and John Travis Johnson in the Nov. 17, 2017, robbery of Paula Belmonte and murder of Matthew Bonnett in a building known as the Tree House. If found guilty, Tucker could face life in prison. Wilson has been convicted and sentenced in the case, and Johnson accepted a plea deal in which he received time served in jail while awaiting trial in exchange for his cooperation in the case and testimony on behalf of the state.

A jury in the Tree House murder and robbery trial of Tucker could not reach a unanimous verdict in the case on Jan. 25 and the case will be retried later this year.

Tucker has been under house arrest in Clackamas, Oregon since initially posting a $2 million cash bond in 2019. Shortly after, Tucker married millionaire CrossFit co-founder Lauren Jenai. They separated a year later and have been living apart since. The bond was eventually released to $70,000.

This is not the first time Tucker has violated the terms of his pre-trial services arrangement last month. Judge Mark Jones, who oversaw Tucker’s first trial, was informed by pre-trial services that Tucker failed to pass a routine urinalysis test, according to court records.

In a memo obtained and reviewed by The Keys Citizen, Jones was informed that Tucker tested positive for alcohol on Oct. 16. The judge was notified on Oct. 26 and instructed pre-trial services to counsel the defendant and adjust their testing schedule in a Nov. 2 response.