SWANTON, OH (WTOL) - A quarter of a century old murder case takes a new turn with a decision today by the Sixth District Court of Appeals.
The panel of judges decided to reverse the decision a Fulton County judge made last year to drop murder charges against Walter Zimbeck. He was indicted a year earlier for the 1985 murder of 14 year old Lori Ann Hill, his ex-girlfriend.
"I miss her so much," said Lori Ann's sister Rachel while bringing fresh flowers to Lori Ann's gravesite Friday afternoon.
Lori Ann's case went cold after her murder and her naked body found in a wooded area in Swanton.
She had left a Halloween party the night she was killed, had gotten a ride to a local pizzeria and from there was spotted by other friends and passersby. Cold case detectives reopened the case in 2008.
They say Walter Zimbeck was never a suspect in 1985 since he passed a polygraph.
During their investigation, they say they discovered inconsistencies in Zimbeck's statements, his mother had told them he went out to look for Lori Ann the night she was killed, he had mysterious scratches on his arms the day after the murder and no one could corroborate the two different alibis he had provided.
When confronting Zimbeck in 2008, investigators say he admitted he lied in the initial investigation but couldn't say why.
Rachel recalled Zimbeck staying in contact with her family after Lori's death. "You know what you did to her. You know what you did when you sat on my mom and dad's couch and said nothing," Rachel said. She also said he was the best man in her wedding.
With the case reopened and Zimbeck now living in Tennessee, a Fulton County grand jury indicted him for murder 24 years after Lori Ann's death.
The Fulton County judge who presided over the case then dismissed the charges citing a lack of evidence and a prejudicial case against Zimbeck due to the 24-year time gap.
"My heart, it was broken," Rachel said.
Prosecutors appealed the decision and both sides argued their case to a three-judge appealette panel last year.
Now that the state has won the appeal, the prosecutor must file motions to proceed with the case in Fulton County. Zimbeck is still on bond back in Tennessee. His Fulton County attorneys did not call WTOL 11 back for comment.
Rachel says she just beat cancer and is healthy enough to continue this fight.
She says it's Lori herself giving her the strength, "Sometimes she said it's okay. I said no sis, no Lori, it's not okay."
She says she's gone through her own self destruction because of this case.. but she says her battle won't end until she finally sees a murder conviction.
