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.

Pauline Zile Faces Misdemeanor Charges in Broward (7/8/95)
Additional Charges Filed in Zile Case (7/20/95)
Broward Hits Zile With New Charges (7/20/95)
Zile's Trial May Be Delayed 9 Months (8/1/95)
In Court (8/10/95)
Zile's Trial In Nine Months (8/10/95)
Task Force Offers Plan To Reduce Child Abuse (8/17/95)
Mother Couldn't 'Sit And Do Nothing' While Children Die (8/24/95)
Good Methods To Save The Next Christina Holt (8/24/95)
Zile Says Efforts Failed Girl (9/14/95)

PAULINE ZILE FACES MISDEMEANOR CHARGES IN BROWARD
The Palm Beach Post
July 8, 1995
Author: CHRISTINE STAPLETON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Pauline Zile's life sentence without parole didn't deter Broward County prosecutors from filing misdemeanor charges against the 25-year-old for her role in covering up the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Christina Holt.

On June 12, five days after Zile was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder, prosecutors in Broward County filed three counts of resisting arrest without violence and one charge of filing a false report.
Zile will never be released from prison if her appeal fails.

Still, a prosecutor hopes the misdemeanor cases will add four years to her life sentence.

``The case was presented to our office by detectives and we think it's appropriate to litigate,'' said Assistant State Attorney Howard Scheinberg, chief misdemeanor prosecutor.

``In light of the kind of case this is, I can't imagine there would be any great objection to pursuing it.''

Ellis Rubin, Zile's attorney, said on Friday that he had not yet told her about the charges.

``It seems to be spite, somebody's angry that she didn't get the death penalty,'' Rubin said.

``Or it could be that they think the conviction will be overturned and they want to make sure she gets some time.''

On Oct. 22, a month after Christina's death, Zile went to a Broward County swap shop and tearfully reported that her daughter had disappeared from a public restroom.

According to Broward County court records, Zile ``knowingly provided false information'' to deputies and told a detective that her ex-husband's family may have abducted the girl.

Five days later, John and Pauline Zile told police that Christina died after John Zile hit her and she began choking and having convulsions.

John Zile said he hid the girl's body in a closet of their Singer Island apartment for four days, then buried her behind a shopping center in Tequesta.

John Zile's first-degree murder trial begins in August.

Broward prosecutors have not ruled out misdemeanor charges against him.

ADDITIONAL CHARGES FILED IN ZILE CASE
Miami Herald, The (FL)
July 20, 1995
Author: AMY DRISCOLL Herald Staff Writer

She's already sentenced to life in prison for killing her daughter, but Pauline Zile now faces another set of charges -- filing a false police report and obstructing justice.
Zile came before Broward County Judge Ilona Holmes on Wednesday for arraignment on four misdemeanor charges filed by the Broward state attorney's office. Prosecutor Howard Scheinberg says she could be sentenced to a total of four years in prison if convicted on all four counts.

Though he acknowledges that the punishment is slight when compared to her life sentence, "we have a constitutional duty to prosecute crimes," he said.

Zile staged the abduction of her daughter, 7-year-old Christina Holt, at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop last October. She made tearful, televised pleas for the safe return of her little girl, but police now say the child had already been killed by Zile's husband John.

John Zile's trial on a charge of first-degree murder is scheduled to begin Aug. 4 in Palm Beach County.

Pauline Zile's attorney Ellis Rubin called the prosecution "a total waste of taxpayers' money."

"It's spiteful and vengeful," he said. "She can't get any more time than she's sentenced to."

Rubin is, however, planning to appeal the Palm Beach County conviction on first-degree murder.

And on Wednesday, he filed three legal objections to the Broward charges.

First, he says, the charges are invalid on grounds of double jeopardy, because Zile, 24, has been tried and convicted for the murder. These charges are related to the same crime, he says.

Additionally, he says prosecutors in Palm Beach County granted Zile immunity when she agreed to talk to them about case. They are illegally prosecuting her using information she gave them while under immunity, he says.

Failing either of those grounds, he also asserts that Zile must be prosecuted in Palm Beach County, because the misdemeanor charges arise from the crime prosecuted there.

