I just got done reading this story on FoxNews about a woman who killed an intruder with her pink .38 special. The image that Fox used was catchy and lead me to read the article… I mean, how often do you see a pink gun?

Ok, so I read the article and immediately a few things start to smell fishy.
- knock on the door at 3am and she goes to answer it
- 25 year old beauty queen engaged to a 43 year old dude
- the guy is an “arborist” and lives in a big house in Tierra Verde, Fla.
- this “arborist” bought his fiance a $60,000 ring. Yes, $60k.
- this “arborist” typically pays for pizza with $100 bills
So these things all start to puzzle me… how many tree trimmers and plant inspectors can afford a luxury home in a place where house prices, for a 2,700 sq foot home, costs about $600,000? Let alone a $60,000 rock.
So then I decide to do some digging. My good friend Google always comes through for me. I start looking for arborist salaries in the Tierra Verde area, but don’t come up with any real results… instead I get more stories, including this one right here, which includes an every-so-lovely image of the happy couple.

That house looks sick. That Rolex is covered in diamonds. That dude… well, he doesn’t look like he could snag a 25 year old former beauty queen on looks alone. Let’s just leave it at that.
I also come away with this article from 8 years ago involving the same guy. Only this time his former fiance loses the $31,000 diamond ring that he flew in from Israel. Oh, but he had to sell his Dodge Viper, speed boat and custom Harley in order to buy the ring and a new house. Once again, I ask the question, how does an arborist have the dough to pay for this kind of swag? The article mentions that he owned his own company, but still, trimming trees and spraying for fungus and bugs doesn’t really add up to this much green.
Ok, so then I make my way back to the article with the lovely couple. You can’t get past the first section without reading this prize winning piece of writing: “Brown lives with her fiance, 43-year-old Bobby Planthaber, in a 2,732-square-foot Tierra Verde home. Next to the home’s front door is a plaque that reads “Phat City”. Surveillance cameras cover the home, inside and out.” Really? You’re that pretentious that you’d have that sign outside your house? Also, you have cameras inside and out? The article also mentions this “It wasn’t unusual for friends to come by at such a late hour.” Which leads me to an equation…
Arborist + Tons of Cameras + People come by late at night = ???
Do you need help solving the equation? I’m sure he does lots of plant work and pruning, but I doubt it’s to oaks, maples, palms or any other kinds of trees.
I’m glad that the Ms. Brown wasn’t injured, or worse, assaulted or killed. But I have to wonder why FoxNews wrote the article and took the approach that they did. They framed it pretty well that it was a home invasion turned shooting, but seemed to focus quite a bit on the big money aspect of this couple. For me, it only made me want to do some more digging. I used to love FoxNews. I used to trust their reporting. Now I wonder what the heck they’re talking about and why they’re choosing some of the garbage that they’re putting up. Oh, and you CNN and MSNBC fans, don’t get all happy and giddy with my take on Fox… CNN and MSNBC are worse than Fox! You don’t have to take my word for it… listed to John Stewart’s take on CNN!
On the other hand… they got me to read the article, didn’t they?!?!
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