Christina's Story: Newspaper Articles

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Christina's Story - Newspaper Articles

The following links take you to various articles in Christina's story as it appeared in the South Florida media.

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*In Loving Memory Of* Christina Diane Holt May 23, 1987 - September 16, 1994 "Beautiful Child who has found love from the angels...RIP..."	(Not her actual headstone)
These pages contain all of the articles from the Palm Beach Post and The Sun-Sentinel throughout the years.

Tragedies Lead To Outpouring Of Offers To Help Children In Need (11/15/94)
Christina's Grandma: I Wanted To Aid Police (11/15/94)
How Can You Help Save Kids? Become A Guardian Ad Litem (11/16/94)
Call Abuse Hotline Before It's Too Late (11/16/94)
Ziles' Car Warrant Unsealed (11/17/94)
Christina Inspires KMart Fund Drive (11/17/94)
Zile Confessed Freely, Police Say (11/18/94)
Krischer Accused Of Going Too Far (11/18/94)
Pauline Zile Arraignment Scheduled Today (11/18/94)
Fairness Demands A New Vote (11/18/94)

TRAGEDIES LEAD TO OUTPOURING OF OFFERS TO HELP CHILDREN IN NEED
Sun-Sentinel
November 15, 1994
Author: BARBARA WALSH and DEBBIE CENZIPER Staff Writers

Christina Holt. Alex and Michael Smith. Dayton Boykin.

All children - two in South Florida and two in South Carolina - killed in the past two months by their parents. Their tragic stories evoked tears, rage and hopelessness.
But their deaths have also prompted something positive - more people are offering to help abused and neglected children.

"I think the consciousness of the whole nation has been raised," said Heather Howard, outreach director at Aid to Victims of Domestic Assault in Delray Beach. "It's all so terrifying right now, the breakdown of the family. People want to give, so they volunteer."

Although calls about volunteer opportunities usually surge during the holiday season, South Florida social service officials say they are fielding an unusually large number of requests from callers who want to work with children.

Volunteer Broward, a United Way organization that recruits and refers volunteers to 450 nonprofit agencies, says it has seen a 10 percent increase in people wanting to assist children.

The organization usually gets 50 to 60 calls from potential volunteers each month.

Of the 32 people who submitted volunteer applications in the past two months to the Palm Beach County Volunteer Bureau of the United Way, officials said about half said they wanted to work with abused and neglected children.

Ginny Biggs of the United Way in Broward said there was an increase in volunteers wishing to work with children, but could not cite a specific number.

"It's about time people want to do something," said Alice Kelley, program manager of a new Broward emergency shelter for children. "The children of our community need our support. If their parents can't care for them and we don't, then who is going to?

"It's important for kids to know there are people out there that are good, that not every grown-up is bad and going to hurt them," Kelley said. At Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches, which provides financial assistance for families trying to remain self-sufficient, dozens of calls have come in from people wanting to help.

"There is a tremendous outpouring for children right now," Executive Director Terry Bozarth said. "People want to help."

And there are dozens of agencies in South Florida that need volunteers to do everything from hugging abused babies to tutoring students to becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister.

But social service workers caution that volunteers need to be committed and willing to make time for training and background screening.

"Right now, there's kind of an emotional reaction in the community because of what's happened," said Judy Thompson, executive director of the Center for Children in Crisis in West Palm Beach. "Children need advocates every day of their lives. It can't be just a flash in the pan kind of thing. If you're going to volunteer, do it consistently."

About 130 children, mostly boys, are on the waiting list at Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Palm Beach County. Another 115 boys and 38 girls in Broward are also waiting for an adult companion.

The children, who come from single-parent homes with little or no support system, are looking for adults who can give a few hours each week to provide friendship and advice.

"Our biggest need is for Big Brothers," said Jane DeLisa, who works for Broward Big Brothers/

Big Sisters. "There are so many boys on the waiting list, and they really need to know there are men out there that care."

DeLisa said boys sometimes must wait as long as 18 months before they get a Big Brother. But DeLisa hopes that will change now that the public has newfound concern about abused children.

"I received a call today from a young girl," DeLisa said. "She said she and her boyfriend cried when they read the stories about these children who were murdered by their parents. They offered to share time with a child, take him fishing and show him a good time."

