Defrosting Cold Cases

Research website by Alice de Sturler

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Prosecutorial Misconduct

Gerard Homer Soules (Aug 3, 1936 – June 4, 1992)

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Gerard Homer Soules (Aug 3, 1936 – June 4, 1992) was a famous trapeze artist with Ringling Bros. He performed in the center ring for five years. His last performance was for Queen Elizabeth. His signature move was a forward somersault off the trapeze catching the bar again with his heels. Soules never missed until […]

Hope for William Thomas Zeigler

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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

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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: touch DNA denied

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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 […]

Lapointe’s wrongful conviction

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Lapointe’s wrongful conviction brings back Martin’s cold case because if we take Lapointe out of the equation we are left with no answers. Who killed Bernice Martin? The decision The decision to grant a new trial is here (RICHARD LAPOINTE v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION). A few quotes: “On appeal, the petitioner claims that the court improperly rejected his […]

Case of the Month: the Zeigler wrongful conviction

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Case of the Month: the Zeigler wrongful conviction has been part of my life since 1993 when I started working for Amnesty International in Switzerland. I am appalled that the injustice endures. In December 1975, a quadruple murder took place in the Zeigler Furniture Store in Wintergarden, Florida. The victims were Charles Mays, Virginia and Perry […]

Petition for a Writ of Certiorari denied for Zeigler

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Petition for a Writ of Certiorari denied for Zeigler on May 19, 2014. The only notation is that “Chief Justice [Roberts] took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.”  Dennis H. Tracey, III and John Houston Pope filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. In […]

Sum it Up! #49

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Sum it Up! #49 is brought to you by a blogger who is tired of high winds, cold, and freezing temps. I am now accepting proposals to move to sunny, warm places. A mistrial was declared in the case against David McLeod. The  jurors failed to reach a verdict. McLeod was on trial for the Hina […]