Zaborek plea is entered

By Diane Graff of the Daily Times staff
Friday, October 17, 2008 12:34 PM CDT

JUNEAU - A Watertown man charged with aiding a felon in the death of a Milwaukee man earlier this month waived his rights to a preliminary hearing in Dodge County Circuit Court Thursday.

Zachary S. Zaborek, 21, of 705 Crestview Drive, appeared in court before Judge Andrew Bissonnette to waive his rights to the hearing. He stood mute on the charge as the judge entered a plea of not guilty to the offense.

An arraignment date was ordered in Circuit Court Branch One. No date for the next court appearance has been set.

The judge granted a motion to modify Zaborek's bail from $25,000 cash to $25,000 property bond, although as of press time today, Zaborek had not been released from the Dodge County Detention Facility. Details of the property bond were to be handled by the Dodge County's corporation counsel office.

The family of the victim was in court and testified against the bail modification.

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Zaborek is one of two suspects charged in the death of Haroon Khan, 31, who was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Khan was stabbed to death Oct. 1 in the theft of his car.

The other suspect, Tammi LaFave, 21, of Delafield, appeared in Milwaukee County Circuit Court this week to waive her rights to a preliminary hearing on a charge of felony murder for her alleged role in Khan's death.

A third person, Travis Zoellick, 20, of Watertown, is alleged to have stabbed and killed the Milwaukee man after stealing his 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Khan was kidnapped and brought to the Watertown area where he was killed and his body was buried in the town of Emmet. Zoellick shot and killed himself before the body was recovered.

According to the criminal complaint, Zoellick had told Zaborek he had gotten a Mitsubishi Evolution car. Zaborek drove to a storage shed in the town of Emmet, owned by Zoellick's father to see the vehicle. Zaborek and Zoellick then went for a short ride in the vehicle.

According to the complaint, later that night Zoellick told Zaborek that he had stabbed a guy. The defendant told investigators Zoellick showed him a knife, which Zaborek said was wrapped in a red shirt. Zaborek said Zoellick also showed him a white plastic bag, which contained smashed up pieces of a navigation system and a cell telephone. Zaborek said all the items were smashed. Zoellick told Zaborek that he got the items from the victim's car.

Zaborek told Zoellick that he should get rid of the car, the knife the victim's cell phone and the victim's navigation equipment. He also told Zoellick that he should never come back.

Zoellick described the stabbing to his friend Zaborek and told him about burying the body in a shallow grave near a shed on Boulder Road, north of Watertown.

Khan's sister, Lasha Zaidi, asked the judge to deny the bail modification. She appeared in court with her parents and another family member.

More than 20 family and friends of Zaborek filled the courtroom benches.

“He was not a passive participant but an active participant,” Zaidi said of Zaborek's role in the death of her brother. “It is my father's wish for the court to take our request into consideration,” she said.

Zaidi asked the judge to make an example with the case.

Dodge County Assistant District Attorney Kurt F. Klomberg argued for a cash bail over a personal property bond.

“The evidence in this case is very strong,” Klomberg said. It is also coupled with kidnapping and car jacking, he said. “He (Zaborek) counseled the killer to flee.”

Klomberg pointed out the state had originally requested $100,000 cash bail at the initial court appearance.

Klomberg said the family should obtain a home equity loan to post the cash bail. He also pointed out the property is not owned by the defendant. “The defendant does not have much to lose when someone else's property is posted,” he said.

“There is no evidence that I have been made aware of that this individual participated in the killing,” Attorney Michael Witt said. “Setting an example is not what bond is about.”

If convicted of aiding a felon, Zaborek faces a maximum penalty of 3 years, six months in prison and a $10,000 fine. Witt noted that if Zaborek would flee, he would face a longer prison sentence.

After expressing sympathy to the Khan family, the judge granted the bail modification. Bissonnette pointed out the Zaborek's confession to investigators and that most of the information in the case is based on what the defendant provided.

Bissonnette said the two, Zoellick and Zaborek had been friends since sixth grade. The judge agreed with the defense in that “none of the evidence shows he (Zaborek) participated in the murder.”

The judge did order the defendant to contact the Dodge County Sheriff's Department daily and to stop in at the department each Saturday morning. Zaborek is to have no contact with the victim's family and must surrender a passport if he has one.

“I am confident Mr. Zaborek will attend court hearings,” the judge said.