CHRISTINA'S GRANDMA: I WANTED TO AID POLICE
Miami Herald, The (FL)
November 15, 1994
Author: JUDY PLUNKETT EVANS Herald Staff Writer

Christina Holt's grandmother, Paula Yingling, testified Monday that she had volunteered to wear a recording device in an effort to trap the girl's mother into revealing how Christina died and where she was buried.
Christina's mother and stepfather, Pauline and John Zile, are charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of the 7-year-old girl. John Zile was arraigned Monday.

Pauline Zile's arraignment was postponed until Friday because her attorney said he had not seen the indictment handed down last week by a Palm Beach County grand jury.

Also continued until Friday was a request by Pauline Zile's attorney to disqualify the Palm Beach County state attorney's office from handling the case, based on comments the chief prosecutor has made to the media.

John Zile's attorneys from the public defender's office did not enter a plea Monday because they plan to challenge the indictments, so the court entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

Ellis Rubin, one of Pauline Zile's attorneys, has asked a judge to disqualify State Attorney Barry Krischer, alleging that Krischer has tried to prejudice the public against Pauline Zile. Rubin said Krischer also did not tell Pauline Zile she was entitled to an attorney before Riviera Beach police summoned her to the station for a lie-detector test.

During the two-hour hearing Monday in Palm Beach Circuit Court, Rubin asked Yingling to describe events the night of Oct. 27, when Pauline Zile told police that her husband had beaten her daughter to death.

The confession ended a weeklong hoax during which Zile had insisted Christina was abducted from the Swap Shop.

Yingling said she thought during the initial questioning that her daughter was lying and that she would tell her the truth if she could get her out of the Riviera Beach police station .

"I said let me take my daughter home and I will wear a wire and my daughter will eventually tell me what happened," Yingling said. "And I was flat turned down."

Pauline Zile later that night told police about Christina's death, and her statement led to her husband's confession.

Yingling, who stayed with her daughter through much of the questioning, began crying Monday when she described how Pauline Zile was interrogated as investigators tried to learn where Christina had been buried. Pauline Zile had described a vague area, saying it was a field with a tree, but she didn't know where it was, Yingling testified.

Yingling testified that one investigator told her daughter: "That baby's in the ground and the bugs are eating her up and you've got to tell us where she is. She deserves better than that."

John Zile later led police to the site where he had buried Christina, behind the Tequesta Kmart.

Yingling also acknowledged she had never met Christina, who had lived with her father's family in Maryland until she came to live with the Ziles in June. The state attorney's office will have a chance to argue against its disqualification Friday.

HOW CAN YOU HELP SAVE KIDS? BECOME A GUARDIAN AD LITEM
The Palm Beach Post
November 16, 1994
Author: ALVIN MANN

The recent spate of child slayings, involving Christina Holt, Michael and Alex Smith, Bradley McGee, A.J. Schwarz and others, tears at our heartstrings.

These children may have died because a parent did not understand the meaning of parenting. Sometimes these crimes occur because the parents are children having children. The breakup of a family can be so traumatic to the parents that the children suffer needlessly.
One way courts try to stop such abuse is through the Guardian Ad Litem Program, a state-administered group of volunteers. We are appointed by the court to act in the best interest of the child in cases of neglect, abandonment and mental or physical abuse.

THE EYES AND EARS OF THE COURT

This ``best interest'' may not necessarily coincide with the desires of the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, the parents or the child. We are the eyes and ears of the court, appointed to investigate and report. The guardian ad litem is not there to usurp the family, or to take away the authority of the parents, but to try to ensure that the child is protected.

We can think of the thousands of families and more thousands of children who have benefited from our work. We have interacted and intervened, we have enabled them to receive services, we have been a shoulder to lean on. Our work includes finding homes for abandoned cocaine babies and those who are HIV-positive.

When you are successful in family reunification or placement of a child, that is pushing back the tide of danger to children.

It is impossible to salvage every situation, but when you are successful, there is another child who will not become a negative statistic.

Working with HRS is not always the easiest task. Sometimes we oppose its recommendations. Our reports and summations give judges another viewpoint and a fuller understanding of the problems.

