‘We leave an empty chair,’ mother says with little answers into son’s death

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Friedrich “Fritz” Timmermann. Credit: Photo via WINK News.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Friedrich “Fritz” Timmermann never missed a family meal but since he was killed by what sources say was a stray bullet back in March his family has been left with a void.

“At family dinner we just leave an empty chair, set a place and that’s where he would’ve been and he never missed a meal,” his mother, Marjorie Timmerman said.

Fritz Timmermann, 43, was driving home for dinner along Summerlin Road when he was fatally shot in the head, then crashed his car into a concrete retainer wall. Marjorie Timmermann said she was expecting her son but he never came. Instead she received a call from the hospital.

“Earlier on in the evening he had taken me home, dropped me off and said he had something to do then when he come back he would have dinner,” Marjorie Timmermann said. “So we were waiting for him to come back and then we got the call from the emergency room saying he was in an accident and they wanted us to come down as soon as possible.”

His sister, Vanessa Timmermann, remembers him as a giving person.

“He was just a great guy and he didn’t deserve this at all — best guy anybody could know and didn’t deserve this to happen to him,” she said.

The investigation into his death was upgraded to a homicide the next day, but three months later, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office has been unable to identify any suspects. Vanessa Timmermann said she is haunted by the idea of her brother’s killer being on the loose.

“It’s upsetting knowing the person could be standing next to me at Publix and I don’t know that — infuriating that the person is still out there and he can live his life normally,” she said.

Fritz Timmermann’s father opened his own investigation back in March under convictions that his son was targeted even as law enforcement sources say Fritz Timmerman was killed by a stray bullet. He joins his family in pleas for information from the public.

“Until we know what happened it won’t get any easier,” Marjorie Timmermann said.

A Lee County Sheriff’s Office sergeant, David Lebid told Crime Stoppers that their department needs the public’s help to solve the homicide.

“We can’t undo what happened. But what we can do is provide an explanation to the family and this person or the people who were involved owe that not only to the family, but to the community they live within,” Lebid said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 239-477-1000 or CrimeStoppers at 800-780-TIPS.

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