Michael Zutten found guilty of second-degree murder

The man accused of killing his girlfriend and then dumping her body took the stand in his own defense on Tuesday.

Michael Zutten is on trial for the murder and in court, on Tuesday he told the jury he still loves heather Grimshaw and that he didn’t kill her. However, the jury did not believe this testimony.

On Tuesday night, Zutten was found guilty of second-degree murder. It took the jury just three hours to convict Zutten. “In the circuit court of the 20th judicial circuit in collier county Florida, the state of Florida vs Michael Zutten case #18cf798. We the jury find as follows as to the defendant in the case. the defendant is guilty of second-degree murder so say we all.”

Investigators believe Zutten killed and dumped Grimshaw’s body in a state forest in Collier County. After hearing the verdict, Grimshaw’s daughter left the courtroom in tears. She began crying before the verdict was read.

However, Michael Zutten’s daughter was also emotional while the jury delivered its verdict.

On Tuesday the defense began its arguments in the case. They say there is nothing directly linking Zutten to the murder.

Grimshaw was last seen on Aug. 21, 2015, but Zutten testified that she went on a hiking trip a few days later on Aug. 26.

Zutten said he never reported Grimshaw as missing because he expected her to come back home sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

He said he wasn’t aware that Grimshaw was a missing person until a sergeant with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office came to Grimshaw’s condo in Nov. of 2015.

However, Zutten was not arrested until 2018. He then took the stand in his own defense on Tuesday. He was asked if he killed his girlfriend and responded by telling the courtroom that she was one trip while denying that he murdered her.

He said he only knew that Grimshaw left a few months before to hike the Appalachian Trail with a friend named Ashley.

The defense attorney asked, “did you plan to notify anybody if she wasn’t back by a certain time.” Zutten said, “I would’ve if she wasn’t back by that January.”

When asked about the Facebook posts that involved murder and hiding bodies, Zutten told the just that he did in fact share them, but said the posts were not directed at anyone.

Prosecutors and the defense finished the day Tuesday with their closing arguments.

In closing arguments, the state reminded the jury that before Grimshaw died she disappeared without giving any notice to her employer to suggest she was going on a trip. They also pointed out the suspicious nature of the Facebook posts.

Earlier in the trial, the medical examiner for the case testified that he believes Grimshaw died at the hands of another person but was unable to determine an exact cause of death.

The prosecution also brought to the jury’s attention phone records and an out-of-place calendar entry as possibly being linked to Zutten. Neither expert who testified was able to say definitively if Zutten was connected.

Prosecutors ended their arguments with testimony from a Collier County Sheriff’s detective who spoke about Zutten’s Facebook posts. One of which was described as being a voucher to commit murder that was posted before Grimshaw went missing.

With closing arguments complete, it is now up to a jury to decide if Zutten is guilty. They began deliberation on Tuesday night. They chose to find Zutten guilty of 2nd-degree murder.

Zutten will be sentenced on February 18 at 9 a.m.