Authorities in Jacksonville have arrested a suspect in the 1994 murder of 20-year-old Tina Heins. Yesterday, Michael Ziegler, 52, was taken into custody for the killing, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. New technology and continued investigation led to the arrest.
Tina Heins, who was 15 weeks pregnant, was found with more than 20 stab wounds in her Mayport apartment on April 17, 1994. At the time, her husband was serving at Naval Station Mayport. Her brother-in-law, Chad Heins, was initially convicted but later exonerated when DNA evidence did not match him. Ziegler, a close friend of the family and a groomsman at Tina’s wedding, has now been charged in the case.
A Grand Jury indicted Ziegler for first-degree murder on August 28. He was arrested in Covington, Georgia, by a task force including the U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force, Georgia State Patrol, Newton County Sheriff’s Office, and Clayton County Sheriff’s Office. He has since been transported to Jacksonville and is being held at the John E. Goode Pretrial Detention Facility.
