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Advocate: Release Of 911 Tape Would Hurt Zimmermann's Family, Fiance

UW-Madison Student Found Slain Last Spring

Updated: 3:47 pm CST December 19, 2008

A victim's advocate said the release of audio of a 911 call from a slain University of Wisconsin-Madison student's cell phone would traumatize her family.

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Suzanne Beaudoin, director of the Dane County District Attorney's victims witness unit, testified Friday as prosecutors tried to convince Judge Richard Niess not to release a recording of the call from Brittany Zimmermann. The 21-year-old Marshfield native apparently made the call before she was killed in her campus-area apartment on April 2.

Media outlets, including WISC-TV, are suing the county under the state open records law for a copy of the call. A 911 operator said she didn't hear a scream or the sounds of a struggle that police say are on the tape.

Prosecutors said that releasing the tape would jeopardize their investigation.

Last week, Zimmermann's parents, Jean and Kevin Zimmermann, sent a letter to the Dane County judge asking the judge to reject the request to release the tape.

What's more, Beaudoin said that releasing the tape would be "disabling" for Zimmermann's family and fiance. She says it could "destroy their ability to recover."

The 911 call has been the source of controversy for months. According to county officials, the call was mishandled by a 911 dispatcher. The attorney for the media outlets is arguing that with the 911 center's apparent mishandling of the call, the public deserves to know the exactly what happened and why, WISC-TV reported.

A warrant made public earlier this month said the call that lasted 57 seconds contains the sounds of screaming and a struggle.

Dane County 911 center officials said the operator couldn't hear those sounds, didn't call back the number as required and didn't send any officers to investigate. No officers were dispatched to the area where the cell phone call originated until 48 minutes later, after Zimmermann's fiancé found the woman dead.

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.

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