Holmes will consider Ellis' arguments the week of Aug. 14.

BROWARD HITS ZILE WITH NEW CHARGES
Miami Herald, The (FL)
July 20, 1995
Author: AMY DRISCOLL Herald Staff Writer

4 MISDEMEANORS ADDED
AFTER MURDER CONVICTION
She has already been sentenced to life in prison for killing her daughter, but Pauline Zile now faces another set of charges -- filing a false police report and obstructing justice.
Zile came before Broward County Judge Ilona Holmes on Wednesday for arraignment on four misdemeanor charges filed by the Broward State Attorney's Office. Prosecutor Howard Scheinberg said she could be sentenced to a total of four years in prison if convicted on all four counts.

Though he acknowledges that the punishment is slight compared to her life sentence, "we have a constitutional duty to prosecute crimes," he said.

John Zile's trial on a charge of first-degree murder is scheduled to begin Aug. 4 in Palm Beach County.

Ellis Rubin called the Broward County prosecution of Pauline Zile, his client, "a total waste of taxpayers' money. . . .

"It's spiteful and vengeful," he said. "She can't get any more time than she's sentenced to."

Rubin has said he plans to appeal Zile's first-degree murder conviction.

And on Wednesday, he filed three legal objections to the Broward County charges.

First, he said, the charges are invalid on grounds of double jeopardy, because Zile, 24, already had been tried and convicted for the murder. These charges are related to the same crime, he said.

Additionally, he said, prosecutors in Palm Beach County granted Zile immunity from prosecution when she agreed to talk to them about the case. Broward prosecutors are illegally prosecuting her using information she gave while under immunity, he said.

Failing either of those grounds, he also asserts that Zile must be prosecuted in Palm Beach County, because the misdemeanor charges arise from a crime committed there.

Holmes will consider Rubin's arguments the week of Aug. 14.

ZILE'S TRIAL MAY BE DELAYED 9 MONTHS
Sun-Sentinel
August 1, 1995
Author: MIKE FOLKS Staff Writer

Nine months after John Zile confessed to killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter, he has yet to have a jury decide his fate.
And it could be another nine months before Zile's case goes to trial.

A judicial recusal, a sitting judge's retirement and clogged court dockets may make April the month that John Zile faces the first-degree murder charge in the death of Christina Holt.

After Zile's wife, Pauline, was convicted in April and sentenced to life in prison by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Stephen Rapp, John Zile's defense attorneys sought to have the judge recuse himself from John's case.

They argued that because Rapp presided over Pauline Zile's trial for murder and aggravated child abuse, he could not fairly hear the case against John Zile, which was scheduled for this month.

Rapp agreed to step down, and the case was transferred to Judge Edward Rodgers' courtroom.

But Rodgers, set to retire on Sept. 1, has requested that the Circuit Court Clerk's Office reschedule John Zile's next court hearing for sometime in April. He cited numerous first-degree murder trials already scheduled for his court division that must be heard before John Zile's case.

"We're in the dark," Assistant State Attorney Scott Cupp said on Monday when asked when John Zile's trial would be held.

Cupp theorized that a firm trial date might be set after Gov. Lawton Chiles appoints someone to fill Rodgers' bench seat. Craig Wilson, one of John Zile's defense attorneys, said he, too, is in a holding pattern.

"That was the only time they had," Wilson said, because the trial could take weeks to conclude and Rodgers' division was booked solid until April.

John Zile, 32, was arrested on Oct. 27 after he confessed to killing Christina, hiding her body for four days in a closet at the couple's Singer Island home and burying her behind a Kmart in Tequesta.

Zile told detectives he beat Christina and covered her mouth with a towel to stifle her screams before she collapsed into convulsions and died.

Christina, who prosecutors estimate died on Sept. 16, was reported missing on Oct. 22 by Pauline Zile, 24. The tearful mother told detectives her daughter was kidnapped from a bathroom at the Swap Shop west of Fort Lauderdale. The elaborate ruse soon unraveled and both Pauline and John Zile were charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in Christina's death.

