meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Trail Went Cold

The Trail Went Cold - Episode 16 - Tommy Zeigler (Part 2)

The Trail Went Cold

Robin Warder

True Crime, Tv & Film

4.53.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2016

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Christmas Eve 1975. Winter Garden, Florida. Police respond to call for help at the W.T. Zeigler Furniture Store and find one of the store’s owners, 30-year old Tommy Zeigler, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Inside, they discover that four people have been murdered: Tommy’s wife, Eunice Zeigler; her parents, Perry and Virginia Edwards; and a customer named Charlie Mays. Tommy claims he was attacked and shot by unknown intruders, but authorities believe Tommy committed the murders himself and that his gunshot wound is self-inflicted. Months later, he is put on trial and sentenced to death. In Part 1 of this convoluted story, we chronicled this horrific crime and Tommy Zeigler’s trial. Now, in Part 2, we shall examine the many shocking developments from the past four decades which have cast doubt on the conviction. Did Tommy Zeigler actually commit these murders or has an innocent man spent 40 years on death row? For this episode, we have consulted with Tommy’s full time pro bono private investigator, Lynn-Marie Carty, who has spent the past five-and-a-half years uncovering new evidence in her attempts to get Tommy out of prison. Be sure to check out her website about the case, “Tommy Zeigler is Innocent”, along with her personal website about her investigation services, “Reunite People”. We thank Lynn-Marie for her assistance at helping us put together our most extensive episode of “The Trail Went Cold”. Additional Reading: “Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town” by Philip Finch http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-tommy-zeigler-medill-justice-project-20160308-story.html http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/defense-seeks-touch-dna-to-question-death-row-inmates-guilt/2236115 The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Oh, Hello. Hello everyone and welcome to the newest episode of the Trail went cold.

0:39.0

I am your host Robin Warder and at long last we are going to deliver part two of a story

0:44.6

we started two weeks ago the controversial conviction of Tommy Ziegler who has spent the

0:50.5

last 40 years on death row for four murders.

0:54.3

Like I said last week, this case is so convoluted that I just had to turn it into a two-part

0:59.6

episode, but now I have finally returned to provide you with the conclusion.

1:04.0

I apologize for leaving you folks hanging in suspense for so long as we were originally supposed to release this episode last week,

1:11.0

but trust me, there's a very, very good reason for the delay.

1:15.0

After the release of part one, I got in touch with private investigator Lynn Marie Cardi,

1:21.0

who has worked with Tommy Ziegler's defense team for the past five and a half years

1:25.3

and I should mention she has done all her work on the case pro bono.

1:30.1

The primary source for most of the material I presented in part one was fatal flaw,

1:34.8

an amazingly comprehensive book about the case written by Philip Finch.

1:39.5

However, that book was published way back in 1992 and a lot of new developments have

1:45.2

occurred since then.

1:46.7

Investigator Cardi has uncovered a plethora of new information within the last few years

1:51.6

which is available for viewing at her website

1:54.0

Tommy Ziegler is innocent.com. It is the original source of most of the material

1:59.8

on this episode and investigator Cardi has been extraordinarily helpful with

2:04.1

supplying me with info and helping me correct some errors in my original rough cut.

2:08.8

This is what necessitated the week-long delay as we wanted to ensure that the information

2:14.4

presented here was as accurate as possible and that all the key points were

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Robin Warder, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Robin Warder and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.