What does it take to be a guardian ad litem? A dedication to put the interest of the child foremost. A willingness to give of yourself. A promise that you will attend court and other hearings on behalf of ``your'' child. A smile, a hug, a look and a caring but non-judgmental attitude for all involved.

No special background or expertise is needed. You will be given all the training necessary and will be put with a mentor to help you along the way. The amount of time spent is your decision.

AN IMMEDIATE NEED FOR NEW GUARDIANS

How many nights do I wake up wondering what is happening with my cases? It is made worthwhile when I am greeted by the children with happy looks on their faces and sometimes by a ``thank-you'' from the parents.

The need for new guardians is immediate. The courts are appointing us on too many new cases for us to keep up with. Come join us in pushing back the tide. Let us not have to triage the cases for immediate action. Who knows what is really happening with the child until we look into it?

Call 355-2773 and speak to our training director, Lois Messer. It would be difficult to find a nicer group of people either in our office staff, circuit director or the hundreds of volunteers who know the meaning of the word satisfaction.

LOCAL FORUM

Alvin Mann is a resident of Tequesta. He wrote this article for The Palm Beach Post.

CALL ABUSE HOTLINE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE
Sun-Sentinel
November 16, 1994
Author: JOHN GROGAN Commentary

The phone caller's voice is shaking. He is scared, but mostly he is angry.

He has children himself, he tells me, and wants to do the right thing. He wants to do what all the experts on television have urged since the death of 7-year-old Christina Holt.
He suspects abuse on his street and wants to get involved, but it is no easy task.

If my caller were a hero in an action movie, he might simply march down the street to his neighbor's home and tell the bully who lives there to stop screaming at his wife and teen-age son like that. To stop chasing them down the street. To stop throwing rocks at them and threatening to kill them.

But my caller is just an ordinary guy, a soft-spoken suburban dad from west of Boca Raton, who doesn't want to give his name for fear the bully will come after him.

"Everyone in the neighborhood calls him `the Wild Man,'" my caller says of the man on his street. "We're afraid he's going to go berserk and kill somebody."

The police come and go, he said, but nothing seems to change.

Police know address well

Palm Beach County sheriff's records show deputies have been to Wild Man's house 12 times this year. Most recently the cops were called on Nov. 3, the day Wild Man chased his wife and son down the street, my caller says.

But when police arrived, they found Wild Man with a cut beneath his eye, and he told them his son had hit him. The police report lists the father as the victim and says he refused to press charges against the son. The report notes that the father and the son "wrestled on the ground" and that the wife jumped in, trying to hold back her husband from punching the boy. But nowhere does it mention the father's aggressive tirade in the street that neighbors say they saw.

Last week, my caller summoned his courage and dialed the state's abuse hotline, 1-800-962-2873. He did it for Christina and all the other children who never got that magic phone call that could have made a difference.

"I stayed on hold 45 minutes and never did get anybody; and the second time I stayed on hold 30 minutes and didn't get anybody."

His wife then dialed a spouse-abuse hotline but was told the agency could respond only to a complaint from the abused spouse.

"It's a joke," my caller tells me. "I can't reach anybody. It's just a matter of time for something to happen. This guy is a walking time bomb."

A few days later when I try the same HRS hotline, I realize my caller must have dialed at particularly busy times. I call three times over two days and each time get through to an operator without delay.

Help is a quarter away

The operators confirm that an abused wife needs to make her own decision to seek help, but one suggests a "confident or courageous" neighbor could slip her the hotline number and a quarter for a pay phone.

The teen-age son, the operators say, is another story. If Wild Man indeed chased the boy down the street, throwing rocks and threatening to kill him, as my caller said, an HRS investigator would be knocking on the door within 24 hours of a complaint, they say.

So I call back my caller and suggest he might want to try again. But this time he is noncommital. Having had a few days to weigh the possible repercussions, he seems reluctant to get involved.

He offers the latest twist in the saga: The son - Wild Man Jr.? - shot up his parents' front door with a pellet gun, and Wild Man Sr. spent the weekend puttying and painting over the holes.

My caller tells me he'll think about calling, but the urgency is gone from his voice. I will be surprised if he picks up the phone, at least, that is, until the next time the police are needed at this unglued suburban home.

And by then, as my caller was quick to point out when we first talked, it might be too late.

