After Nearly 25 Years, 66 Year Old David Zimmer Arrested for the 1989 Murder of His Estranged Wife Cathy Zimmer … His Brother Robert Zimmer, Also Arrested

It’s the reason why there is no statute of limitations on murder … After nearly 25 years, two brothers arrested in the 1989 murder of Cathy Zimmer.

On March 8, 1989, 38 year old Cathy Zimmer and mother of two went missing from San Jose State University. Forty-eight hours later on March 10 Cathy Zimmer’s body was found in the trunk of her vehicle wrapped in a distinct looking, handmade, colorful quilt. Her car was parked at the San Jose airport and she had been strangled. For nearly 25 years there were no suspects and the case was cold.

Cathy Zimmer

However, now after all this time two individuals have been arrested for the 1989 murder. Brothers, David and Robert Zimmer have been arrested in connection with the strangulation murder of Cathy Zimmer. 66 year old David Zimmer was the estranged husband of Cathy Zimmer. David Zimmer is expected to be arraigned early next week, . 69-year-old Santa Clara resident Robert Zimmer has been arraigned and is being held without bail.

Nearly 25 years after a Northern California woman was found strangled to death under a quilt in her car, authorities on Friday announced the arrest of her husband and his brother on murder charges.

The arrests came just weeks after prosecutors in Santa Clara County released new details in hopes of finally solving the case, including photos of the large, colorful quilt that covered Cathy Zimmer’s body when she was found March 10, 1989.

David Zimmer, 66, of Half Moon Bay, was arrested Friday in the slaying of his estranged wife. Cathy Zimmer’s body was found wrapped in a patchwork quilt in the backseat of her Chrysler New Yorker in a parking lot at San Jose International Airport in 1989, the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office said.

Authorities arrest husband and his brother in 1989 murder of Cathy Zimmer.

The breakthrough came just weeks after Santa Clara County prosecutors revealed the existence of the colorful patchwork quilt for the first time, hoping somebody would recognize it and lead them to whoever strangled the 38-year-old mother of two.

Instead, it appears DNA evidence found on an “intimate area” of Cathy Zimmer’s clothing helped lead investigators to her brother-in-law Robert Zimmer, 69, of Santa Clara. He was arrested last week and is being held without bail on a murder charge, according to a brief court document. His next court date is April 18, prosecutors said.

David Zimmer profited financially from his wife’s death, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Within a month of her slaying, he had sold their home for more than $225,000 and collected proceeds from two life insurance policies totaling $183,000, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

But citing an ongoing investigation, prosecutor Ted Kajani declined to provide many other details of how the cold-case unit he runs solved the case almost 25 years to the day of Zimmer’s death.