Jury recommends death for Florida man who killed girl and babysitter
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A southwest Florida jury has recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of killing an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter more than 30 years ago.
The Lee County jury voted 10-2 for death Joseph Zieler on Wednesday evening after about five hours of deliberations, according to court documents. The same panel last week found Zieler, 60, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder.
A judge will make the final decision on whether Zieler will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison after a June 26 hearing. Florida law previously required a unanimous jury recommendation for a convicted murderer to face the death penalty, but a new law The law, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis last month, requires only an 8-4 vote to pass.
Zieler was jailed on unrelated assault charges in 2016 when his DNA matched the unsolved murders of Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32, authorities said.
The girl and woman were found in a Cape Coral apartment in May 1990, officials said. Robin’s mother had been out overnight and discovered the suffocated bodies when she returned the next morning. According to investigators, both victims were sexually abused.
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Cape Coral is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Tampa.
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