ZILES' CAR WARRANT UNSEALED
SUICIDE NOTE OMITS FATE OF CHRISTINA
Sun-Sentinel
November 17, 1994
Author: MIKE FOLKS Staff Writer

If John and Pauline Zile's suicide pact had been successful, they would have taken the secret of their daughter's fate to the grave with them, a search warrant unsealed on Wednesday shows.
"Walter [John) and Pauline Zile attempted to make their family believe that Christina Holt was still a missing child," the search warrant said.

The search warrant, obtained on Nov. 2 by Martin County sheriff's deputies and Riviera Beach police, allowed investigators to search the Ziles' white Cadillac for numerous pieces of evidence, including letters and notes left in the car.

Inside the 1985 Eldorado, investigators found a box containing four letters and some photographs, the search warrant said.

Although the warrant does not describe the contents of the letters in detail, it does indicate that John and Pauline Zile made no admissions about their involvement in the 7-year-old girl's disappearance and death.

The search warrant also shows that John Zile gave more than one statement to investigators on Oct. 27.

After telling investigators how he killed Christina Holt in the family's Singer Island apartment on Sept. 16, John Zile led detectives to the rear of a Tequesta Kmart, where he said he had buried the girl.

At that point, the search warrant shows, investigators took another statement from John Zile, who outlined the suicide pact he and his wife had tried to carry out in a Martin County orange grove hours earlier.

The pact fell through when John Zile could not get the hose from the exhaust pipe into the car to carry the deadly carbon monoxide fumes, the search warrant said.

John Zile, 32, and his wife, Pauline, 24, each face charges of first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated child abuse in connection with Christina's death. Both are being held without bail at the Palm Beach County Jail.

The search warrant, unsealed at the request of the Sun-Sentinel, shows the Ziles' car was searched on Nov. 2 as it was parked in the Martin County Sheriff's Office garage.

From the trunk of the car, investigators seized carpeting, which could contain hair, blood and body fluid samples from Christina.

John Zile has told investigators that when he drove Christina to the grave in Tequesta, the body was placed in the trunk of his car.

Other items seized from the car included: one of Christina's missing person fliers put out by the Adam Walsh Foundation; cleaning supplies and utensils; two pieces of garden hose; a spare tire; tools; a folding hunting knife; personal hygiene items; a spiral notebook; assorted jewelry; and dried vegetative matter.

Pauline Zile's attorney, Ellis Rubin, declined to comment on the search warrant on Wednesday.

Rubin first revealed the Ziles' suicide pact in a public statement he made before Pauline Zile's Nov. 4 arrest.

Rubin maintained, however, that John Zile plied his wife with whiskey and intended to kill her but had no intentions of taking his own life.

John Zile's public defenders, Iola Mosley and Peggy Natale, could not be reached on Wednesday for comment on the search warrant.

Mike Edmondson, spokesman for Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer, also said on Wednesday that prosecutors would not comment on the search warrant.

On Friday, Rubin is scheduled to return to Palm Beach County Circuit Court, where he will continue his battle to have the indictments against Pauline Zile dismissed.

Rubin has argued that statements made by prosecutors and police in media reports had tainted the grand jury, which indicted the Ziles on Nov. 10.

Also on Friday, Rubin is expected to argue that Krischer is guilty of prosecutorial misconduct for using the grand jury as an investigative tool to obtain indictments against Pauline Zile.

CHRISTINA INSPIRES KMART FUND DRIVE
Sun-Sentinel
November 17, 1994
Author: JOSE LUIS SANCHEZ Jr. Staff Writer

Shortly after Christina Holt's body was found in a field next to their store on Oct. 28, employees at the Jupiter-Tequesta Kmart saw hundreds of people pay their respects to the little girl at the gravesite. Moved by the tragedy, Kmart employees decided to make something good come out of it.

They are raising money for the Center for Children in Crisis, a West Palm Beach agency that helps abused children in Palm Beach County and four other counties to the north.
"We talked to a lot of people who felt helpless and didn't know how to help," said Betsy Williams, one of the managers at the Kmart.

"We wanted to turn the tragedy into something positive," she said.

On Nov. 2, the store put up a sign saying "Stop Child Abuse Before It Happens" and started selling lavender-colored ribbons for a dollar.

