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As the groundwork is being laid for the Georgia child-prostitution-and-pornography trial of Zachary and William Zulock, an activist LGBTQ couple facing multiple life sentences for allegedly raping, filming, and pimping out their adopted 9- and 11-year-old sons to other gay men in a suburban pedophile ring, one of the co-defendants is considering a plea deal, Townhall has learned.
From behind bars, Zachary divulged in a secret handwritten letter to an "old co-worker" and a former roommate that he is willing to arrange a plea agreement for reduced prison time, as Tuesday's update on the stomach-churning Zulock case revealed. "Let's...contact the DA directly maybe and try to set a deal," Zachary, who has pled not guilty, wrote in the confidential note.
In the secret letter, Zachary claims he is a victim of "police brutality" and that the swarm of arresting officers used "excessive force" when an armed SWAT team slammed him on the floor of their mansion's foyer, leaving a bruise on his cheek (visible below). pic.twitter.com/AuyFHTeYQ2
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) February 22, 2023
After his "numerous" failed attempts to personally negotiate with the Walton County district attorney, Zachary was advised to "proceed cautiously," "speak little," and take heed that any communications—written or spoken—"can be used against you" in a court of law. "i was trying so hard to get the [...] DA involved and hear my side and work with me, its just so hard to do it from inside here," Zachary pleaded in messages to a relative, whose whistleblowing has since sparked a firestorm in the courtroom.
A gag order was proposed by the prosecution at a pair of back-to-back motion hearings on Feb. 1 where Judge Jeffrey Foster sternly warned the Zulock co-defendants to be "much more guarded" with third-party conversations "in light of the circumstances," referring to their taped jail calls and text exchanges with the family member that have been leaked to Townhall.
The judge's warning hasn't stopped either of the Zulocks from spilling their defense strategy to Townhall's informant.
Who's the Ringleader?
In the days following the Feb. 1 motion hearings and the judge's cautionary statement in court, Zachary sent his family member a trove of JailATM texts, pinning the blame on his husband and insinuating that William was the one in charge of the operation.
"i never brought any men to our house...the cameras will prove that," Zachary repudiated when questioned about rumors floating in the family of the couple's open marriage. Surveillance cameras were installed in "every square foot" of the four-bedroom, five-bathroom Zulock mansion located at the end of a secluded and forested cul-de-sac, as Part 1 of Townhall's investigation detailed.
"william had a friend of [h]is supposedly come and hang out mondays, since he didn't work mondays, but i was under the impression that it was just as friends," Zachary countered in a text to the relative on Feb. 4. Though, "nothing more," he stated.
Zachary claimed William invited "a friend" over on Mondays
At the time Zachary roomed with the friend he had named in the handwritten letter, he was beckoning men over for hook-ups and offering acquaintances to partake in threesomes with him and an ex-boyfriend, whom Zachary endearingly nicknamed "the boss man," according to Facebook Messenger chats. The three of them—Zachary, his ex-boyfriend, and the roommate mentioned in the letter—all bunked together before Zachary started dating William, his loyal "#partnerincrime for life," in the summer of 2013.
Zachary's Instagram post calling William his "#partnerincrime for life"
Today, Zachary follows gay pornographers in Atlanta who fetishize "p*ss" and "puppy play" with his Twitter account "@GAbottomguy" and regularly peruses Guys With iPhones, an amateur gay-porn website for any man to post pictures of themselves clutching more than their mobile devices. Zachary often chatted with these porn merchants on Facebook Messenger.
Some of the accounts Zachary follows on Twitter
Grindr, a geolocation-based gay dating and hook-up app, is where Zachary allegedly connected with at least one of the alleged members of the Atlanta-area pedophile ring, Hunter Lawless of neighboring Loganville, who had squealed when police executed a search warrant on his mother's house hours before the Zulocks were apprehended. Police allege that Lawless had downloaded child pornography of the older 11-year-old Zulock boy to his Google account, which triggered an emergency-level CyberTip.
Upon capture, Lawless told police he was invited "multiple times" to participate in sexual acts with Zachary and his two sons.
