Man charged with murder won’t get his hunting bow back

Stuart Mauney is charged with killing a man while out hunting; he wanted to bow hunt this season


Stuart Mauney

By: WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Stuart Mauney, who is out on bond on a charge of second degree murder, was in court last week  asking to have his hunting bow returned to him so he could hunt this season.
Circuit Court Judge Layne Smith said no.
Mauney was charged in February 2022 with the December 2021 murder of a man in the Purify Bay Road area.
Mauney was released on $500,000 bond with conditions that he possess no weapons, wear a GPS monitor, not leave the judicial circuit, and have no contact with the victim’s family or witnesses.
 Last March, Mauney had turned over his hunting bow in to Harrison Bail Bonds, which posted his bail bond.
A motion filed by Mauney’s attorney, Joseph Bodiford, asked the court to have the bow returned so Mauney could hunt recreationally.
Wakulla Chief Prosecutor Andrew Deneen argued against the motion, noting that Mauney was at a hunting site when he allegedly got into an argument over hunting with the victim.
The victim’s family invoked Marsy’s Law, the constitutional amendment intended to protect crime victims, so the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office never released the victim’s name.
But the Wakulla Sun searched obituaries from the time of the death and identified the murder victim as Timothy Wayne Blyth, who was 52 when he was killed while scouting a hunting area on refuge lands. He was a U.S. Marine veteran who served two tours overseas and received numerous medals.
According to the arrest report, witnesses reported Mauney in the area with his two standard Poodles and described him as argumentative. He got into an argument as he was walking down the road with his dogs after one person suggested he wear an orange because there was a mobility hunt going on. At the kiosk where hunters note their deer harvests, Mauney got into an argument with a man matching Blyth’s description.
The sheriff’s office received a 911 call after a man driving on Purify Bay Road found a body in the road. The victim had been shot multiple times.
Mauney’s poodles were running around the site loose when deputies arrived. Mauney’s wife arrived and collected the dogs. She reportedly told deputies the dogs had escaped from their Jack Crum Road home about a mile away and that her husband had not been at the location.
After developing leads, detectives searched Mauney’s home and found bloodstained boots that matched prints at the scene, as well as bloodstained jeans. The tire tracks of Mauney’s Ford F150 matched tire tracks at the scene.
But a 9mm handgun Mauney reportedly owned was missing from the home.
At the crime scene, officers found four 9mm spent casings and the victim’s phone about 40 yards away from the body. The last photo on the victim’s phone was of Mauney’s F150 showing the tag.
Mauney could face life in prison if convicted of second degree murder. He is scheduled to go to trial in April.