Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced Tuesday that an error in the handling of a 911 call from the cell phone of homicide victim Brittany Zimmermann led investigators to pursue a false lead for nearly two weeks.
At a news conference, Falk said a second call that came in after Zimmermann’s showed up on the dispatcher’s screen but that the caller hung up before the dispatcher answered. The dispatcher then proceeded to call the second number back, thinking it was Zimmermann’s phone, and reached two males who said their call was a mistake.
Early in the investigation of Zimmermann’s April 2 killing, officials at the 911 Center mistakenly told Madison Police Department investigators that the two men answered the dispatcher’s call back on Zimmermann’s phone. Falk said police focused some of their investigative efforts on finding the men.
Thirteen days after the homicide, 911 officials discovered the call back went to a landline in Middleton, not to Zimmermann’s cell phone in her Doty Street residence in downtown Madison. Falk said police then found and questioned the men who verified their call was not related to the homicide.
The new details come in the wake of intense scrutiny of the county’s emergency response system after 911 Center Director Joe Norwick admitted policy errors occurred in dealing with Zimmermann’s call. Falk said the center conducted an internal investigation into the event and presented her a 40-page report Friday.
After viewing the report, Falk decided to write a letter of apology to members of the Zimmermann family for the incident. Despite the 911 Center errors, Falk said she did not there was a way to stop Zimmermann’s killing.
“I do not believe, had the errors not occurred, that her murder could’ve been prevented,” she said.
Falk said the contents of the report could not be made public in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation, adding county officials were instructed by MPD investigators not to release any specifics.
Officials plan to further discuss the incident with Norwick at a Dane County Board meeting Thursday. County Board Chair Scott McDonell said the board will review Norwick’s report and determine if further county action is needed.
“Everyone in county government regrets the outcome of Brittany Zimmermann’s phone call to the 911 Center,” McDonell said in a statement. “We are taking immediate steps to ensure there will not be a repeat of this occurrence.”
