 It has been 32 years since the shooting in Tommy Zeigler's furniture store that left his wife, her parents, and another man dead. Zeigler was shot in the stomach. Zeigler was a business owner and civil rights activist who had recently served as a character witness in the trial of a black friend who owned a bar. The judge (shown here) who sentenced Zeigler to death was a character witness for the man who accused Zeigler's friend of selling drugs. Zeigler believes the accusation against his friend was made by the loan sharks who wanted to take over the bar. Did the prosecutor want to stop the investigation of the loan shark motive for the murders? (Click to read.) Did the judge and the prosecutor have a meeting before the trial during which the judge told the prosecutor that he "would fry the son of a bitch" as the chief deputy of the Orange Co. Sheriff Dept. has written? (Click to read.) Were the murders retaliation for Zeigler's activism? Was the Ku Klux Klan involved? Why didn't the judge recuse himself? Has he been in a position to influence Zeigler's case as a federal judge? Send a letter to government officials and the FBI to urge them to investigate why Zeigler was framed for the murders. Click here to read about the Ku Klux Klan in Orange County
For a list of the names and address to contact, click here. Sign the petition to Governor Christ
Thirty-Two Steps to Thirty-Years on Death Row The Tommy Zeigler Tragedy In the 1970's, the Orange County, Florida (Orlando) citrus belt attracted large numbers of mostly black migrant fruit pickers. Winter Garden, a town on the banks of Lake Apopka, contiguous to the town of Ocoee on the east was in the heart of citrus country. Ocoee had been the scene of a race riot in 1920. Many blacks were killed and their homes destroyed. No blacks lived in the city limits of Ocoee until the eighties and it is reported that, as late as the seventies, a sign at the town’s entrance read, “N----r, don’t let the sun set on you inside city limits.” The area was a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity. Orange County Sheriff, Dave Starr, was known to be a member of the Klan and some officials of Winter Garden were also reported to be members. Dave Starr lived in the tiny town of Oakland, also contiguous to Winter Garden on the opposite side from Ocoee. Sheriff Starr resigned before the end of his term in the early seventies after more than twenty years as sheriff.
Even as late as 2004, then Attorney General Charles Crist (now governor) found that police were reluctant to talk about the death of civil rights worker, Harry Moore, because of a fear of retribution. (See the executive summary of his report, page 8.) Click here to read further |
