Burning Suspicion on Addison Avenue

Summary

---

Dateline NBC: Burning Suspicion on Addison Avenue

Release Date: March 31, 2026
Host: NBC News

---

Episode Overview

This episode of Dateline NBC dives deep into the tragic and mysterious death of Jennifer Skipsey in a Palo Alto cottage fire, which quickly escalated from an accident to a suspected arson and murder. The story unfolds through interviews, court testimony, and emotional recollections, exploring the passionate, tumultuous romance of Jennifer and her boyfriend, Paul Zumat—who would ultimately stand trial for her murder not once, but twice. The episode is a compelling blend of true-crime investigation, courtroom drama, and the heartbreak of those left behind.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Fire and Immediate Aftermath

• The Blaze: The fire gutted almost everything in the Addison Avenue cottage; firefighters soon discovered someone hadn't made it out—later identified as Jennifer Skipsey.
• Initial Confusion and Grief: Jennifer's father, Jim Skipsey, describes the heartbreak of learning his daughter was gone.
  • "He told us Jenny was gone." (06:17 – Jim Skipsey)
• Paul’s Alibi: At the time of the fire, Paul Zumat was at his hookah lounge, having been alerted by a phone call. He says he raced to the scene, overwhelmed and confused.

Jennifer and Paul: Relationship Background

• Social and Romantic Life: Both young, attractive, and successful (Jennifer, an award-winning real estate agent; Paul, a local entrepreneur), their relationship was described as glamorous and fiery.
• Their Dynamic: Friends recall a passionate, sometimes unstable romance, marked by both affection and conflict.
  • "He looks good, he smells good, he presents well, he's witty, he's smart and he's just, he's affectionate." (02:55 – Nikisha Gottsav)

Early Investigation and Rising Suspicion

• Suspicions Surface: Soon after the fire, Jim Skipsey suspects foul play.
  • "This was no accident. It didn't have to happen." (06:37 – Jim Skipsey)
• Paul’s Police Interview: Emotional and sometimes inconsistent, Paul suggests possible threats from former friends, the Ganma brothers, with whom he and Jennifer had prior conflict and restraining orders.

Forensic Evidence and Case Building

• Arson Confirmed: A police dog and forensic examination reveal Jennifer’s body and the scene were doused in gasoline, with a gas can found beside her.
  • "You could smell it when you walked in... remnants of the gas can was found next to her right hip." (15:14 – Chuck Gillingham)
• Manner of Death: Forensic experts determine Jennifer was strangled before the fire—pointing to murder, not accidental death.
  • "Strangling someone's a very personal killing. That's a very angry killing." (16:04 – Chuck Gillingham)

Shifting Focus: The Boyfriend

• Clearing the Ganma Brothers: Video and receipts place them elsewhere during the fire.
• Scrutiny of Paul: Police focus on Paul, noting small inconsistencies in his account (e.g., changing his story about being home the day of the fire).
  • "Odd. But people's memories can be tricky..." (18:52 – Main Narrator)
• Past Relationship Issues: Testimony surfaces about tumultuous events—anger, restraining orders, 911 calls, and physical altercations.
  • Audio from Jennifer reveals cycles of romance and mistreatment.
  • "He wins your heart... then... he flips it and calls me ugly, fat, a gold digger." (22:29 – Jennifer Skipsey)

Digital and Circumstantial Evidence

• Deleted Text Messages: Forensic experts recover thousands of deleted texts between Jennifer and Paul, revealing escalating arguments hours before her death—fueled by anger over a debt and emotional turmoil.
  • "'You're nothing but a selfish, cold-hearted, ungrateful human being, scam artist, liar, furious.' That one didn't read like just any old quarrel." (24:11 – Main Narrator)
• Faked Presence: Prosecutors allege Paul used Jennifer’s phone to send misleading texts to her friends after her death, creating the illusion she was still alive.
  • Cell tower evidence places both their phones together, supporting this claim.

The Prosecution's Case

• Timeline of Murder: Prosecutor Chuck Gillingham presents a timeline suggesting Paul had both motive and opportunity: a heated argument, followed by missing, deleted messages, the purchase of gasoline, and the cottage set ablaze.
• Behavior at the Scene: Paul, typically in constant contact with Jennifer, made only two unsuccessful attempts to call her after arriving at the fire, but left no messages—uncharacteristic, given his usual pattern.
  • "If he wasn't able to get ahold of her, his silence, especially at the crime scene, was deafening." (28:17 – Chuck Gillingham)
• Physical Evidence: A police dog alerts to gasoline on Paul's clothes, though lab tests show no chemical residue.

The Defense’s Strategy

• Attorney Mark Garagos: A high-profile defense lawyer, Garagos challenges the prosecution's timeline and scientific evidence, questioning the reliability of cell tower data and the dog’s findings.
  • "People have dogs, they kind of ascribe supernatural powers to dogs... I'm certainly not going to want to convict somebody... based on dog evidence." (36:08 – Garagos)
• Alibi: Paul appears on security footage at the hookah lounge when prosecutors allege Jennifer was killed.
• Relationship Context: Garagos asserts their relationship was stormy on both sides, and the angry texts were typical, not uniquely incriminating.
• Paul Testifies: Against legal advice, Paul takes the stand to personally deny the charges and profess his love.
  • Emotional breakdown cited as sincere by his supporters, but seen as performed by jurors.

