Tommy Zeigler?

[Mystery Man]

Anybody remember this case? Apparently, this man killed his wife and her mother in his store he owned. But in a turn of events, he was also beaten and injured at the scene. Anyway, he was thrown in jail and remained there for two decades. I think its still unsolved.

[Mystery Man]

Anyone?

[kadrmas15]

Zeigler's case was solved, well at least technically since he was convicted of it although I do believe he was innocent. He remains in prison today. He has been on Florida's death row for over 33 and a half years. It will be 34 years in July. He was convicted of killing his wife, both her parents and a man who was a customer. He was beaten and was shot in the stomach, Zeigler was.

[Jediknight1823]

Zeigler's case was solved, well at least technically since he was convicted of it although I do believe he was innocent. He remains in prison today. He has been on Florida's death row for over 33 and a half years. It will be 34 years in July. He was convicted of killing his wife, both her parents and a man who was a customer. He was beaten and was shot in the stomach, Zeigler was.

And he won't be executed, he'll die in prison. They won't send Zeigler to his death, because of the uproar that would happen if they did it. They'll leave him in jail, but he won't be executed.

[kadrmas15]

Yes, I agree, well probably. If Attorney General Bill McCollum who is running for Florida Governor and who ironically I am supporting but if he wins, I can guarantee he will crank up the death machine in Florida. It will not be anywhere at the level of Texas of course but by Florida standards it will be high. Whether he would sign Zeigler's death warrant remains to be seen. I know that the Orange County State Attorney Lawson Lamar sent a letter to Governor Charlie Crist last year asking Crist to sign Zeigler's death warrant but so far no action. I just think signing Zeigler's death warrant would be too controversial as there is too much doubt about his guilt. It is just like Gary Alvord, the longest serving death row inmate in Florida and the entire United States. He has been on death row since 1974, he has been out of appeals since 1998 but no one will ever sign his death warrant. It would be too controversial, due to his mental illness as he has schizophrenia.

[Clockworkhigh]

Yeah I think Tommy Ziegler like Jeffrey MacDonald will die in prison. I would personally lose sleep if I was the one that gave permission to execute them. Like another poster said it is far from cut and dry. As for the cut and dry murder cases, I have absolutely no problem with the death penalty but in Ziegler's case while I have leaned on the side of him being guilty I believe there is that chance that he isn't as well.

The only thing that bothers me is that $500,000 he was to collect of life insurance when his wife died. In 1975 that was an astounding piece of coin and you could easily of retired off of that back then and live off the interest.

My only concern is why kill your in-laws? Why kill your friend that you personally prearranged to meet there? That part has never made sense to me at all.

Bottom line, Tommy Ziegler is either the biggest liar in the world or is the unluckiest man to ever walk the face of the earth.

[kadrmas15]

Well, to clarify a couple of things. Zeigler's family, aka Zeigler himself already had a net worth closing in on the million dollar range. Why kill his wife for insurance money when he already had more money than what the insurance policy was worth? Also Charlie Mays and Tommy Zeigler were not friends. Mays was a customer of the store and he and Zeigler knew each other but I would say they were more casual and not friends. Ironically Zeigler was only convicted of first degree murder in the death of his wife and of Charlie Mays. He was convicted of the lesser included charge of 2nd degree murder for the murders of his in-laws.

[kadrmas15]

Of course to quote the jerk judge that was and is Maurice Paul when he told a prosecutor off the record "if you get me a first degree murder conviction I will fry the SOB (Zeigler)". So he knew he was going to sentence Zeigler to death the whole time that is very obvious. He had no reason to override the jury's recommendation except for political and personal reasons due to his personal dislike of Zeigler.