Kimmer Family Tragedy Turns Horrific

[Komak]

What looked at first like a tragic fire, that stole the breath of this small town, close knit, active family of three (plus one), turned horrific when homicide was revealed.

WRIGHT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) -- Four people who were found dead inside a burning home are victims of a homicide, according to police.

The fire took place Monday morning in Ottawa County's Wright Township. After the flames were extinguished, the bodies of Sharmaine Zimmer, 53, her two sons - Jeremy, 20 and Tyler, 17 - and Jeremy's girlfriend -- 18-year-old Katherine Brown -- were found.

Investigators said Monday afternoon that the fire appears to be accidental.

On Tuesday, autopsies revealed the victims died as a result of homicide.

Friends of the victims are trying to make sense of this latest development.

"Nobody knows what to think about it right now," said Jax Kester, Sharmaine's best friend. "We don't know anything. Sharmaine didn't have an enemy in the world and Jeremy and Tyler were good boys. And Katherine, she was a student at MSU and she had a future."

Heather Trout made the initial 911 call and tried to yell to her neighbors inside the burning home.

"In the back of my mind I had suspected something was wrong," she said. "Nobody responded. I figured it was either smoke inhalation or somebody had killed them."


The Wright Tavern, a place where Kester and Sharmaine worked at together for years, is collecting donations for the family.

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department Detective Unit, the state Fire Marshal's Office and State Police are investigating. Anyone with information should call --

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department tip line -- 1-888-731-1001 ext. 4687
Police -- (616) 738-4687
Eastern Ottawa County Silent Observer -- 1-800-825-0221
The Arson tip line -- 1-800-442-7766 (1-800-44-ARSON)

LE leaks have identified the four were shot in the head, before the fire was set. Missing is the families german shepherd, known as Roscoe. No body has been arrested, although small town gossip, talks of a person of interest and impending arrest....http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9101697

[crickett]

I hope that they find whoever did this really soon. The German Shepherd would not have gone with anyone that it didn't already know. So it's got to be someone known to the family. It's so tragic. R.I.P. all....

[Komak]

WRIGHT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - A team of investigators are trying to figure out who would want four people dead in this small Ottawa County town.

Sharmaine Zimmer, her sons Jeremy and Tyler, and Jeremy's girlfriend, Katherine Brown died Monday in what was first thought to be a tragic house fire. But the autopsies revealed they were killed before the house went up in flames.

Ottawa County Sheriff's Department Lt. Mark Bennett said it's "one of the biggest investigations I've been involved in 20+ years of law enforcement."

Two dozen investigators are searching for clues, sifting through every piece of charred remnants.

At the sheriff's headquarters, they're sorting through tips, feeding them into a computer. The department "is receiving tips from the general public," Bennett said. "Those are all categorized, and then we have a running log of those tips."

Very little information is being released, as investigators don't want to tip their hand to anyone who may be a suspect. Bennett said, historically, these cases tend to be committed by someone who knows the victims.

But investigators don't like playing the odds. "I don't want to cause any type of panic whatsoever," Bennett said. "But people need to be observant . If they see anything of concern to them to, call."

The community is helping the friends of the victims work through their grief. There are videos of the victims on Facebook, and the laughter is helping friends and loved ones remember.

But also on Facebook, posts by family members said the four people were killed before the fire was set.

Community organizers set up a prayer service and vigil for the four for Sunday, and will remember three others connected with the Coopersville schools who have recently died.

"They've had enough grief around here," said organizer Kathy Griffin. "We're small town America. People want to live in a community like this."

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9108159

[Komak]

I hope that they find whoever did this really soon. The German Shepherd would not have gone with anyone that it didn't already know. So it's got to be someone known to the family. It's so tragic. R.I.P. all....

I agree, most comments on the news site have stated the dog would have defended the family. There are even more rumors, horrible ones, that I refrain from posting, however, they are in the comments under the latest article.

[Unamused Cat]

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg107/snarkyphotos/troybrake.jpg
Troy Brake Arrested

Private MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=347745689

WRIGHT TOWNSHIP -- In the days after four Ottawa County residents were killed, a former neighbor sent online condolences to relatives of Sharmaine Zimmer.

"I don't know the words to say to let you know how very sorry I am to hear about Sharm and the boys. You haven't been my neighbor for a lot of years, but shock is all I can come up with," wrote Jacelyn Brake.