IN COURT
The Palm Beach Post
August 10, 1995
Estimated printed pages: 2

WEST PALM BEACH - A trial date for John Zile, accused of killing his step-daughter, Christina Holt, during a beating Sept. 16, remains uncertain because the case is assigned to a judge who will retire at the end of the month, prosecutors said Wednesday. Zile, represented by Craig Wilson, may not be tried until April 1996, by which time Gov. Lawton Chiles will have appointed a replacement for Circuit Judge Edward Rodgers, who is retiring after 22 years on the bench. Zile's wife, Pauline Zile, was convicted of first-degree murder in the case and received a life sentence.

ZILE'S TRIAL IN NINE MONTHS
Sun-Sentinel
August 10, 1995
Author: Staff Report

John Zile, charged with beating and killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter, will go on trial in nine months, a judge ruled on Wednesday.

No specific date was set, but Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James Carlisle, filling in for vacationing Judge Edward Rodgers, scheduled the trial for April 1996 due to a crowded docket.
Rodgers, set to retire on Sept. 1, was assigned to the case after Judge Stephen Rapp removed himself at the request of Zile's defense attorneys. They argued that Rapp, who sentenced Zile's wife, Pauline, to life in prison for the death of her daughter, Christina Holt, could not fairly hear John Zile's case.

John Zile's trial date, however, could be moved up once Gov. Lawton Chiles appoints a judge to replace the retiring Judge Rodgers.

John Zile is accused of beating Christina last year, causing her to collapse in convulsions and die. Christina's body was buried days later behind a Tequesta Kmart store. In October, Pauline Zile told detectives her daughter was kidnapped from the Swap Shop in Fort Lauderdale. The couple was arrested after their ruse unraveled.

TASK FORCE OFFERS PLAN TO REDUCE CHILD ABUSE
The Palm Beach Post
August 17, 1995
Author: WILLIAM COOPER JR.
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Foster parents will have to receive twice as much training than in the past, according to recommendations released Wednesday by a task force that reviewed child protective services in Palm Beach County.

The 21-member task force issued a series of recommendations that range from increasing the pay for social workers to using computers to better track child abuse and neglect cases.
The task force, which began meeting in January, after four children died as a result of child abuse in the fall of 1994, concluded that better communication would enhance the role of all agencies involved with protecting children.

``The work of the task force will be invaluable,'' said Suzanne Turner, the local district administrator for the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

Many of the recommendations - including the increased training for foster parents - will be handled internally by HRS, while others will require collaboration between state and county officials.

The task force, which included Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach Police Chief Billy Riggs and Juvenile Judge Howard Berman, recommended that state lawmakers spend $602,211 for 14 new social worker positions for the local HRS. The additional workers would reduce caseloads to where monitoring foster children will be manageable.

The task force was brought together at the time a Palm Beach County grand jury criticized HRS for its handling of several highly publicized child abuse cases. They included the deaths of 10-year-old Andrew ``A.J.'' Schwarz, 7-year-old Christina Holt and 2-year-old Pauline Cone, a former foster child.

The annual training for foster parents will go from eight hours to 16 hours, according to the task force's report.

The task force also responded to requests by sheriff's officials to have a greater role in child abuse investigations. It recommended that the sheriff's office be allowed to initiate child abuse and neglect investigations.

The task force said children served by the state also need a greater voice. Foster children middle school age and older will be able to talk about the care they received during exit interviews.

``The system has failed in making the foster child a vital part of the planning and provision of his/her care,'' the report said.

MOTHER COULDN'T `SIT AND DO NOTHING' WHILE CHILDREN DIE
The Palm Beach Post
August 24, 1995
Author: WILLIAM COOPER JR.

From the street, Kathy Forrester's life looks like a middle class stereotype.

A white ranch-style house with blue trim. Manicured lawn.
His-and-hers Hondas, one green, the other blue, parked in front of the family's two-car garage.

Everything suggests a life of comfort.

But upon entering her front door, a slight breeze - generated by the ceiling fan - ruffles the papers stuck to a bulletin board.

Close examination shows the board is filled with newspaper clippings.

They're not recipes, but reminders: articles about children who have died in Palm Beach County because their parents or caretakers abused them.

``I've lost count of the number of dead children we've had (in this county),'' said Forrester, who turned 40 two months ago.

