On Oct 27, Florida Circuit Judge Patricia L. Strowbridge brought William Thomas Zeigler a step closer to proving that he is innocent. The 77-year-old has said so from the start. The preserved evidence pieces of guns, victim fingernail clippings and clothes will prove that he did not kill four people in 1975. Modern DNA testing […]
Florida
Remembering Charles Lee Snowden
On May 17, 1986 Charles Lee Snowden was found dead in Pensacola, Florida. Depending on his date of birth, he was 32 or 33 years old. Snowden was found laying facedown on either a parking lot at 500 Belmont Street (as per Crimestoppers in the Pensacola News Journal of Dec 7, 1986) or in an […]
Zeigler, at long last: DNA testing
A motion was filed today by the William Thomas Zeigler defense team with the approval of the Orange County State Attorney’s office for DNA testing. It still needs a judge’s approval however, these joint motions are seldom denied. But, as we have been asking for DNA testing since 1994, I will not be able to […]
Coe Caroline Paisley (1965 – 1994)
From the Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide Bureau Cold Case Squad: Location: 1223 Wallace Street, Coral Gables, Florida. Date & Time: 3:29 pm on Wednesday, August 3, 1994. “At the above time, date, and location the victim was discovered unconscious inside of a duplex apartment that she owned and was renovating. It was revealed that two […]
Zeigler: moral right denied
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala has rejected the appeal made on behalf of William Thomas Zeigler to have his pre-trial evidence from the 70s tested with modern DNA technology. Ayala denied this request “even though her conviction integrity unit urged her in April to grant it, saying it […]
Missing: Joanna Kay Otto
Joanna Kay Otto (Aug 3, 1973 – missing Nov 20, 1992) was nineteen years old on Nov 20, 1992 when she went missing from Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida. Her case is classified as endangered missing. Foul play is suspected. Her case was added to the NamUs database on Oct 4, 2013. Joanna Kay Otto was […]
Dana Michelle Speights Solomon
Dana Michelle Speights Solomon (May 17, 1985 – Nov 19, 2006) was hit by a small truck around 7pm on November 12, 2006 on Normandy Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida. The driver never stopped. Her case remains unsolved. Dana (21) was flown to UF Health Jacksonville, formerly Shands, and put in a medically induced coma. Her organs […]
Anita Mae Carter Lukander (Oct 21, 1965 – March 18, 1988)
On March 17, 1988 Anita Mae Carter Lukander (22) vanished from her Atlantic Beach home in Florida. Her remains were found ten days later. Her case remains unsolved. Missing When Anita did not report for work, the authorities went to her house. They found her door unlocked and the lights were on. A few days […]
Hope for William Thomas Zeigler
The Tampa bay Times announced Jan 3, 2019 that the Florida State Attorney’s office is “taking a fresh look” at the 1975 case of William Thomas Zeigler. Whether that fresh look is indeed an official review does not become clear in the article. However, we finally have a Florida state representative who “wants to introduce […]
The lingering case of Tommy Zeigler
Blood and truth: the lingering case of Tommy Zeigler and how Florida fights DNA testing. The Tampa Bay is publishing a new six-series about the case of William Thomas Zeigler. As my readers know, I have been involved in this case since the 90s. There are so many posts about this case on my blog that […]
Zeigler denied request to proceed in forma pauperis
William Thomas Zeigler had filed a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis on Sept 5, 2017. In plain English, he asked the United States Supreme Court for permission to continue his trial proceedings as an indigent person meaning that fees normally associated with a lawsuit or appeal be waived. This request was denied Nov […]
Zeigler deserves a rehearing
WARNING: crime scene photography below. On May 8th, 2017 the defense for William Thomas Zeigler filed a motion for a rehearing with the Florida Supreme Court. Click here to read the motion. The appeal starts with an explanation why the court misunderstood critical facts and misapplied the Florida estoppel laws. Let’s skip that for a […]
Zeigler: touch DNA denied
The Florida Supreme Court has denied William Thomas Zeigler’s request for touch DNA testing. I have converted the PDF to images below. On March 31, 2016, an evidentiary hearing was held for William Thomas Zeigler to request touch DNA testing in his case. Judge Whitehead denied that request for touch DNA on July 18, 2016. On November […]
The Zeigler November 2016 appeal
On March 31, 2016, an evidentiary hearing was held for William Thomas Zeigler to request touch DNA testing in his case. Judge Whitehead denied that request for touch DNA on July 18, 2016. On November 23, 2016, an appeal was filed in the Supreme Court of Florida. In this post I have joined the state’s arguments […]
Case of the Month: Teryl Lynn Steele Orcutt
Teryl Lynn Steele Orcutt went missing on Jan 21, 1990. On Jan 28 she was found stabbed to death in a palmetto thicket near Black Creek, Middleburg, Florida. She was just 26 years old. I do not know the exact date of death. Teryl was stabbed many times in her chest. Her partially clothed body […]
The Sims Family: 1966-2016
The Sims Family Murders (Tallahassee, Florida) are Case of the Month for October as this year marks the 50th anniversary of their unsolved homicides. We lost Robert Wilson Sims (Aug. 24, 1924 – Oct. 22, 1966), Helen Sollie Sims (Feb. 23, 1932 – Oct. 31, 1966), and Joy Lynn Sims (Mar. 5, 1954 – Oct. […]
Albert Edwin Seaburg
The cold case of Albert Edwin Seaburg (March 4, 1926 – Sept 4, 1997) is the Case of the Month for September. Albert Edwin Seaburg (71) was murdered while he was traveling through Florida. His home state was Illinois. The Florida authorities believe that he was shot during a robbery. He was found dead in […]
Zeigler’s touch DNA request denied
On Monday July 18, 2016 Judge Whitehead denied William Thomas Zeigler’s latest DNA request. It asked for testing of evidence with modern technology with emphasis on touch DNA. From the Orlando Sentinel: “In the 30-page ruling, Orange-Osceola Circuit Judge Reginald Whitehead held that Zeigler’s petition for DNA testing was too similar to others that he’s […]
Hernando County Jane Doe 1972
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (Florida) needs help with a 1972 cold case. It involves the remains of a woman found July 19, 1972. The Hernando County Jane Doe 1972 was near High Corner Road and Cortez Boulevard (State Road 50) in Brooksville. “The replica skull was created from scans of the original at USF’s […]
Ballistics point away from Zeigler
Ballistics point away from Zeigler according to the Medill Justice Project. They just released their report on the William Thomas Zeigler case. In December 1975, a quadruple murder took place in the Zeigler Furniture Store in Wintergarden, Florida. The victims were Charles Mays, Virginia and Perry Edwards (Zeigler’s parents-in-law), and Eunice Edwards-Zeigler (Zeigler’s wife). This […]