Madison dispatcher said she never heard screams

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The Madison 911 dispatcher who took Brittany Zimmerman’s call just before she was murdered said the background noise did not indicate anyone screaming.

That’s what Rita Gahagan told investigators and those comments were released Thursday, along with other records about the 911 center’s handling of the case.

A search warrant quoted police as saying the 21-year-old Zimmermann was screaming during her call for help.

But Gahagan said she didn’t hear anyone in obvious distress. And no one spoke during the call. We can’t judge for ourselves, because the actual 911 call remains sealed.

A judge in Madison will hold a hearing next Friday on a request by media groups to release it. The dispatcher did not call Zimmermann’s cell phone back. And she never sent police to the murder scene until after Zimmermann’s boyfriend discovered her body and called 911 almost 50 minutes later.

The newly-released records said Gahagan had an excellent record in her 20 years as a dispatcher and she was experienced in similar cases in the past.

The boyfriend’s 911 was among the items to be released Thursday. The judge temporarily blocked it after the caller’s attorney requested it.

Tags: wisconsin news, madison, 911, dispatcher, zimmerman, call