Crime & Safety

August Trial for Bellevue Man Accused of Killing Woman During Hawaii Vacation

Bellevue resident Philip Howard Zimmerman is fit to stand trial in the death of his girlfriend, Susan Brockert, also of Bellevue, and his court date has been set for Aug. 7, according to reports.

Philip Howard Zimmerman was accused of killing Susan Brockert, 44, of Bellevue, after she was pronounced dead after the assault in their hotel room at The Fairmont Orchid resort in the Kohala Coast of Hawaii last May.

Resort workers witnessed part of the assault from outside the room and, after they kicked in the door, they said that they saw Zimmerman holding a tile that was used to strike Brockert.

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He faces charges of second-degree murder, kidnapping and second-degree criminal property damage.

The night of May 23, a resort worker heard someone cry for help and heard banging noises coming from their room, and he climbed onto the balcony from an adjacent room, 

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The worker said that Brockert, who was lying on the floor, looked at him and appeared to be trying to say something when she was struck twice more with pieces of broken hotel furniture, according to Hawaii 24/7. Resort workers told the court that they broke in and found her without a pulse, and said that Zimmerman, still holding a tile that was used to strike her, locked himself in the bathroom, according to news reports.

Brockert had two children and was a graduate of Newport High School in Bellevue and the University of Washington. She worked for Woodinville marketing firm Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, according to Legacy.com.

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