It cannot be dismissed.  It cannot be ignored.  It may have been unrecognized at trial, but that does not diminish its ultimate value.

This is what it means:

If the Nolans saw what they swore to have seen, then Tommy Zeigler was wrongfully convicted.

Anyone who believes that Tommy Zeigler deserves to spend another day in prison—much less be killed—has the ethical obligation to demonstrate that J.D. and Madelyn Nolan lied.

Because if they did not lie, then Tommy Zeigler is an innocent man.

HYPOTHESIS OF INNOCENCE

I believe that two or more assailants waited for Tommy Zeigler to arrive at the store on Christmas Eve.  Possibly one of them hid in the storeroom during business hours, having climbed the back fence, and come in through the bay door, which was open most of that day.  They may also have entered using a key.  They turned off the lights at the breaker box.

This was not a casual break-in.  Seven-thirty in the evening is a poor time for a burglary.  The perpetrators were there because they knew that Tommy Zeigler was going to be there.  As a bonus, they probably intended to rob the store of the cash that they knew the Zeiglers kept in the building, and they may have intended to steal the several pistols they knew were available.  But they were there mainly to do harm to Tommy Zeigler.

They expected Zeigler to arrive around 7:30.  They did not expect Eunice Zeigler and her parents to let themselves in at the front door about fifteen minutes before Tommy arrived.

These unexpected arrivals had to be dealt with.  They were probably ambushed between the counter and the front door.  They may have had some slight warning.  Perry Edwards may have had a chance to grab one of the guns from under the counter and exchange shots with the assailants.  The GSR test results from his right hand are consistent with this possibility.

Eunice probably was running away when she was shot in the kitchen. The theory that she was surprised by the shot that killed her is unconvincing.  The bloodstains on the inside of her lapel strongly suggest that someone tampered with her coat after she was dead.  If so, then the fact that her hand was found in her pocket is meaningless.

Virginia Edwards was most likely shot at this same time.

Several bullets struck Perry Edwards, wounding him but not killing him.  The blood-soaked area of carpet between the counter and the front door marked where he fell.  The glasses case in his breast pocket stopped a bullet that would have hit his heart.  Instead, the slug probably put him down and incapacitated him for a