{"id":67219,"date":"2025-12-02T00:21:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67219\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T00:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:21:07","slug":"modern-dna-tests-challenge-key-evidence-in-1976-zeigler-murder-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67219\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern DNA tests challenge key evidence in 1976 Zeigler murder conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Modern DNA testing and forensic reanalysis have cast new doubt on the evidence used to convict Tommy Zeigler <\/a>in 1976 of four murders that occurred on Christmas Eve 1975, his attorneys said, a development they contend could provide a chance at freedom for the now-80-year-old inmate if the results are deemed authentic and legally relevant.<\/p>\n

Zeigler was convicted of killing his wife, his in-laws and another man at his family\u2019s furniture store in Winter Garden. According to Ziegler\u2019s attorneys, prosecutors relied heavily on forensic assertions that bloodstains on Zeigler\u2019s clothing came from his family members and on a theory that he fired the shots at close range. <\/p>\n

[WATCH: Tommy Zeigler granted hearing on DNA evidence]<\/p>\n

Zeigler has long maintained he was a victim \u2014 saying he walked in on a robbery and was shot while struggling with the real killer.<\/p>\n

According to defense attorneys, comprehensive modern analysis of the physical evidence produced three principal findings: no blood from Zeigler\u2019s family members was found on his clothing except for a trace on one shoe; no gunshot residue or back spatter was detected on Zeigler, contrary to the State\u2019s close-range shooting theory; and blood and DNA evidence point to another individual who was present at the crime scene.<\/p>\n

A senior forensic scientist at the Forensic Analytical Crime Lab, who was asked about her testing of several blood samples, said she collected four samples from Zeigler\u2019s left shoe and that they tested positive for the presence of blood from different people. <\/p>\n

[WATCH: Tommy Zeigler\u2019s defense bolstered by new DNA evidence]<\/p>\n

Kristen Harty-Connell said, \u201cThere was evidence of Charles Mays being a contributor as well as Perry Edwards being a contributor,\u201d the scientist said.<\/p>\n

The state, however, questioned how accurate the testing was among other concerns. <\/p>\n

The developments come as Zeigler faces the possibility of final judicial review. Circuit Court Judge Leticia Marques is slated to decide whether to uphold Zeigler\u2019s death sentence or to overturn his convictions in light of the new findings.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Modern DNA testing and forensic reanalysis have cast new doubt on the evidence used to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[265,4536,28,1933,1335,139,141,140,37770],"class_list":{"0":"post-67219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-death-row","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-murder","12":"tag-orange-county","13":"tag-orlando","14":"tag-orlando-headlines","15":"tag-orlando-news","16":"tag-tommy-zeigler"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}