Trial dates set for man accused in 2008 Brittany Zimmermann murder

MADISON, Wis. — The man accused of killing Brittany Zimmermann in her downtown Madison apartment will stand trial nearly 15 years after the alleged murder.

Court records show David Kahl will stand trial for first-degree intentional homicide in January 2023, with jury selection starting on Jan. 17 and a multi-week trial beginning the next day. The trial could last several weeks, with dates scheduled for every weekday between Jan. 18, 2023 and Feb. 10, 2023 in Judge Chris Taylor’s court.

Zimmermann was followed into her apartment on West Doty Street after arriving home from class at UW-Madison on April 2, 2008. Her boyfriend found her body inside the apartment. Police who responded to the scene say it appeared she had been shot in the chest with a shotgun.

Courtesy: Dane Co. Jail

Prosecutors say Kahl’s DNA matches evidence from the crime scene.

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Police say Kahl was known to ask people for money in the area near Zimmermann’s apartment, and he was interviewed multiple times over the years as part of the investigation into her murder. He was arrested in March 2020 and was formally charged in the chase in December 2020, just before he was nearly granted early release from a prison sentence for his 7th OWI offense.

After several months of competency arguments, Kahl was ruled competent to stand trial in June 2021.