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Clearly, the white man who met Mays and Thomas at the Zeigler furniture store could not have been Zeigler. The first time Thomas came to court the prosecutors had to point to Zeigler so that Thomas would know who Zeigler was.

The one remaining witness against Zeigler was Edward Williams, “the man whose truck was found at the murder scene, who was in possession of the principal murder weapon and whose friend admitted to buying the others, and whose movements before and after the crime are unverifiable and highly suspect.”

The DNA test results establish that Williams is lying. The blood of Edwards is on Mays. That means Mays was involved in the murder of Edwards. If Williams wasn’t at the Zeigler store when Edwards was murdered by Mays, how did Williams get possession of the gun that killed Edwards?

Before the DNA tests, a reasonable jury could have accepted the State’s circumstantial evidence case against Zeigler because they accepted Prosecutor Eagan’s characterization of Zeigler as so craven as to have beaten his father-in-law, Edwards to death and to have killed his longtime customer, Mays, to hide the crime. From this perspective, Williams appeared to be just another loyal, duped black man, like Mays and Thomas, who was used by Zeigler.

That premise is fatally shattered by the DNA test results, which establish that (1) Mays is the probable murderer of Edwards, (2) Thomas is a liar and probable co- perpetrator, and (3) Williams is in possession of the very gun that was used to kill the person murdered by Mays.

Williams said he put the gun that Zeigler gave him (the gun which killed Zeigler’s in-laws and Virginia Edwards) into his pocket. In fact, there was no evidence of gun residue on the pants Williams claims to have been wearing the night of the murders. Williams’ shoes were brand new and still had a price tag on the sole. The jury never knew this fact because the State delayed turning over the pants to the defense until it was too late to obtain the results for trial.

Finally, when one murder victim is shot several times, then bloodily beaten on the head while allegedly being held, and then shot to death, (Edwards), and another is shot twice and beaten to death in a blood bath, (Mays), those involved should be covered in blood. The State contended, and proved, that Zeigler was covered in blood when he ultimately emerged from the furniture store after calling for help.

If the State’s theory were correct, Zeigler’s clothes would have been virtually dripping with blood at the times Thomas and Williams claim to have seen him. Yet, Thomas never saw and never reported seeing any blood on Zeigler, and Williams only reported seeing a few “spots of blood on Zeigler’s face and clothes.” The fact that Williams did not report large amounts of blood on Zeigler destroys any credibility for his story about the events of that evening.

There is no indication from any of the witnesses that Zeigler, at critical points, ever appeared to be covered with blood until he emerges from the store at 9:20 p.m. covered with blood, “almost as if it were uniformly painted on”, as reported by Chief Robert Thompson. These facts are totally consistent with Zeigler’s explanation of what happened and totally inconsistent with the State’s explanation of how the crime took place.

• Who is the mysterious white man that met Mays and Thomas outside the store and took them to the orange grove?

  Mays tell Thomas that the white man is Zeigler. If the jury had known that Mays was not an honorable man, it is virtually certain that the jury would have severely discounted Mays’s identification of the white man as being Zeigler.

• Why Are All Of The State’s Witnesses, and The Most Involved Police Officer, Robert Thompson, All Connected To Oakland, The Local Heart Of Illegal Activities in The Migrant Camps?

  1. Edward Williams testifies that he has worked on and off for Curtis Massey in Oakland, that he is treated well by Jimmy Pitchfort and has done a little work for him.

  2. Felton Thomas is an itinerant fruit picker who knows Mays because he has worked on his crews as recently as early 1975. Thomas also knows the mysterious white man, apparently from working in the fields out of Oakland.

  3. Charlie Mays and his wife, Mattie Mays, work together as crew bosses and work for a white boss, Walker Powell, who lent Charlie and Mattie Mays money shortly before Christmas, and then deducted all but $39 from their last pay before Christmas, on December 23, 1975. This is a typical maneuver to pressure somebody into doing something for their boss.

  4. Robert Thompson went from his jobs of fifteen years experience with the Florida Highway Patrol and the U.S. Border Patrol as well as bodyguard to Governor Claude Kirk of Florida to becoming the Chief of Police of Oakland. At that time Oakland police kept no records or files and carried no guns. For a man of Thompson’s experience to have taken such a position is amazing.

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• There Are Critical Discrepancies Between The Original Police Report (Which Was Buried By The Prosecution Until 11 Years After The Trial And Has Never Been Seen By A Jury) And The Abbreviated Police Report And Subsequent Sworn Statement Given By The Same Officer.

