Facing Life in Prison, Aaron Thayer Pleads to Attempted Murder, 6 Years in Prison and 12 on Probation

His longtime girlfriend told deputies she was fearful of him: he’d previously beaten her, including a strangling incident, but she’d not reported it. Thayer could remotely see deputies on his property through his surveillance system. It angered him even more.

By the time he arrived in Flagler County, deputies already had a warrant for his arrest on charges of written threats to kill. But by day’s end that April 3 a year ago, and after he was tased, he was at the Flagler County jail facing many more charges, including attempted first degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and grand theft of a firearm, among others. The murder charge alone qualified him for life in prison. (See body cam footage below.)

There was another twist to the case. Thayer is the son of George Contos, who until he was 58 years old had lived at the same Apricot Avenue property that Thayer and his family occupied–after Contos in May 2015 vanished. His car was found at a Palm Coast shopping mall.

This afternoon, with his then-girlfriend and the 17-year-old daughter they have in common present in the courtroom, Thayer 40, pleaded no contest to five charges, including a charge reduced to attempted second degree murder–still a first degree felony, but not a life felony.




The combined charges netted Thayer 66 years prison. He got six. Since he’s been at the Flagler County jail for a year, that time will be credited to his sentence, reducing it to five years. Since he’s eligible got gain time, or early release for good behavior after serving 85 percent of his sentence, he may be out in a little over four years. The prison sentence will be followed by 12 years on probation, with the possibility of early termination if he complies with all the rules.

Thayer was immediately looking around the courtroom for his family when he walked in with other inmates, in the usual jail orange jumpsuit, hands and legs in chains, his beard almost as long as still as brown as the day of his arrest. It took him a moment but when seated, he appeared to give his girlfriend and daughter a smile and a nod of the head. The pair were with a victim’s advocate, who usually accompanies victims to ensure they feel safe and comforted. But in this case the mother of the 17 year old was there to speak to the judge and ask him to alter the terms of the deal: she wanted to be able to have contact with Thayer while he was in prison.

She took the stand. Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark had negotiated the plea deal with the defense and with the former girlfriend’s full knowledge and consent. That negotiated resolution had initially called for continued no contact. The victim wanted that no-contact order lifted.




It puzzled Circuit Judge Terence Perkins. “I’m a little nervous about allowing that to happen outside of supervision and the court,” he told the victim. “Does that bother you at all?”

“I would think there would be supervision over the phone calls with him being in prison,” she said.

The judge was still too nervous about that. “So if we were to permit written-only communication, not voice communication, but written only, initially. You can always ask to change that. Would that serve your purposes?” he asked her. The woman agreed. But he did not yet agree to eliminate the no-contact order involving the daughter. He still wanted to understand what was prompting the victim to see Thayer differently today. “As initially charged, the sentence would have been much greater,” the judge said, continuing to speak with the victim in the witness box. “And we’ve reduced the charge here and I know that the state coordinates very carefully with the others that are involved, particularly those that we classify as victims in that regard. So they’re very careful about getting your wishes known, and they have in this case. So tell me why is your favorite a lesser sentence?”

“I feel like he’s very sorry for what he did. And I feel like he has a way to talk to his daughter,” the woman said.

Assuming there’s no contraband communication equipment in prison, the communications will be limited to written cards or letters. The judge said Thayer’s daughter can ask for a lifting of the no-contact order at a later, unspecified date. Only then the judge took the plea. Thayer did not understand that, and spoke up during the hearing, telling the judge his daughter had not been the victim.

But for that detail, the questions and answers were all routine, until the judge asked Thayer if he knew what he was doing. “I know what I’m doing, but I feel like the way the law is written, I have no other option,” Thayer said. A year ago he had been loudly disbelieving when he was tased or when sheriff’s deputies were handcuffing him, expressing his disbelief at both the deputies and his girlfriend. He was more robotically compliant today, submitting to the usual fingerprinting required by the Department of Corrections before he was ushered out of the courtroom to be readied for his transfer to state prison.

Thayer was found guilty on the attempted second degree murder charge, and on the charges of written threat to kill, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and grand theft of a firearm, all felonies, and resisting an officer, a misdemeanor.