The Verdict(s) and Aftermath

• Jury Deliberations: Jurors focus on inconsistencies in Paul’s accounts and find his testimony non-credible.
  • "It didn't seem genuine... he chose to basically lie to us three times... we were able to prove that he lied to us..." (42:12 – Juror)
  • "If he hadn't testified, I can't say for sure, but I don't think I could have convicted him." (42:49 – Juror)
• First Trial Verdict: Guilty—Paul is sentenced to 25 to life for murder, plus eight years for arson.
• Retrial and Second Verdict: After a federal judge grants a new trial due to prosecutorial misconduct and inadequate defense, Paul is convicted again in 2025, this time sentenced to 30 years to life.

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Jennifer’s Determination:
  • "Jennifer was a very strong, independent woman and she would not accept anyone disrespecting her." (03:55 – Roy Endeman)
• On the Aftermath:
  • "It hurt. It hurt a lot." (21:21 – Jim Skipsey)
• Paul’s Outburst During Police Interview:
  • "I care less about the house because my Jennifer's safety. I just cannot think anything right now, guys..." (08:29 – Paul Zumat)
• On the Jury's Reaction:
  • "The entire jury believed that it was a manufactured moment." (42:01 – Juror)
  • "If he hadn't testified, I can't say for sure, but I don't think I could have convicted him." (42:49 – Juror)
• Closing Reflection from Jennifer's Father:
  • "I can still hear her voice and see her smile. I know she's here." (44:06 – Jim Skipsey)

---

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Start of Fire / Discovery of Body: 01:03–02:00
• Introduction of Jennifer & Paul: 02:11–03:55
• Paul’s Police Interview / Alibi: 06:57–09:56
• Discovery of Gasoline, Arson Confirmed: 14:47–16:13
• Focus Shifts to Paul / Relationship Turmoil: 18:04–22:29
• Deleted Texts, Digital Evidence: 24:11–27:11
• Courtroom and Defense Moves: 29:11–36:57
• Paul’s Testimony and Cross-Examination: 38:38–41:17
• Jury Deliberation & Guilty Verdict: 41:07–42:56
• Retrial and Final Outcome: 42:56–44:06

---

Conclusion

Burning Suspicion on Addison Avenue is a gripping exploration of love gone sour, forensic investigation, and the pursuit of justice through two trials. The episode skillfully weaves emotional testimony and complex evidence, culminating in a chilling verdict and lingering heartbreak for all involved. Whether highlighting romantic passion or unraveling digital footprints, Dateline NBC offers a haunting reminder of how quickly promising futures can go up in smoke.

---

Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking. With Capital One, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums.

[Main Narrator/Host]

He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a

[Narrator/Announcer]

week to assist with your banking needs. What's in your wallet terms apply. See capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC.

[Commercial Voice]

If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Is everybody out of the house? I don't know, but it's on fire.

[Paul Zumat]

Really? But really, really strong.

[Main Narrator/Host]

The fire in the cottage on Addison Avenue was hungry, devouring almost everything in the bedroom. All right, we don't have fire department on the way. You see smoke coming out of the windows. It's pouring out of some inside the house. Within minutes, firefighters knock the smoke clearing the sooty water running in the streets. And then as the mop up began, the word flashed out like something electric. The house was occupied. Someone didn't get out. And up through the ashes, a mystery flared like a stubborn ember, glowed and smoldered and demanded an answer. The inhabitants of the rented cottage, as investigators soon learned, were two young, beautiful people, the sort of glossy and successful types you might expect to see on some reality show. Their names were Paul Zumat and Jennifer Skipsey. Jennifer, an ambitious, award winning real estate agent who lived like a rock star, or so said her buddy Roy Endeman.

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

You know, she'd be like, I'm knocking him out like dominoes, baby. I just worked out, went to Starbucks and I'm on my way to a meeting and it's only 6:30, 33.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So Paul seemed to be just the right kind of guy for Jennifer, said

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

Roy, because he was an entrepreneur and he seemed like he was a very driven person and that's definitely a quality that Jennifer was looking for.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Jordanian American Paul Zuma. Sleek, attractive, educated, engaging. Paul owned a local hangout, a cafe where customers could smoke flavored tobacco through water pipes called hookahs. The place and Paul were popular. Nikisa Gottsav was a fan.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

He's a good looking guy, you know he looks good, he smells good, he presents well, he's witty, he's smart and he's just, he's affectionate.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So love at first sight? Well, maybe, said their friends.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

From the minute that he told me about her, he always talked about how wonderful she is and how she's perfect.

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

He definitely was very charismatic and he liked to joke around.

[Main Narrator/Host]

And money, there was a lot of it around apparently too. And Jennifer and Paul, having worked hard to get it, seemed only too happy to spend it.

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

When Jennifer and Paul first got together, Paul took Jennifer to New York City.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

And I remember he was like a kid in a candy store just planning all these elaborate, wonderful things that they were going to do together.

[Main Narrator/Host]

They were passionate, these beautiful people. They both had strong personalities. Their love burned hot.

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

Jennifer was a very strong, independent woman and she would not accept anyone disrespecting her or even looking at her inappropriately. And she was very strong willed in

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

that me, like I always did, told him, you need to be careful, you know, because girls can be evil. So he said, no, she's different. I love her, you know, I already love her, she's great.

[Main Narrator/Host]

And so In September of 2013, in 2009, Paul and Jennifer moved into that charming little cottage on Addison Avenue here in Palo Alto. Time to play house. Paul started to think about marriage. And for Paul's 36th birthday, Jennifer planned a party full of promise.

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

She invited most of his close friends to Dish Dash, one of his favorite restaurants. And I think they had over a dozen people there, almost 20 people or something. And Jennifer created a cute table setting she created perfect party for Paul, cake and everything.

[Main Narrator/Host]

In fact, people who were there described the party as almost like a wedding reception. It lasted through the evening into the wee hours of the morning. And now here it was just the very next evening. And it was gone in ashes. All of it, the excitement, the glamour, the promising future up in smoke along with the house on Addison and the person inside.

[Paul Zumat]

We have a party medic and pray we'd have a party. Family.

[Main Narrator/Host]

The next day, Jim Skipsey was driving with his parents to a dinner engagement. His phone rang. It was an old friend. He picked it up.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

I said, Jake, you're. You're going to tell me something bad, aren't you?

[Main Narrator/Host]

And he said, Jim just kept repeating your name?

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

Yeah, he said, like three times, I guess. So I said, jake, hold on man, I gotta pull. And I didn't even want to hear it. I didn't want to hear what he had to tell me. So I gave the phone to my dad. And he told my dad. My dad hung up the phone. He just held out his arms and me and my mom, just like we're

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

all holding each other.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

And he told us Jenny was gone.

[Main Narrator/Host]

It was his Jennifer, his daughter, who died in that fire. And now, along with almost unbearable grief, something else started to burn inside Jim. Something searing. It was suspicion.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

You know, accidents will happen. There's a lot of tragic things that happen to a lot of people in this world. This was no accident. It didn't have to happen.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Well, the deadly fire was burning at his home on Addison Avenue. Paul Zumat was at his hookah lounge just minutes away. Someone called, told him about the fire. He rushed over, but could only pace helplessly back and forth as firefighters did their jobs. Soon after that, he sat down with Palo Alto police to try to help sort out what happened. Though, as you can see on the video recording of the meeting, sat is probably not the best description. Paul was full of nervous energy and frantic questions. At this point, nobody had told him that Jennifer was in that fire.

[Paul Zumat]

I'm worried about my house, not even worried about my girlfriend who caused the fire. And I don't care about this. I want to know about Jennifer.

[Police Officer/Detective]

Right now, I'm not sure that I know any more than you do. My job is just basically to talk to you and find out what exactly you know, because you probably know more than me at this point.

[Paul Zumat]

No.

[Police Officer/Detective]

No.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So together, police and Zuma talked about the hours before the fire. Where had she been? What had she and Paul been doing?

[Paul Zumat]

Well, yesterday was my birthday. We went out. Everything's fine. You know, me and her and all the friends.

[Police Officer/Detective]

Who's her? Jennifer. And that's your girlfriend?

[Paul Zumat]

Yeah.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Paul explained to police that he spent the afternoon at an appointment in San Jose, got back to Palo Alto just in time for his cafe to open for the evening.

[Paul Zumat]

I came here. It was traffic. I got to the cafe because that's when they open. I had to log into the computers, and as soon as I sat down,

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

I want to smoke.

[Paul Zumat]

I have the hookah lounge right here. Started smoking. My landlord called me, said the house is on fire. I flew in. I flew in through the red lights and came here. Now I am really frustrated. I'm really confused. I'm really exhausted, and I want to know what happened. I care less about the house because my Jennifer's safety. I just cannot think anything right now, guys, to be honest with you. I just cannot think anything.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Then, in the middle of his conversation with detectives, Paul's phone rang. It was Jennifer's mother who told him she hadn't seen or heard from her daughter. You can see what happened. Paul fell to pieces.

[Paul Zumat]

I know. I know.

[Main Narrator/Host]

I don't know. I know. I can't find her. You're not telling me anything. To this point, he told detectives he'd been clinging to the hope that Jennifer might be with her mother anywhere, really, but at home. But she wasn't with her mother. Wasn't anywhere. And that's when the officer broke this news.

[Police Officer/Detective]

I'm gonna tell you this, man, but there's a body in the house. It's been burned. So we have no way of knowing you that day.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Okay?

[Commercial Voice]

Give me a rest.

[Main Narrator/Host]

I need to get out of here.

[Paul Zumat]

Get out of here, please.

[Police Officer/Detective]

Okay? And I'm trying to be as sensitive as I possibly can be because I understand that this is your. You know, I don't know that this is Jennifer.

[Main Narrator/Host]

I hope not.

[Police Officer/Detective]

I hope not.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Listen, we have not.

[Narrator/Announcer]

We have not confirmed who this is, okay?

[Police Officer/Detective]

But it's a really, really odd set of circumstances, okay? We need to figure out, is this on purpose? Is this an accident? Okay?

[Paul Zumat]

This is just.

[Police Officer/Detective]

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning for all of us, okay? To try to answer some questions, okay?

[Main Narrator/Host]

But of course, it had to be Jennifer, and it probably wasn't an accident. As that news sank in, Paul began to think about who might have wanted to harm Jennifer and came up with some potentially helpful information. Two brothers, Hisham and Tony Ganma. It already threatened her, said Paul. There'd been a confrontation just weeks earlier.

[Paul Zumat]

So what happened is he called me, threatening me. He's gonna kill me. And he spoke in Arabic, and I speak Arabic fluently, and he spoke to her, so he called the police.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Paul said that he and Jennifer had filed restraining orders against both brothers.

[Paul Zumat]

Now, she was scared from him. She's literally scared from him. I'm scared from the guy. So I didn't know those guys like this. Now, yesterday she walked home and she said, hey, somebody probably was stalking me.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Had the brothers killed her, too? Police listened, took some notes, and then just as a precaution, of course, had Paul give them his clothes for forensic testing. Questioned by police, his home destroyed, his girlfriend dead. Paul Zumat was very nearly in shock, said his friend Nikisa.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

His mind was that, are they sure Jennifer's gone? And, oh, my God, she's never coming back?

[Main Narrator/Host]

And as the weeks went by, said Nikisa, Paul was in a kind of daze.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

The gist of our conversations for the first few weeks were the fact that Jennifer's not coming back. He was completely distraught about the fact that Jennifer was in that fire.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Meanwhile, as those same weeks went by, investigators went quietly and steadily about their task, picking through the cinders of the fire and coming to the conclusion that none of it smelled right. Literally.

[Narrator/Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive, where drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average quote [e-mail] to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates national average 12 month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and

[Commercial Voice]

situations Meet Natural Cycles, the only FDA cleared and CE marked birth control app that's 100% natural, hormone free and side effect free. Here's how it the app analyzes daily changes in your body temperature to find your fertile window so you can plan or prevent pregnancy naturally. Natural Cycles is a clinically proven non hormonal birth control option that's 93% effective with typical use and 98% effective with perfect use. No synthetic hormones, just science. And if you're ready to start family planning, switching from preventing to planning a pregnancy is as easy as tapping a button. Plus, the Natural Cycles app makes tracking fertility easy. You can measure your temperature trends using an Oura Ring, Apple watch or our Bluetooth thermometer, which is free when you sign up for an annual subscription. Join over 4 million registered users who are taking control of their fertility naturally. Save 15% when you sign up with code [e-mail] that's radio15 for 15% off today.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Hey, want a cookie?

[Juror]

Oh, I know you just ate, so

[Main Narrator/Host]

you're craving something a little sweet.

[Juror]

Besides, one cookie isn't good. Going to kill you.

[Main Narrator/Host]

How about half? Just a bite. Bite it, bite it, bite it.

[Commercial Voice]

Food noise isn't fair, but Mochi Health is your affordable glp one source that puts you on a path to successful weight loss by quieting food noise.

[Juror]

Bite it.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

Shh.

[Commercial Voice]

Learn more@join mochi.com Mochi members have access to licensed physicians and nutritionists. Results may vary.

[Narrator/Announcer]

The morning after the fire on Addison Avenue, the ruins still warm, a yellow lab named Rosie sniffed around what was by then a sealed crime scene. Rosie was trained to identify some of the tools of arson. Kerosene, oil. Gasoline. Rosie stopped in her tracks. She'd apparently found something. Back then, Chuck Gillingham was a deputy district attorney in Palo Alto.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Was gasoline there?

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

No question at all. It's in her hair. You could smell It. And you could smell it when you walked in, just with your own nose. And in fact, the remnants of the gas can was found next to her right hip. And so there were still enough remnants of the gas can for us actually to identify the type and make and model of the gas can.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Wow. That's like somebody leaving the gun beside the body with their fingerprints all over it or something. Is.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

Well, no fingerprints, obviously, but. And no physical evidence beyond that, because there.

[Main Narrator/Host]

But it was so clear that it was an arson.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

Correct.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

And the arson was not at issue.

[Main Narrator/Host]

No, it was cold blooded murder that was at issue because Jennifer Skipsey did not die in the fire. According to forensic experts, she was dead before the fire started. The method, a particularly intimate form of killing. Death by strangulation.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

Strangling someone's a very personal killing. That's a very angry killing. It's not like shooting someone from a long way away, I don't imagine. I mean, you're absolutely touching the person.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Sure.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

And feeling their life's blood ebb from them.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Who could have been so angry with Jennifer? Paul had told detectives that he and Jennifer had taken out restraining orders against those two brothers, Hisham and Tony Ganma, both part of his social circle men whom he considered former friends.

[Paul Zumat]

There's people after us.

[Police Officer/Detective]

What's that mean?

[Paul Zumat]

They're trying to get us. They're trying to harm us, Harm her, harm me.

[Police Officer/Detective]

Who's that?

[Paul Zumat]

His name is Hisham. That's the guy. Okay.

[Police Officer/Detective]

The guy that you have the restraining order against.

[Paul Zumat]

I have a restraining order, civil restraining against him. He hit me. He has a restraining against me.

[Main Narrator/Host]

And just one night before, after Paul's birthday party celebration, Paul told police some guys in the truck tried to follow Jennifer home.

[Paul Zumat]

She broke her heel and she. Somebody was just talking to her and it was fine. It's okay with me. But we had. We had people threaten us in the past. Okay. I don't know what's going on. And I think that's what caused the fire. I believe drinking. You said somebody was threatening us. Okay.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So was Paul Zumat onto something? Detectives went to talk to the brothers and of course, checked to see where both men were the day of the fire. And there was no doubt. They were nowhere near the fire. They had alibis at the time of the fire.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

We know exactly where both of them were. One of the gun brothers was in their cafe and he's on videotape. And the other was at Fry's Electronics and Home Depot about 20 miles away. We have those receipts and we have videotape from both of those locations.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So once the Ganma brothers were in the clear, the cops did what they always do in cases like this. In fact, it's practically Police Work 101. They took a closer look at the victim's boyfriend, Paul. And there was a curious moment in that police interview the day of the fire, when Paul admitted he wasn't always the best sort of boyfriend.

[Paul Zumat]

Me and my girlfriend, we broke up. And thanks to San Jose Powell to pd they put an emergency restraining order on me in August because she said Paul threatened me, blah, blah, blah. And I said no. She came to the cafe, broke the door. Okay, in my cafe. But we had these problems, me and her. But you know what? And I had the mistake. Violence against the girl. But I never, never touched a girl in my life. You could see the police reports.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Suspicious chore.

[Main Narrator/Host]

But as they asked around among the couple's friends, police learned a few things that put Paul's behavior into context. Maybe he wasn't any more to blame than she was.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

Their relationship was chaotic. There's no disputing that, absolutely. But he was no more violent in the relationship than she was, whether it be physically, verbally, emotionally.

[Main Narrator/Host]

As police gathered evidence, bit by bit, asking around about Paul, one of them noticed something a little odd. Paul told a friend, also a policeman, by the way, two slightly different stories about his whereabouts. The day of the first conversation. Day of the fire, reported the cop friend. Paul said he wasn't home all day. Then second conversation. Next day, Paul said he stopped briefly at home en route to his hookah cafe. As we say, odd. But people's memories can be tricky. Was that one little difference enough to add up to suspicion of murder? Police apparently thought so, especially once they added that to the rest of what they discovered. Paul was arrested.

[Paul Zumat]

I get away from my attorney.

[Police Officer/Detective]

What's that?

[Paul Zumat]

I will wait for my attorney.

[Police Officer/Detective]

Okay.

[Main Narrator/Host]

They charged Paul Zumac with arson and murder, which struck some observers as strange. After all, there had been just that one little inconsistency. And though Paul and Jennifer did fight sometimes, they seemed crazy in love, too. Paul had been shopping for a diamond ring, for heaven's sake.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

There was a part of Paul that was mourning his girlfriend. And then there was a part of him that was. He didn't understand why he was in custody. And he didn't understand why he couldn't just cry for his girlfriend and for his life. That had just changed 100%.

[Main Narrator/Host]

It certainly did. Bal Zumat was taken to jail to await trial on a charge of murder in the first degree, big mistake, said Paul Zumat.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

When I first saw him, all he was really still telling me is, you know, me being in custody, all of this is going to blow over with, you know, they're going to realize I'm not the person who did this.

[Main Narrator/Host]

In the days after the fire on Addison Avenue, after Paul Zumad was charged with murder and hauled off to jail, events in Palo Alto seemed to freeze somehow in confusion and denial from Paul's point of view and unrequited grief among the people who loved Jennifer.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Unrequited. Partly because for some reason, though he'd been arrested, Paul wasn't entering a plea, which is what this was all about. Candlelight vigils outside Paul's hookah lounge by Jennifer's friends and family.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

We decided to stand in front of his establishment every night until he made his plea.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Eventually, no surprise, Paul did plead not guilty. And prosecutor Chuck Gillingham found himself sifting through the records of a two year romance studded with restraining orders, bitter quarrels, scratches, bruises. 911 calls.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

I mean, these were two people that were makeups and breakups. And she gave verbally, as good as she got.

[Main Narrator/Host]

After one of their flare ups, Paul was ordered to attend anger management classes. Went to one the day of the fire, in fact. So why did two people who fought so much stay together for so long? There was, it turned out, an audio recording of Jennifer herself. Gillingham got hold of it, listened to her explanation.

[Jennifer Skipsey (via recording)]

He wins your heart. So the first couple months is amazing. Sweeps you up. Candles everywhere, flowers. Not money items, but just romantic and sweet talking and parading you around and wanting to introduce you to everybody. It gets me loving him and admiring him that he admires me. And then it makes me trust his opinion and what he says about me and thinks about me. So then as soon as he gets to that point, he flips it and calls me ugly, fat, a gold digger.

[Main Narrator/Host]

By the way, the person she's talking to, Hisham Ganma. Remember, he's one of the brothers Paul told police he and Jennifer were afraid of. But here she was, confiding in him. Mind you, it's a phone conversation that was recorded a few months before the fire. But then she was not happy about Paul. Not at that point, anyway.

[Jennifer Skipsey (via recording)]

I have pictures of the damage that he did to all of my furniture. And he kicked in my car. Somebody saw him at Starbucks, spit in my face on my way to work.

[Narrator/Announcer]

But things clearly changed after that. Remember, they were all lovey dovey. Paul was even talking Marriage the night before the fire. And now here he was, not much more than a year later, on trial for her murder, listening to prosecutor Chuck Gillingham take the jury inside. The last days of Paul's relationship with Jennifer. How did Gillingham do that? Jennifer's cell phone detectives discovered, and this was rather curious, that most of her text message history had been deleted. But the messages had not disappeared.

[Main Narrator/Host]

The Palo Alto cops managed to find a phone expert all the way across the country in New Hampshire who had a very deep look into that cell phone and was able to pull up thousands, literally thousands of deleted text messages between Jennifer and Paul in the last few months of her life. And oh, boy. From Jennifer. You're nothing but a selfish, cold hearted, ungrateful human being, Scam artist, liar, furious. That one didn't read like just any old quarrel. And the timing. Jennifer sent that text to Paul right at the end of the elaborate birthday party she threw for him, when she had perhaps 12 hours left to live. In fact, she was so upset about something that she refused to go to the hookah lounge after the party. Walked all the way home on a broken heel, texting all the way, Jennifer, good, stay away from me. I just got home, Paul. I'm staying away this time for good. What a way to end my birthday.

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

For Jennifer to walk home alone at night with a broken heel and upset she had to have been. I don't even know if I've ever even seen her that mad.

[Main Narrator/Host]

But that was the night before. Angry messages buzzing back and forth. Then, as the cell phone revealed, the pair made love during the night before, Jennifer's morning text messages again turned red hot. Angry. The subject seemed to be a debt she claimed he owed her.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

Right around 10:30, 10:45 into 11, roughly 16 in the morning, she is now referring back to those text messages and telling him he better bring a check and don't come back or she's going to the San Jose Police Department to file charges by 3 o' clock that day. And that's the last text message that anyone gets from her. That's the last contact she has ever with anyone.

[Main Narrator/Host]

That, said Gillingham, just before noon, is when Paul lost his temper and choked Jennifer to death. Then drove to a gas station, bought a can of gasoline, later returned home towards the house. And somewhere along the way, said the prosecutor, he erased all those angry text messages she sent.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

Every single one. Between the defendant and her, every single one is gone. Months worth.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Then, said Gillingham, Paul used Jennifer's cell phone to send fake texts to her friends. So they'd believe she was still alive. To support that claim, Gillingham introduced an expert witness who testified that texts from Paul's phone and texts from Jennifer's phone were hitting some of the same cell towers all at afternoon. So her phone must have been right there with him and his car. Which is why when she missed a meeting with her friend, Roy Endeman, the texts he got from her didn't make sense. They weren't a sensible response to the message he'd sent her. In fact, he got the same text twice.

[Roy Endeman (Friend of Jennifer)]

She didn't show up and her phone was off. And so as soon as I got that repeat text message, I was kind of worried because she wasn't responding to what I was saying.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

Jennifer was nowhere to be found. Jennifer was dead.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Now, what Prosecutor Gillingham wanted the jury to think about was what happened or didn't happen much later, after the fire. Here was the scene. House burning. Paul standing on the street outside, watching the fire. At this point, he supposedly didn't know if Jennifer was inside or outside, whether she was was alive or dead.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

But.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

And in the time that he was there, he made 38 calls and text messages, two of which went to Jennifer. And on neither occasion did he leave Jennifer a message. He left messages for others. He spoke with others. He text messages, for instance, the same friend multiple times. But in that two hour period, at no time does he leave that location to look for Jennifer, perhaps to go to the other side of the blocked off street.

[Main Narrator/Host]

You know, if he called her and texted her once, surely that's enough. I mean, she'll call him back.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

Cell phone records actually bear out that he's a person that would call or text her 2 to 300 times a day when he wasn't around her. If he wasn't able to get ahold of her, his silence, especially at the crime scene, was deafening. Because there's no text message. I would submit, and I did, to the jury, that he stood at that location because he wanted people to see him there.

[Main Narrator/Host]

But how could the jury be sure Paul was guilty? Prosecutor Gillingham offered her

[Paul Zumat]

rem.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Remember Rosie, the skillful police dog, trained to alert to the faintest whiff of accelerant of the sort used in arson fire? She alerted when she smelled some of Paul Zumat's clothes. Suspicious, yes. Though not exactly ironclad evidence, as you'll see, courtesy of Paul's high profile defense attorney, the man famous for defending Scott Peterson. His name, Mark Garagos.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

I've had many a client who I have no doubt was capable of the acts that they were accused of, this is just not one of them.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Hey girl, what's happen? Is that your antiperspirant?

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

Uh, yeah.

[Jennifer Skipsey (via recording)]

Let me see that can.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Aluminum butane.

[Commercial Voice]

I cannot pronounce that.

You have to switch to native deodorant.

Native's simple formula has only clean ingredients.

It gives you effective 72 hour odor

protection with no hydrocarbon propellants. Wow, this smells heavenly clean.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Effective 72 hour odor protection isn't a myth.

[Commercial Voice]

Busy work weeks can leave you feeling drained. Prolon's five day fasting mimicking diet rejuvenates you at the cellular level, lets you enjoy real food and does not require an injection. Developed at USC's Longevity Institute, Prolon supports biological age reduction, metabolism, skin health and fat loss when combined with proper exerc and nutrition. Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe at prolonlife.com pandorapromo

if you're still using one of those free period tracking apps, it's time to level up. Natural Cycles is the only birth control and fertility app that's FDA cleared. It doesn't just guess based on your last period. It uses your actual body temperature to figure out your fertile days so you can prevent or plan for pregnancy naturally. Plus, it's designed to keep your data secure. Join the millions who've made the switch. Save 15% with code RADIO15@natural cycles.com.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Defense attorney Mark Garagos has made a name for himself defending clients in difficult and highly celebrated cases. Not the least the Scott Peterson trial, but defending Paul Zumas would present its own set of challenges. Zumat was accused of killing his girlfriend, Jennifer Skipsey, and then trying to hide that fact by burning the house down. But as the trial began, he'd also been pegged by the prosecution as an abuser, a violent man, an image Garagos set out to change.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

They both were passionate, romantic at times, hot at times, as you would characterize it. I don't think think it was a one way street by any means.

