[virgind]

If and I say if some one in the area doesnt tell the truth about who then is that considered perjury .

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by virgind

If and I say if some one in the area doesnt tell the truth about who then is that considered perjury .

I think perjury only comes in when a person lies while under oath, and it's very doubtful that any of the suspects were ever questioned under oath.

We'll never know how much effort was put in to find the culprit, unless someone files a FOIA request for police reports, and there's just not that kind of interest.

There's a lot of good comments on the other website. One poster said that Barney Fife could solve this, but not the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. I tend to agree.

[Challenger]

Originally Posted by onslowe

I've refrained from any comments on this topic and its earlier threads to allow reasonable efforts to be undertaken by the authorities. I'm not Sherlock Holmes, but neither is this a case involving thousands of possible 'suspects' or leads. A scofflaw landscaper? A realtor with possible knowledge in part or whole? A homeowner or two? Broker notations prior to the sale? To an amateur, it doesn't seem to be a 'needle in a hay stack' problem.

Be that as it may, my prime complaint is the way too early capitulation and declaration that, in effect, the 'bad guys' got away with it. This is the kind of action that fosters distrust, unhelpful mutterings and attitudes, and plain and reasonable anger among citizens.

This is not the crime of the century. It is however, a real quality of life issue for each of us. Why? Because we all tacitly want government to do its job and leave us alone. We want to see that government works. That's the 'social contract,' a delicate trust born thing for sure.

We all have seen instances of government not working in our lives and in many of our cities. That's when people may say 'to hell with it' ,'it's no use,' and 'it's all corrupt.'

Hasty actions and decisions like this one are offensive to all of us. When the towel is just thrown in the second round, of course the finger pointers will come out. No one should expect less. It's wrong, hurtful to people and reputations, and divisive - but it is exactly the result to be expected.

Very disturbing.

This needs solving and I would hope our elected reps would keep the pressure on. This is becoming a nastier situation as time goe on. The longer it goes the more speculation there will be about who has the power to keep it shut down. I really don't like the trajectory of this one.

[manaboutown]

The nature of this crime is that it simply could not have gone unobserved and/or unheard (chain saws were used). Furthermore only a few could have benefitted from it in that unobstructed views of Lake Miona for a few properties resulted. It was not a random act. It was planned and carried out with malice aforethought. Although there may or may not have been a conspiracy in preparing to commit the crime failure to let authorities know criminal acts that one observes or knows about can cause one to become an accessory after the fact. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/accessory_after_the_fact

[Indydealmaker]

Originally Posted by janmcn

Janet Tutt announced earlier today that "there are no further leads to pursue", so case closed in the tree removal case on Lake Miona Drive, according to a new article in the on-line news.

The Project Wide Advisory Committee will pay the $45,000 to $50,000 tab, which means all districts south of CR466.

It will be interesting to see if one particular house that had been for sale for over a million dollars, comes back on the market after the listing mysteriously disappeared.

It would also be interesting to see how much investigative work was actually spent on this case. If the Sumter County Sheriff's Office couldn't solve this case, perhaps they don't deserve to have a police badge.

Wow, this must be the crime of the century! Sumter sheriffs do an excellent job of policing this county as evidenced by their success at tracking down our burglars and rapists, etc.

If there is no paper trail and none of the neighbors admit witnessing anything and no one has sought after the reward, do you really want Sumter county wasting anymore time on this? I know I don't.

The obsession with conspiracy on this issue is bordering on psychosis.

The CDDs responsible will pay for mitigation just as they do all other infrastructure expenses and move on.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Challenger

I truly believe that there is a conspiracy of silence in this neighborhood.

Originally Posted by onslowe

...my prime complaint is the way too early capitulation and declaration that, in effect, the 'bad guys' got away with it. This is the kind of action that fosters distrust, unhelpful mutterings and attitudes, and plain and reasonable anger among citizens.
We want to see that government works. That's the 'social contract,' a delicate trust born thing for sure.

I was told by a Villages employee: "Everyone knows who did it, they just can't prove anything".
It seems too early to make a public capitulation - it seems too early to call off the investigation.

[NYGUY]

The cost should be borne by the four homeowners....end of story!!!

[manaboutown]

How about bringing a civil action to recover the costs? The burden of proof is less than that for a criminal action.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by NYGUY

The cost should be borne by the four homeowners....end of story!!!

Simple yes. But you can't fine someone without proof. It looks like I am protecting them, but I am not. I don't know them at all, but by law, you can't just level a judgment against someone because it is highly likely.

Just because the fine is going to be paid may not mean that the investigation is stopped. I bet that sooner or later the landscaper who did this will get drunk or aggravate a girlfriend and they will tell on him.

Although the figure seems very high, I know of people who have easily spent twelve or thirteen thousand dollars on landscaping a medium sized villages home. Today we played golf at Saddlebrook and saw someone....I guess from The Villages replacing a pretty good sized tree along the edge of 466, it must have been thirty or more feet tall. So repairs and replacements are made all of the time and it is part of some budget.

I am not trying to minimize this, but I can't think what else can be done if there is not proof of who done it.

It isn't right. It is sad and shameful.

The only good thing is that there is a lesson to be learned..... people will think twice before they start hacking down trees that don't belong to them....and get permission first before removing live oaks.

[Ecuadog]

If I was in charge of contracting the reforestation, I would inquire about a whole lot of additional plants, such as poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac.

[maryanna630]

Yes, i think it is shameful. You cannot fine the neighborhood involved but you can fine an entire district? What is the rush to close the issue? Kinda sad that no ethics rule here and I find it very hard to believe that this information cannot be retrieved.....

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by maryanna630

Yes, i think it is shameful. You cannot fine the neighborhood involved but you can fine an entire district? What is the rush to close the issue? Kinda sad that no ethics rule here and I find it very hard to believe that this information cannot be retrieved.....

How? Water boarding is banned.

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by NYGUY

The cost should be borne by the four homeowners....end of story!!!

You can't be serious. A very real possibility of three (at least) innocent parties pay because you think they might be guilty. Yeah...that's the American way.

[manaboutown]

That this crime goes unsolved is laughable given such a small number of folks who directly benefitted from its commission.

Why would someone with no skin in the game at great risk of being caught just go out and cut down some large, old oak trees to improve someone else's lake view just for the heck of it?

[CFrance]

If everyone south of 466 has to pay for restoring fully grown trees to the parcel, as was suggested in a former post, I'm glad that the self-entitled SOB who took them down to begin with will have his lack of view restored.