Cape Coral cold case murder trial on hold; judge to reconvene May 4

Stacey Henson, Fort Myers News-Press
·1 min read

The trial for a North Fort Myers man abruptly halted Thursday morning, the fourth day of jury selection, in the 1990 rape and suffocation of a Cape Coral 11-year-old and her babysitter.

Lee circuit Judge Robert J Branning continued the case about 10 a.m.

The case charging Joseph Zieler, now 60, of North Fort Myers, with two counts of first-degree murder has been continued, court officials said. Branning set a trial call for May 4 with the trial is tentatively set to start on May 8.

A trial of Joseph Zieler, 60, of North Fort Myers, abruptly halted Thursday, four days into jury selection. He is charged with two first-degree murder counts in the 1990 slayings of Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Storey, 32, in Cape Coral. In this 2021 file photo, he attended a motions hearing. He returns to court May 4, 2023.
A trial of Joseph Zieler, 60, of North Fort Myers, abruptly halted Thursday, four days into jury selection. He is charged with two first-degree murder counts in the 1990 slayings of Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Storey, 32, in Cape Coral. In this 2021 file photo, he attended a motions hearing. He returns to court May 4, 2023.

Lisa Story, 32, was watching the young Robin Cornell in Cape Coral. Cornell's mother was at her boyfriend's home on the evening of May 9, 1990, watching television when she fell asleep. When she returned home she discovered the pair had been killed in the apartment.

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Zieler, of North Fort Myers, was charged in the slayings of Cornell and Story after a grand jury returned an indictment on two counts of first-degree murder in November 2016. The State Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty.

The state identified him after a judge ruled he had to submit to DNA testing after he was convicted of another crime involving the pellet-gun shooting of his son. The State Attorney's Office reported that DNA matched that from the three-decades-old murders.

Zieler has been held at Lee County Jail since 2016.

This story is breaking and will be updated as possible.

Stacey Henson is the breaking news and visuals editor for The News-Press and Naples Daily News. You may reach her at shenson@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral cold case murder trial abruptly halts during jury selection