Death row convict Joseph Zieler says lawyers deserved elbowing; didn't defend him well
A death row killer, who assaulted one of his lawyers, says he wishes he had the opportunity to assault his other lawyer, even as the first lawyer says he won't pursue charges.
Joseph Zieler, 61, of North Fort Myers, in a lightning-quick move elbowed Kevin Shirley during a motions hearing just hours before Lee Circuit Judge Robert Branning affirmed the death penalty against him on June 26. A jury convicted him May 18, then recommended death May 24 for brutally raping and killing 11-year-old Robin Cornell and her babysitter, Lisa Story, 32, in Cape Coral.
In an email from Lee County Jail in Fort Myers on July 13, Zieler defended his actions while continuing to claim his innocence, saying the attorneys, Shirley and Lee Hollander, did not adequately defend him by focusing on evidence pointing to another perpetrator.
Joseph Zieler won't face charges after elbowing his attorney
The morning of his sentencing, Zieler had a Spencer hearing, to provide him with the opportunity to appeal directly to Branning regarding the jury's death recommendation.
As the hearing began, Zieler elbowed Shirley in the face. Bailiffs escorted Zieler out of the courtroom. He returned about 10 minutes later with tightened security measures.
Hollander recently confirmed that Shirley filed the paperwork indicating he refused to prosecute Zieler after the assault.
In his email, Zieler said he also would've elbowed Hollander.
"If he wasn't so old, and I wasn't so kind, I would have targeted him with the elbow," Zieler said.
Joseph Zieler expresses frustration with defense
At the center of Zieler's defense, he points to a second person.
Shirley confirmed that a second suspect would've been involved in the decades-old killings of Cornell and Story.
Evidence presented during Zieler's trial pointed at several sequences of DNA found at the crime scene.
"That is the theory of the defense team," Shirley wrote in a statement after Zieler's sentencing. "Since the child's mother testified she had never seen Zieler before the homicide, there would be no reason for him to have arranged the photographs on the ironing board or searched the child's backpack for the school photo and left it under the child after she was killed."
Prosecutors had presented evidence that photographs placement indicated premeditation.
"There was a lot of hair and fingerprints in the house that did not match Zieler, and, if the mother was an average homemaker, then how do we explain their presence?" Shirley wrote.
When asked directly about his alleged accomplice via electronic communication, Zieler mentioned blonde hairs recovered from the crime scene, but didn't provide a possible perpetrator. Zieler has brown hair.
Zieler alleged someone with "very light blonde" was involved. In further correspondence, he called witnesses names and accused this publication of being "another hack not interested in the truth."
The State Attorney's Office didn't return a request this week for comment on a possible second suspect. Cape Coral Police declined comment.
Zieler on July 13 responded to a request for comment from The News-Press, but didn't confirm the identity of an alleged second individual.
Zieler, however, said "the perpetrator" left several sets of fingerprints at the home, saying none were his.
"None of mine were found," he wrote in all-caps. He further claimed seven home invasions were reported in the area the night of the May 9, 1990, murders.
He also referenced a courtroom incident as he testified as his own witness during the guilt phase of his trial, saying his "so-called advocates" wouldn't allow him to present the alleged evidence.
How detectives focused on Zieler decades after double slaying
When Jan Cornell arrived home about 4 a.m. May 10, 1990, she found Story's and Robin's bodies in adjacent rooms of their shared Cape Coral apartment. Story had moved in that day.
The case had languished before authorities got a DNA match in November 2016, linking Zieler to the crime. He was at the Lee County Jail at the time, charged with assaulting his stepson.
In email correspondence with The News-Press, Zieler confessed to shooting his stepson with a pellet gun after an alleged night of drinking. The conviction in that case allowed the state to use the DNA to match to the old case.
Where is Joseph Zieler now?
Hollander said Zieler remains at the Lee County Jail until a separate case closes, charging him with harassing Jan Cornell. A public defender is representing Zieler in that case.
Hollander added that Zieler's transfer to Raiford's Florida State Prison, where he'd face execution, is contingent on the active case.
The Florida Supreme Court on July 14 acknowledge receipt of Zieler's death sentence appeal. Paul Flemming, spokesperson for the Florida Supreme Court, said they're unable to confirm whether Zieler is the first convicted felon to appeal his death sentence under a recent statute.
"There are legal challenges at the Supreme Court regarding the new law, but those concern previous convictions and subsequent resentencing," Flemming wrote in a statement. "We do not have a central repository of all actions in lower courts, so I cannot answer your question definitively."
A Lee County jury on May 24 recommended Zieler's death in a 10-2 vote.
The new statute opens the door for the death penalty if, at least, eight jurors vote in favor. Prior, jurors had to vote unanimously in favor.
The new rule became effective April 20.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at [email protected] or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral cold case lawyer won't pursue battery charge against Zieler