They've collected more than $1,000 so far and hope to raise $10,000 with the help of other Kmart stores, Williams said.

Starting Dec. 1, 23 other Kmart stores from Sebastian to Fort Lauderdale will start selling the lavender ribbons. They will also sell $2 raffle tickets for big-ticket items donated by the company.

ZILE CONFESSED FREELY, POLICE SAY
The Palm Beach Post
November 18, 1994
Author: JENNY STALETOVICH
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Minutes after Pauline and John Zile entered the Riviera Beach Police Department arm-in-arm on Oct. 27, police separated them and began a 9-hour session of questioning, police sources say.

As a growing crowd that included investigators, an FBI agent and attorneys - including State Attorney Barry Krischer - milled around, the couple slowly pieced together the gruesome story of Christina Holt's death.
According to news reports, John Zile is challenging tactics used during his questioning, saying it continued after he asked to see a lawyer.

Here is investigators' description of the questioning:

The couple arrived about 2 p.m. at the police station on Blue Heron Boulevard, ostensibly to give police blood samples to help with the search. Then Pauline Zile agreed to take a lie-detector test. She failed, then told investigators of the beating Christina suffered at her stepfather's hands, police said.

Meanwhile, John Zile at first sat at a long conference table near a row of detectives' cubicles on the second floor. But as speculation about the girl's disappearance focused on the 32-year-old cook, he was moved into an interrogation room.

Only three people talked to John Zile, an investigator said: Riviera Beach police Sgt. Ed Brochu, the lead investigator; Tony Ross, an investigator with the state attorney's office, and Riviera Beach police Detective Alex Perez.

Confronted with the story, John Zile admitted to beating the child, hiding her body in a closet for nearly four days and then burying her, police said. At one point during questioning, John Zile said he didn't want to talk anymore, but he later changed his mind, police said.

Once Brochu completed his questioning, Perez taped a statement from John Zile while Brochu did paperwork necessary to arrest him.

About 7:30 p.m., Lt. David Harris announced to a crowd of reporters camped outside that a news conference would be held in three hours. About 8:30 p.m., sources said the news conference would detail John Zile's arrest and the abduction charade acted out by the couple over the past five days.

During the next several hours, police gave the couple frequent cigarette breaks and even bought them dinner, a source said.

About 9:40 p.m., a man resembling John Zile was led from the building wearing a police windbreaker. He and two officers got in an unmarked police car and left.

About 10:40 p.m., Harris made his announcement: Police had arrested John Zile on a murder charge. The disappearance of Christina had been a hoax.

Finally, about 11:30 p.m., John Zile pointed out the 5 1/2-foot-deep grave behind a Tequesta K-mart where he said he buried Holt. Walking back from the grave with two investigators on either side of him, Zile quietly slid into the back of a patrol car.

He remained there, smoking cigarettes offered to him by police, until investigators working under flood lights discovered Christina's body at 2:28 a.m.

KRISCHER ACCUSED OF GOING TOO FAR
The Palm Beach Post
November 18, 1994
Author: CHRISTINE STAPLETON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

As the legal drama surrounding the death of 7-year-old Christina Holt unfolds, the focus has shifted from what John and Pauline Zile may have done to what State Attorney Barry Krischer said and did.

Attorneys for the Ziles want Krischer off the case. At a court hearing today, a judge will hear their complaints that Krischer has been too eager to give news conferences and that he may have overstepped his role as prosecutor by taking part in the questioning of the Ziles.
In the wake of the criticism, Krischer, a seasoned prosecutor and veteran criminal defense attorney, is playing it safe. Krischer is declining to comment until a judge hears the evidence against him. But local attorneys familiar with Krischer's legal skills doubt that he has made the legal blunders attributed to him.

``He's smart, he knows the law cold, and I believe he would not act if he didn't think it was legal,'' said defense attorney Richard Lubin. ``He's aggressive, but he's fair.''

Ellis Rubin, Pauline Zile's attorney, launched the first attack on Krischer. Rubin relied on newspaper articles and televised reports to blast Krischer for ``self-servingly'' trying to ``justify the action of his office'' and to ``glorify himself for personal gain.'' Rubin wants the governor to appoint a special prosecutor.

