NEWS
UW junior found dead in Doty Street home; killer still at large
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Also by Beth Mueller:
- State sees low traffic fatalities (April 4, 2008)
- Armed standoff ends peacefully (April 4, 2008)
Related Stories:
- Police focus on transients for homicide clues (April 4, 2008)
- University lends help to those affected by homicide (April 3, 2008)
- Officials urge residents to use SAFE, lock homes (April 3, 2008)
- Shaken campus remains on alert (April 4, 2008)
- UW-Oshkosh student found dead (November 13, 2003)
by Beth Mueller
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Police are investigating the homicide of a University of Wisconsin student found near campus Wednesday afternoon, with her killer still at large.
Officers responded to a call at about 1 p.m. to discover 21-year-old junior Brittany Zimmermann dead in her home at 517 W. Doty St.
A source close to the investigation said she was stabbed to death, and Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said investigators have not discounted the possibility that this case could be linked to another unsolved stabbing homicide downtown in January.
“This absolutely could be random, and the murderer is at large,” said City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4. “The police are working feverishly looking at leads.”
Police have not provided any information on suspects in the case, and an extensive investigation is ongoing.
“It is so vitally important that if anyone saw anything, observed anything, heard anything, that they would contact the Madison Police Department,” Wray said.
Police said any information from the last 24 hours could be vital to the investigation, and teams have been canvassing the West Doty and South Bassett streets neighborhood since early Wednesday afternoon.
“If people in the downtown area saw someone suspicious — and I know we have a cast of characters who call Madison home, and that’s a good thing — but if you saw somebody trying to get into homes, anything like that … I’d like to get that CrimeStoppers number out there,” said MPD Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain.
The number for CrimeStoppers is 608-266-6014.
A forensic medical examination will be performed this morning, and no information on the cause of Zimmermann’s death will be released until then.
Zimmermann was a solid student who worked in the Office of the Registrar, according to Dean of Students Lori Berquam.
“Clearly this is a devastating and tragic situation, and honestly it’s a shock,” Berquam said. “It’s a shock to many of those in our community, to the students who just hours before, knew this woman walking to class, knew her in class.”
Visibly shaken police, city and university officials at a press conference Wednesday urged students and residents to use caution in the area.
“I just can’t imagine the emotion that’s running through the campus right now, through our neighborhood right now, and in the fact there’s a killer among us,” Verveer said.
Verveer, a resident of the 500 block of West Doty himself, said he walks past Zimmermann’s house every day and has friends who have lived there in the past. Even Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz lived on the block when he attended UW.
“People always think of the Doty and Bassett area as a very safe neighborhood, as a place with that hometown feel — I was personally shocked to hear the news,” said UW junior and District 8 Ald. Eli Judge.
Judge, Verveer and Cieslewicz stressed that crime rates in Madison have been declining and that the neighborhood remains safe.
“While we need to remind ourselves that we are a safe city overall, we also need to continue to look out for ourselves, to continue to be a strong community,” Cieslewicz said.
UW Police Chief Susan Riseling and Wray said police added patrols and visibility as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, which will continue on an increased status “until we have enough information to step down,” Riseling said.
Verveer and Judge are planning a community meeting for Saturday afternoon, “to brief all concerned parties, particularly my neighbors, on what the current situation is with the investigation,” Verveer said. The location and exact time of the meeting will be determined today.
Zimmermann, a native of Marshfield, Wis., was planning to marry her current boyfriend next year, her father told The Capital Times.
Wray said police had not ruled out that this could be connected to the January homicide of Joel Marino, who was stabbed to death on South Park Street, or the abduction of UW-Whitewater student Kelly Nolan, who disappeared from downtown Madison last June and was later found dead north of Oregon, Wis.
Verveer said there were “striking similarities” between Zimmermann’s case and the Marino homicide, though he said he had no reason to think the two were connected.
Verveer said the last murder of a UW student was in September 1996, when UW student Jonathan Daniel of Waukesha was murdered in his University Avenue apartment after a “drug rip-off.”
— Cara Harshman and Nick Penzenstadler contributed to this report.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 5:28am):
Cannot wait to leave this God forsaken city.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 5:53am):
this is so shocking! my thoughts and prayers to her poor family and friends!!!
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 7:25am):
God, do reporters actually do any work anymore? Did you ask any questions?!
TCT reports that she was living with her fiancee... and never mentions anything else about him! Here's are some to get you started: Have the police interviewed him yet? Is he a suspect? Who tipped off the police? Was there anything stolen from the apartment? Evidence of a struggle or fighting?
