By JEFF FARRELL

Staff Writer

The attorney representing a local man who was arrested this summer and charged in a 1985 murder says his DNA does not match DNA taken from the crime scene.

Walter Edward Zimbeck, who was living on Navaho Lane, was arrested in July and charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Swanton, Ohio.

Zimbeck had been living in this area for some time; Sevier County Sheriff Ron Seals said Ohio law enforcement officials contacted him last year to say there was a person of interest in regard to one of their investigations living in Sevier County.

Officers from Ohio came to the area several times to interview Zimbeck and collect evidence, including DNA, Seals said.

Zimbeck’s defense attorney told an Ohio television station this week that DNA from her client did not match evidence from the crime scene.

“I’ve never been more convinced in my 10 years of law practice that this man is innocent. He should be released from jail based on the evidence that has finally come forth,” attorney Amber VanGunten told WNWO, an NBC affiliate in Toledo, Ohio.

Zimbeck had dated the victim, and authorities focused on him as a suspect early in the investigation, according to the station. VanGunten told The Knoxville News-Sentinel that interest waned after he cooperated with investigators and passed a polygraph test.

She told the Sentinel police began looking at him again after a tip from his estranged wife; the couple is in the middle of a divorce and contesting custody of their 2-year-old daughter.

She told WNWO she believes the charges against Zimbeck should be dropped immediately. “I’ve never been more convinced in my 10 years of law practice that this man is innocent. He should be released from jail based on the evidence that has finally come forth.”

For the time being, however, Zimbeck remains in an Ohio jail.

jfarrell@themountainpress.com