Coming from Rubin, a Miami lawyer frequently accused of pandering to the press, such criticism could sound hollow to a judge.

``That motion is ridiculous,'' Lubin said. ``Ellis Rubin has built a reputation on media shows, and he's created one here.''

In court papers filed on Thursday, Krischer's office described Rubin's effort as a ``deliberate attempt to mislead the court and pander to the public.'' Listening to Rubin's motions ``would be a waste of the court's time,'' Assistant State Attorney Scott Cupp wrote.

Attorneys for John Zile may take a different tack to get Krischer off the case. Assistant public defenders Peggy Natale and Iola Mosely said they may ask Krischer to step down because of his personal involvement in the investigation.

``If he was there when either defendant gave a confession, it may be that he shouldn't be the prosecutor,'' Natale said. ``Barry Krischer may very well be a witness in this case.''

At a court hearing this week, Pauline Zile's mother, Paula Yingling, said Krischer also talked to her daughter.

According to Yingling, after Pauline Zile revealed what little she knew about her daughter's grave, Krischer said: ``Why should I believe you? You've been lying.''

During the interview with detectives at the Riviera Beach Police Department on Oct. 27, Krischer was identified as a man with considerable power - the man who ``could determine whether she spent her life in jail or (would) go to the electric chair,'' Yingling said.

John Zile's attorneys have declined to comment on how involved Krischer may have been in questioning John Zile.

Police say two Riviera Beach detectives and an investigator with the state attorney's Office questioned John Zile over the course of nine hours at the Riviera Beach Police Station.

Krischer was at the station but never directly questioned Zile about the case, a source said.

CONFESSION MAY BE VOIDED

However, a newspaper reporter who interviewed Zile has reported that Krischer played a crucial role in the case.

A Miami Herald story based on a jailhouse interview by reporter David Kidwell says Zile alleges police stopped questioning him after he asked for a lawyer, then returned.

Zile's wife had confessed. ``They said their number one priority was to find Christina,'' Zile told Kidwell.

Zile asked how he could help. Later, Krischer came into the room. Zile's account of the conversation, according to The Miami Herald:

Krischer ``said he knew that I had asked for an attorney and that meant they couldn't talk to me anymore, but he said I needed to make some decisions. They wanted to find Christina. . . . He said I was already charged with first-degree murder and that he couldn't make any promises, but that maybe it could be involuntary manslaughter or accidental death if I cooperated.''

Zile then decided to take police to Christina's grave, according to the Herald.

If Zile's story is true, his attorneys likely will ask a judge to throw out his confession and all the evidence discovered as a result of it - including Christina's body.

Investigators cannot suggest the possibility of special treatment as a way of persuading suspects to talk, said John Tierney, a criminal defense attorney. ``All you should tell them is that if they cooperate it will be brought to the attention of the prosecutor handling the case. They can't make any promises.''

Zile may have initially told detectives that he did not want to talk, then changed his mind - as police say happened. Police could then legally resume the questioning.

``It has to be very clear that the suspect initiated the second round of questioning,'' Tierney said.

To prove Zile's rights may have been violated, his attorneys likely would question Krischer about his role in the investigation. And that could make Krischer a witness in his own case.

CASE OF ILLEGAL CONFESSION

However, that doesn't mean Krischer overstepped his role as prosecutor. Florida law gives prosecutors the right to investigate and prosecute crimes.

Prosectors ``conduct investigations all the time,'' Lubin said. ``If they didn't, people would be screaming how come.''

When he came to office in January 1993, Krischer established a policy of sending prosecutors to murder scenes. He hoped to ensure that evidence was properly gathered and that police followed legal procedures that would avoid the situation he now finds himself in.

``It's probably a good practice,'' Tierney said. ``But a prosecutor has to be smart enough to not get into a situation where they become a witness.''

If a judge throws out Zile's confession, the state's case could be doomed. Although it's rare in Palm Beach County, first-degree murder charges have been dropped because of illegal confessions.

In 1989, Palm Beach County prosecutors dropped a first--degree murder charge against Matthew Proctor after a judge ruled that prosecutors could not use the confession he gave to police about his role in the murder of Linda Sue King, the ex-wife of Proctor's best friend, Jeffrey Ashton.

