JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After more than 30 years, detectives say they’ve solved the brutal 1994 murder of 20-year-old Tina Heins, who was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed in her Mayport apartment.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, working with the State Attorney’s Office, announced the arrest of 52-year-old Michael Ziegler, who has been indicted for first-degree murder.
On April 17, 1994, Heins was found stabbed more than two dozen times. Her husband was on duty at Naval Station Mayport at the time of the killing. The case initially focused on her brother-in-law, Chad Heins, who reported the crime and was later convicted of the murder. He spent nearly 11 years in prison before being exonerated when DNA from the scene excluded him.
Detectives with the Cold Case Unit continued investigating and, through advances in technology and evidence review, identified Ziegler — a close friend of Heins’ husband who even stood beside the couple at their wedding — as the suspect.
On August 28, 2025, a grand jury indicted Ziegler. He was arrested days later in Covington, Georgia, with help from the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force, Georgia State Patrol, Newton County Sheriff’s Office, and Clayton County Sheriff’s Office. He was later transferred to Jacksonville, where he is now held in the Duval County jail.
“Tina’s life was cut short, but her legacy lives on,” officials said. Her family in Wisconsin has established a scholarship in her memory.
Investigators praised the persistence of the Cold Case Unit and pledged to ensure Ziegler faces justice for a crime that devastated a young family more than three decades ago.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.