By JOHN BURNETT
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
A 47-year-old Bellevue, Wash., man accused of bludgeoning his girlfriend to death last year at a South Kohala resort pleaded guilty Wednesday to the slaying.
Philip Howard Howard “Howie” Zimmerman faces a mandatory sentence of life with the possibility of parole for the murder of Susan Brockert when he is sentenced Sept. 27 before 3rd Circuit Chief Judge Ronald Ibarra in Kona. In exchange for Zimmerman’s guilty plea to charges of second-degree murder, kidnapping and criminal property damage, prosecutors agreed not to pursue a possible sentence of life without the possibility of parole. A grand jury deemed Brockert’s murder to be “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity,” which allowed the state to seek a no-parole life sentence for Zimmerman.
Deputy Prosecutor Kauanoe Jackson said Wednesday afternoon said she didn’t know yet if she would request consecutive sentences on the three charges.
“At this time, we haven’t discussed every … detail of what our next step is,” she said. “It’s something that we can do and we left that option open.”
If sentenced to consecutive terms, Zimmerman could face life in prison plus 25 years for second-degree murder, kidnapping and second-degree criminal property damage.
Zimmerman remains in custody without bail at Oahu Community Correctional Center.
At a preliminary hearing on June 6, 2011, Ernest Valenzuela, a housekeeper at the Fairmont Orchid, testified that Zimmerman struck the 44-year-old Brockert’s head with a piece of granite at least twice as she lay face down in the hallway of their hotel room. After Zimmerman stopped hitting Brockert, she stopped moving, Valenzuela said, and “there was blood oozing out onto the floor.”
Valenzuela was the first to enter the room after guests reported hearing screams in the late night hours of May 23, 2011. A court document stated that Zimmerman also used the piece of granite to threaten Valenzuela.
Brockert died early the following morning at North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea.
Brockert had filed for a restraining order against Zimmerman in a Washington court in 2010, but her petition was denied when she didn’t show up in court.
In an email to Kona Detective Myra Iwamoto last year, Bellevue Police Capt. Autumn Fowler wrote that her department “has an extensive history with Mr. Zimmerman,” including threats against Zimmerman’s ex-wife, Amy, the Bellevue City Council, its police chief and a detective.
Brockert worked for Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, a promotional merchandising firm whose clients include Ford, Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball, and she was rewarded by the company with an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the Big Island for 15 years of service.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.