Cape Coral cold-case murder defendant indicted

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A grand jury indicted a Cape Coral man Thursday on first-degree murder charges stemming from the 1990 killing and raping of two women, a Lee County court official said.

Authorities used DNA evidence to pin 54-year-old Joseph Zieler to the cold case. Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32, were strangled to death in their Cape Coral apartment 26 years ago in a robbery plot carried out by Zieler, according to police.

Cape Coral Police Department officers said they were able to link Zieler’s DNA to the murder case after arresting him for the battery of his own son on Aug. 27.

He entered a not-guilty plea last month shortly after he was formally charged with two counts of second-degree murder, sexual assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault to a child and first-degree burglary with assault.

The case drew national attention as years went by without an arrest. The story aired three times on “America’s Most Wanted,” most recently in 2010.

Another hearing is scheduled for Nov. 23.