Court May Reduce Zinzer's Bond

ZINZER, BELCHER, FORREST

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 3/3/2013 at 10:44:36

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register; Feb. 2, 1981

COURT MAY REDUCE ZINZER'S BOND

TOLEDO (Jan. 30)

District Judge Harold Swailes on Friday refused an immediate reduction of the $150,000 bond set earlier for Jeffrey Allen Zinzer, 23, of Ferguson, who is accused in the Nov. 30, 1980 slaying of Penney Sue Belcher Forrest, 18, of Grinnell.

But Swailes left open the possibility that Zinzer's bond might eventally be reduced--if the accused man's family can come up with a still subtantial cash bond, along with Zinzer's own personal recognizance. The likelihood of a bond reduction would be enhanced by evidence that Zinzer has secured some employment, the judge added.

Swailes set no time for a continuation of the bond-reduction hearing, but it is possible that the hearing will reconvene as early as this week.

The possibility of a reduction of the bond came over stiff resistance from Tama County Attorney Jeff Corzatt, who argued that the magnitude of the charge -- first-degree murder -- should be sufficient to continue the $150,000 bond.

"We're looking at a perosn who is unemployed, who is divorced, who is accused of a Class A felony," Corzatt argued.

Zinzer's defense attorney, Barry Kaplan of Marshalltown, argued that Zinzer was "no transient," that he had lived in Iowa all his life, and that he had successfully met the requirements of an earlier deferred sentence for second-degree burglary.

"The alleged [murder] offense occurred in November, and Mr. Zinzer was arraigned on Jan. 16," Kaplan said. "He stayed in the general locale. He did not take off."

Zinzer, sitting at the defense table, nodded as Kaplan argued that he was still shrouded in the presumption of innocence, and sits in the Marshall County Jail as a still-innocent man.

Kaplan asked Judge Swailes to set a bond "no higher than $25,000 or $30,000," and that Zinzer be allowed to post 10 percent of that amount.

Earlier, Richard Sills, a pre-trial interviewer for the Iowa Department of Correctional Services, testified that he had spoken with Zinzer and members of his family, including Zinzer's divorced common-law wife Beverly in Des Moines. Zinzer, Sills told the court, had reported to his probation officer regularly during completion of the deferred burglary sentence.

Also testifying in Friday's bond-reduction hearing was John Zinzer, the accused man's father, who said his son was a graduate of Southeast Polk High School who had spent three months in the U.S. Navy before being given a general discharge.

The elder Zinzer said his son had the possibility of obtaining work in Waterloo on March 1.

Testimony also indictated that Jeffery Zinzer is the father of a four-year-old son who is living with Beverly Zinzer in Des Moines.

Zinzer reportedly lived in Ferguson for six to eight months, and Beverly Zinzer reportedly had lived there with him for some time.

He was arrested on Jan. 16 after a lengthy investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). Minutes of testimony attached to the trial information have been sealed, and The Herald-Register has been unable to determine the alleged chain of events leading to Penney Forrest's murder.

Her partially clad body was found Nov. 30 near Montour in Tama County. The cause of death is listed as strangulation, although other wounds reportedly were present.

A pre-trial hearing is still scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 3.