Author Description

"In 1975 Tommy Zeigler was a happily married man, the owner of a successful business, and a pillar of his community in Winter Garden, Florida. Then one evening he walked into his furniture store to pick up some Christmas gifts. And his life changed forever." "Hours later, Zeigler, lying in a hospital bed almost dead from a bullet wound to the abdomen, was charged with the murders of his wife, his parents-in-law, and a bystander. Convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death in the Florida state court system, Zeigler has spent the better part of the last two decades in prison and has lost everything: his family, his business, his friends, his freedom. It was a shocking crime for a small town, and the community was deeply shaken. But the most shocking aspect of this case is what happened after the murders, for Tommy Zeigler is innocent, as much a victim as those who lay dead in the store." "As Phillip Finch has discovered, the investigation of the crime was a sham, and the trial a travesty. The Orange County sheriff's office and ultimately the state of Florida's legal system appear to have presumed Zeigler's guilt from the start. Crucial evidence - including photographs, witnesses, and physical evidence proving that the crimes could not possibly have taken place the way the state believed them to, findings that would have cast severe doubt on Zeigler's guilt if not exonerated him completely - has been completely ignored and suppressed. There is reason to believe that other evidence that points to Zeigler's guilt was fabricated. The state's case depends upon the testimony of two men who, if they had not been the key witnesses for the prosecution, would certainly have been the chief suspects." "The state's case is so precarious that it starts to unravel when even one part is discredited - and there are so many problems, so many holes and inconsistencies in the verdict that was returned against Tommy Zeigler, that an observer is forced to wonder if this simply was a tru