Inmate tries again to avoid execution

Attorneys will attempt to persuade a judge to overturn the 1976 murder convictions.

Nearly 29 years after one of Central Florida's bloodiest mass murders, William Thomas Zeigler today will get what some call his last, best chance to avoid execution for a Christmas Eve 1975 massacre that left four people dead.

Zeigler, now 59, is one of Florida's longest-serving death-row inmates. His case -- and the Christmas Eve murders of his wife, his in-laws and an acquaintance in his Winter Garden furniture store -- has gained international attention through the years and drawn the support of celebrity human-rights advocates such as Bianca Jagger.

During the next two days, Zeigler's defense team hopes to convince Orange Circuit Judge Reginald Whitehead that new DNA evidence from the blood-soaked crime scene is strong enough to throw out Zeigler's murder convictions and his death sentence.

But prosecutors will try to show that the new evidence does nothing to dispel the original theory that Zeigler eliminated his family, concocted a story, shot himself and then blamed the attack on a band of burglars.

Zeigler's supporters say this is his last shot at persuading a court to overturn his death sentence. Through the years, the courts have repeatedly denied Zeigler's attempts at appeals.

"Realistically, we are looking at the last major challenge to these convictions," said John Houston Pope of New York, Zeigler's attorney. "Unless somebody has something out there I haven't seen or heard."

Zeigler was convicted in 1976 of killing his wife, Eunice; her parents, Perry and Virginia Edwards; and Charles Mays, an acquaintance and customer.

The hearing today and Tuesday will focus on a pair of bloodstains and how those stains are interpreted in relation to the slayings.

In 1976, then-State Attorney Robert Eagan had Zeigler on the stand and asked him how Type A blood ended up under the armpit of his shirt. Eagan also mentioned that Zeigler's father-in-law, Perry Edwards, had Type A blood.

"You can't tell me how you held Perry Edwards around the neck and clubbed him with your right hand as you held him with your left?" Eagan asked Zeigler.

"No, sir, because I did not do it," Zeigler responded.

Later, during his closing argument, Eagan asked jurors, "Who was bleeding Type A blood?"

Jurors found Zeigler guilty of the murders, but recommended that he get a life sentence. Two judges later sentenced him to death.

At the time of the trial, DNA tests that match individuals to bloodstains weren't available. Forensic experts could only identify blood types.

More than two decades later, however, DNA testing showed that a blood sample taken from Zeigler's shirt armpit belonged to Mays -- the fourth person killed in the attack and a man Zeigler's team has blamed for the murders -- not Edwards.

Testing also showed that bloodstains on Mays' pants matched Edwards' DNA.

Pope has maintained that this evidence collectively suggests Mays was one of the perpetrators and that Zeigler fought him off in self-defense.

Zeigler's defense has long said that Mays was with a group of burglars and later killed by them after they saw he was badly wounded.

During a March 2003 hearing, Pope said finding Edwards' blood on Mays' pants "is consistent with the idea that Charlie Mays, in the course of killing Perry Edwards, exposed his knee either by kneeling in a pool of blood or kneeling on Mr. Edwards and getting the blood that was coming out of him."

At the time, Pope asked Whitehead how this information might have been used during Zeigler's trial.

"The question is: What does a reasonable jury do with this kind of evidence?" Pope asked.

During the same 2003 hearing, Assistant State Attorney Chris Lerner noted that the Florida Supreme Court had earlier ruled that if the DNA came back with results most favorable to Zeigler, he still would not have shown that the evidence would have resulted in an acquittal.

Friday, Lerner said Edwards was shot and bludgeoned in the attack. His blood was left throughout the store.

"It makes sense that it is Edwards' blood [on the pants], considering Edwards' blood is all over the floor," Lerner said.

During the 2003 hearing, Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton noted that Zeigler "never said Charlie Mays attacked him" during the trial, hinting that Zeigler's story has changed with the development of the evidence.

"He doesn't have an explanation for the blood under his arm," Ashton said. "He said that in his testimony."

Ashton then said why a hearing on the evidence should not occur.

"It is a waste of time to allow the defense to delay the execution of a lawful sentence based upon evidence that we know simply won't make a difference," Ashton said.

Pope responded by saying, "I don't see how any juror would end up convicting once you sat down and put this in front of them."

Today and Tuesday, Whitehead will have to decide whether the new information would have led Zeigler's jurors to a different verdict.

He could send Zeigler back to death row. Or he could vacate the convictions and the sentence in a case that has created a 15-volume court file and a book called Fatal Flaw.

If Zeigler's conviction were vacated, Lerner said his office would have to decide if it would prosecute the case again. "We'd have to re-evaluate that," he said.

Anthony Colarossi can be reachedat acolarossi@orlandosentinel.comor 407-420-6218.