You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to recognize the fiancee is the #1 suspect. People don't break into people's apartments to stab them to death. Stabbing someone is personal, the murderer probably knows Zimmermann.
Reporters, DO YOUR JOB!
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 7:35am):
oh shut up! don't blame the city on one person.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 7:53am):
This is exactly why Wisconsin residents should the right to arm and protect themselves. Pass the personal protection act. We deserve to feel safe in our city.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 8:01am):
"God forsaken city?" Really? I've never lived in Madison; only work here, and commute from the Milwaukee area. Please fill us in on what crimeless slice of heaven you live in.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 11:04am):
madison students need more info from the police to keep ourselves safe!!!
how long was she dead before they found the body?
what was this call at 1pm?
what was the relation with the other murder--just stabbing, or social relation?
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 12:20pm):
To the previous Anonymous - this isn't a time to blame a whole city which doesn't deserve the title as 'God-forsaken'. This is the time to a mourn a tragedy of ultimate proportions, and to help law enforcement track down one or more extraordinarily evil persons.
By the way, the truth of the matter, Madison's homicide rate (1.79 homicides per 100,000 population) is half the state average and lower than other 'God-forsaken' cities like Ripon (13.22 murder rate), Racine (8.71), Oshkosh (6.11), Kenosha (4.24), Superior (3.68) and of course Milwaukee (17.45).
And when you leave the state to get a job in Chicago (15.65), Minneapolis (12.5) or New York City (7.3), then you will certainly be thankful to be away from the treacherous Madison city limits.
Condolences go to Ms. Zimmerman's family, her boyfriend and her friends and classmates...
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 1:23pm):
To the previous Anonymous - this isn't a time to blame a whole city which doesn't deserve the title as 'God-forsaken'. This is the time to a mourn a tragedy of ultimate proportions, and to help law enforcement track down one or more extraordinarily evil persons.
By the way, the truth of the matter, Madison's homicide rate (1.79 homicides per 100,000 population) is half the state average and lower than other 'God-forsaken' cities like Ripon (13.22 murder rate), Racine (8.71), Oshkosh (6.11), Kenosha (4.24), Superior (3.68) and of course Milwaukee (17.45).
And when you leave the state to get a job in Chicago (15.65), Minneapolis (12.5) or New York City (7.3), then you will certainly be thankful to be outside the treacherous Madison city limits.
Condolences go to Ms. Zimmerman's family, her boyfriend and her friends and classmates...
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 2:12pm):
5:28am -- Seriously?? Where are you gonna go? Crime is everywhere.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 2:36pm):
Now the BH is reporting that the boyfriend is no longer a suspect. OK, why?
Please reporters, you have access, ask some damn questions! Your job is not to reprint press releases from MPD.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 3:10pm):
1:23,
A tragedy of ultimate proportions? It's an unfortunate murder. Not the mass killing of thousands of people. Don't be so melodramatic.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 3:12pm):
To whoever said "pass the personal protection act": Do you really think a 21 year old female college student would have had a pistol had she had the right to arm herself? What a stupid comment. Just be respectful of those who this effects and don't turn it into some garbage political leverage that clearly is not relevant. Condolences to her family and friends
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 3:51pm):
TO 7:25 a.m.
As you may have noticed, her "boyfriend" is not a suspect in the crime, and yes, he has been interrogated.
Maybe next time you could report, or better, lead the investigations? Sounds like you know exactly what to do.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 4:07pm):
"This is exactly why Wisconsin residents should the right to arm and protect themselves. Pass the personal protection act. We deserve to feel safe in our city."
Don't use this for your stupid partisan NRA ideology. When all the facts are known, I doubt we'll see that there was any way a gun would have changed anything; even if it did, the negative consequences would have far outweighed it.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 4:31pm):
TO 3:51
Yes, I have noticed. At 7:25AM this wasn't reported yet. But there was no reason given why he was no longer a suspect, something a reporter should've asked.
Also, you'll notice that everyone is calling Gonnering "boyfriend" except the father, who calls him Brittany's "fiancee". I'd like someone to ask which it is, and if Brittany had been lying to her family about this guy.
Read the WSJ and TCT articles, they're full of all sorts of bizarre statements from the father, like Brittany is such a good girl because she didn't date anyone until after she was 18. And now, barely 21, she's living with her boyfriend and her dad was lead to believe they were getting married this Fall. And the aunt was the person who told the newspaper that the boyfriend is the one who found the body and called police.