In that case, police told Proctor that they were after Ashton and that anything he said could not be used against him because they had not read him his Miranda rights. Proctor then described the murder and how he and Ashton buried King's body.

Proctor pleaded guilty to being an accessory and is now free.

`INEVITABLE DISCOVERY'

But in Zile's case, prosecutors could rely on a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court case that created a controversial legal doctrine called ``inevitable discovery.''

On Christmas Eve 1968, Robert Anthony Williams killed a 10-year-old girl and buried her near Des Moines, Iowa. After his arrest, Williams, like John Zile, invoked his right to an attorney.

Police immediately stopped questioning Williams. But while driving Williams to jail, officers struck up a conversation. Knowing that Williams was a former mental patient and deeply religious, they told him that the child deserved a Christian burial.

Williams, like Zile, then led police to the girls' grave. Williams was convicted of the girls' murder, but the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new trial, ruling that police had denied him the right to have an attorney present during questioning.

Although Williams' case seemed doomed, prosecutors successfully argued that police would have ``inevitably discovered'' the girl's grave. Williams' confession was allowed, and he was convicted again.

``If police can demonstrate that they would have inevitably found the body, they still can use the evidence even though there a constitutional violation,'' Tierney said. ``I would say inevitable discovery could play a role in this case.''

PAULINE ZILE ARRAIGNMENT SCHEDULED TODAY
Sun-Sentinel
November 18, 1994
Author: MIKE FOLKS Staff Writer

Pauline Zile is scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of first-degree murder and four counts of child abuse in the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Christina Holt.

Her attorney, Ellis Rubin, will then continue to argue for the dismissal of Zile's indictments as part of a hearing that began on Monday.
Rubin said statements Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer made to the media have tainted the grand jury that indicted Zile, 24, and her husband, John Zile, 32, on Nov. 10.

Rubin is also expected to argue a motion he filed on Wednesday that accuses Krischer of misusing the grand jury "for the purpose of securing additional evidence" to indict Pauline Zile. He has asked the court to discipline Krischer, suppress any evidence obtained through the abuse and dismiss the indictments based on prosecutorial misconduct.

In court pleadings filed Thursday afternoon, Scott Cupp, an assistant state attorney, scoffed at Rubin's allegations of grand jury misuse.

"Defendant's motion is a deliberate attempt to mislead the court and pander to the public through the media by personally attacking the state attorney," Cupp's response said.

Rubin declined to comment on Thursday.

FAIRNESS DEMANDS A NEW VOTE
Sun-Sentinel
November 18, 1994

Anybody can make a mistake, but Casselberry residents shouldn't be required to live with the one made on Election Day by their poll workers.

Fifty-one residents of the Orlando-area community did not get ballots for city races, including a mayoral race that was decided by three votes.

Poll workers were supposed to give city ballots to all voters along with ballots for county and statewide offices. Residents sign a polling sheet twice to acknowledge receipt of both ballots. Some voters who didn't receive the city ballots realized it and returned to their polling places in time to rectify the error; 51 did not.

So the hotly contested four-way race for mayor was won by three votes and, even knowing by then that 51 voters were denied a say in the matter, the city's canvassing board certified the victory on Friday.

That was wrong. Election Day results in the city races should be scrapped in favor of a special election. The law may not demand it, but fairness does.

Buy a ribbon to help a child

It's too late for Christina Holt, but her tragic death should unite every South Floridian in the determination to save other children from a similarly awful fate.

There are several ways to do that, but the employees at the Jupiter-Tequesta Kmart, which is near where the little girl's body was buried, have chosen a good one. They are raising money for the Center for Children in Crisis, a West Palm Beach agency that helps abused children in five counties.

Seeing hundreds of people paying respects to Christina at her gravesite, Kmart employees posted a sign saying "Stop Child Abuse Before It Happens" and began selling lavender ribbons for a dollar apiece.

They've collected more than $1,000 so far and, with the help of 23 Kmarts from Sebastian to Fort Lauderdale, they hope to raise $9,000 more. Starting Dec. 1, all those Kmarts will be selling the ribbons.

As a tribute to Christina, as a lifeline for the helpless children still living in misery, and in the spirit of the season, "lavender ribbon" should top every holiday shopping list.