Defrosting Cold Cases

Not everyone reads blogs so in an effort to reach those who do not, Vidster is going e! Today, my first eBook is on sale. “Zeigler, through Vidster’s eyes” documents all the blog posts I have written about the Zeigler case. Those posts are of course, in between all my other (700+) posts. I thought [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Some of you have been emailing me asking why I have stopped posting about the William Thomas Zeigler case. Am I now convinced that he is guilty? Am I bored with the case? Am I in a clinch with the defense team?   NO to all of the above!   I have been trying to [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The Orlando Sentinel reports that “Just hours after the verdict was read in the biggest case of his career [Casey Anthony], veteran Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton announced he will retire at the end of the week.” As you know, he also handled the Zeigler case. No word yet on who will replace Ashton. To be [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Review of Zeigler Project During their final spring semester twenty five (25) undergraduate and five (5) graduate students from Penn State University (PSU) reviewed documents pertaining to the trial and conviction of William Thomas Zeigler. Mr. Zeigler was convicted in 1976 of murdering his wife Eunice Zeigler, his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Perry and Virginia Edwards, [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The Zeigler Defense Team has told me that this morning, Judge Whitehead has approved state-funding to engage Mr Paul Kish as blood spatter expert in connection with William Thomas Zeigler‘s requests for new DNA testing. Mr. Kish is a forensic consultant in Corning, New York. He will testify at a future hearing on whether a new round of DNA [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

There is a string of news paper articles about the DNA hearing for William Thomas Zeigler that took place at 8am this morning in Orange County, FL! Some are correct and others are not. According to ABC Action News, Private Investigator Lynn-Marie Carty of Reunite People says the evidence she has uncovered will point the [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Zeigler’s lawyers, arguing for more DNA testing, asked the court for a continuance of the scheduled February 3rd hearing. A former forensic expert is no longer available. “The new expert, Timothy Palmbach, works with blood spatter evidence an does forensic analysis work. But Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton, another veteran [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, DNA Database, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Penn State, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The significance of the Jellison Tape Is it evidence? Is it exonerating? Is it implicating? The tape’s conversation has been posted in full so I refer you to the previous post to read it. As you know, it was suppressed by the state for about twelve years. Why? Because of what Jon Jellison saw and the [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Jellison Tape, Miscarriage of Justice, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

In my previous post “Zeigler, Part XVI“, I referred to the Jellison tape that was conveniently kept from the defense team. It was only recovered in April of 1987, when Zeigler’s lawyers made a Florida Public Records Act request for the files of the State Attorney in Orlando. That’s when they discovered (aside from the “Buried Thompson report”) [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Autopsy, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prisons, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

On behalf of Mr. McEachern, I post his message: “I hope some of you will find the time to watch the poem I wrote about the Tommy Zeigler case. Tommy has been on Florida’s death row for almost 35 years. If so, perhaps you will also be moved to sign an online petition (if you haven’t already [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Ballistics, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Evidence, Florida, Forensics, Gun Fire, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, William Thomas Zeigler, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions