Background: News footage of the Miami Beach, Fla., condo where Justin Zelin fell to his death on Feb. 15 (WPLG). Inset (left): Corey Hutterli (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation). Inset (right): Justin Zelin (Facebook).
A Florida man whose friend fell to his death from his 25th-floor apartment balcony is now charged with his friend’s murder.
Corey Hutterli, 37, was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the Feb. 15 death of 35-year-old Justin Zelin, who fell from the balcony of his apartment on the 25th floor of the Akoya Condominium building. According to a complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, Zelin called 911 at 10:20 a.m. that day, during which he was heard telling Hutterli to get out of his apartment. At some point, Zelin stopped communicating with dispatchers, who then heard “a clear sound of a struggle.”
According to the complaint, Zelin was heard saying, “Get away from me, Sasha,” referring to Hutterli by his nickname. The line to 911 remained open as Zelin repeatedly asked Hutterli to leave his apartment before the alleged struggle took place. Zelin’s voice was not heard again.
Police said surveillance video from the condo captured the moment Zelin’s body hit the pavement outside the building at 10:30 a.m. Officers arrived a minute later and found Hutterli outside in an “excited state” after apparently rushing from inside without his shoes. Hutterli allegedly asked the officers, “What’s going on? Somebody… he freaked out, attacked me.”
One of the officers asked Hutterli if he was alone, to which he responded, “No, I don’t know where he is. I kept telling him to relax.” When police asked him where Zelin was, Hutterli said, “He went to the elevator.”
Police wrote in the complaint that Hutterli told them that he left Zelin’s apartment when he asked him to, but surveillance cameras showed him leaving the apartment one minute after Zelin’s body was seen falling outside.
When police searched Zelin’s apartment, they found it to be in “disarray” with the balcony doors open. On the balcony were Hutterli’s sandals and blood on the railing. Throughout the apartment, police found tufts of beard hair that was determined to belong to Hutterli. While executing a search warrant at the apartment later that night, investigators found Hutterli’s backpack, which also contained tufts of his beard hair, a find that police alleged was an attempt to “retrieve and conceal evidence from the scene.”
Investigators also allegedly found ketamine in Hutterli’s backpack.
Hutterli invoked his right to counsel after he was brought to the police station for an interview. Detectives said they observed cuts and lacerations on Hutterli’s hands, redness and scratches on his arms, and patches on his face where it appeared chunks of his beard were pulled out.
Months later, Hutterli’s DNA was allegedly matched to the blood found on the balcony railing; the blood found on Hutterli’s clothing was allegedly matched to Hutterli and Zelin.
Hutterli was arrested on Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder and burglary with assault and battery. He is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond has not yet been set. His next court date was not available.
During a court appearance on Thursday, Hutterli’s defense attorney told the court, “There is no eyewitness to any alleged act that caused the decedent’s death. No statements or admission from Mr. Hutterli acknowledging any criminal conduct, no direct evidence establishing how or by whom the fatal injuries were inflicted.”
