SIBLING SENSATION HITS MADISON
5 Browns bring world-famous classical music gig to Overture Center ARTS University of Wisconsin-Madison
Complete campus coverage since 1892
l
l
Badger football team continues to suffer from injury bug during spring practice
PAGE 5
SPORTS
dailycardinal.com
l
PAGE 8
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Remembering Brittany Part one of four Zimmermann’s killer remains at large, but the police investigation continues By Abby Sears The Daily Cardinal
When Jordan Gonnering returned to his off-campus home in the afternoon of April 2, 2008, he discovered ZIMMERMANN that something had gone horribly wrong in the first-level apartment he shared with his fiancée, UW-Madison junior Brittany Zimmermann. “Ambulance is needed,”
By the numbers 200: Tips received by police 2,900: Pages of reports generated by police 143: MPD officers that have worked on the case in the last year 830: Names worth checking out generated by detectives 700: Individuals who have been contacted by police
Gonnering told a 911 dispatcher in a shaky voice. “I just came home, the door was busted in and my girlfriend’s been shot.” Authorities descended on the grisly scene at 517 W. Doty St. and discovered that Zimmermann, 21, had actually been stabbed, beaten and strangled to death in her bedroom. The crime sent shockwaves through the city and UW-Madison campus as the community grappled with the random slaying of a bright college coed in broad daylight. Who killed Brittany Zimmermann and why? For the Madison Police Department, stringing together the pieces of the Zimmermann homicide has been an exhaustive and ongoing process over the last 12 months. Even though Zimmermann’s killer remains at large, police are vigilantly investigating the homicide and hope to shed light on questions surrounding the unsolved crime. “We continue to be confident, that with the support of the Zimmermann family, and the community, that the caring professionals of the MPD will
Abrahamson gets faculty support, leads in funds By Cathy Martin The Daily Cardinal
As next Tuesday’s state Supreme Court election approaches, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson is closing in on the Supreme Court campaign fundraising record, many of her funds coming from UW System employees. Abrahamson’s campaign raised $290,319 between Feb. 3 and March 23, 2009, bringing her fundraising total to over $1.3 million, according to the campaign finance report. Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler holds the record of $1.4 million, raised for her 2007 election. Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick, Abrahamson’s opponent, raised over $70,000 in the same period and has raised $115,866 overall, according to Seamus Flaherty, campaign advisor for Koschnick. Flaherty said in an e-mail Koschnick hopes to make up for the fundraising gap by getting out his message through grassroots efforts. Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison professor of political science, said Koschnick suffers more from poor name-recognition than low campaign funding. “The difficulty for Koschnick was
getting enough visibility to raise public awareness of his campaign, and that was especially critical to him when facing a long-term, well-known incumbent,” Franklin said. Just over 170 people employed by the UW System, UW Law School and UW Hospital contributed $100 or more to Abrahamson since January 1 2008, according to campaign financial summaries on the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s website. No UW employee contributors were listed for Koschnick. Keith Findley, a clinical professor at the UW-Madison Law School, donated $100 to Abrahamson’s campaign. Findley said the chief justice is a fair-minded leader and one of the finest state Supreme Court justices in the country. “We’re very fortunate to have her in the state, and it would be a shame to lose one of our finest jurists,” Findley said. Franklin said it is no secret the university is liberal-leaning and would support the more “liberal” candidate. “All of the research for 50 years has found that the academy, the academic profession, leans to the left and fundraising page 3
amanda salm/cardinal file photo
UW-Madison junior Brittany Zimmermann was killed in her West Doty Street apartment April 2, 2008. solve this tragic crime,” Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said in a release. The search for a killer Police were initially tight-lipped on details of the homicide, saying the release of certain information could compromise the ongoing investigation. They did reveal there were signs of forced entry into the apartment and the killing appeared to be random. County Coroner John Stanley said Zimmermann died of a “complexity of traumatic injuries,” but police declined to further elaborate on how she was killed.
In December, eight months after Zimmermann’s death, additional details of the case were made public when the seals on several search warrants expired and were not renewed due to a police oversight. A coroner’s report said Zimmermann was stabbed multiple times with a two to five-inch knife that penetrated her heart in half of the stabs. According to the warrants, police collected a pair of bloody slippers, computer paper with blood drops, hair and blood samples, partial footwear prints, fingerprints and DNA swabs from the scene. Although police did not intend
for the information to be released, MPD Central District Captain Mary Schauf said investigators have moved past the hiccup and continue to relentlessly pursue solving the case. The current investigating team consists of a supervising lieutenant, two full-time detectives, two half-time detectives, a part-time crime analyst, a full-time intelligence assessment officer and other MPD staff who are brought in as needed. “It’s still a very open and active investigation,” Schauf said. zimmermann page 3
DISTRICT 8 THROWDOWN A preview to the April 7 election
How would you accomplish diminishing police involvement in bar raids downtown? Bryon Eagon: “Instead of trying to dictate police strategies, which Aldermen do not have authority to do, I will advocate removing funding for mobile ID scanners that are used in bar raids and use that money on more productive resources like neighborhood watch programs and funding for cabstands.”
WOULF
EAGON
Mark Woulf: “It must be recognized that the threat to students’ safety is violent crime late at night; not underage drinking. It is time that we address that problem through collaboration between the UW and Madison Police Department and university and city leaders to distribute our police resources on the streets and not in our bars.”
Chancellor to include students in initiative By Rory Linnane The Daily Cardinal
Chancellor Biddy Martin and the Associated Students of Madison will create a student oversight committee to help implement the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, Martin announced Monday at a forum about the initiative. “I’d like to get their advice in advance of making decisions about expenditures, and let them be the messengers to the campus,”
Martin said. ASM Chair Brittany Wiegand said the committee will likely operate through the Shared Governance Committee of ASM. While seats on the committee will be limited in number, Wiegand said any student will be able to apply. “We want to have a committee where students actually have some say, and it’s not just that when we agree with the administration they listen to us,” Wiegand said.
Martin said she envisioned the committee including 10-15 students. “I would like it to be large enough to be representative of students from different colleges and interest groups, but small enough to feel like they can really participate in discussions,” Martin said. If passed by the Board of Regents, the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates will raise $40 milinitiative page 3
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”