SEVIERVILLE (WATE) -- A Kodak man was arrested Monday night for kidnapping, raping and beating a 14-year-old Ohio girl to death 24 years ago.
Sevier County sheriff's deputies arrested Walter Zimbeck, 42, at his home at 11:18 p.m. Monday on a fugitive from justice warrant.
According to published reports, Zimbeck is a former resident of Maumee, Ohio. He's charged with murder and aggravated murder in the death of Lori Ann Hill, of Swanton, Ohio, in October 1985.
No word on why Zimbeck first became a person of interest but Ohio along with Sevier County investigators searched zimbeck's Kodak home and gathered DNA evidence last year.
Neighbors say he's lived in Kodak for years and say they are shocked with the charges because Zimbeck was someone who seemed like the perfect person to live next to.
"Bascially he would do anything in the world for you," said neighbor Nick Prozzo.
The only neighbors who didn't have anything good to say were Zimbeck's estranged father and mother- in-law who live right across from Zimbeck.
The defendant happens to be in the middle of a bitter divorce and his father-in-law says if he's guiltly he hopes Zimbeck will pay.
Others like Prozzo however just don't want to believe the charges are true and hopes the legal system will give Zimbeck a fair shake.
"Until I hear everything about it I'm not judging the man, its just hard to believe," said Prozzo.
A report in the Toledo Blade said Hill went to a party the night she went missing, got a ride to a pizza parlor and was last seen alive walking alone on an overpass.
Days later, a deer hunter found Hill's naked body in some woods. Detectives said she'd been raped and was beaten with an iron tool.
Over the last two decades, Hill's family raised $50,000 as a reward and went on national talk shows to continue their search for her killer.
On Tuesday morning, Zimbeck was arraigned in Sevier County General Sessions court when he signed a waiver of extradition to be taken back to Ohio. He's being held with no bond.
Sevier county sheriff's investigators have been helping Ohio authorities with this case since late 2008.
Zimbeck had a clean record in Sevier County.