Why would a housewife caring for her 3-year-old son track the cases of dead children? Because her Juno Beach home has become the heartbeat of a campaign - Our Community, Our Children - where ideas and energy have flowed into a 10-month-old effort that began the day Pauline Cone, a former foster child, was found dead in her crib.

Her death along with that of three other children - including Christina Holt - drew national attention to Palm Beach County, giving us a disturbing distinction.

Feeling overwhelmed, agencies that help protect children from abuse issued a plea for help.

Some people sent money. Others wrote letters to newspapers expressing their grief and anger.

The Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County took things a step further by bringing people together to develop some solutions.

From volunteer to president

Forrester, who was preparing to open a desktop publishing business, attended the meeting only to volunteer her computer skills.

Two meetings later, the Lake Worth High School graduate became president of the Our Community, Our Children campaign.

``I think a lot of people wanted to do something, they just don't know what to do,'' said Forrester, who doesn't believe in spanking children. ``I couldn't sit and do nothing.''

Forrester acknowledges her motives weren't totally benevolent.

``I needed something to help me get over the hurt that all these children were dying,'' she said.

Her husband, Bill, an engineer who has been laid off from Pratt & Whitney for 18 months, is spending more of his time caring for their son, Hayden, while his wife meets with corporate types and does interviews with the media.

``I didn't think it would get this big,'' he said. ``I applaud her effort.''

Kathy Forrester has worked an average of 30 hours a week making sure the Our Community, Our Children campaign is launched with plenty of fanfare. She gets no money for her efforts.

In place are public service announcements on local television and radio stations, donated ads in newspapers and booths at community events.

Buttons and bumper stickers.

T-shirts.

All echoing the same theme: Our Community, Our Children: No Excuse for Child Abuse!

Child's drawing inspires logo

When two professional firms couldn't come up with a logo that symbolized the spirit of the campaign, organizers found inspiration from a child.

Julie Gaudet-Beauregard, 12, drew a childlike design within minutes, capturing the essence of the effort.

``It shows a community, a bunch of people together,'' said Julie, whose mother, Natalie, works for the Children's Services Council.

Members of the business community have also lent a hand. Target Stores, Barnett Bank, Boca Research Inc. McDonald's Corp. and Max Davis to name a few.

Initially, the campaign will distribute 250,000 magnetic cards containing parenting tips and the telephone number of Centerline, a 24-hour crisis hot line.

The group hopes to raise $500,000 for a media campaign, the printing of 100,000 directories listing services for parents and an additional 500,000 informational cards.

Forrester has found a mission.

``I feel what I'm doing now is my purpose in life,'' Forrester said. ``I have never wanted to go out and do something as much as I want to do this.''

Tragedy can bring out the best in some of us.

The pain our community felt last year struck a nerve that has illuminated our community with a vision.

One that should make us better parents and take away any excuses for failing our children.

GOOD METHODS TO SAVE THE NEXT CHRISTINA HOLT
The Palm Beach Post
August 24, 1995

Almost a year ago, Palm Beach County residents were shocked at the deaths of several children, including 7-year-old Christina Holt, apparently from abuse inflicted by parents. Last week, a task force formed after the tragedies made 34 recommendations for strengthening the child protection system. If acted on, they will make children safer.

The children and families services program of the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services is responsible for protecting children. Those officials can make some changes without more money. They can train child welfare workers better in cultural diversity and educate the public on the law requiring all persons to report suspected abuse to the state hotline. Palm Beach County HRS District Administrator Suzanne Turner, who organized the task force, promises to do that.
Other ideas require money from the legislature. For example, incentives to keep good workers would reduce turnover and improve the system. Spending $602,211 for 14 new Palm Beach County social workers would ease some workers' large caseloads and permit closer supervision of children.

Task force member Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, who chairs the House Select Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, will ask. ``But with the makeup of the current legislature,'' she says, ``there's no way HRS is going to get more money.'' So residents must write members of the county's legislative delegation and support this relatively small increase.

