ORLANDO, Fla. – On the third day of a high-profile evidentiary hearing in Orange County, forensic experts took the stand Wednesday as the legal team for 80-year-old Tommy Zeigler sought to use modern DNA testing to challenge a nearly half-century-old murder conviction.
Zeigler, who has been on death row since his 1975 conviction for the Christmas Eve slayings of his wife, his in-laws and another man at his family’s furniture store in Winter Garden, sat in the courtroom in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank as forensic scientists described tests performed on blood samples and other evidence preserved from the original investigation.
Independent forensic scientist Richard Eikelenboom, called by Zeigler’s defense, used PowerPoint slides and archived photographs to help explain his analysis and the results of DNA testing on decades-old samples.
[WATCH: Modern DNA tests challege key evidence in 1976 Zeigler murder conviction]
“If Mr. Zeigler had murdered Perry Edwards, would you expect to have found a similar amount of Perry Edwards’ blood spatter on Mr. Zeigler’s clothes? Eikelenboom was asked. “Yes, I would,” he replied.
When questioned about the durability of biological evidence, Eikelenboom said modern testing techniques can detect and identify DNA even after long periods. “Was DNA testing able to identify Perry’s blood on his own clothing despite the passage of 50 years?” Zeigler’s attorney asked. “Yes,” he replied.
State prosecutors, however, pressed Eikelenboom on perceived weaknesses and errors in one of his past written reports. During cross-examination, the witness conceded at least one mistake regarding the autopsy details for Eunice Zeigler, one of the victims.
“You had indicated in your report that Eunice Zeigler was shot at a close range, right?” a prosecutor asked. “Yes, that was a mistake,” Eikelenboom acknowledged.
[WATCH: State Attorney Worrell seeks fingerprint exams in Tommy Zeigler case]
When questioned about the location of the wound he had cited, Eikelenboom agreed he had made a mistake: “She was shot in the back of the head, right?” “Yes,” he answered.
Zeigler has long maintained that he did not commit the killings. He says he walked in on an armed robbery at the store and was shot while struggling with the real assailant.
His defense team argues that the new DNA analysis undermines the state’s case and could point to alternate perpetrators.
The hearing, which is expected to resume Thursday, will continue to examine forensic evidence. At its conclusion, the judge may grant a new trial if she determines the new DNA findings materially affect Zeigler’s conviction.
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