Suspect in 26-year-old double homicide indicted
A man accused in a 26-year-old double homicide that included a child victim has been indicted.
On Thursday, the State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit reported that a grand jury indicted Joseph Adam Zieler, 54, of 314 Byron Ave., North Fort Myers, on two counts of first-degree murder.
“The indictment is in addition to the charges our office has already filed,” Samantha Syoen, spokeswoman for the State Attorney’s Office, said in a prepared statement.
He is also charged with one count each of sexual battery on a child less than 12 years of age, sexual battery with a deadly weapon or great force and first-degree burglary with assault or battery.
Zieler is being held on no bond at the Lee County Jail.
On Sept. 28, the Cape Coral police announced that he had been arrested and charged in the 1990 murder and rape of Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32, at their home, at 631 S.E. 12th Ave.
On May 10, 1990, the bodies of Robin and Story were found in their Courtyards apartment by Robin’s mother, Jan Cornell. Both of the victims had been suffocated and sexually assaulted, police reported.
The night before, Cornell’s new roommate, Story, had agreed to watch Robin while she visited with her boyfriend. When Cornell returned home the next morning, she heard footsteps inside her apartment.
Upon entering, Cornell found an ironing board open with pictures of her daughter laid out.
According to police, Cornell ran upstairs and discovered Story’s lifeless body in her bed. Cornell then ran to Robin’s room, where she found her daughter’s naked body lying on the floor of the bedroom.
Items were taken from the home, like a Seiko watch that was a gift from Cornell to her boyfriend. An unknown set of Toyota keys was left behind, along with a sample of DNA that was saved.
According to documents, Zieler was arrested in Lee County two months after the murders for battery and battery on a law enforcement officer firefighter; the charges were dropped. He was found guilty of carrying a concealed firearm, dealing trafficking in stolen property and resisting officer with violence.
Zieler’s only arrest after that was for possession of marijuana, which was nolle processed.
Until recently. On Aug. 27, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to Lee Memorial Hospital for a shooting victim, identified as Zachary Zieler, 25. He had sustained a gunshot or a pellet gun wound.
An investigation revealed that Zachary Zieler and his father, Zieler, became engaged in a physical altercation and Zieler armed himself with a pellet gun. At one point, he aimed it at his son and fired the weapon. Zachary’s girlfriend drove him to the hospital when he said he was not able to breathe.
Zachary was listed in critical condition at the time, according to LCSO documents. The investigators noted that Zachary had to be intubated due to the projectile damaging his heart and or his artery.
Zieler was arrested and charged with aggravated battery person uses a deadly weapon.
Cape police officials reported that under a 2009 law, anyone in Florida arrested for a felony has their DNA taken and compared to CODIS. Zieler’s DNA matched up to the 1990 sample in the database, officials said.
His next court appearance is set for Nov. 23.