The 21-member task force included representatives from criminal justice, business, medicine and the courts as well as social services. Private organizations that serve abused and neglected children also participated. They began meeting Jan. 10 and met every two weeks. Considerable time was spent listening as well as talking. By June, members understood better how each agency contributes to the overall child protection effort and how the system can be made to work better. Such collaboration, seen too rarely, may be the task force's biggest achievement.

All agreed to improve communication among agencies. They recommended linking computer systems of the children and families unit of HRS and the crimes against children unit of the state's attorney's office. Equipment has been installed in the sheriff's office so child abuse hot-line reports go there when they are received by HRS' district office. HRS and the sheriff's office have agreed that the sheriff will take the lead in criminal investigations.

The task force will meet quarterly to monitor how its recommendations are carried out. Such continuing work to prevent future deaths is the best memorial to the murdered children.

ZILE SAYS EFFORTS FAILED GIRL
MOM FACES TRIAL FOR ABDUCTION STORY
Sun-Sentinel
September 14, 1995
Author: TREVOR JENSEN Staff Writer

A sobbing Pauline Zile told police of frantic efforts to revive Christina Holt the night her 7-year-old daughter collapsed and died, allegedly after being beaten by Zile's husband, John.

In a statement to Riviera Beach police given with a promise of immunity, Zile said her husband covered the crying girl's mouth with a towel, then put her in a bathtub and tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation after she passed out.
Nothing worked, the child was dead.

"I got right down to her face and I, I, got down in her face and, I gave her a kiss," Pauline Zile said.

The statement was made public on Wednesday during a pretrial hearing in Broward County, where Zile faces charges she obstructed justice by claiming Christina was kidnapped from the Thunderbird Swap Shop west of Fort Lauderdale.

Zile, 25, is charged with three counts of resisting arrest without violence and a single count of filing a false police report. She faces no more than four years in jail.

Her attorney, Ellis Rubin, is trying to have the charges thrown out because he says they stem from the immunized statement.

Rubin made a similar argument, unsuccessfully, before Zile's trial in Palm Beach County for first-degree murder, which ended in April with a conviction. Zile was sentenced in June to life in prison.

Broward County Judge Ilona Holmes said she would issue a written ruling on Rubin's arguments at a later date and set a status conference for Oct. 6.

Christina Holt was killed on Sept. 16 in the Riviera Beach apartment she shared with her mother, stepfather and their two boys. She was buried in a field behind a discount store four days later.

Pauline Zile reported Christina missing from the Swap Shop on Oct. 22. The story unraveled in the next week after blood was found in the apartment. Then Pauline Zile, offered immunity, confessed to police that Christina died after a beating by her husband.

Armed with that statement, police and an investigator with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office went to John Zile and he told them where the body was. His trial is set for April.

Pauline Zile's statement indicates her husband tried to protect her, never telling her where he buried the body so she could not be held responsible.

"I knew she was going to lie with God," Pauline Zile said. "I did not know where she was."

Zile said she wished it was otherwise.

"I'd like to go out and get her and give her a decent burial," she said.

Because of the immunity agreement, Pauline Zile's statement was not used in her trial. John Zile's confession was.

Both confessions may be presented in John Zile's trial, although defense attorney Edward O'Hara said he and co-counsel Craig Wilson still may make motions to keep them out.

Pauline Zile told police her husband was often rough with Christina. "He spanked her a lot," she said.

The night of the murder, she said she woke up to the sound of John Zile slapping Christina. John Zile spanked Christina and gave her a "charley horse" in the buttocks, Pauline Zile said. She could not explain how the girl's face became bruised and bloodied. While she is vague on details of the beating, Zile recalled how she helped her husband put the girl in a bathtub full of water after she passed out. "We put her in there to try to wake her up," Zile said.

The girl's body was kept in a bedroom closet before she was buried.

"I tried to stay out of the room as much as possible, I kept the boys out of the room," Zile said. "For a long, long, long, long time I didn't go back in that bedroom."

Upon returning from burying Christina, Zile said, her husband told her: "Everything's all taken care of."

Pauline Zile does not hold herself blameless for her daughter's death in the statement, and acknowledged helping to prepare an alibi.

"I worried about how we were gonna get away with what we just did," Zile said. "We were both in on it. We both had to know exactly the story."