Man Condemned in 1975 Family Massacre Says DNA Proves Innocence..

By Mike Branom : Associated Press Writer
Published: Jan 15, 2003

 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A Winter Garden man on death row for the 1975 Christmas Eve massacre of his family and a customer should be freed because new DNA tests prove his innocence, according to motions filed Wednesday in Circuit Court.

Tommy Zeigler, now 57, won a request from a state court judge in August 2001 for a detailed investigation into blood samples taken from the crime scene at his family's furniture store.

"We believe with the motions we have put forth, that we have a very strong case that these convictions should be vacated for a new trial," said Ziegler's New York attorney, John Houston Pope.

But state authorities were dismissive of the claims.

"That's ludicrous and totally ridiculous," Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. "It's like revisionist history, and it really doesn't change anything. ... The amount of evidence in this case is overwhelming."

In 1976, Zeigler was convicted in the slayings of his wife, Eunice, 29, her parents visiting from Georgia, Perry and Virginia Edwards, 72 and 54, and Charles Mays, 35, who had bought a TV at the store that day and was to pick it up.

Prosecutors said Zeigler committed the murders, then shot himself through the side in a cold-blooded scheme to collect $500,000 in insurance money on his wife.

However, Zeigler's new lawyers contend the state's case collapses with the DNA tests.

Authorities have contended that Perry Edwards died after fighting with Zeigler. For this reason, blood stains on Zeigler's shirt must have come from his father-in-law, prosecutors said.

But tests revealed that the blood is not from Edwards, according to the motion to vacate.

Pope, who began representing Zeigler in 1991, said his client has always said he was jumped when he entered the furniture store. Zeigler fought with and then shot his assailant, who must have been Mays, Pope said.

At the time of the trial, DNA testing of blood was unavailable. Authorities were only able to show that the blood was Type A, the type belonging to both Edwards and Mays. Mays, a handyman, sometimes made deliveries for Zeigler.

Blood on Mays' pants came from Edwards, indicating it was Mays who killed Edwards in a fight, Pope said.

Pope said it could be up to three months before the court acts on the motions.

AP-ES-01-15-03 1914EST</BOD>

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