Left: Matthew Weldon (WFLA). Right: Carroll Edwin Bryan (Community Funeral Home).
A Florida man will spend the rest of his days behind bars for the murder of his friend whom he let borrow his Jaguar before he repeatedly gashed him in the head with an ax for not returning it on time.
Matthew Weldon, 40, was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 49-year-old Carroll Edwin Bryan.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies responded around 3:30 p.m. May 21, 2024, to a home in the 300 block of Shore Drive in Palm Harbor. Cops found Weldon standing in front of the home, covered in blood.
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“He is dead, he’s in there,” Weldon told cops, pointing cops to the body.
Bryan was suffering from multiple “chop” wounds to the head and neck area. Weldon took an ax and bludgeoned him with it, according to cops.
Weldon had recently met Bryan at a bar and let him borrow his Jaguar SUV. But Bryan did not return the SUV after a week, so Weldon went to the police.
Bryan arrived to return the car at the lakefront home shortly after 10 a.m. on the day of the murder. Video from the home showed that Weldon greeted the victim in a “friendly manner.” But the tenor changed around 3 1/2 hours later when the two got into a shoving match. While Weldon is seen grabbing an ax, the murder itself was not captured on camera.
A neighbor told deputies that he heard arguing at the home before Weldon came over and said he “needed advice.” Weldon said he had “killed someone.” The neighbor said they should call 911 but Weldon said “no” several times. The neighbor went inside and called 911.
Weldon claimed self-defense, saying Bryan — reportedly a convicted murderer — had come at him with a knife. Weldon suffered a puncture wound on his leg.
But a jury rejected the argument and sided with prosecutors.
Bryan’s family lamented during sentencing that he missed out this year on becoming a first-time grandfather, according to a courtroom report from the Tampa Bay Times.
“There are some wounds that I cannot erase, and some things that simply cannot be forgiven,” said his youngest daughter Sapphire Bryan.
The post Jaguar SUV owner who chopped buddy to death with repeated blows to the head with ax because he took too long returning car is headed to prison first appeared on Law & Crime.
