Les MacDonald

I

 

 

                                                   Facebook Party at the Port

 

 

 

 

 

Port St. Lucie, Florida 2011: The city of Port St. Lucie lies on Florida’s Treasure Coast about 40 miles north of West Palm Beach. Its population is approximately 175,000 and is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area which boasts a population of 440,000. Port St. Lucie, or PSL as the locals call it, is home every spring to the New York Mets. The St. Lucie Mets, a farm team for the NY Mets, play in the Florida State League. A semi-pro soccer team, the Treasure Coast Galleons, also call PSL their home. The city is quite scenic with ocean views and lush greenery. Tourists and residents alike have easy access to the Everglades and sculling on the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                     

 

 

 

 

   The tagline for the city is “a city for all ages.”  There is, however, a portion of the population that does not agree with that tag. That would be the teenage section. Anthony Snook is a 21 year old. He says that “the town is so boring. It drives the kids nuts. The parents are always on everyone’s ass because everyone is stressed about money.” Terry Nguyen is a recent high school grad. “In other towns there are places where teens can hang out. Not in Port St. Lucie.” Joseph Waddle, another recent high school graduate says that “marijuana is out of control. It’s everywhere. You can’t go to a party without smelling it in the air.” In 2011 it would be a 17 year old that shocked the city and put Port St. Lucie in the national headlines.

 

   Blake Hadley and his wife Mary Jo moved to Port St. Lucie in 1987 from Fort Lauderdale. The move made sense as Blake was an engineer at the Port St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. Mary Jo found work as an elementary school teacher and a few years later gave birth to the couple’s first child, Ryan. Two years later Tyler was born and the family was complete. To friends and neighbors it always seemed that Tyler was close to his parents. There were many nights that Tyler would stay up late waiting for his Dad to come home from his night shift. A neighbor of the family said that Tyler was “a happy kid. Very respectful and polite.” All of that seemed to change in a heartbeat when Tyler entered high school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

 

 

 

 

 

                                                    Blake and Mary Jo Hadley

 

 

 

 

                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                         Tyler Hadley

 

 

 

 

   The wheels started coming off when Tyler turned 17. Along with friends, he started a fire at the River Park Wildlife Preserve. The group had dragged an old sofa into a clearing, doused it with gas and struck a match. There was quite a bit of damage but Tyler got off with a warning. It was just a couple of weeks later that Tyler got into a fight at the home of a friend. It was serious enough to get him charged with aggravated battery. It earned him a week in the PSL Jail followed by two weeks of house arrest. Mary Jo confiscated his cell phone so the 17 year old took to facebook to stay in touch with friends. His older brother Ryan had gone off to college. Tyler was now living alone with his parents.

 

   Mary Jo had suffered from depression and now she saw some of the same signs in her son. She had Tyler admitted into a mental health facility where Tyler received daily counseling. He was also put on anti-depressant medication. By the end of June 2011 it appeared that Tyler had turned a corner. However, as we all know, appearances can be deceiving. Tyler was hanging out one day with his friend Markey Phillips. In the middle of a completely unrelated conversation, Tyler said that he “wanted to kill his parents and have a big party after.” Tyler said that would set him apart from the average killer. Imagine throwing a bash with the bodies still in the house. Markey didn’t take his friend seriously. A facebook chat between Tyler and his friend Mercedes Marko on July 2 gives another indication of Tyler’s state of mind.

 

Tyler: lol yup she’s a c**t fa sho I might kill her

Mercedes: OMG No jail! or I mean prison! LOL

Tyler: Oh well <3

 

We now move ahead to July 16. Tyler has already sent out invites via facebook to a party at the house on Grandeur Avenue. At 9:40am he had this facebook chat with Matt Nobile, a 17 year old friend.

 

Matt: Did you do it?

Tyler: No, but I’m gonna

Matt: Bet?

Matt: You really should now

Matt: Do it

Tyler: Don’t worry I am

Tyler: Then I’m having a party

Matt: Yeah party time nigga

 

There were other facebook chats where Tyler talked about either killing his parents or committing suicide. This one with Antonio Ramirez is more chilling when put into context by later events.

 

Tyler: sup bro

Antonio: Chillin, what u doin tonight?

Tyler: Tryin’ to have a party at my crib

Antonio: your parents aren’t home?

Tyler: Nope

Tyler: Well their leavin soon

 

At 1:15pm Tyler posted on his facebook timeline: “Party at my crib tonight…maybe.”

 

Then this at 8:15pm: party at my house hmu (hit me up)

 

Ashley Haze: What if your parents come home?

Tyler: They won’t, trust me.

