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dailycardinal.com
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008
New details of Zimmermann case released 911 call contains sounds of physical struggle, screaming By Rachel Holzman THE DAILY CARDINAL
Madison police said Tuesday new details involving UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann’s slaying released by the Wisconsin State Journal would not hinder its investigation. Zimmermann was found dead April 2 at her Doty Street apartment by her fiancé, Jordan Gonnering, who described her body as cold and lifeless, according to search warrants obtained by the State Journal. The warrants reveal Zimmermann was beaten and stranZIMMERMANN gled, and stabbed so many times in the heart that Gonnering thought she had been shot in the chest. The recently recovered warrants disclose 48 minutes passed between a 911 call from Zimmermann the day she was killed and when police were sent to her apartment. The Dane County 911 Center has been at the center of public controversy and scrutiny after mishandling Zimmermann’s call and delaying police response to the call. According to the warrants, Zimmermann’s 911 call contained sounds of a woman’s screams and an audible struggle. However, the 911 Center released a statement that an
investigation found no evidence the dispatcher who took Zimmermann’s call heard anything that indicated an emergency was occurring. The Madison Police Department and Dane County officials have refused to reveal the contents of the 911 call in an effort to keep certain details from the public. MPD Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain said it would have been preferable, from an investigative standpoint, for the warrants to have remained sealed. “In any criminal investigation, particularly a stranger homicide, it is important to hold back some information,” DeSpain said. “If someone has information that has not been revealed to the public, we will move quickly on that tip and can use the withheld information to see if someone might rise to the level of a suspect.” The seal on the warrants, which had been re-sealed multiple times by judges at the request of police and county prosecutors, expired last week and no request was made to extend them. In a statement, DeSpain said the failure to seek additional extensions for a seal on the search warrant documents was an oversight. DeSpain said much of the information contained in the warrants is dated and the investigation has progressed. “Although it is hard to quantify what impact there might be from the release of any particular piece of information, detectives don’t believe the unsealing of these search warrant affidavits will jeopardize their case,” DeSpain said. “We remain very optimistic that it can be solved. The detectives continue to work very hard and are looking at a number of leads.”
JACOB ELA/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
Gov. Jim Doyle, seen above at a February Madison rally with President-elect Barack Obama, met with the future president and other governors in Philadelphia Tuesday to discuss an economic stimulus plan which aims for a partnership between state and federal governments.
Obama meets with governors, hopes to work with states to fix economy By Jessica Feld THE DAILY CARDINAL
President-elect Barack Obama met with the nation’s governors Tuesday to discuss an economic recovery plan to aid states in dealing with budget deficits. In his address, Obama pledged his commitment to governors, stressing the need for a partnership between state and federal governments in overcoming economic hardships. “We have to recognize that any true solution will not come from Washington alone,” Obama said. “It will come from all of you. It will come from the White House and the State House working together every step of the way.” Gov. Jim Doyle was among governors gathered in Philadelphia for the meeting. In a conference call, Doyle expressed a strong desire among governors to work with
the new administration in creating a stimulus package focusing on infrastructure and employment. The preliminary stimulus package includes major infrastructure investment and a focus on renewable and green energy as a way to drive the economy, Doyle said. Recognizing the recent pressure placed on state government, Obama emphasized his administration’s dedication to addressing the economic needs of individual states. “Make no mistake, these are difficult times, and we’re going to have to make hard choices in the months ahead about how to invest precious tax dollars and how to save them,” Obama said. According to Doyle, Obama asked governors to share with his administration successful stateimplemented programs that could be applied at a national level. Senior Care, Wisconsin’s senior
drug program, is one such program that could improve health care at the federal level, Doyle said. “Senior Care is far superior to the big Medicare part B that is now one of the most expensive programs in our nation,” Doyle said. “Senior Care actually saves money because we negotiate with drug companies and it is simpler for seniors to understand.” Neither Obama nor Doyle provided numbers indicating the projected cost of the stimulus package. Doyle said the package would relieve some of the state’s deficit, but added it will not be the sole solution. “There isn’t enough federal money in the world to take care of the kind of deficits states are facing,” Doyle said. “We’re going to have to make some very deep cuts in state government and they are going to be very painful.”
UW researchers find excessive TV watching increases sexual activity among adolescents By Melanie Teachout THE DAILY CARDINAL
AMANDA SALM/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO
New crime scene details in Brittany Zimmermann’s homicide case reveal the condition of her slain body and sounds of her 911 call.
A recent UW-Madison twoyear study revealed adolescents exposed to an excessive amount of TV are more likely to have early sexual experiences. Janet Shibley Hyde, a psychologist at UW-Madison, and Myeshia Price, a graduate student in the department of psychology, tested 273 children at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality meeting in Indiana. “Although the research is not directly related to college students, I believe that dialogue about sexual behaviors is always sex study page 3
MATT RILEY/THE DAILY CARDINAL
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”