The jury of nine men and three women deliberated for four hours and 20 minutes before delivering their verdict to state District Judge David Garner. Zeigler, 26, was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole. His wife, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 21, was convicted of capital murder in February for assisting him in the slaying of her daughter, Riley Ann Sawyers, and is serving the same sentence.

Although prosecutors had no direct evidence proving that Zeigler killed Riley, jurors in the end were swayed by Zeigler’s failure to call police or 911 as she lay dying on the floor of his Spring home July 25, 2007.

“It was more the omission than the commission,” said juror Michael Austin, 56, of Friendswood.

Defense attorney Dee McWilliams said he and fellow defense attorneys Neal Davis III and Dena Fisher were crushed by the verdict.

“To say that we are disappointed is an understatement,” McWilliams said. “When we took this case, we knew it was a long hill to climb, but we take responsibility as well.”

The bleak mood of Zeigler’s family and attorneys contrasted with the sense of relief expressed by prosecutors and Riley’s paternal grandmother, who testified for the prosecution during the eight-day trial.

Royce Clyde Zeigler admitted in a videotaped statement that he helped pack little Riley's body in plastic bags.

“We got justice for her today,” said Sheryl Sawyers of Mentor, Ohio.

Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said, “For all of us involved it’s a good day, but most of all for Riley and those that love her.”

Prosecutors portrayed Zeigler as helping his wife kill his stepdaughter during a cruel disciplinary session and then concocting elaborate lies to help cover up the slaying and dispose of the body.

The defense countered in final arguments that Zeigler was a good man who had nothing to do with Riley’s death but loved his wife so much that he helped her pack Riley’s body in a box and eventually toss it into Galveston Bay.

The arguments were made with dramatic flourishes by both sides.

“If you’ve never seen the face of a man who killed a child, get a good look,” Sistrunk said as he pointed to Zeigler . Causing a loud bang by kicking the blue plastic box that Riley’s body was found in, and scattering dirt from it onto the courtroom floor, Sistrunk said, “It’s not the state’s fault that there was 12 pounds of rotting flesh in this box.”

Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen held up a photo of the blond, blue-eyed girl, saying, “This is the Riley that came to Texas.” Then Allen held up a photo of Riley’s skull with three fractures. “In six weeks, this is what they reduced her to,” she said.

Defense attorney McWilliams told jurors, “This young man no more killed that child than the man in the moon.”

Fisher pointed to the character witnesses, who said Zeigler was incapable of killing Riley. Fisher said Zeigler was only trying to protect his wife. “Something horrible happened that day, and Royce tried to fix it,” she said.

“The person who did this, they tried and convicted of capital murder, and she’s sitting in prison right now,” McWilliams said.

Zeigler met Trenor when he was 24 and she was 19 while they were playing the Internet game World of Warcraft.

He married her June 1, 2007, after spending a week with her, then moved her and Riley from Ohio to Texas.

Zeigler admitted in a videotaped statement that he helped pack Riley’s body in plastic bags and a blue box, which was placed in a garage storage room, where prosecutors believe it stayed for up to two months. Zeigler said he and Trenor drove to the Galveston Island railroad bridge, where he tossed the box into Galveston Bay.

A fisherman found the box washed ashore on an island in west Galveston Bay Oct. 29, 2007. Investigators named the then-unidentified child Baby Grace.

Trenor became pregnant before her arrest and gave birth to a boy before her trial. The child was placed in the custody of family members.

Zeigler and Trenor fabricated a number of lies about Riley’s death, the most elaborate that an Ohio welfare worker barged into their house while Trenor was alone with Riley, knocked Trenor down and abducted the child.

Trenor then wrote a fake letter with an Ohio state letterhead saying that the child was taken because of accusations by the paternal grandmother in Ohio that she had been molested by Zeigler.   SOURCE:  By HARVEY RICE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE Nov. 7, 2009, 1:42AM

Riley Ann Sawyer’s Mother: Kimerberly Trenor