Another shock awaited the Sparta woman last week, when her son, Troy Brake, was identified as a potential suspect in the Sept. 29 slayings of the 53-year-old Zimmer; her sons, Jeremy, 20, and Tyler, 17; and Katherine Brown, 18.
The Zimmers were fatally shot and Brown beaten to death before the house along Eighth Avenue was set on fire.

Troy Brake, 31, was arrested Thursday for an alleged assault against a prostitute and the Sept. 1 shooting of a man at South Division Avenue and Hall Street in Grand Rapids. He was charged with attempted murder in each crime and was being held Saturday on a $2 million bond in the Kent County Jail.

http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2008/10/arrest_in_quadruple_slayings_s.html

~

[Komak]

Ironically, a good friend and his wife are friends with this guy (Troy Brakes) ex wife. My friend recalled that when the Troy and his ex-wife were in the process of divorce, the ex-wife sat at their kitchen table and said "You know, Troy would never harm me or the kids, but there is just something "off" about him". (YA THINK?). Troy would also bust things in the house, put holes in walls, basically erupt.....

I think the coincidences in this case are just too familar......LE has backed off slightly from the "suspect" theory, however, investigations are continuing.....

[silvahalo68]

The neighbor friend must be totally beside herself in shock when her son was arrested as a suspect...Lord, I don't know what I would say to my son to that. I know I'd never feel normal again.

Rest in peace Zimmer family and Katherine.

[Komak]

OTTAWA COUNTY - Mice in the barn may have helped do Troy Brake in.

That's just one example of the evidence used to charge Troy Brake with the murders of Shar Zimmer, her sons Jeremy and Taylor, and Jeremy's girlfriend Katherine Brown.

Brake is charged with seven crimes, four counts of open murder and three counts of using a firearm to commit a felony.

When asked about spent cartridges from a .40 caliber Glock handgun found in his pole barn, Brake told detectives he had been shooting mice.

Those spent cartridges matched ones found in the Zimmer home.

In an arrest affidavit obtained by 24 Hour News 8 before the ink was dry, an Ottawa County sheriff's detective said they first suspected homicide when Jeremy Zimmer, one of the four victims of what was thought to be a fatal house fire, was discovered to have been shot in the head.

But they had no suspects.

One key to Brake's arrest was a flier, detailing evidence in the crime, sent to local police agencies.

Grand Rapids Police arrested Brake for the rape and beating of a prostitute on October 16, and the shooting of a man in early September. They recovered a Glock handgun from Brake.

GRPD Detectives noticed a Glock .40 caliber handgun on Ottawa County's list of evidence, and called Ottawa Detectives.

During the search of his Newaygo County home, investigators found a gun belonging to Brake. It was the same gun used in the Wright Township murders.

While Brake has not been charged with arson, evidence in court records also shows gasoline was used to set fire to the home.

Brake talked to Ottawa Detectives three times about the case. But he hasn't told them about murders and fire.

According to the court affidavit, Brake denies being at the Zimmer residence on the night of the fire. But he's refused to tell detectives where he was that evening.

Bob Zimmer, the father of Jeremy and Tyler Zimmer told 24 Hour News 8 "it's a mystery" why Brake may have murdered his sons and wife.

Brake once lived next door to the Zimmers in Wright Township, but Bob Zimmer said he doesn't believe Brake kept in touch since he moved away when he was 12. Investigators, too, say they do not know why Brake ended up at the Zimmer house the night of the murders, or what may have motivated him to allegedly kill the Zimmers and Brown.

"I hope I find out why he did this before I die," said Zimmer, who for several years has been undergoing dialysis for kidney failure. "If they had put a Bible in front of me, I would have swore he would not have done this."

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the Zimmer family said they are "relieved to learn that there is a suspect in custody and solid evidence linking him to this horrible tragedy.

"We are pleased to be closer to some answers and are confident in the detectives that are handling our case.

"This horrific event has affected an entire community and we are thankful to our family, friends, and neighbors for their love and support. We pray to God for the strength to get through the months to come."

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/Brake_charged_in_quadruple_murders

[Unamused Cat]

Update: Guilty

After a week of testimony and not even a full day of deliberations, a jury in Grand Haven has reached a verdict in the Troy Brake murder trial. Brake has been found guilty on all counts. That's four counts of first degree murder and three counts of felony firearms.

The murder convictions carry a mandatory life sentence. The jury was convinced that Brake shot the Zimmers to death on Sept. 29 in order to have sex with Brown, and that he then doused the lower half of Brown with gasoline and turned the house on Eighth Street in Wright Township into an inferno, since demolished.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/05/victims_families_applaud_inves.html