 

  Tyler had hinted to some that he had either killed his parents or was thinking about it. He had told several that they were away in Oregon. He told one that they were in California. The word got out quickly and the party at 371 NE Grandeur Avenue got rolling at around 10pm. By midnight there were around 100 teens in the house. Most of them Tyler didn’t even know. At about 1am Tyler’s best friend Michael Mandell arrived. Tyler asked to speak with him outside and the two friends, who had known each other since they were eight years old, walked down the block. When they reached the end of the street Tyler said, “I killed my parents.”  Predictably, Michael laughed and said, “yeah, right!” Tyler: “Michael, I’m being real. I’m not lying to you. If you look closely you can see signs.” The pair returned to the party that was pretty much out of control. The house looked like a war zone. Pictures had been ripped from walls with others hanging askew. Cigarettes had been butted out on the furniture and the floors. Food was all over the place – much of it taken from the kitchen cupboards. Broken beer bottles littered the floor. A rumor was going through the party that Tyler had killed his parents. One boy was walking around saying, “I smell dead people.” Tyler took Michael upstairs to the master bedroom and unlocked the door. The room was a bloody mess. There was a pile of blood soaked towels on the floor. Chairs were stacked in a pile on the floor. Still, Michael had hoped that it was some kind of macabre joke. When he saw a leg sticking out from under the chairs, he realized that it was not a joke. As the party downstairs roared on, Tyler Hadley told his best friend about the events of the day.

 

  At about 5pm Tyler had taken his parent’s cell phones and hid them so that they would be unable to call for help. To work himself up to it, he swallowed three ecstasy pills. He then grabbed a claw hammer from the garage and quietly made his way back into the house. His father was in the master bedroom. Mary Jo sat at the computer in the living room. Tyler came up behind his mother and stood there watching her for several minutes. He had made up his mind and it was now too late to turn back. Tyler rained down blows upon his mother’s head. She was able to scream out “why?” but received no answer from her son who was by now in a murderous rage. Blake heard his wife’s screams and ran downstairs. Stunned, he looked at Tyler and asked “why?” Tyler screamed “why the fuck not” over and over again as he beat his father to death with the hammer. Tyler went on to tell Michael that he collected all of the evidence, including the bodies and put it all in the master bedroom. He cleaned up what he could and then showered. When he got out of the shower he looked in the mirror and laughed. Then he got dressed and made his party plans. Michael raced downstairs but did not immediately leave the party. The two are pictured below in a selfie taken on Michael’s phone after he had been told about the murders. Michael left the party about 45 minutes later. Tyler was delusional. As the party was finally breaking up he told David Garcia that “the party was fun. I might have another one tomorrow night.” At 4:40am Tyler took to facebook for one final message. “Party at my house again hmu”

 

  What Tyler didn’t know was that Michael had finally called the police. At 4:32am they had been sent to 371 NE Grandeur Avenue. At 4:40am they were looking through a window as Tyler was posting on facebook. The police rang the doorbell. There would be no second party at the Hadley home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                        

 

 

                                              The infamous selfie: Michael and Tyler (right)

 

 

 

   Tyler was taken outside, searched for weapons and handcuffed. He thought that he was being arrested because of the party. “I know I’m going to Rock Road so just take me.” He protested when police officers entered the home. “You can’t go in there. Don’t go in there.” The party was now officially over.

 

  Family friends and relatives were left to wonder had happened. They were baffled by some of the remarks made by the teens that had either attended the party or had been friends of Tyler Hadley. Anthony Snook: “Wow! I just went to the party of a lifetime. It’s messed up what he did but 20 years from now I’ll be able to say that I was there. I hate Port St. Lucie but that’s kind of cool.” An anonymous 16 year old girl said that she “wasn’t upset when I heard. I wasn’t scared or disgusted. I was just in awe.” Mike Young: “I was, like, damn brother! That’s creepy as hell. I can’t believe we partied last night where there were dead people.”

 

  Tyler was enjoying his newfound notoriety in the St. Lucie Jail. He became known as the hammer man, hammboy and Bam-Bam. He even signed autographs for fellow inmates. In a letter to his friend Michael Mandell he said that he wished he “could throw back some Miller Lights and smoke a fat ass strawberry White Owl. But I gotta say it feels good to be sober. My head is nice and clear. Make sure you drink some Miller for me. Drink yourself stupid like I used to do…I swear to you, Michael, the devil had a hold on me. I talked to him and he talked to me. That's why I seemed so crazy toward the end. I'm not a cold blooded monster like everyone thinks I am. I'm a caring person that made a horrible mistake. You gotta let people know that.”

 

  Tyler Hadley was 17 at the time of the murders and therefore was not eligible for the death penalty. He originally pleaded not guilty but in February 2014 he changed his plea to no contest to two counts of first degree murder. Tyler and his defence had hoped that his mental condition at the time of the murders would mean a more lenient sentence. However, Judge Robert Makemson said that there was no evidence that Tyler was “mentally compromised” at the time of the murders. He was given two life sentences with no possibility of parole. Tyler is currently serving his sentence in the Northwest Florida Reception Center in Chipley, Florida.

 

  

Author's note:  I recently began communicating with Tyler Hadley. It was too late to include in the above chapter. The story is probably worthy of a longer and more detailed accounting and the letters may hopefully lead to that.