Photos, Video From Zumberge Murder Trial Released
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A jury found the actions of Neal Zumberge were premeditated when he shot and killed his neighbor.
Now prosecutors have released some of the evidence that led to the guilty verdict, including the 911 call he made after the shooting.
"Nobody listens to me around here," he says in the 911 call. "I told the guy that he was going to shoot us. He's got guns and I've had it. I've just had enough."
Zumberge barricaded himself inside his New Brighton home before eventually surrendering to police. He later talked to police, describing a long-running dispute over feeding deer and arguments with his neighbors.
Home surveillance video caught the moments leading up to the fatal shooting. It shows Zumberge's wife, Paula, arguing with victim Todd Steven's girlfriend, Jennifer Cleven.
"I know he carried a gun and stuff," Zumberge says in an audio recording of his police interrogation. "They're screaming and yelling and I told my wife not to go out there."
Prosecutors say Neal Zumberge was peeking out from the left side of the house and taking aim.
"I was armed, and I was watching, making sure that they weren't going to shoot my wife or something," he says in the recording. "S--- just happened, man."
Prosecutors said he looked around the side of the house five times before pulling the trigger. Pictures show Stevens' front door riddled with shotgun pellets, and Cleven in the hospital after she was shot.
"It's fully automatic and it just kept going off," Zumberge said.
(Zumberge actually used a semi-automatic shotgun.)
The shots killed Stevens. Zumberge recounted the on-going feud between the neighbors that led to the shooting, involving threats, deer feeding, and alleged drunkeness.
"They made our like freaking hell," he said. "It's not that I just went, 'Oh, geez, I'm going to go kill this guy.' I just flipped out."
Possibly the most damaging statement from the interrogation: "They should give me a medal here because the police are going over there all the time, right? Because of this domestic stuff."
Nearing the end of the hour-and-20-minute interview, Zumberge said he was sorry.
"Just hopefully, he's all right," he said. "I've got the feeling he's not."
Zumberge told investigators he knew he was in trouble, but he hoped his wife and dog could move on without him.
It took a jury just three hours to find Zumberge guilty on the four counts of murder he faced.
A judge will sentence Zumberge in October.
