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Long-awaited DNA analysis proves man Ziegler innocent in 1975 murders, lawyers say (www.tampabay.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250122123323/https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2025/01/18/long-awaited-dna-analysis-proves-zeigler-innocent-1975-murders-lawyers-say/

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Officers or prosecutors withheld the existence of multiple witnesses and police reports, including one of an attempted armed robbery at a gas station across the street from the furniture store within hours of the murders. The original judge also behaved inappropriately, the lawyers say, getting a doctor to prescribe Valium to a holdout juror, who only then voted to convict.

Withholding evidence is not that uncommon, unfortunately, but it looks like it was especially bad in this case. And giving Valium to a juror is an egregious overreach. The full details of what happened are even worse than it sounds at first glance.

She was under a lot of pressure because she wanted to talk about the evidence and the other jurors didn't. They yelled at her and heckled her, basically, until she fainted. The judge finds out and says it's no problem. Defense lawyer asks for a mistrial, gets turned down. Juror says she doesn't need a doctor. Then the judge makes a phone call, in secret, and gets her doctor to give her Valium. Enough that the other jurors thought she was "floating."

The worst part is, the Florida supreme court saw no problem with that. They said it wasn't judicial misconduct, it was just the judge being concerned and looking out for her.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Thank you for this extra context. I already thought what was mentioned about the Valium was more egregious than the denied DNA testing. Realistically, it probably should have been declared a mistrial.

That said, there is very significant evidence that this guy did actually commit the murders. He certainly shouldn't have been denied DNA testing when requested decades later and I don't think the death penalty is an appropriate thing in society generally, but some of the details are very difficult to find another realistic theory to back.

The 58-year-old handyman who had been working for the in-laws for 20 years said Zeigler pointed a gun in his face when the two of them arrived at the store and tried to fire it several times but the gun jammed. That guy ended up getting the gun, running away, jumping a fence, hitching a ride, then showed up at the police station later that night to turn in the gun and report what happened.

Then the other guy, Mays, that Zeigler says was responsible and was found dead at the scene doesn't add up to being the killer either in my mind.

I think Zeigler had already killed his wife and in-laws. Perhaps the handyman was originally meant to be the patsy but had escaped when the gun jammed and then Zeigler called Mays to the store after that as a backup Patsy?

I obviously don't have all of the evidence, but if you read the details about the new DNA testing, they are a far cry from clear evidence that Zeigler didn't still kill his wife and in-laws. It was an extremely messy and complicated crime scene.