Falk apologizes to Zimmermann's family, fiance
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has written letters of apology to be sent to the family of murder victim Brittany Zimmermann and her fiance, in response to a disclosure last week that a call to the 911 center was made from her phone around the time she was killed, but was not returned as is normal protocol.
Falk aide Joshua Wescott said Monday that the family and Zimmermann's fiance, Jordan Gonnering, should receive the letters of apology shortly.
Someone, presumably Zimmermann, made a call to the 911 center on April 2, the day Gonnering found Zimmermann's body in the Doty Street apartment they shared, and when the caller hung up no return call was made. Neither Madison Police nor 911 center officials disclosed the existence of that call until a story in Isthmus last week revealed the call had been made.
While officials have still not made public a tape of that call, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said last week that there was information in the call which should have resulted in a dispatcher calling back to the Zimmermann phone.
Along with Falk, Dane County Board Chairman Scott McDonell also offered an apology Monday, saying Zimmermann should have gotten a call back from the 911 center but did not.
Falk plans to instruct Dane County 911 director Joe Norwick on Tuesday as to what steps need to be taken to assure that a similar situation does not occur in the future, and has also told Norwick that she expects to be updated regularly on events in the 911 center, Wescott said.
Disciplinary action will not be taken against anyone until an internal investigation into the matter by the 911 center is completed, Wescott said.
Officials have not released the exact time of the 911 call, and therefore have not indicated whether an immediate response to the Zimmermann call may have saved her life.
Police and the Dane County Coroner's Office have not said exactly how Zimmermann died, although other sources have told The Capital Times she was stabbed to death.
Mike DeVries/The Capital Times
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk (left) and County Board Chairman Scott McDonell apologized for a mishandled 911 call in the Brittany Zimmermann case.
