The state will seek the death penalty in a 26-year-old double homicide that included a child victim.

On Monday, the State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in the case against Joseph Adam Zieler, 54, of 314 Byron Ave., North Fort Myers.

“If a case is deemed to be something that should be looked at for the death penalty, we have a death penalty review committee,” Samantha Syoen, spokeswoman for the State Attorney’s Office, said.

She noted that the committee is made up of experienced and qualified attorneys.

“They meet and discuss the facts of the case,” Syoen said.

The committee’s findings are passed along to State Attorney Stephen B. Russell.

“He makes the final decision on if we are going to file a notice,” she said.

Assistant State Attorney Robert E. Lee is handling the case.

Chief Assistant Public Defender Kathleen Fitzgeorge will represent Zieler.

Fitzgeorge did not immediately return a message on Thursday seeking comment.

According to the notice, the state intends to prove the following aggravating factors – which it believes it can do beyond a reasonable doubt – as grounds for the imposition of the death penalty:

– Zieler was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person.

– The capital felony was committed while Zieler was engaged in the commission of sexual battery and burglary.

– The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.

– The capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner, without any pretense of moral or legal justification.

– The victim of the capital felony was a person less than 12 years of age.

On Nov. 3, a Lee County grand jury indicted Zieler on two counts of first-degree murder in the 1990 murder and rape of Robin Cornell, 11, and Lisa Story, 32, at their apartment, at 631 S.E. 12th Ave.

In addition, the state filed charges for one count of sexual battery on a child less than 12 years of age, sexual battery with a deadly weapon or great force and first-degree burglary with assault or battery.

Zieler is currently being held at the Lee County Jail on no bond.

He has court appearances set for Dec. 12 and Dec. 20.

On May 10, 1990, the bodies of Robin and Story were found in their Courtyards apartment by Robin’s mother, Jan Cornell. Both of the victims had been suffocated and sexually assaulted, police reported.

The night before, Cornell’s new roommate, Story, had agreed to watch Robin while she visited her boyfriend. When Cornell returned home the next morning, she heard footsteps inside the apartment.

Upon entering, Cornell found an ironing board open with pictures of her daughter laid out.

According to police, Cornell ran upstairs and discovered Story’s lifeless body in her bed. Cornell then ran to Robin’s room, where she found her daughter’s naked body lying on the floor of the bedroom.

Detectives were able to collect and save a sample of DNA from the crime scene.

According to records, Zieler was arrested in Lee County two months after the murders for battery and battery on a law enforcement officer firefighter, but the charges were dropped. He was found guilty of carrying a concealed firearm, dealing trafficking in stolen property and resisting officer with violence.

Zieler’s only arrest after that was for possession of marijuana; no charges were filed.

On Aug. 27, however, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to Lee Memorial Hospital for a shooting victim, identified as Zachary Zieler, 25. He had sustained a gunshot or a pellet gun wound.

An investigation revealed that Zachary Zieler and his father, Zieler, became engaged in a physical altercation and Zieler armed himself with a pellet gun. At one point, he aimed it at his son and and fired the weapon. Zachary’s girlfriend drove him to the hospital when he said he was not able to breathe.

Zieler was arrested and charged with aggravated battery person uses a deadly weapon.

Per Florida law, anyone arrested for a felony has their DNA taken and compared to CODIS. Cape police officials reported that Zieler’s DNA matched up to the 1990 sample still in the database.

On Sept. 28, the Cape police arrested and charged Zieler in the double homicide.

In a separate case, the State Attorney’s Office filed one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon or causing harm against Zieler for allegedly shooting his son. His next court date is Dec. 20.