The Cold Case of Cathy Zimmer "The Quilt Murder"

The Case of the Quilt Murder
In March 1989, 38-year-old mother Cathy Zimmer vanished after classes at San Jose State. Two days later, her body was found strangled in the back of her car at the San Jose Airport, wrapped in a mysterious patchwork quilt that no one recognized. Yet 36 years later who did it? Where did this quilt come from? 

Let’s pull back the shadows that have kept these cold cases in the dark for far too long. Piece by piece, we’ll work to rebuild the truth not just for the story, but for the victims and the families still waiting for answers. The puzzle isn’t complete yet, but together, we’re getting closer.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Hey guys, I'm your host Sarah, and welcome to Shadows Uncovered. Today I'm gonna talk about a case that comes back from 1989. A 38-year-old case with a suspected suspect but not charged. And still to this day, they have a possible motive but not a clear definition of this case. The case I want to talk about today is about the murder of Kathy Zimmer. Back in 1989, a 38-year-old mother of two from San Jose, California was found murdered in her car located at the San Jose International Airport. She was found in the backseat of her Chrysler, New Yorker. The discovery how she was found, she had been strangled and her body was wrapped in a distinctive patchwork quilt with yellow or orange borders. So the initial investigation, the cold the case went cold shortly after her death. The last time someone saw her, she was seen on March 8, 1989, attending a business class at San Jose State University. Detectives initially withheld the information about the quilt, hoping it would be a detail only the killer would know. Now, there's a little bit of like a time lapse between then and 2014. Although the case was reopened by the St. Clara County District's Attorney's Cold Case Unit in 2011, but answers weren't really coming through until 2014, with the arrest in 2014 of Kathy's husband, David Zimmer, and his brother, Robert Zimmer, were arrested and charged with her murder. However, the DNA investigators found was Robert Zimmer's DNA on the zipper and button of Kathy's pants. Now, to backstory, the motive and the witnesses to prove this. Witness that they have is Robert's daughter, Paula. She had told police her father had admitted to being with Kathy on the day she died and was worried his fingerprints would be in her car. The reason they looked at David Zimmer, because he would have profited from her death, collecting over$400,000 from life insurance and the sale of their home shortly after her murder. So even like with all this, again, the only DNA they have is Robert, but they don't know exactly the timeline. And with her husband, I mean, yes, that's a motive, but then again, you don't know. Now, in September of 2014, a highly unusual move happens with the district attorney Jeffrey Rosin. He dismissed all charges against both brothers. Now there's a little scandal to this. The lead prosecutor, Ted Kajani, admitted to having an improper sexual relationship with the key criminalist from the DNA crime lab, Amanda Cardenas. Which in turn, consequences, because of the relationship, it created a major conflict of interest and potential bias in the handling of critical DNA evidence. The DA stated they could not longer proceed with the prosecution. Now I want to back up a little bit on the DNA findings. Okay. Now I did say about how Robert Zimmer's was DNA was found on Kathy's zipper and button of her pants that she was wearing at the time of her death. Okay. Yet forensic experts reported that the likelihood this suspected DNA mixture from Robert appeared was 2.3 million times more likely if Robert Zimmer, an unknown individual, were the contributors rather than two unknown individuals. Now they did obtain a DNA sample from Robert from a bloody tissue followed on a separate 2010 misdemeanor investigation. But when they ran them, it matched to the 1989 evidence. Now, while the prosecution presented these findings as a definite proof of involvement, the evidence was successfully challenged by the defense before the case was ultimately dismissed. The transfer theory, defense attorney Michael Cordas argued, the results were misleading and represented as indirect transfer DNA. He suggested Kathy could have picked up the DNA by touching an object Robert had handled rather than from direct physical contact during the time. Yet, like I said, the credibility of these finds was damaged by that improper relationship between the lead prosecutor with the DNA analysis specialist, Amanda Cardenas. Now, again, here we go with the lack of direct connection. There was no DNA evidence directly linked to Kathy's husband, David Zimmer, to the crime scene. Okay. His charges were basically primarily financially motive, and his brother's allegedly involvement. Now I want to bring you back to a little bit of that detail of what exactly was found at the crime scene. Remember, guys, when I brought up that quilt? A quilt and she's strangled. Was she strangled by the quilt? Who knows? But this thing right here is just oh my. Okay. The quilt investigation. The case earned the Monierc the quilt murder because Kathy's body was discovered wrapped in a distinctive handmade style blanket in the back of her car again at the San Jose Airport. The quilt is approximately six by four feet with a bright yellow or orange border. It features colorful patchwork squares, many with floral designs and red or blue patterns. Now, again, another mystery origin because no one in Kathy's family or social circle recognized this quilt. Investigators believed it was left behind by the killer or killers. Now, the police kept the quilt existence secret for 25 years, hoping it would serve as a holdback evidence that only the perpetrator would know. But again, this led to literally nothing because back in February of 2014, St. Clara County District Attorney's Office finally released a photo of the quilt and no responses. No one recognized this. So, yeah, guys, do you honestly think was it Robert or was it David? I mean, again, David Zimmer, her husband, his little avenue of how he could be involved is because within the months of Kathy's death, David collected approximately$183,000 from two life insurance policies. He even sold their family home on Venice Way in San Jose for over$225,000 shortly after the murder, which then no total gain is about$409,000 from her death. However, district attorneys successfully argued that selling a home and collecting insurance was more common actions from a surviving spouse and did not constitute proof of murder. A judge eventually described the evidence against David as quote unquote rather thin. So again, here we are in 2016 with possible suspects, DNA that is compromised, and motive that is unclear. Here Kathy, she was strangled. Like a quilt. Who would leave a quilt? Was it a token? Like was it one of those killings where, like, you know, how they take care of the victim after, you know, not like gruesome, but like, you know, how they cover it up, like set up as a loving pose or just neat and clean. Yeah, that kind of throws me for a little bit of a loop there. But again, how can you state the improper sexual relationship when the DNA matched a combination of both brothers and the amount of DNA? The attorney, district attorney said it seemed to be like transferred from something that Robert touched and then she touched her pants. I don't I don't know. But here we are, like I said, in 2016, with no answers. So there you have it, guys. What do you think? This confusing avenue of a case. Did her husband do it? Was it her brother-in-law? Or, here we go, my mind again, was it the brother's idea and the brother, other brother committed the crime? So her husband can collect the money. I I'm just I'm just thinking, guys. Who knows? But all right, guys. Catch me next week for another unsolved, I would say derailed kind of case. All right, guys. Bye.