Golfers can be a strange bunch. Nonsense fights break out on golf courses and in course parking lots more than you think. Mixing in alcohol with men trying to prove they are tough guys can result in bad things happening. Most fights are just ridiculous dances. Fortunately, most men don’t know how to fight and usually punch a lot of air. The best tactic is to act like an adult. Generally, that requires just a few seconds of thought. However, often that is too much to ask. If those few seconds are occupied with violence rather than reflection, the result can be tragic.
Robert Edward Moore, a Florida resident, had just finished a round on the golf course in June. He was just leaving the restaurant on the golf course when he thought that an older man had struck his Lexus.
Moore is reported to have said: “What the heck, you hit my car!”
An 87-year-old man named Dean William Zook had bumped the front of a Lexus while parking his own car. The Lexus Zook had bumped wasn’t Moore’s car.
Moore punched Zook in the face while he tried to exchange information about insurance. Moore only realized, after he had struck the older man, that his car was not the one that was hit. Someone else’s Lexus was struck. Moore, according to reports, returned to the restaurant and ran into a server, spilled drinks that she was carrying on a tray, then drove away in his Lexus.
When the injured man began to slur, EMS arrived. Zook, who was badly beaten, was taken to hospital and diagnosed with brain bleeding. He died 18 days later. Zook spent his last two weeks in hospice because Moore could not control himself.
Moore was found by the police because he bought dinner (and probably drinks) in the restaurant prior to the fight. Police found Moore’s photo after conducting a Google image search for “Robert Moore”. The year before, he had posted a picture of himself with a hole in one. The man was identified because he wore the same clothes he wore in the previous photo.
Moore was interviewed by the police at his home. Moore said that he did not flee, that the victim started the fight by placing his hands on Moore’s shirt, and that Moore “didn’t know” how old the man was. These are all weak excuses. The entire exchange was recorded on surveillance footage.
The police did not believe Moore’s account. Moore was charged with the aggravated murder of an elderly victim. This charge can carry up to 30 years of prison time in Florida.
Moore will almost certainly serve jail time if he is found guilty or pleaded to a lesser crime. Moore will undoubtedly also be sued by his deceased husband’s widow, which could cost him all of his savings. He “allegedly” murdered a man, ruining his life and ruining himself because he was unable to control himself. He punched an old man for an offense that did not occur.
