Trial begins for Joseph Zieler in 1990 Cape Coral rape, murder of 11-year-old, babysitter

The mother of the 11-year-old victim in a decades-old Cape Coral double homicide wiped tears as she recalled her scary movie-loving, prankster daughter and finding her body, nude and bloody, in her bedroom.

Now more than three decades, Jan Cornell was the first to take the witness stand in what's anticipated a five-day trial of the man accused of killing Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32. She finally recounted for a jury about finding her child's body and attempting to revive her, as the prosecution team showed jurors graphic photos depicting Robin nude and bloody.

Joseph Zieler, 60, of North Fort Myers, was charged in November 2016 with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with May 9, 1990, slayings. After years of repeated delays, attorneys seated a jury last week and started the trial Tuesday.

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Assistant State Attorneys Daniel Feinberg, Stephanie Russell and Abe Thornburg will prosecute the case.

Prosecutors present 'Big 3' evidence

Russell presented the state's opening arguments, reading the transcript of the last conversation Robin Cornell and her mother had the night of the killings, her intonation and word selection as if she read a tale to jurors.

During that short conversation, Cornell ensured Robin would be OK before she headed out.

One of the locks to the Cornells' home was broken, and Cornell had instructed Story to lock the house in a specific way, Russell said, making certain none of the keys would work. Cornell planned to knock on the door when she returned.

Cornell left the house about 11 p.m. to spend some time with her now-husband, Donnie Battista.

When she woke up about 4 a.m. at Battista's house, Cornell rushed home.

No one opened the front door when she knocked. The back door, a slider, was left open, Russell said, and the house ransacked.

Authorities confirmed they found blood and a sex toy near Robin in the upstairs master bedroom. They determined that Story had been suffocated in another bedroom.

Russell referred to three key elements of the crime scene as the "Big 3:" Robin Cornell, a pillow and a sheet.

The DNA on Robin and the two items matched Zieler's DNA when it was collected after a separate 2016 conviction involving his son more than two decades later, Russell said.

Twenty-six years and four months after the murders, authorities with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified local authorities of the match.

A day later, Cape Coral Police questioned Zieler. Russell said he was evasive and said he didn't remember anything that happened before a motorcycle accident in 1998.

The defense: 'Not a suspect until years later'

Kevin Shirley, who represents Zieler along with longtime defense attorney Lee Hollander, presented the team's opening arguments.

"There were many individuals that had gone through this little apartment," Shirley said.

Shirley said authorities interviewed hundreds of people but had never spoke with Zieler.

"He was not on their radar," Shirley said. "He was not a suspect in this case."

Shirley also said Zieler didn't know the Cornells.

"Mr. Zieler had no motive to commit this crime," Shirley said.

Robin Cornell's mother among testifying witnesses

The Cornells lived along Courtyard North, three blocks from Cape Coral Hospital, on Del Prado Boulevard, where Cornell used to work.

Story began renting a room from the Cornells and fully moved in the day of the murders.

About six people were around the house the day of the slayings, Cornell said.

After about 15 minutes of the nearly three hours of questioning, Cornell wiped tears with a tissue.

She recalled she wasn't going to go with her boyfriend that night because it was late, but said Robin and Story convinced her to spend the evening with him and she left.

Early morning return reveals a mother's nightmare

Hours later, Cornell woke up and drove home, panicking after she slept the night away from her daughter, she said.

She added it was about a four-minute drive.

Cornell said items seemed out of order as she walked in the home.

Jan Cornell said she first saw her sliding-glass door open.

"When I first saw it open, I thought maybe [Lisa] opened the door and left it open so her cat could come in and out," Cornell said.

The kitchen light was on. Cornell then saw photos on an ironing board.

Three photos of Robin and one of her older sister were placed on the ironing board in the living room she left in case she had to iron clothes before work.

She found her daughter's body in the master bedroom.

Cornell said Robin was cold to the touch, a sex toy nearby.

She moved Robin to her back, she said.

"She had a lot of congestion like she had been crying," Cornell said.

She said she called authorities as she performed lifesaving measures and stayed with Robin until they arrived, knowing she had died.

Defense asks about living conditions

Hollander asked Cornell about the apartment and who lived there.

He then asked why her eldest daughter didn't live with the family. Cornell said mother and daughter had an argument about a relationship the older daughter was in, causing the sibling to leave the house.

When asked about the chain of events during the early morning hours of May 10, 1990, Cornell said she entered the master bedroom around 4:15 a.m.

She said several friends of hers had keys to the house, but none of them knew how the front door locked in a specific way so the keys could work.

She had to knock, she said, because she couldn't get in the way the door was locked.

Cornell had mentioned she heard footsteps after she first knocked, but when Hollander asked her about it, she said she later found no one else was at the house.

"Nobody was there," Cornell said. "No one came." She then went around to the open slider.

Cornell later said she didn't hear anyone running away, despite saying she thought she heard someone walking down the stairs.

Hollander asked if she knew whether Story had invited anyone over that night, referencing three beer cans.

The hair of another suspect was found at the house, Hollander said. Cornell said she wasn't aware of that man ever visiting.

When Hollander asked, Cornell said she wasn't involved in any "shady activity".

After about three hours of questioning, they released an obviously emotionally spent Cornell.

Joseph Zieler could face the death penalty if convicted

The trial resumes at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Prosecutors said that they plan to question Zieler's former girlfriend, whom he met two weeks after the slayings, on Thursday.

Zieler could face the death penalty. Recent changes signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis prompted the defense to challenge the legality of the death penalty.

Lee Circuit Judge Robert Branning reserved ruling during a May 4 trial call.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral mom takes stand 33 years after daughter, friend murdered