Today, the defense team for William Thomas Zeigler has filed a Motion for Rehearing. It is sixteen pages long and concisely shows you why it is crucial to get a rehearing. Charles Mays From the beginning, the State made Charles Mays a victim. In part, they were right. In part, they are wrong. This motion […]
William Thomas Zeigler
Zeigler: Appeal to set aside conviction denied
On March 6, 2026, Orlando Circuit Judge Leticia Marques said that “she would not be ordering a new trial for Zeigler. She said he had not proved that new evidence would result in an acquittal, and that’s the standard required by Florida law.” The state’s strategy to focus on Charles Mays as a victim rather […]
Zeigler Evidentiary Hearings Update
For those who are following the case of William Thomas Zeigler, I have an update. Journalist friends and lawyers spent five days in evidentiary hearings with Circuit Judge Leticia Marques at the Orange County Courthouse, Orlando, Florida. The Case On Christmas Eve 1975, a quadruple murder took place in the Zeigler Furniture Store (Winter Garden, […]
Zeigler: Evidentiary Hearing granted
On March 21, 2025, the defense team for William Thomas Zeigler filed a motion to set aside his first-degree murder convictions based on newly discovered evidence. Those convictions resulted from four murders that took place in the Zeigler Furniture Store on Christmas Eve 1975, Winter Garden, Florida. That newly discovered evidence consists of DNA results. […]
Motion to Vacate Zeigler Conviction
The latest update in the case of William Thomas Zeigler (79) is that the defense has filed a motion to vacate his conviction. Zeigler has been on death row since July 2, 1976. “WESH 2 Investigates in January was the first to reveal results of his latest round of DNA testing, authorized by a ninth […]
DNA shows Zeigler is innocent
The latest DNA testing of all the evidence in the case of William Thomas Zeigler confirms what he said all along, he did not kill his wife, his parents-in-law, and he did not kill Charles Mays on Christmas Eve, 1975. The article in the Tampa Bay does an excellent job summarizing what happened. Plus, it […]
Brief update on the Zeigler Case
DNA testing on all the evidence pieces in the case of William Thomas Zeigler is still ongoing. Tommy had a health scare earlier in the year. However, he is recovering and in his messages, sounds upbeat and positive. The last bit of news is that a new judge will be handing the case, Circuit Judge […]
Zeigler closer to modern DNA testing
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]