Thursday, December 1, 2011

BULLETIN; TOMMY ZEIGLER; ORLANDO; HEARING PROCEEDS; TRIED IN 1976; PROTESTS INNOCENCE; SEEKS PREVIOUSLY UNAVAILABLE DNA TESTING; WESH.COM;

Man On Death Row Since 1976: 'I'm Innocent'

Convicted Man, Attorneys Ask For DNA Testing

POSTED: 6:57 am EST December 1, 2011

A 66-year-old death row inmate stands firm that he is innocent in the murders of his wife, in-laws and another man 36 years ago.

"I'm innocent of these murders," Tommy Zeigler told WESH 2's Dave McDaniel in a jailhouse interview.On Thursday morning, in a long-awaited hearing, Zeigler and his attorneys will ask a judge for DNA testing to be conducted on blood-stained evidence.Zeigler was convicted of killing 4 people in his Winter Garden furniture store in a 1976 trial. Investigators said Zeigler killed his wife, her parents and a store customer named Charlie Mays.Ziegler was also shot in the abdomen. But investigators said he shot himself to make it appear he too was a victim. Zeigler claims that Charlie Mays shot him."I've got nothing to hide. They're taken my life. I got nothing left and they are trying to take that. And maybe they will, but I didn't commit these murders," Zeigler said.DNA testing was not available when Zeigler was tried for the murders.Attorneys hope they will be able to present blood-stained evidence found at the crime scene. They believe this will prove his innocence.

The story can be found at:

http://www.wesh.com/news/29895811/detail.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

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;