In 1990, 11-year-old Robin Cornell and 32-year-old Lisa Story were brutally assaulted and murdered in their Cape Coral home. For over two decades, the case remained unsolved, leaving their families and community desperate for closure. Then, a single piece of evidence—a DNA match—finally brought an answer. But with that answer came an even deeper question: Are we all born free of evil, is it something that can grow within us over time?
Chapter 1: What tragic events happened to Robin Cornell and Lisa Story?
Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.
The last 30 years I've been violent. I am un-violent, you know?
LATVIA
The house on Byron Avenue was typical of the quiet north Fort Myers neighborhood in Florida. A simple, weather-worn home of only about 500 square feet. This quiet residential home is where Bonnie Nicely had been living with her boyfriend, Joseph Zeiler, since 1990. Their 25-year-old son had also lived on the property. On the night of August 26, 2016, the household erupted into an argument.
Bonnie was used to the strained relationship between Joseph and their son. Arguments between them had escalated recently, and she could hear them shouting at each other in the hallway. They had all three been drinking. But Bonnie was plenty sober enough to know where this yelling was headed. It was getting out of control.
Bonnie nicely gave her account of the night's events in her recorded statement, which was taken at 3.33 a.m. on August 27, 2016. She said her 25-year-old son and his girlfriend spent time drinking at a local pool hall. And after they got home, Joseph and their son began arguing. According to Bonnie, the two men, both drunk, started swinging and grabbing at each other.
Bonnie's account was that Joseph followed their son to the bedroom, where he pressed his left forearm against his son's neck, pinning him down on the bed while repeatedly striking him in the face with his right hand. Their son fought back, biting Joseph on the left forearm and right fingers to break free.
while Bonnie, desperate to stop the assault, scratched Joseph's face as she tried to pull him away. When their son managed to get loose, Joseph retreated to his bedroom, seemingly ending the altercation. Joseph's version was slightly different. It was a more complete version that started at the beginning, long before the night of the attack.
I've been with my girl 26 years. I love her. I got her pregnant. I've done my best with him. I really try to do my best with him. He just drinks nonstop. Just nonstop. I mean, it's all the time. And I understand I'm guilty too. I drink, but I don't drink every day. And it's just gotten too much, man. Their son and his girlfriend both worked, so the income was appreciated.
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Chapter 2: What led to Joseph Zeiler's arrest?
He maintained that Bonnie had also struck him during the fight with their son, climbing on top of his back and scratching and hitting him in an attempt to break the two of them up. According to Joseph, he listens to his common-law wife. And when she told him to stop, he did. It was their son who pursued him.
I mean, I walked away. They told me to stop, and I stopped. My girl tells me to stop, I stop.
Regardless of whose story you found more truthful, the fact stood on its own that Joseph had discharged a pellet gun and aimed it at his own son, injuring him. What were the police going to do? Just walk away and let them sort it out for themselves? I mean, they can't. So they found probable cause to charge Joseph Zeiler with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
He was formally arrested on August 28th, 2016 and booked into the Lee County Jail without incident. They took him through all the usual procedures, fingerprinting, mugshot, cheek swabbing, all the fun stuff. He wasn't used to being behind bars. For a man who'd lived quietly for so many years, the jail was a cold, unforgiving place with a lot of noise.
Noise was exactly the thing he tried to avoid and also the reason he spent a lot of time in his man cave shed because his son and girlfriend were always fighting and he wanted some peace and quiet. Now, noise wasn't really his concern. As he sat in that stark, concrete cell, He had no way of knowing that detectives were uncovering something far beyond a family argument.
Something that had been buried in silence, waiting to be found. There were files, details, and unanswered questions that resurfaced in ways no one had expected. As the investigation unfolded, what detectives found would reach beyond Joseph, bringing in people who thought the past was long since buried. For now, though, he sat quietly, unaware of the pieces that were about to fall into place.
In North Fort Myers, Florida, Joseph Zeiler had led a quiet life for years. After an incident in 1998 left him with head trauma, a legal settlement allowed him to afford a modest home, where he lived with his longtime partner, Bonnie Nicely. The two met back in May of 1990, and within a month, Joseph had moved in with her.
Following the accident, Bonnie became both his caregiver and power of attorney, managing his affairs as he struggled with memory issues. Though his driver's license was valid, he'd been advised not to drive. Bonnie and Joseph weren't the only ones living in the home, though. Their 25-year-old son, Zach, and his much older girlfriend also made a home there in that 500-square-foot house.
According to Joseph, their son was a heavy drinker who turned belligerent during binges. So, one August night in 2016, a family argument turned violent. What began as a tense evening at a local bar ended with Joseph's son in the hospital and Joseph behind bars, charged with aggravated battery.
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Chapter 3: How did a DNA match change the investigation?
You know, what happened there is just probably not something that somebody meant to do. I really don't know what you're talking about. You've heard enough interrogations to know what's coming next, right? It's always good to cleanse your sins before you go to meet God. Well, I think that's the best thing is to confess sins and go see the man with a clear conscience.
I pray and do that myself on my own every evening.
The detectives found themselves face-to-face with either someone who didn't have much memory left or else was very consistent with his lie.
They weren't getting anywhere. Joseph insisted that he stayed out of trouble for a long time, and the only offense he could recall was the one he was just arrested for, shooting his son in alleged self-defense. When they brought up a charge in Illinois for burglary back in the 80s, again he had no recollection. So they asked, was he good at figuring out locks?
I don't remember ever being a burglar or burglarizing.
And that's all old stuff, so I mean, it's not like, you know, and we're not in Illinois, so it's not like I'm going to charge you with it. I'm just asking kind of, you know, how your brain worked and how you did things.
I don't remember being any kind of burglar at all. I have issues with memory. I don't remember...
I know that's what she keeps saying, and I'm sure that you do have some memory issues. I think that you're also trying to play that card right now.
Okay. The next round of questions involved his personal and sexual life. They wanted to know if he'd ever cheated on Bonnie, whether he was a one-woman kind of guy, or what his preferences were. You know, like, uh... Do you like children in a sexual way?
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Chapter 4: What were the circumstances of the night of the murders?
She just would get in the car and let's go, do whatever it is has to be done. But for the most part, Robin was very happy. I have very few memories of her ever throwing a fit or giving me a hard time. She was pretty happy-go-lucky, liked to prank. She was a big prankster.
She was friendly and had lots of friends at school. More than 25 years later, these friends still think of Robin and stay in touch with Jan.
This is an 11-year-old little girl. This is Robin.
Okay. Okay. Think about what her mother's gone through every single day for the past 25 years.
That should be breaking your heart right now. Again, I don't believe I've ever seen either one of these girls. I don't really know what you're implying here.
I'm not implying anything. I'm telling you. I'm saying that you know Robin. I don't know Robin. You've seen her. You've met her. I don't know these girls.
Do you remember touching her? No. Nothing was making this guy crack. And if they could just get him to admit anything. But he wouldn't. If they could just get him to acknowledge that he gave his DNA and they had him as a match. But he couldn't, or wouldn't, even admit to remembering being swabbed.
Do you remember being swabbed by the detective that you had a long conversation with, that you told him what happened between you and your son? I'm not getting into that. But that you talked to him about what happened between you and your son, that you talked to him about your accident, the settlement, the house that you bought, all kinds of those details.
And you remember him swabbing with a big, long Q-tip the inside of your mouth?
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