May 4, 2009 Honorable Charles Crist, Florida Governor Honorable Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General In Re: Demand for an Impartial Investigation of the Crime for which Death Row Inmate Tommy Zeigler was Convicted I have written before concerning the many unanswered questions surrounding the murder of four people in the Zeigler Furniture Store on Christmas Eve 1975. I am writing you again because of a news report on Orlando TV Station WESH that the state attorney of Orange County intends to ask for an immediate warrant for Mr. Zeigler's execution. Clearly, State Attorney Lawson Lamar’s stated intention is in retaliation for a recent peaceful demonstration in front of the Orange County Courthouse by a group of citizens who distributed an open letter to Mr. Lamar asking him to give Mr. Zeigler a new trial because of the overwhelming evidence of his innocence that no jury has ever heard. That Mr. Lamar chose such a response instead of explaining why he will not seek a new trial indicates that he himself believes that the evidence would lead a jury to find Zeigler innocent. I pray that his vindictive behavior will spur you to initiate a fair and impartial investigation into all of the irregularities surrounding Mr. Zeigler’s trial, conviction, sentencing, and DNA appeal. I will be in Tallahassee on May 11 to place a display in the capitol rotunda and to distribute this letter to anyone interested. Below is a brief summary of the irregularities that should be investigated. I emphasize that Mr. Zeigler is not asking for clemency. He and more than 300 other people who have signed a petition for his release are asking for a new trial so that he may clear his name and finally obtain some small measure of justice. 1) The trial judge, Maurice Paul, had a conflict of interest with Mr. Zeigler and refused to recuse himself. That conflict of interest involved loan sharking allegations and Zeigler’s friendship with a black bar owner. Paul then went on to become a federal district judge for the northern district where he still may be in a position to influence appeals. 2) The prosecutor, Robert Eagan (assisted by the current state attorney, Lamar) chose to believe the story of a man with the murder weapon instead of Mr. Zeigler who was seriously injured during the crime. 3) The prosecutor ordered the sheriff not to investigate the loan sharking motive for the crime, hid exculpatory evidence from the defense, and lied to the jury about the blood on Zeigler’s shirt. 4) There are similarities between the story of the man with the murder weapon and some of the details of another Winter Garden murder of a store owner. That murder remains unsolved. 5) The loan sharking investigation stifled by Mr. Eagan revealed evidence that the store customer found dead along with Zeigler’s relatives was the killer in the aforementioned unsolved murder. 6) There is evidence that Judge Paul and Robert Eagan held an unethical ex parte conference before the trial during which Judge Paul stated that he would "Fry the son of a bitch." 7) There is evidence that the bullet found in the orange grove was planted. 8) Exculpatory testimony by eye witnesses, Jon Jellison, and Ken and Linda Roach was hidden or suppressed and has never been heard by a jury. 9) There is evidence that Judge Paul ordered a strong sedative for a juror to avoid a hung jury. He also ordered defense attorneys not to speak to any juror. That order is still in effect. 10) The chief of police of Oakland, Robert Joe Thompson, lied about the condition of the blood on Zeigler’s wounds when he took him to the hospital. The truth would have supported Zeigler's version of what happened. The evidence of that lie was found by a FOIA request after the statute of limitations had expired. 11) The affidavit of an Oakland policeman states that Charlie Mays' son saw his father take a gun when he went to the Zeigler Furniture Store. 12) Recent new information reveals that Thompson was a good friend of Dave Starr, the former sheriff of Orange County who lived in Oakland. Starr was a confirmed member of the Ku Klux Klan as were other officials and policemen in the area. 13) The dead store customer, Charlie Mays, also lived in Oakland and was given a Christmas basket by Thompson the day of the murders. 14) Mays was a crew boss for migrant laborers and may have been involved in loan sharking activities. 15) Thompson left the Oakland police department at the conclusion of Zeigler’s trial after only two years in that position. It has recently been learned that he operated the Oakland General Store where Charlie Mays picked up Felton Thomas on the night of the murders. Thompson’s activities after the crime raise suspicion of illegal activities which would further damage his credibility. 16) The DNA evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Charlie Mays was in the store when the others were murdered. This supports Zeigler’s story and refutes the prosecution theory. 17) The prosecutor lied to the jury by telling them that the blood on Zeigler’s shirt must have come from his father-in-law, knowing full well that Mays and the father-in-law had the same blood type. 18) When the DNA proved that the blood on Zeigler’s shirt came from Mays, the prosecution told Judge Whitehead that it may have come while Zeigler was performing a sex act on the dying or dead body of Charlie Mays. No evidence of homosexuality was presented at trial. 19) This lie by the prosecution may have been the genesis of Assist. Attorney General Nunnelly’s erroneous statement to the supreme court during the DNA appeal that "marital discord" (a euphemism for the allegation of homosexual motive) was a motive for the murders. 20) Redacted Please demonstrate your commitment to justice and your willingness to heed the reasonable demands of the people by ordering an investigation into the facts outlined above. Respectfully submitted, Ray McEachern Land O Lakes, Florida | 
