A former Calvary Chapel pastor convicted of child molestation was charged in Washington state on Wednesday with first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with the death of an 82-year-old grandmother who was entombed under a shed. Jeffrey Zizz, 47, was charged with premeditated first-degree murder and first-degree felony murder, both while armed with a deadly weapon, and a misdemeanor charge of unlawful disposal of human remains, the Seattle Times reported.
His criminal charges are in connection with the bludgeoning death of Marcia Norman, according to a Thurston County sheriff’s statement. Zizz was working as a handyman for Norman.
Norman’s family released a statement on the Thurston County sheriff’s Facebook page calling the woman “full of life with plans for the future.”
Norman was reported missing by her family on April 4 from her Tenino residence, and several days later Zizz was listed by authorities as a “person of interest.”
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders told King 5 News that Zizz failed a polygraph test, requested an attorney, and fled the state shortly after an initial interview with authorities.
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Authorities tracked Zizz to Missoula, Montana, where he was taken into custody on a child molestation violation on April 6.
Norman’s remains were found partially encased in concrete under a shed recently built by Zizz in Olympia, according to a Thurston County sheriff’s press release.
In an interview with King 5 News, Gary Warnock, Thurston County coroner, called the investigation the “worst case I’ve witnessed.”
The elderly woman “was bound with Velcro straps and beaten to death” for hours with a nail gun, the station reported. Norman’s cause of death was “blunt force trauma and penetrating injuries to her head,” Seattle’s King 5 News reported.
The station reported that Zizz had known Norman for more than a year and considered her a friend. She allowed him to use a portion of her detached shop to work on projects and store equipment. The news station reported that Zizz had dinner with Norman on April 1 and is presumed to be the last person to see her alive.
An emergency ping from Norman’s phone revealed her last known location on April 2, just after 1:35 a.m. It was within a four-mile radius of her home, according to King 5 News.
Zizz, became pastor at Calvary North Thurston in Lacey in June 2019, according to published reports. He was removed by church leaders after confessing to “sexual misconduct,” The Olympian reported in 2021.
The former pastor was arrested in 2021 and booked on suspicion of nine criminal counts that included incest, rape of a child and molestation. Zizz pleaded guilty in Oct. 2022 to two counts of second-degree child molestation against victims ages 12 to 14 and one count of communicating with a minor under age 18 for immoral purposes, NBC reported.
Although Zizz was sentenced to more than eight years in prison, he was released after 11 months due to a Washington law called the Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative, King 5 News reported.
Some of the conditions surrounding the program required Zizz to enter a treatment program and he was prohibited from leaving the state.
A phone message for Calvary North Thurston late Thursday was not returned.
Any current reference to Zizz on the church’s website and on its social media page has been scrubbed, with the exception of a Dec. 25, 2020, post with 39 other Facebook users celebrating Christmas.
Blogger Bruce Gerencser reported in Nov. 2021 in his Black Collar Crime Series church pastors and elders “were aware of the allegations and as a result [Zizz] is no longer a pastor.”
Pastor Sam Christensen of Calvary Chapel North Thurston acknowledged Zizz was an employee and confirmed he is no longer affiliated with the church, according to the 2021 blog entry.
Since the issues involved did not appear to involve the church, and since there was an ongoing investigation, Christensen said the church had no further comment.
Sheila Stogsdill is a freelance print journalist and digital reporter, primarily covering crime issues for KSN/KODE.
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8 Responses
I struggle to understand why a quality publication would run this story. Zizz has had no connection with this Calvary Chapel franchise for a long time. Is there any evidence that Calvary Chapel was aware that he lacked any character, let alone Christian character? The strange story of a founding Calvary personality, Lonnie Frisbee, and the voice-cloning of Chuck Smith aside, no assembly of God’s Kids will suffer slander and identity assassination without Justice.
I’ve read this report several times and find no hint that anyone is holding Calvary Chapel accountable. They were, however, part of the history of this guy. To relate someone’s historical associations with a certain organization doesn’t qualify as slander or identity assassination of that organization. Among other things it does show Calvary Chapel knew enough about what he was up to that they dismissed him. The reasons for someone objecting to or criticizing the public acknowledgement of that history are for more intriguing to me than the historical facts of the story itself. What are those reasons?
Oh, dear Lord. Beating an 82 old woman to death shows a depraved heart & great anger or rage. I pray that God brings comfort & strength to her family.
Wait. How does a guy go from being a handyman to being a pastor? Had he actually been to seminary?
Doesn’t anyone do background checks anymore?
“Wait. How does a guy go from being a handyman to being a pastor?”
On being SAVED(TM) and his Testimony.
Calvary Chapel not only practices Altar Call/Sinner’s Prayer Salvation, they also believe in Total Sanctification upon saying the words. After which, the Saved is a Completely New Man without any trace of the Old Sin Man remaining.This often does not end well.
There was another Calvary Chapel incident (NOT homicide) a few years back (can’t remember where) where a newly-Saved convert church-planted a new Calvary Chapel within three weeks of Being Saved. With himself as Pastor under CC’s Moses Model, answering only to God. I can’t remember the details, but this one went under in some sort of scandal several years later.
“Former Calvary Chapel Pastor Charged with Murder of 82-Year Old Grandmother”
The headline implies that the victim was his grandmother. “82-year-old woman” would identify the victim clearly enough for a headline, and the fact that she had grandchildren could be mentioned in the body of the article, if it’s relevant information.
One must ask how could someone who committed sex offenses against minors be eligible for the Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative and be back on the streets quickly to commit even more heinous crimes? I wouldn’t be surprised if he played up his service as a pastor, got letters of support, etc.
In my state of residence, Arizona, crimes against minors, sexual and otherwise, have strict sentencing and sentencing alternatives like those in Washington State don’t exist.
That poor woman and her family.
I can’t comprehend what is happening with men and some cases women in Christian ministry. Whats going on? Somehow his man became demonized. There is no other possible explanation for torturing a “friend”.