‘Dateline’ conducts an analysis of Pam Zimmerman’s murder by hearing the accounts of her family and lawyers who were part of the case since 2014. Her three children who unexpectedly lost their mother, tell the harrowing tale of how they lost the one person who worked day and night to make sure they had a good life.
Pamela Zimmerman’s Death
Pamela (Pam) S. Zimmerman was found murdered behind the reception desk in her office on November 4, 2014. The previous day, her three children tried to contact her since evening but she did not pick up her phone. When one of her children tried to find the location of Pam, they found it a random spot that made no sense. The next day morning, Zimmerman’s friend, Julie Koh, received a phone call from Zimmerman’s fiancé, Scott Baldwin asking her about where Pam was as she was not responding to his calls. Upon going to her house, Koh found out that she had not come home the previous night.
Koh then drove to Zimmerman’s office and was met outside by Zimmerman’s office manager. As the two went inside, they found that the blinds were drawn and the lights were switched off. But what they did not expect to find was Pam Zimmerman’s dead body with four bullets in it. She had two bullets in her chest, one in her temple and another one on her back. The police officers soon arrived and took over the case. Her children were initially told only about their mother’s death. In any case, the coroner’s office stated that the murder most likely happened around midnight or sometime before that.
This was then reported in the news and it became a full-fledged murder investigation. The police retrieved her cellphone and wallet from the same location her daughter had found her mother’s phone to be. The detectives said that it was staged to look like a robbery. Soon enough, three suspects emerged and the investigation drove soon into the heart of the matter.
Suspects
Three suspects were identified. The first one was the last client she had a meeting with as per her office manager. This client was Eldon Whitlow. The two apparently had a closed-door meeting which carried on even after her office manager left. The main reason he was held as a suspect, was because he owned a 9mm gun, which was the same weapon that was found to have killed Zimmerman. In any case, his alibi checked out, but he was forced to reveal some embarrassing details in the process. After the meeting, he went to have dinner with his girlfriend but also went to meet another woman, soon after the date at night. As these detailed checked out, he was cleared.
The second suspect was Zimmerman’s fiancé at the time of her death, Scott Baldwin. Even in the segment with ‘Dateline,’ Zimmerman’s children talk about how they barely knew Baldwin though he had gotten engaged to their mother. What also stood out for them was his suspicious behavior, wherein he did not even drive down soon after hearing about Zimmerman’s death. Additionally, he met them one week after her death to tell them that he had to move on. At the time, he was also having relationships with two other women. This was made clear during the investigation. His phone records showed that he was indeed at his home, far away in Seattle. Thus, he was also removed from the list of suspects.
The third suspect was Zimmerman’s ex-husband, Kirk Zimmerman. The couple had gotten divorced two years prior to her death. He had begun dating someone else as well. The police officers found him suspicious, even though his children believed that he could not have murdered their mother. His car and house underwent a search for six days. His car’s lever was found to have gunpowder residue on it. Additionally, before Pam’s death, she had given him a notice to pay around $ 4000 in child care support, failing which she would take him to court. This was in conflict with his retirement plan. Her family and office manager also alleged that Pam had often talked about her fear of Kirk, and being scared about him hurting her.
Arrest and Trial
Eight months into the investigation Kirk Zimmerman was arrested and charged with the murder of Pam Zimmerman. He spent four months in jail before a bond was set.
Following this, he spent three and a half years under house arrest awaiting trial. His case trial happened finally in 2019. Both the prosecution and the defense team brought in their own witnesses and contested Kirk Zimmerman’s guilt. After five weeks of testimony and hours of deliberation by the jury, Kirk Zimmerman was found not guilty. Thus, Pamela Zimmerman’s death remains unsolved even today. (Feature Image Credit: Pamela Zimmerman/ Dateline)
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