Convicted killer punches personal lawyer in courtroom hours before sentencing
The person convicted of the murder of an 11-year-old woman and her nanny in 1990 beat his personal lawyer in the courtroom and was knocked down.
Joseph Seeler, 61, was sentenced to death Monday for the rape and suffocation of 11-year-old Robin Cornell and her nanny, Lisa Storey, 32.
Standing at the entrance, Zieler demanded that the cameras in the room be removed sooner rather than use expletives before shoving defense attorney Kevin Shirley in the face.
Three bailiffs briefly escorted the person with “murderer” etched into his enamel before they were escorted out of the courtroom in seconds.
In May, a jury in Lee County, Florida, actually helped the death penalty, and Monday’s appearance was enchanted with the choice hours earlier than he handed down the verdict.
Joseph Zieler (pictured), who was convicted of the 1990 murder of an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter, beat up his personal attorney and was kicked in the bottom in a courtroom Monday.
In May 1990, Seeler was found guilty of the assault and murder of 11-year-old Robin Cornell (left) and her 32-year-old nanny Lisa Storey (right) in May 1990.
Zieler, who was arrested in 2016 — 26 years after the chilling murders — was scheduled to plead the jury’s verdict in the courtroom.
After Lee’s elbow, District Judge Robert Branning asked Shirley if she was all right, to which the attorney replied that he had taken stronger punches earlier than.
The blow came as Zieler, still handcuffed, appeared to be trying to quietly send a message to his aging mentor.
“It was like he didn’t want the microphones picking up our conversation. So he knocked me down and I bent over and he hit me,” Shirley recalled Fox 4.
Branning kept the convicted murderer out of the courtroom for several minutes, while Shirley was fine after the beating.
Jan Cornell, the mother of the 11-year-old woman who killed Zieler, was in the courtroom Monday watching the incident unfold, shocked and distraught.
After the person was dragged back inside, he reportedly growled at the chosen one and a bystander, displaying the phrase “murderer” on the enamel.
Despite the chilling message in his mouth, he refused to allow family members to communicate on his behalf, claiming he was innocent of the crime.
“I have nothing to do with it,” he mentioned. “I maintain my innocence.”
Judge Branning ultimately denied Zieler’s motion and decided not to vacate his conviction.
Just a few hours later, he was sentenced to death in a courtroom.
Zieler, who was arrested in 2016 — 26 years after the chilling murders — was scheduled to plead the jury’s verdict in the courtroom. Pictured: Zieler enters the courtroom
Three bailiffs briefly overtook Zieler (photo) and escorted him out of the courtroom
The convicted murderer appeared to have the phrase “murderer” on the enamel in the courtroom.
Jan Cornell (right) looks at pictures of Robin Cornell (heart) and Lisa Story (right) during a joint press conference after the announcement that Zieler had been sentenced to death.
“Justice for Robin and justice for Lisa has been served,” Jan Cornell said Monday afternoon.
The ruling brings closure to the households that have been seeking justice since they were found in a Cape Coral condominium more than 30 years ago.
Cornell and Story were found beaten, assaulted and suffocated in May 1990.
In September 2016, police announced that Zieler had been arrested for his or her murders after police matched his DNA to footprints found at the scene.
“The sperm found on the sheet Robin slept on matched the defendant’s frequency of more than 1.700 billion,” researchers said in the trial.
The story took care of Cornell when Zieler attacked them.
Jen Cornell, Robin’s mom, who had gone to see her friend that evening, returned the next day to examine their bodies.
The murders are among the most notorious unsolved crimes and were listed on America’s Most Wanted for 2010.
Jan returned to find the locked front door and entered the house through the back sliding door that had been left open.
In the upstairs lounge, she discovered her daughter’s lifeless body face down.
At Zieler’s trial, Jan told the jury that the very last thing she mentioned to her daughter was, “Good night, I’m going to Donnie, I love you.”
She cried as she told the courtroom that his daughter is an energetic fifth-grader who loves to jump rope and participate in the outdoors.
Jan Cornell (left with photo of daughter Robyn Cornell) stands behind attorney Amira Fox (on stage) and Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore (in uniform)
Throughout the trial, the defense maintained that the attack on Cornell and Storey was private, arguing that Zieler focused on Jan.
“It sounds like someone is really angry with you,” attorney Lee Hollander said.
A jury found him guilty of murder in early May, and he was later charged with stalking Jan Cornell, to whom he sent a letter from prison.
“Justice for Robin and justice for Lisa has been served,” Yang said at a news conference with State’s Attorney Amir Fox and Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore.
Fox said she hopes the ruling will bring some form of peace to the families of the victims.
“I hope that the verdict and sentencing recommendation has finally brought a sense of justice and closure to the families of Lisa Story and Robin Cornell,” Fox said.
“I would like to thank them for their incredible patience and understanding as we all worked together to complete this case over the years,” she continued.
