A southern Colorado family struggling with the murder of its youngest member is trying to raise reward money to catch the killer.
Paul Zeller, 24, who grew up in Westcliffe and served in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division, was shot to death June 30 while walking home from work in an upscale shopping area in Arlington, Va. He was shot multiple times in the upper body.
Arlington County police spokesman John Lisle said detectives have no suspects. The case, he said, is “wide open.”
“The detectives are trying to find out if he had a conflict with someone he knew or with a stranger, but we don’t know,” Lisle said.
Zeller, who was honorably discharged from the Army in September 2004, was working long hours at a Honda dealership in College Park, Md. He had taken the Metro, the mass-transit system in the Washington, D.C., area, to the Pentagon City Station. From there, he started out on a 1.5-mile walk to the home he shared with sister Lydia Robertson and her family. He did not appear to have been robbed.
“We just want justice,” said William Zeller, 29, Paul’s brother. The family has established a reward fund at all branches of U.S. Bank in Colorado.
“We want to set up a reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who did this.”
Paul Zeller is the youngest of eight children raised by Dwight and Lois Zeller of Westcliffe. Dwight Zeller, a retired Navy chaplain, runs a small seminary outside Westcliffe.
Paul Zeller joined the Army two weeks before Sept. 11, 2001, because he liked the idea of jumping out of airplanes.
“He was proud to serve his country; he knew that what he was doing over there was beneficial to the cause. He didn’t really talk a lot about it but he served his time and he was honorably discharged,” William Zeller said.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