[Main Narrator/Host]

For a start, Garagos tried best he could to weed out possible jury members who might have been unduly swayed by angry text messages or stories about Zumat's temper.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

What jurors do or what you want to get a jury to do is to want to help your client and to kind of walk in the shoes of your client.

[Main Narrator/Host]

And then when he presented his case, Garrigo set out to reach reframed the events after that infamous party the night before the fire.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

The party was at a place and it was for Paul's birthday, and it was planned by Jennifer, and they had maybe 14 to 18 of their close friends that were there. And by all accounts, at the party, everything was great.

[Main Narrator/Host]

And the argument later, the angry texts, that was just the way Paul and Jennifer always were, said Garagos. His proof, after those angry text message exchanges, here's what happened. As Zumat described in his police interview.

[Paul Zumat]

We talked, we smoked hookah. Everything is fine. We did what we did. You know, we slipped. I told. Gave me two Xanaxes, sure. I think probably took one or two before, but she took two more in front of me, and we just went to bed, and I got up at 11.

[Police Officer/Detective]

So you guys slept in the same day?

[Paul Zumat]

Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay.

[Police Officer/Detective]

So you guys made up?

[Paul Zumat]

I made up. Yeah. Yeah, I made up. And then we have a video. I mean, we video ourselves. I mean, honestly. But we shouldn't be saying that. But that's proof that I was in the house. Her phone, her videos.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

Video yourself.

[Paul Zumat]

What do you mean? When we have sex with video.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

So you had sex last night with her video?

[Paul Zumat]

Yeah.

[Main Narrator/Host]

And sure enough, when police looked at Jennifer's cell phone, there was a video she and Paul having sex after their fight, hours before she was murdered.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

So enthusiastically that anybody who watches this is never going to have the impression or take away from that that this was somebody who was ready to kill her.

[Main Narrator/Host]

And as for that cell tower evidence that prosecutor Gillingham presented, which seemed to show Paul had Jennifer's phone with him and was sending out fake messages in her name, that was nonsense, said Garagos.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

That was one of the pieces of information that was absolutely imploded. We went and got the engineer, the actual engineer from the carrier to come in and say he looked at the evidence, and what this guy said was the phone pinging off the same towers was not. It was just merged data from the cell phone.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Why is that important? Because, says Garagos, the prosecution's own timeline should have cleared Paul Zumat. That is, investigators said Jennifer was strangled several hours before the fire started, and it was lit no earlier than about 6:30pm but early in the afternoon, after Paul had left the area. Carrago says Jennifer was still alive, sending real, not fake, text messages herself from her phone.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

By all accounts, she was alive at 1:17.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Okay, okay.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

And at 1:17, Paul was not at the house.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So where was Paul? Trying to pick up paperwork at the Palo Alto police station. And then at the Hookah Lounge, where he appears on security cam footage around 1:37pm and from there, says the defense attorney, he headed to his anger management class about 18 miles away. On the way, he stopped at the restaurant depot, seen here on camera around 3:30. So there simply wasn't time in between, said Garagos, for Paul to go to the cottage, strangle his girlfriend and douse her body with gasoline. A solid alibi, said Garagos. His client simply couldn't have killed Jennifer and he couldn't have started the fire. How could he have been in two places at once? And as for Rosie, the yellow lab, who alerted to a gasoline smell on Zumat's clothes, Garrigo simply pointed out that those very clothes were submitted to a test on state of the art equipment of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and they showed no evidence of gasoline at all.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

The ATF chemist has a protocol, and specifically one of the things the prosecution also didn't tell this jury, which we brought out, was that the ATF also put out a protocol that said you never take a dog alert, a single dog alert, and draw a conclusion. And in fact, if the ATF says negative, then you should not allow in the dog alert.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So why would people believe the dog over the atf?

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

Well, I think once again you get into this idea. People have dogs, they kind of ascribe

[Main Narrator/Host]

supernatural powers to dogs.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

I mean, you know, I've got two large dogs and having been through a couple of cases with dog evidence, as much as I love my dogs, I'm certainly not going to want to convict somebody and put their liberty at stake based on dog evidence.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Still, as he presented his case, Garagos had a problem and he knew it.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

What it came down to was the character assassination block of the case. I mean, the first two blocks of this case revolved around the, what's so called scientific evidence. And that was absolutely destroyed. And then you ended up with the character assassination block.

[Main Narrator/Host]

The solution, Paul Zumat himself appears to have demanded it. The chance to defend himself to the jury by testifying. Some courtroom observers believed the defense had already created a reasonable doubt. That testifying was in fact risky. Especially for Paul, said his friend Nakisa.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

Knowing Paul the way I know Paul and the way that he could be interpreted incorrectly, I was very nervous about Paul taking the stand.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Risky or not, Paul was determined to tell the jury his side of the story. Defense attorney Mark Garagos had done what he could to poke holes in the prosecution's murder case against Paul Zumat, arguing that the prosecution had no solid scientific proof or clear evidence Zumat was anywhere near Jennifer when she was strangled. And the house was set on fire. And anyway, he asked, if Paul attacked Jennifer, wouldn't she have put up some kind of fight? Why were there no defensive marks or scratches on Paul Zumat's body? Did the prosecution even have a case? Paul Zumat wasn't going to take any chances. In fact, he was determined to tell the jury his side of the story. So Garagos assigned a female colleague to question Paul. Must have been a strategy, whispered courtroom observers, a way to show the jury that Paul could, in fact, interact well with a woman. But those observers were mistaken, said Garagos.

