TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that Florida’s Capital Appeals Division has secured a death sentence for Joseph Zieler in connection with the 1990 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter during a home invasion.
According to state officials, Zieler avoided arrest for decades before investigators identified him through the Combined DNA Index System, which linked him to the crime years after it occurred.
In a statement, Uthmeier credited prosecutors and legal staff involved in the case, including Assistant Attorney General Christina Pacheco and the Solicitor General’s Office, for their role in securing and upholding the sentence.
The ruling by the Florida Supreme Court affirms Zieler’s conviction and death sentence. The case is among the first capital sentences upheld under changes to Florida’s death penalty law following the passage of Senate Bill 450.
Signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in April 2023, SB 450 revised the state’s sentencing standards by allowing a death penalty recommendation with a supermajority of at least eight jurors, rather than requiring a unanimous decision.
Zieler is currently in custody with the Florida Department of Corrections, where he will remain on death row pending execution.
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