  One of these discrepancies completely torpedoes the State’s case. Another one, when viewed in light of other evidence hidden by the Prosecution, raises the specter of deliberate concealment of police involvement in the quadruple homicide. First, we must identify the two police reports and the history of their respective release.

  1. The Original Police Report was prepared by Robert Joe Thompson, Police Chief of the City of Oakland. It is notarized December 24, 1975, the date of the crime, by Charlie B. Parker.

     This is a comprehensive Statement of Fact by Chief Robert Thompson, the first police officer to arrive at the crime scene, the very same officer who took Zeigler to the hospital for treatment of his abdominal wound. The Prosecution buried this police report. We shall refer to the Original Police Report as the “Buried Police Report.”

  2. The Abbreviated Police Report was also prepared by Robert Joe Thompson, Police Chief of the City of Oakland. It is only one-page in length, is notarized December 24, 1975, the date of the crime, by Charlie B. Parker. The report completely omits the facts that discredit the State’s case against >Zeigler and those that raise the specter of police complicity in this horrendous crime. We shall refer to the Abbreviated Police Report as the “Altered Police Report.”
• History And Use Of The Two Police Reports

  The defense never saw the Buried Police Report until 1987, 11 years after the trial, when a Freedom of Information Act request was made by Zeigler’s second attorney. This allowed the Prosecutors to elicit sworn testimony from Chief Robert Thompson, which was inconsistent with his statements in the Buried Police Report. The defense couldn’t object to Chief Robert Thompson’s misleading testimony because they didn’t know about the Buried Police Report.

  The misleading sworn testimony of Chief Robert Thompson was crucial, as it addressed the issue of whether Zeigler shot himself in the abdomen to appear like a victim of the crime, or Zeigler was a victim of the crime and was shot by someone else. The critical fact is whether the blood on Zeigler’s abdominal wound was dry or damp when Zeigler was examined by Chief Robert Thompson five to six minutes after Zeigler called for help. The State claims that after Zeigler had killed four people, he made a phone call for help, and then, knowing that he would be rescued within minutes, shot himself in the abdomen. Zeigler claims that he was in a fight for his life, was shot in the abdomen and fell unconscious to the floor, and that he later came to, found the phone and called for help.

• What Was The Misleading Sworn Testimony That Was Given By Chief Robert Thompson?

  In Chief Robert Thompson’s sworn statement, which was given weeks after the crime and was used to indict and convict Zeigler, he said that when he examined Zeigler’s abdominal wound at the hospital, the blood was “dry and damp.” This critical testimony supported the State’s theory that Zeigler called for help and then shot himself. Unknown to anyone except the Prosecution, this sworn testimony was inconsistent with Chief Robert Thompson’s statements prepared within two hours of having inspected Zeigler’s wounds, in the Buried Police Report.

• Another Discrepancy, When Viewed In Light Of Other Evidence Hidden By The Prosecution, Raises The Specter Of Deliberate Concealment Of Police Involvement In The Quadruple Homicide: The Jellison Tape.

  In April of 1987, Zeigler’s lawyers made a Florida Public Records Act request for the files of the State Attorney in Orlando. In the files they discovered a tape-recorded telephone interview of John Jellison. The tape had been hidden by the State Attorney’s Office, which failed to disclose anything about it before trial or even in answering requests for disclosure in conjunction with Zeigler’s appeals.

  John Jellison, his parents and his sister were staying at a motel next to and behind the Zeigler furniture store on Christmas Eve 1975 and witnessed some of the happenings outside the store. Mr. Jellison told the investigator that at about 9:00 p.m. he and the rest of his family had seen a police car at the back of the store, a police officer aiming his gun toward the store over the top of the car, and had then heard shots as they were watching, and that other police cars had arrived on the scene thereafter.

  The State’s investigator made plain his disappointment with Jellison’s recollection:

  “[A]s long as you heard the gunshots after, you know, you saw the police car, that wouldn’t help us a bit.”

  When Jellison asked if Bachman wanted to interview his mother, Bachman replied:

  “Not unless, you know, you all get together and decide you heard those gunshots before you saw the police car. In that case, we’d give you a free trip back to Florida.”

  Furthermore, in the Buried Police Report, Chief Robert Thompson indicates that he had “checked out of service” at 8:30 p.m. at the Kentucky Fried Chicken across the street from the Zeigler Furniture Store. He then says he wa
  s there with Officer Jimmy Yawn until 8:50 p.m. This incredible “coincidence” puts Chief Robert Thompson within 100 feet of the crime scene within minutes of the approximate time when the Jellisons claim to have seen a police car at the back of the store.