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

Well, I generally, I don't think direct examination is my strong suit. And I was concentrating on cross examination of the witnesses.

[Main Narrator/Host]

So Paul Zumat looked the jurors in the eye and told them, I did not kill Jennifer Skipsey, did not burn the house. And then he told them, emotions building to a fever pitch, how despite their rollercoaster relationship, he. He truly loved Jennifer. His lawyer presented a love letter, in fact, that she'd written to him. And he broke down then. Flood of tears.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

I was so relieved. And I thought, you know, if there was any way this jury thought this man was responsible for this, now they know for sure that he's not, because it's so obvious to me that he's telling the truth.

[Main Narrator/Host]

But listening to all of this with his experienced ear was prosecutor Gillingham. You must have been rather pleased when you heard he was going to testify.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

I think that's an understatement. I was very, very pleased.

[Main Narrator/Host]

More than that, it was a gift, said Gillingham. An unexpected opportunity. Why? Well, the prosecutor had Paul right where he wanted him for as long as he wanted him. There were hours of questions, touched questions, baiting questions, questions designed to make Paul crack and reveal what Gillingham believed to be a controlling personality and a red hot temper.

[Chuck Gillingham (Prosecutor)]

My plan was to go through how he acted when he was angry and then asked him questions that he couldn't have no good answers for. For instance, why all those text messages are deleted. And those were questions he could not answer because he had not considered those questions.

[Main Narrator/Host]

After three long days in the hot seat, Paul Zumat's testimony was finally over. Had he persuaded the jurors that he was innocent? Do you feel he got a little bit chippy or arrogant on the stand?

[Mark Garagos (Defense Attorney)]

I don't think that he got arrogant, but I think clearly he was tired and he was exasperated. He wanted to tell his story. He was being cut off.

[Main Narrator/Host]

But the jurors, once they got the case, said they were determined to look at the evidence, not just courtroom theater,

[Juror]

everyone was very committed to going over the evidence and discussing each of the witnesses and each of the crucial pieces of evidence. It was really encouraging, and it was

[Main Narrator/Host]

crucial they decided to compare very carefully the different timelines claimed by the prosecution and the defense.

[Juror]

So we analyzed the timeline for the entire day from his testimony where he said he was, and then other pieces of testimony and evidence to either validate or contradict.

[Main Narrator/Host]

The jury took less than 14 hours and came back with a verdict.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

Guilty. All I remember was I heard that word guilty.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Man.

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

It was just like this. Just this relief, this release of tension.

[Nikisha Gottsav (Friend of Paul)]

I was very shocked by the verdict. I think a lot of people were shocked by the verdict because, I mean, if you sat through the week and weeks of trial, it just. It's inconceivable how they could get to the result that they got to.

[Main Narrator/Host]

But to the jurors, the issues about text messages and whether Paul had Jennifer's phone all afternoon wasn't as important as Zumat on the stand. That's what made the difference. His tears, for example.

[Juror]

Sometimes I feel like I'm too cynical, but it was universal, universally held opinion. I think the entire jury believed that it was a manufactured moment.

[Main Narrator/Host]

What was the problem with his testimony?

[Juror]

There were two things that struck me. One was when he broke down on the stand, and to me, it didn't seem genuine. And the other portion of his testimony was when he had the opportunity to tell us where he was and what he chose to basically lie to us three times. And we were able to prove that he lied to us by the hard evidence that we had with the phone records and with the video surveillance and those items. And I just. To me, that hurt him very badly.

If he hadn't testified, I can't say for sure, but I don't think I could have convicted him.

[Narrator/Announcer]

At his sentencing, an angry Paul Zumat again protested his innocence, but. But he was sent away for 25 to life for murder, plus eight years for arson. Case closed? Well, not exactly. In 2020, a federal judge granted Zumat a new trial, ruling that prosecutors had presented false evidence to the jury. While Zumat's defense team provided ineffective counsel. At his retrial in 2025, Paul Zumat had a new defense and a different strategy. This time around, he did not take the witness stand, but the jury came to the same conclusion as the first one did. He was found guilty again and sentenced to 30 years to life. After the fire that set this mystery in motion, the Palo Alto cottage was repaired new love perhaps growing in there.

[Main Narrator/Host]

Young people were still coming to the

[Narrator/Announcer]

cafe to socialize and smoke. Hookah and Paul gone. Like the romance that burned too bright before it vanished with its victim in a cloud of smoke?

[Jim Skipsey (Jennifer's Father)]

And I can still hear her voice and see her smile. I know she's. I know she's here.

[Commercial Voice]

You've never been one to settle? Stand down or stand still? You're a lifelong learner, energized by excellence? There's a fire inside you you can't ignore? You've got competition to outrun, momentum to build on and your own high standards to meet. Stop now. Not a chance. At Capella University, we help you catch? Catch what you're chasing? Because you've always had the drive? Now go earn the degree? Capella University. What can't you do? Visit Capella Edu to learn more.