Hours after Jeffrey Kian Zizz, 47, was officially charged with the murder of Marcia Norman, 82, of Tenino, Thurston County officials during a press conference Monday described how Zizz, her handyman, carried out an alleged premeditated plan to kidnap, murder and dispose of Norman’s remains.
County Sheriff Derek Sanders, Coroner Gary Warnock and Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim each noted the macabre and complexity of the investigation, which Warnock described as the “worst case I’ve witnessed” in his 25 years working in the office.
(For an article focused on the criminal charges, visit https://chronline.com/stories/this-is-the-worst-case-ive-witnessed-thurston-county-officials-detail-ongoing,379268)
The coroner confirmed that Norman’s cause of death was combined blunt force and penetrating sharp force injuries to the head. Other significant conditions contributing to her death included multiple blunt force injuries to her torso and extremities, and the autopsy found that her injuries were inflicted while she was alive. It is unknown at which location the murder occurred, Warnock said.
Warnock said that there was no pattern for a possible weapon that caused the blunt force trauma but that the penetrating sharp force injuries were caused by a pneumatic nailer.
“Her onset from injury to death was not instant. It was hours. These injuries compounded and reoccurred while she was still alive,” Warnock said, adding that Norman was deceased when she was placed in the 18-inch-deep grave under a shed at an unrelated property in Olympia. Norman’s remains were discovered partially encased in concrete during the excavation by detectives.
Documents released by Thurston County Superior Court on Monday supporting probable cause for Zizz’s charges noted a five-page typed letter seized by detectives that appeared to be a meticulously planned out burglary and sexual assault of an adult woman identified as a “customer.”
Sanders said the letter and the evidence in Norman’s case have some similarities but added the investigation into the letter is still ongoing.
“The letter that they uncovered is extremely disturbing,” Sanders said.
While the letter described a plan to sexually assault an adult woman, Warnock said there is no evidence of a sexual assault in Norman’s case at this point but that the information is still pending investigation.
Sanders said Zizz’s potential motive is difficult to determine but that his guess is that “the suspect we have in custody is a violent person.” He pointed to the red flags in the nature of her disappearance, stating that “things were basically just left at a point in time” in her residence as dishes were left in the sink and the bed was made, but there were no signs of a disturbance such as a break-in to the home or damage.
“I believe everything was still at her residence, including her vehicles and except for her phone. The only two things that were missing were her and the phone,” Sanders said. “The family correctly identified how abnormal that was.”
When the investigation into Norman’s disappearance began, Sanders said Zizz was cooperative during his interview with detectives and that “he actually had a number of answers that made sense.” Once the investigation “started to stall out a little bit,” in Sanders’ words, the Olympia Police Department’s Flock camera system caught Zizz in a lie regarding his whereabouts on the day of Norman’s disappearance. On April 5, Zizz visited the county sheriff’s office for a polygraph examination, in which he “failed extremely poorly,” Sanders said, adding that Zizz fled the state after the exam. That day, Zizz’s truck was seized, searches of his storage unit and trailer were conducted, and his home was searched. Detectives determined that he had left the state using a roommate’s truck after his polygraph exam, and he was found after his truck struck an elk near the Idaho-Montana border. He was taken into custody on April 7 by Missoula law enforcement on a warrant for a probation violation from a previous child molestation case.
Zizz was extradited to Thurston County Jail on April 13 and booked April 20 for first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and unlawful disposal of human remains.
Sanders wanted the focus of the conference to be on who Norman was as a person, sharing anecdotes through his conversations with her family.
“The one thing that came up numerous times was how great of a person Marcia was, how she was the life of the room everywhere she went and how she was the glue for her family,” Sanders said.
Tunheim said he expects the formal filing of Zizz’s charges to occur within the next two days, and an arraignment will be scheduled on May 6 at 9 a.m. Assuming Zizz’s initial plea is not guilty, the court will proceed with setting additional hearing, including an omnibus hearing and a trial confirmation hearing. Tunheim said Zizz’s charges are “not necessarily the final charges” as further evidence is reviewed. Zizz had a preliminary hearing on the charges Monday afternoon, appearing virtually in Thurston County Superior Court.
“This is still a continuing investigation. There is evidence that has been collected that will be going to the crime lab for analysis,” Tunheim said. “As that develops, we’ll be continuing to analyze that evidence and review the charges.”
For more reporting on the charges and investigation, visit https://tinyurl.com/3b9r3k2m.
