(KRON) – After years of legal delays and an overturned conviction, the man who killed his ex-girlfriend and set her body on fire in their Palo Alto home has been convicted for a second time.
The jury convicted Paulus “Bull” Zumuth after his retrial this week. On October 15, 2009, Jennifer Schepsi was murdered and set on fire inside the Palo Alto townhouse on Addison Street where she lived with Zumut.
In the period leading up to the murder and arson, Zumut owned a hookah shop and was required to attend domestic violence classes in San Jose. Before one of his classes, he choked Schepsi because she told him she was leaving their relationship and reporting him to the police, according to prosecutors.
“After strangling Jennifer to death, Zumut left her body in their cabin while he attended a court-ordered domestic violence class. Zumut then returned and, in an apparent attempt to make the death appear like an accident, poured gasoline all over Jennifer’s body, turned on the gas in the kitchen, and set the house on fire,” the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office wrote.
Prosecutors said Schepsi, 29, told friends, family, police and strangers that Zumut repeatedly threatened to kill her throughout their turbulent two-year relationship.
“In a recording Jennifer made seven weeks before her death, she explained in her own words how Zumut convinced her to stay with him with promises to change and go to therapy. She told her friends that she knew that if she stayed, something bad would happen to her,” the prosecutor’s office wrote.
The neighbors saw the shack burning and extinguished the fire with garden hoses before the gas ignited and caused an explosion. Prosecutors said neighbors’ firefighting efforts left key evidence intact.
During his first trial in 2011, Zamut was convicted of murder and arson before being sentenced to 33 years and life in prison. In 2020, a federal district court judge overturned the conviction and granted him a new trial. The case languished in the courts for years until a retrial was finally held in October.
A new jury deliberated for two days and found the ex-boyfriend guilty. The judge will re-sentence Zamut on November 21. He faces a life sentence.
“Justice for Jennifer has taken a very long time,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Her family, Palo Alto police officers, prosecutors, and this community, have never forgotten her. This week, after 16 tragic and frustrating years, this defendant discovered that you can’t game the system forever. You can’t get away with murder in Santa Clara County.”