"Cooper's father, Robert Thompson, the former police chief of nearby Oakland, Fla., was the first police officer at the scene. Lynn-Marie Carty, a private investigator who is trying to bring new attention to the case, said Thompson suppressed a police report that would raise questions about Zeigler's guilt and changed his story many times about the crime scene."
REPORTER MIKE SCHNEIDER: ASSOCIATED PRESS;
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BACKGROUND: (COMMISSION ON CAPITAL CASES); On July 2, 1976, William Thomas Zeigler Jr. was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. The following account of the circumstances of the offense is that which is found in the Florida Supreme Court Opinion, published June 11, 1981: On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1975, Eunice Zeigler, wife of the defendant, and Perry and Virginia Edwards, parents-in-law of the defendant, were shot to death in the W.T. Zeigler Furniture Store in Winter Garden, Florida. In addition, Charles Mays, Jr. was shot and subsequently beaten to death at the same location. The medical examiner estimated times of death as within one hour of 8:00 p.m. that evening. The defendant was also found shot through the abdomen. The state theorized that Zeigler murdered the four people in an apparent insurance fraud scheme. Just months before the murders, Zeigler had purchased a large amount of life insurance on his wife and had purchased two RG revolvers indirectly through Edward Williams, a long time family acquaintance. Williams testified that Zeigler had inquired of him about obtaining a “hot gun.” Williams then arranged for another man, Frank Smith, to purchase the guns and deliver them to Zeigler. On the day of the murders, Zeigler had made arrangements to meet Mays and Williams, at separate times, at the furniture store. Mays left his home around 6:30 p.m. and went to an Oakland beer joint where he encountered his friend, Felton Thomas. Thomas then accompanied Mays to meet Zeigler at the furniture store. Upon meeting, Zeigler took the two men to an orange grove to shoot a set of guns he had with him in his vehicle. The state theorized that the purpose of this trip was to get the two men to handle and fire the weapons Zeigler had procured. When they returned to the store, Zeigler could not persuade Thomas to enter the store. Thomas became uncomfortable and left the premises. This was the last time Mays was seen alive by Thomas. Around 8:00 p.m., Zeigler returned to his home to keep an earlier appointment he had made with Edward Williams. Williams was to meet him at Zeigler’s home in order to help Zeigler move Christmas presents from the furniture store. The two men used Williams’ truck to return to the store. When they arrived, Zeigler entered through the front door and instructed Williams to pull his truck around to the back and then enter from the rear entrance. When Williams entered the back hallway, Zeigler put a gun to Williams’ chest and pulled the trigger three times. However, the gun did not fire and Williams fled the store. At some point after this, Zeigler himself was shot in the stomach. The state theorized that Zeigler became desperate and conceived the idea that he would appear uninvolved if he were also injured. Zeigler telephoned a judge’s residence, where he knew police officers would be gathering for a Christmas party, and reported a robbery. At trial, Zeigler maintained that his wife and parents-in-law were killed during the course of a robbery and that Mays was involved but was killed by his confederates.
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"ORLANDO, Fla. -- The daughter of a former central Florida police chief who helped convict a furniture store owner of the murders of three relatives and a handyman 35 years ago said Monday she believes the death row inmate is innocent," the April 11, 2011 Associated Press story by reporter Mark Schneider published on April 11, 2011 begins, under the heading, "Chief's daughter: Fla. death row inmate innocent," begins.
"Christine Cooper said she believes that 65-year-old Tommy Zeigler was wrongfully convicted of the Christmas Eve 1975 deaths of his wife, in-laws and a handyman at his Winter Garden store," the story continues.
""I believed the justice system failed," Cooper, 43, of Melbourne, who spoke at news conference outside the Orange County Courthouse. "He deserves a fair trial and he never got one."
Prosecutors said Zeigler committed the murders and then shot himself in the stomach as a cover-up in a scheme to collect $500,000 in insurance money on his wife. Zeigler has maintained his innocence for the past three decades, claiming he was shot in self-defense. He said DNA evidence would exonerate him and is trying to get evidence re-examined since DNA testing wasn't available in the mid-1970s. An Orlando judge in 2005 ruled that DNA evidence would not exonerate Zeigler of the murders.
Cooper's father, Robert Thompson, the former police chief of nearby Oakland, Fla., was the first police officer at the scene. Lynn-Marie Carty, a private investigator who is trying to bring new attention to the case, said Thompson suppressed a police report that would raise questions about Zeigler's guilt and changed his story many times about the crime scene.
Thompson later spent time running arms to Central America as a mercenary in the 1980s, the daughter said. He died in 1999 in Tallahassee, said his daughter.
"I don't want to accuse my father of anything because I loved him dearly," Cooper said. "But my father died keeping a whole of secrets with him and I wish he were here to answer a lot of questions."
Danielle Tavernier, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office, refused to comment on the case."
The story can be found at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/11/2161877/chiefs-daughter-fla-death-row.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
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