PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Zeigler, in failing health and now 80 years old, wonders if he'll live long enough to win his freedom. Zeigler’s last-minute appeals spared him from execution twice in the 1980s. If the Judge grants an evidentiary hearing, it will take place during the first week of December."
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STORY: "Convicted mass murderer in Florida seeks full hearing on DNA evidence," by Investigative Reporter Greg Fox, published by WESH 2, on August 7, 2025. "Fox has been a member of the WESH 2 News team since May 1987 as an anchor and reporter. He is currently the Investigative and Political reporter. In 2023, he was honored to receive an Emmy Award from the National Academy Of Television Arts and Sciences (Suncoast Chapter) in the category of “News Special.”
GIST: "Tommy Zeigler, who has been on Florida’s death row longer than anyone in State history, is hoping a Judge will give him one more chance at trying to win his freedom.
He’s been at Florida State Prison for more than 49 years, for the heinous murders committed in West Orange County 50 years ago this December.
“Mr. Zeigler could not have committed the crimes he was convicted of,” one of Zeigler’s attorneys, Dennis Tracey, said in court for a discussion Thursday of new scientific evidence.
State attorney opposes new hearing for Zeigler despite new DNA evidence
The State’s Joshua Schow, an assistant Attorney General, said in court, “This, the long legal process) needs to end sometime, and today is that day.”
Both sides debated before Circuit Judge Leticia Marques whether Zeigler deserves a new evidentiary hearing, a mini-trial of sorts with witnesses and expert testimony, based on results of DNA testing on clothing, guns, and other evidence from the murders of his wife Eunice, her parents Perry and Virginia Edwards, and Charlie Mays, a customer of Zeigler's Winter Garden furniture store, on Christmas Eve 1975.
In one of several interviews granted to WESH 2 Investigates by Zeigler, he said in February 2023, "I've done everything in the world that I could to prove my innocence."
Tracey said in court, “Mr. Zeigler was convicted of four murders that he has always contended that he did not commit.”
Beginning more than two years ago, the defense collected all of the Zeigler case evidence that’s been stored in the Orange county courthouse, and shipped it to a California lab for the fourth round of D-N-A testing. In all, 232 samples were tested, yielding 133 D-N-A profiles.
The defense said they prove without question, that the blood stains point to Mays as the killer, not Zeigler, who had a gunshot wound when police arrived. He claimed to have been shot, while prosecutors claimed he shot himself to try and avoid suspicion.
The State pointed to those results and argued, they change none of the facts that convicted Zeigler, with Schow saying, “He has had the opportunity to test the DNA. But it just doesn't support his theory. And that's why were asking this court to summarily reject these claims.”
The State also reintroduced a prior theory offered from the Circuit Nine State Attorney’s office in prior hearings, that Zeigler could have worn a raincoat to protect his clothing from the victims’ blood stains. But the defense countered, even if Zeigler had worn a raincoat, it would not have fully shielded his clothing.
Judge Marques promised a ruling on the defense request for an evidentiary hearing in a few days.
Attorney Terry Hadley has represented Zeigler for nearly half a century, and after the hearing told WESH 2 Investigates, “You're talking about an innocent man and we hope to have the evidentiary hearing so we can demonstrate that.”
"Are you able to comment Mr. Schow,” asked WESH 2 Investigates as the assistant Attorney General left the courthouse. Schow replied, “Nope!"
While Schow declined to speak with us, and address questions as to why the office of Attorney General James Uthmeier sent him to stand in for the assistant State Attorney, Circuit Nine State Attorney for Orange and Osceola counties, Monique Worrell, explained why she believes the new scientific testing, doesn't justify a new hearing. Worrell said, “This case has gone through my conviction integrity unit. It has been reviewed extensively. And the position of those attorneys is that the State Attorney's office cannot stand in agreement with Mr. Zeigler with regards to the outcome of that testing.”
Zeigler, in failing health and now 80 years old, wonders if he'll live long enough to win his freedom.
Zeigler’s last-minute appeals spared him from execution twice in the 1980s. If the Judge grants an evidentiary hearing, it will take place during the first week of December."
The enttire story can be read at:
https://www.wesh.com/article/convicted-mass-murderer-florida-seeks-full-hearing-dna-evidence/65628837
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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 Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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