The fiancé of Brittany Zimmermann will be allowed out of the lease at the apartment where Zimmermann was found killed April 2, the property's landlord announced Monday.
Jordan Gonnering, a 22-year-old UW-Madison student, shared the $790-a-month apartment at 517 W. Doty St. with Zimmermann. He signed the lease through August 2009, but Wisconsin Management Company agreed to let Gonnering cancel the agreement in the wake of Zimmermann's homicide.
Russ Endres, president of WMC, said in a statement the company waited to consult the Gonnering and Zimmermann families about the terms of the apartment lease.
We felt it inappropriate, one week after the incident, to discuss the particulars of the lease situation until we had spoken to the families ... after discussing what the family wanted, we have decided to release all parties from any lease obligations,"" Endres said.
Endres said WMC offered housing to Gonnering and will take care of any repairs or cleaning once police complete their investigation of the property.
The Student Tenant Union threatened to boycott the company by encouraging WMC residents to withhold rent payments until Gonnering was freed from his lease.
""To me, this is why it's so important for tenants to organize. We can't just expect landlords are going be responsible, even in a case like this where the right thing is so obvious,"" Student Tenant Union organizer Jason Wargolet said in a statement.
Endres said he hopes the community can move on from the lease situation and now ""focus on the actual tragedy and work towards healing and justice.""
- Abby Sears