Count 16 of the Zulock indictment naming Lawless
The family member pressed Zachary on the child pornographic photos he is accused of sending on Snapchat, where he allegedly bragged: "I'm going to f*ck my son tonight. Stand by." 149 images collected at the Zulock mansion, two flash drives containing phone data, and a disk of a "data dump" are in the state's evidentiary arsenal. Authorities also allegedly found a folder on Zachary's cell phone, titled "US," that stored videos of William sexually abusing their older child, who just turned 11 in December.
A preview of Zachary's private Snapchat chat with Lawless
"must have been on williams computer, idk, promise..." Zachary responded, shrugging off the accusation. "there were NOT hundreds of photos on my phone...if the [police] report says that, then thats a flat out lie!" Zachary exclaimed. "im here because i let william manipulate me and i didn't have a backbone, and i am loosing [sic] everything and everyone i love and care about..."
"please believe me [...] i really do need your love and support..." Zachary exhorted his relative on Feb. 5. "thats not a lie."
Zachary claimed he was "manipulated" by William
Still 'Partners in Crime for Life'?
"You probably feel like you just drank from a fire hose," Judge Foster told a gaunt William, who kept his bound hands clasped around his wrists throughout his 15-minute motion hearing. William, wearing large-frame glasses and a cropped haircut, was dressed in a button-down, dark navy-blue Walton County Jail jumpsuit that clung to his white, thermal long johns underneath.
The bailiff escorting William out of the courtroom
Zachary still voiced some worry about William's physical well-being: "he looked thinner than normal? he is picky about the food."
Zachary's Feb. 4 text worrying about William's physical well-being
"I am eating less that's for sure," William, whose weight has since fallen to a skeletal 120 pounds, texted the relative. "My room mate [cellmate] does point out how little fluid I drink which makes me miss Zack. Food here is awful mostly and it took them (still are) months to not bring food with dairy in it since I can't have my pills for that." William, who's lactose intolerant, has complained multiple times about the meals in detention, such as the "low-grade" quality of the deli meat in the jail's boloney sandwiches.
"But I'm doing okay just trying not to lose my mind," William typed, disclosing that he writes biweekly love notes to Zachary as they await trial. "I write notes to him every two weeks even though he won't see them until this is over," William mused on Feb. 4.
William's Feb. 4 text fretting about the food in jail
To cope with the unfolding events, Zachary said he's been reading the Bible "every day" that he bought from the jail's bookstore.
"im just asking you [...] to please dont give up on me please...i cant do this alone...and unfortunately no one else will be there for me [...] please dont leave me or forget me...i beg of you," Zachary implored the family member, who is one of his last remaining blood relatives to continue contact with him. "i want to tell you everything but i cant from here," Zachary claimed the previous day.
Zachary's Feb. 5 text claiming the child pornography "must have been on" William's computer
Lawyer-less
As Townhall previously reported, Zulock defense attorney John E. Haldi moved to withdraw as Zachary's counsel in response to Walton County District Attorney McGinley's motions to sever the Zulocks, who are jointly indicted as co-defendants, and disqualify Haldi from representing both clients. "How do I decide between you two?" Haldi had asked Zachary during his last in-person visit.
William's side of the family, saddled with the accruing legal fees, alone has pumped $50,000 into Haldi's legal services. At the conclusion of the Feb. 1 motion hearings, Foster approved Haldi's withdrawal papers, releasing the Georgia attorney from Zachary's criminal case; however, Haldi will stay on for the civil one, which decides if the state can forfeit the Zulock property.
If they're severed and limited immunity is granted, the state can call upon Zachary and William to testify against each other at trial, meaning the marital partners would "not be excused from testifying on the basis of the privilege against self-incrimination."
In initial talks with police, Zachary was quick to blame William for "starting" the child sexual abuse, court records indicate. As February's text disclosures demonstrate, Zachary is painting William as the "manipulator" who masterminded the operation.
William, remaining steadfast in his allegiance to Zachary, had faltered in the fall during October telephone discussions with the family member. Pointing the finger back at Zachary, William maintained that he had "no idea what was going on" when heavily armed cops descended on their mansion. "There's a lot of stuff that went on that I don't know about..." William told the relative.
Zachary holding William during their 2017 wedding
Foster asked Zachary what his future plans are for legal representation going forward. "I'm trying to get another attorney that is not a public defender," mumbled Zachary, who has found a local lawyer who's willing to take on his individual case, but he can't find anyone—friends or family—to cough up the money to finance his criminal defense. In the aftermath of the motion hearings, Zachary asked his old co-worker to pay the $2,500 start-up cost to retain his prospective private counsel, Macklyn A. Smith, Sr.
