The prosecutor’s office has filed a reduced charge in the case of a Villager accused of a fatal country club beating in The Villages.
Robert Moore, 75, of the Village of Polo Ridge, was arrested July 27 on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person, in connection with the death of 87-year-old Dean William Zook of The Villages. He died July 16, more than two weeks after he was attacked over a fender bender at Glenview Country Club.
Last week, the prosecutor’s office formally charged Moore, but quietly reduced the charge to manslaughter.
Aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person is a first degree felony. Manslaughter is a felony of the second degree. It could make a difference if the case reaches a sentencing phase.
When Moore was initially interviewed by a detective, he said he was unaware of Zook’s age, but admitted Zook “was older and appeared to be frail.” The report noted that Zook was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds, while Moore stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 210 pounds.
The detective tracked down the Massachusetts native thanks in part to the now-infamous photo of Moore showing off his hole-in-one at the Tarpon Boil Executive Golf Course, originally published in Villages-News.com. The detective also used surveillance images of Moore in the country club, where he bumped into a server carrying a tray of drinks, knocking a drink onto a patron, sitting at the bar.
In the wake of the attack, Zook was helicoptered to UF Health-Shands Medical Center in Gainesville, having suffered a “massive brain bleed” when he was punched in the jaw.
Moore was apparently enraged on the evening of June 28 when he walked out of the country club and believed that Zook’s vehicle had struck his black Lexus in the parking lot. Moore allegedly began punching Zook, before realizing it wasn’t his Lexus.
A call was placed to 911 and Sumter County sheriff’s deputies found Zook and his wife in the parking lot. The Villages Public Safety Department also responded to the scene, after Zook began slurring his words and stumbled. He was transported by ambulance to UF Health-The Villages Hospital then flown to Gainesville. At the time, he was “unresponsive.” He was placed on hospice care at Shands on July 15 and died the following day, “due to the trauma he sustained from being punched.”
Moore has pleaded not guilty in the case. He remains free on $30,000 bond.
