Defrosting Cold Cases

Recap #crimechat April 4, 2013 Today we spoke about wrongful convictions with Nancy Petro. A short introduction to wrongful convictions started this crimechat. How do we find out about Wrongful Convictions in general? A: We discover that the victim is alive & well. Examples: India 2003, the Reena Devi case. Reena disappeared, her mother ID-ed her [...]

Death on Hold: Zeigler In the documentary “Death on Hold” you can see the trial and appeals in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. It explains why for the past 37 years, we have been trying to show you that he never had a fair trial. Judge for yourself whether there is room for doubt.

Death on Hold; Zeigler Sunday March 31, 2013 This Sunday, WFLA airs a 30 minute special about William Thomas Zeigler. Announcing “Death on Hold” The second clip is here: Second clip announcing “Death on Hold” The clips show much that you already know if you have been reading my blog but it will add some [...]

Sum it Up! #40 There are a few cases that I am watching: The Italian Supreme Court heard arguments today re Amanda Knox. The story on CNN is here. The issue of extradition will most likely fail since the US Constitution prohibits that someone faces another prosecution on substantially the same charges (double jeopardy). Note [...]

Zeigler DNA Appeal denied From the Orlando Sentinel: “The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday denied an appellate motion by convicted killer Tommy Zeigler, the latest ruling in his three-plus-decade fight to get off death row.  Zeigler appealed to the state Supreme Court after a circuit judge denied his request to have DNA tests performed on [...]

On November 13, 2012, Judge Whitehead denied the motion to vacate judgment of conviction and sentence based on newly discovered evidence in the case of William Thomas Zeigler. Judge Whitehead’s decision is below.                                

This #cclivechat was not planned since I expected to be tied up until later in the afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised to be dismissed early so I told you about some favourite true crime books. Books are an important part of my life. They have shaped some of my thoughts, they question my beliefs, they [...]

I just found this on the clerk’s website: OTHER EVENTS AND HEARINGS 09/04/2012 Deposition Hearing 08/30/2012 Case Management Conference  (1:30 PM) (Judicial Officer Whitehead, Reginald K) Case Management Conference 08/17/2012 Correspondence / Rec’d from Judge I will post details as soon as I have spoken to the defense team! UPDATE: I contacted the defense team. They [...]

Last Thursday, the Zeigler defense team was back in court to ask Judge Whitehead for an evidentiary hearing to explore the latest developments in the case of William Thomas Zeigler, who remains on death row in Florida. Of course, at issue were the false arrest report and the legal consequences for the case. From the Orlando [...]

Gregory Powell, a.k.a. the Onion Field Killer, is dead. He was incarcerated at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville which is part of the state prison system. He had prostate cancer. In 1963, Gregory Powell and Jimmy Lee Smith killed LAPD officer Ian Campbell in an onion field near Bakersfield. Campbell’s partner, Karl Hettinger, ran to get help. [...]