"i wish i had access to my money to hire macklyn, but i dont, and im afraid a PD [public defender] would not fight for me in the same way, but how can i ask someone to spend money on an attorney...already did thst [sic]," Zachary texted his relative. The affluent couple's assets are still in the state's possession on a probable cause seizure warrant until the civil case's resolution.
McGinley said that the Alcovy Judicial Circuit Public Defender's Office is already working with another defendant connected to the case, presumably Luis Vizcarro-Sanchez, one of the two alleged pedophiles—the other being Lawless—from a nearby suburb whom the Zulock men allegedly solicited to engage in acts of prostitution with their 11-year-old adopted special-needs son.
Vizcarro-Sanchez is being represented by a court-appointed attorney for the charges of felony sexual exploitation of children; enticing a child for indecent purposes, which is an unrelated child sex crime involving a 13-year-old boy that Vizcarro-Sanchez allegedly groomed in pursuit of "sexual activities;" plus 31 shoplifting-related offenses committed at the local Kroger store where he once worked. The assignment was made after the defendant was declared indigent, as Part 2 of Townhall's series covered.
Count 17 of the Zulock indictment naming Vizcarro-Sanchez
"So, there would have to be a conflict attorney appointed," McGinley continued. A private attorney can be assigned by the court to handle the criminal case of an indigent defendant who cannot be represented by a public defender due to a conflict of interest.
Foster then advised Zachary to confer with the public defender's office and assess the appointment. In the interim, if Zachary is able to retain independent counsel, he may do so. "And there still may be some difficulties, just because of the position of the case where we have co-defendants and we have potential Bruton issues and we have pending immunity grants," Foster added.
A defendant's Confrontation Clause rights are violated under the Bruton Rule when there is a joint trial of co-defendants and the testimonial statement of one co-defendant, who does not testify at trial, is admitted to implicate the other co-defendant. But, the Bruton Rule excludes only the statement of a non-testifying co-defendant that—standing alone—"directly inculpates the defendant," as the Fulton County District Attorney's Office in Atlanta explains. "There is no Bruton violation when the statement on its face does not incriminate the defendant but becomes incriminating only when linked with other evidence introduced at trial."
Meanwhile, William brainstormed in a Feb. 8 text to the relative that Zachary should welcome a public defender and then argue that their excessive workload violates his Sixth Amendment right to counsel without interference in quality representation.
William's Feb. 8 text devising how Zachary can get pro-bono representation
As of Sunday, William is still fervently concerned about locating a lawyer for his "hubby" and placing money on Zachary's inmate books. William wants to file their federal and state taxes so they can use the tax returns to cover portions of the legal payments. "This is great to hear his friends are helping us out," William said of the men Zachary invoked in his handwritten letter.
This week, an inmate died of what was reportedly a drug overdose in the cell below William's, he noted. "Rumor is he OD on something but I'm not sure," William wrote in a Feb. 19 text message. Aside from being assaulted and threatened with sexual violence, Zachary claims he was drugged by a Barrow County Detention Center cellmate and sent to the jail's medical ward for "stroke-like symptoms," as Part 4 of Townhall's exposé covered. "Just please check up on him," William texted the relative.
"Please let him know I still love him and miss his face!" William asked the family member, also requesting that Zachary is sent a collection of care packages—carrying coffee and Monster energy drinks—for his upcoming 36th birthday on March 8.
William's Feb. 19 texts wishing Zachary well on his birthday
Foster was firm on not ruling on any motion at this time and scheduled the subsequent court proceedings for next month, when conflict and indictment issues as well as the state's requests for immunity grants and severance will be addressed, allowing time for Zachary's new counsel to review the case, absorb the evidence, and speak with witnesses before arguments are presented.
The civil case pertaining to the forfeiture of the Zulock mansion, which the state seized, will be heard on a separate date. Until then, the couple's house remains the "Property of the Walton County Sheriff's Office," as the sign plastered to the front door says.
Stay tuned for more shocking details, to be released on Thursday, February 23, 2023, taking a deeper look inside the Zulock "house of horrors" and exploring when exactly the gay pedophile ring started. More jailhouse texts are incoming.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of Townhall's initial multi-part investigation.
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