Student Death Blamed On Botched 911 Call

Authorities mishandled a 911 call from the cell phone of a college student before she was murdered, Dane County's top official acknowledged Friday.

County Executive Kathleen Falk said "the system didn't work like it should" when a dispatcher received the call from Brittany Sue Zimmermann's phone on April 2. At the same time, Falk said she has confidence in her 911 chief.

The dispatcher eventually hung up on the caller, failed to call the number back and never sent a police officer to investigate. Zimmermann, a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student from Marshfield, was found murdered in her apartment shortly after.

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said the 911 call contained evidence that should have triggered a dispatch, but county authorities have described it as a routine "hang-up" call.

Authorities continued to withhold audio of the call Friday, insisting its release would impair the search for Zimmermann's killer.

"This is, of course, a tragic situation. The system didn't work like it should," Falk said in an interview. "I am determined after a thorough investigation here to determine if there was action by personnel or whether it was protocol that prevented the system from working as it should."

But results of the internal investigation won't be released during the probe into Zimmermann's murder, a Falk aide said. Given that police do not have a suspect yet, that could be several months, if ever. Falk said city and county authorities would try to release additional details about the call's handling next week.

County authorities have faced a torrent of criticism since the call from Zimmermann was reported Thursday in Isthmus, a Madison weekly newspaper. Much of the fire has been aimed at Public Safety Communications Director Joseph Norwick, who refused to take responsibility for mistakes during a Thursday news conference.

"I don't think there's anything to apologize for at this time," Norwick said.

Falk said she didn't agree with that comment but she has confidence in Norwick, who has led the department since last year after a long career at the Dane County Sheriff's Office.

"I have a lot of confidence in our director and our department," she said. "He is a highly trained former deputy sheriff of many, many years. Of course because of his law enforcement background he is particularly sensitive to not release information that would jeopardize the ongoing police investigation and prosecution."

Norwick has said the dispatcher hung up after inquiring several times as to whether an emergency existed and hearing nothing on the other end. He has acknowledged the dispatcher broke department policy in failing to call the number back.

But he also blamed a police policy for the failure to send an officer; police send officers to investigate "hang-up" calls when they come from landlines but not cell phones.

Wray said Thursday the call was not a "hang-up" and contained evidence that should have been enough for the dispatcher to notify his agency to send officers.

The dispute over the Zimmermann call was criticized Friday by the parents of 31-year-old Joel Marino, whose stabbing death outside his Madison home in January remains unsolved.

The victim's father, Lou Marino, said the county and city are more interested in fighting with each other and protecting egos than solving crimes.

He and his wife, Debbie, sent an e-mail to state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asking him to take over the investigation.

"We've got the county fighting the city over who's to blame. I see weeks of time and effort spent there, diluting the effort" to find the murderers of his son and Zimmermann," Lou Marino said. "The family is bleeding form the pain. Every day that's gone by, there's less chance you find the murderer."

State Department of Justice spokesman Kevin St. John said the agency received the Marinos' request and will consider it.

Madison Police Department spokesman Joel DeSpain didn't return a message from The Associated Press Friday evening, but told the Wisconsin State Journal his heart goes out to the Marinos and he doesn't believe there is any new information to share in that case.