ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The fate of a man who has been on Florida’s death row longer than any other inmate, now rests with an Orange County judge.
Tommy Zeigler was convicted of killing four people, including his wife and her parents in Winter Garden, before shooting himself in the stomach as a cover-up back in 1975.
Zeigler has always maintained his innocence, but now says new evidence proves it.
After a 5-day hearing, a judge will decide if a new trial is warranted, but according to attorneys for Zeigler, it will be months before the 80-year-old inmate learns his fate.Throughout the hearing this week, 80-year-old Tommy Zeigler was wheeled into and out of the Orange County Courthouse connected to an oxygen tank.
He watched mostly in silence as expert witnesses talked about gruesome 50-year-old crime scene photos and attorneys from both sides zeroed in on the significance of new DNA testing.
Zeigler’s attorneys are claiming new DNA evidence from Zeigler’s shirt and pants didn’t have the blood spatters consistent with shooting the four victims: his wife Eunice Zeigler, his in-laws Virginia and Perry Edwards, and a customer at Zeigler’s Winter Garden furniture store, Charles Mays.
“The newly discovered evidence presented this week dramatically undermines the evidence presented to the jury and would have certainly created reasonable doubt,” said one of Zeigler’s attorneys.
A jury found Zeigler committed the murders because he wanted a $500,000 payout from his wife’s life insurance policies.
But Zeigler has maintained his family was killed in a botched robbery attempt and that the fourth victim, Charles Mays, was the attacker.
“Why would Mr. Zeigler have shot himself in the abdomen, a region most likely to lead to a slow and painful death?” questioned Zeigler’s attorney.
Zeigler’s attorneys, claim the same DNA testing shows Zeigler couldn’t have shot himself, because someone beat him after he was shot in the stomach.
Prosecutors said that theory was not at all consistent with the version of events Zeigler testified to during his original trial.
“If they’re going to go with this theory that Mr. Zeigler was shot and beat, they’re going to have to explain to the jury why Zeigler told the wrong story at trial,” said Joshua Schow, Assistant Attorney General.
The state is also claiming the defense’ theory about blood spatter ignores other forensic clues left behind at the murder scene.
Schow suggested the defense cherry-picked evidence to submit for new DNA testing, and that the evidence does not change why Zeigler was convicted.
“He’s brought every theory under the sun to try and challenge the facts that were established in his 1976 conviction,” said Schow.
Zeigler’s defense attorney Terry Hadley told Channel 9, the judge will order a transcript of this week’s hearing and that attorneys will be given time to file their written summaries.
Once they are filed, the judge will then have 30 days to make decision, so that decision is not expected until about mid-March.
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