Zeigler, Part XIX

Zeigler, Part XIX: There is a new and exciting turn of events in the case of William Thomas Zeigler.

As loyal readers know, Mr. Zeigler has been on death row for the 1975 quadruple murders that took place on Christmas Eve inside his family’s furniture store in Wintergarden, Florida.

When I started my posts about this case in March 2010, I told you then that I would not write another overview of the case because the late Phillip Finch had already done that in his excellent book “Fatal Flaw” and I could never do better. Instead, I set out to show you why I believed that Mr. Zeigler never had a fair trial and I based my posts on the charges against him and basic rules of procedure.

I laid the foundation by explaining the crime scene to you. Detective Frye was convinced that Mays died before the Edwards family including Mr. Zeigler’s wife, Eunice Edwards-Zeigler. I told you that I disagreed. In my analysis, Perry & Virginia Edwards were attacked at the same time that Eunice tried to run for help. The entire family was butchered. Then Mays got upset with the others. Around that time, Mr. Zeigler arrived at the store. He was shot, beaten and left for dead. Then the others decided to get rid of Mays and a fifth body hit the floor.

Support for this timeline was found in the statements made by John Jellison. In “The significance of the Jellison Tape” you see that an alternative timeline is possible and in fact, fits perfectly with my crime scene analysis. That, together with the withheld Thompson report, would have shown the jury that in fact, the state could not prove its charges against Mr. Zeigler. The withheld evidence (never disclosed to the defense during discovery) would in the hands of Terry Hadley have created reasonable doubt.

And now there is more.

Again it concerns withheld evidence.

Again it concerns lying on the stand by officials.

And again, if Terry Hadley had the correct information at the time of the initial trial, Mr. Zeigler would not have been found guilty.

If you look up Mr. Zeigler’s case at the Orange County Clerk of Courts webiste, you will find this:

To be continued!