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USA - Florida. Judge Robert Branning formally sentence Joseph Zieler to death
June 26, 2023: (June 26, 2023) - Judge Robert Branning formalized the death sentence of Joseph Zieler which was voted 10-2 on May 24 (see) by a Lee County jury.
Zieler, 61, White, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for killing an 11-year-old girl, Robin Cornell, and her babysitter, Lisa Story, 32, in 1990. Robin and Story were asphyxiated and sexually assaulted. The case had gone cold before authorities got a DNA match in November 2016, linking Zieler to the crime. He was in custody, charged with assaulting his stepson. Zieler killed Cornell and Story on May 10, 1990. Florida law had previously required a unanimous jury recommendation for a convicted murderer to face the death penalty, but a new law signed in April by Gov. Ron DeSantis requires only an 8-4 vote in favor of execution.
Judge Branning was following last month's 10-2 jury recommendation in favor of death. The girl and the woman were found in a Cape Coral apartment in May 1990, officials said. Robin's mother had been out for the night and discovered the suffocated bodies when she returned the next morning. Investigators said both victims were sexually assaulted.
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-man-who-killed-girl-babysitter-sentenced-to-death/ (Source: CBS News, 26/06/2023)
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