Grand Jury Indicts Man for 1994 Murder of Tina Heins

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County grand jury has indicted Michael Ziegler with First-Degree Murder and Sexual Battery in the 1994 killing of Tina Heins.

Just after 6 a.m. April 17, 1994, law enforcement responded to a Mayport apartment where they found Tina Heins stabbed to death on her bed. She had been stabbed 27 times. Multiple areas of the apartment were set on fire, which triggered the smoke alarm and alerted neighbors. Tina’s brother-in-law, Chad Heins, said he was asleep in the living room when he woke to the fires and extinguished them before he went into the bedroom to find her on the bed covered in blood. Chad Heins called 911.

Heins’ husband was on duty on a Navy ship at nearby NAS Mayport. The investigation and evidence at the time led to Chad Heins being charged with her murder. He was convicted and his sentence later overturned after DNA evidence at the scene, and on Tina Heins, was determined not to be his.

The case was re-examined beginning in 2017. The DNA, consisting of a semen stain found on Tina Heins’ bed, skin tissue under her fingernails, and hairs found on her body, was tested. After additional technological advancements, a genetic profile was established in 2021 and through further testing and investigation, Ziegler was finally identified. Ziegler was also stationed at NAS Mayport and was a close friend of Heins’ husband.

The case has been investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, State Attorney’s Office, FDLE, and NCIS, and supported by the U.S. Marshals, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, and Newton County Sheriff’s Office. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Alan Mizrahi and Jay Plotkin.