Everyone is way to excited to start calling this a serial killer and I think its very likely the murderer was someone Brittany knew. Until I hear a decent alibi, I'm very suspicious of the boyfriend, especially if there was some lying about getting married.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 4:35pm):
Empathy: the power of projecting one's personality into (and so fully comprehending) the object of contemplation, Oxford English Dictionary. Or, in simpler terms, identifying with â or at least understanding â the emotions and/or situations of someone else. My question â where has this empathy gone? The University of Wisconsin has just suffered a grave tragedy: the all-too-early death of one of our own. The mayor has, according to the Daily Cardinal, offered his condolences, yet both student papers simply mention Cieslewicz calling on the need to be strong and recognize that Madison is safe overall. Should we really brush over the details and move on?
Granted, sometimes it can be hard to empathize when we hear of death on the news â the death of someone we do not know in a city far away. As a female victim of attempted murder, I immediately empathize with the tragedy of Brittanyâs death. But this is not that impersonal; for any of us. Brittany was a 21-year old college student living on Doty; it could have been any one of us. Any easier to empathize now? Focus in the news has too quickly gone to campus safety. Without question, a necessary and warranted segment to include in any such article, but not at the expense of overlooking the victim. We should show a bit more humanitarian empathy for this girl next door.
The online comments for the Badger Heraldâs article did no such thing. âCannot wait to leave this God forsaken city,â 5:28am. âGod, do reporters actually do any work anymore? Did you ask any questions?!â 7:25am. Really? Was that the most helpful thing you could have said in a situation like this? When did student reporters become the police? Letâs take a step back for a second and realize the real gravity of this situation: a beautiful young woman who should have had the rest of her life ahead of her, had it cut short, on our own campus. Letâs keep her forever in our thoughts and in our prayers, and do our best to make sure her story doesnât have to repeat itself. Save the ad homonym reporter attacks for an appropriate time. Let Brittanyâs story impact the decisions you make, and let her and her story enter your heart. And never let it go.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 5:56pm):
7:53am - You think if everyone had guns this girl would still be alive? The sad truth of the matter is that we would have had a gun homicide rather than a stabbing homicide. Don't use tragedy to try and push your political agenda.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 7:43pm):
A few burning thoughts from a conservative UW student...
(please read)
1. There's not enough police patroling in and around UW-Madison. As for Saferide? Let's be honest, it's just a cheap way for the university to address safety on campus w/o getting nailed w/ a lawsuit. Does it work? Sure. If you want a free ride home in the dead of winter or the thought of walking a mile home in your 2 and 1/2'' heels is just too painful fathom. Does it provide safety in a potentially harmful situation? Probably not. Sorry, but it's true. Just ask my fellow classmates. For the record, I lived on Landgon for fours years and never felt safe and it certainly didn't help when I found out my sister had a gun pulled on her near Henry/Langdon 2 yrs. ago. Scary? You better believe it.
2. How many female (and male) students have had to walk home alone late at night from the library and/or the bars or a friends house? Anyone feel safe doing this? And, how often do you see a policeman/woman on patrol? I'd love to see what a poll would reveal. Something tells me the majority of female (and male) UW students don't feel safe. Our parents, teachers, and peers have taught us to never walk home alone late at night--yes, but, sometimes the option isn't fully available (no one offers, it's hard to ask, no one really wants to walk you home at 2:30am in the dead of winter, and don't get me started w/ Safewalk...).
3. How come it takes extreme cases for a positive change to occur? As students, we wouldn't have been accepted into the university if we weren't proactive individuals (at large). Futhermore, the city and campus wouldn't thrive without us...
Look. All we want is to feel safe. It's not asking a whole lot. Please. Respect us.
4. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I am deeply concerned about my peers and I just want what's best for all of us. Truly.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 9:52pm):
Unsettling how easy it was for the killer to get away from the cops' eyes.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 10:11pm):
You people do realize that gang violence is rising in Madison right?
I live two houses down from 517 at 525 and trust me, there has been an increase in suspicious looking characters over the past year....so this could really be completely random....or it could be the same guy that stabbed the other Zimmerman, just randomly killing someone once again.
Don't underestimate the willpower or strength of a homeless person or a drug addict.
Now then, go back to your little bubble of unreality like good little students and prattle on about useless crap that the rest of the world really doesn't care about....you'll have forgotten about this in a week.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 10:18pm):
A girl died and all you students can do is bitch about who's right and who's wrong....honestly, now I see why Al Quaeda hates us.
Anonymous (April 4, 2008 @ 2:24am):
i'm scared
Amber (April 4, 2008 @ 7:02pm):
Murders at large. Please take off the body world ad!
Because the murders of those bodies are also at large!
Anonymous (April 7, 2008 @ 10:37pm):
there needs to be more police foot patrols throughout madison...not just on state street.
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