Zackery Nelson Bassett, who in the summer of 2021 was convicted of second-degree murder in Hamilton County, is seeking postconviction relief that will put his case before a bench trial on May 19, 2026.

Bassett was convicted of killing Andrea Sokolowski in an apartment in downtown Webster City on September 22, 2018.

He is imprisoned at the Anamosa State Penitentiary.

In hand-written court filings, Bassett alleges that a juror engaged in prejudicial misconduct by conducting an experiment with a non-juror outside deliberations in violation of the court’s instructions.

“The experiment was regarding a critical issue in the case,” Bassett’s filing states.

He also claims “ineffective assistance of counsel.” Bassett claims his trial counsels failed to “subpoena witnesses and present their testimony which certainly would have affected the jury’s evaluation of truthfulness regarding the prosecution(‘)s witnesses.”

He claims, “Failure to call key witnesses for the defense at the request of the defendant, I Zackery N. Bassett(,) shows a significant level of prejudice against I(,) Zackery N. Bassett(,) …

“These witnesses had intimate first hand account knowledge of the relationship between the defendant … and the decedent, having lived with and/or traveled with the two parties over the course of their entire relationship. I presented that these witnesses were invaluable and that their testimony’s (sic) would have provided credible information and insight at the trial. The knowledge that these witnesses (possessed) would have significantly changed the outcome of this trial, not only discrediting the government(‘)s witnesses but rendering a verdict of not guilty.”

Also in the filing, Bassett challenges what he calls “multiple instances of bad acts” and the district court’s failure to suppress an “interrogation” by a Division of Criminal Investigation agent, during which Bassett claims he was not given a Miranda warning.

He also challenges the medical examiner’s reliance on reports of previous domestic violence incidents between Bassett and the victim.

Bassett was 32 when he was arrested in St. Joseph, Missouri, on a charge of murder in the first degree in the death of Sokolowski, who was 50 when she was murdered, according to Daily Freeman-Journal files.

Webster City police officers and paramedics from Van Diest Medical Center were dispatched to 639 1/2 Second Street, Apartment 1, on September 22, 2018, on a report of an unresponsive female. The caller, Bassett, reported that his girlfriend, Sokolowski, was not breathing. She was transported via ambulance to the Van Diest Medical Center Emergency Room where she was pronounced dead.

There was an active no-contact order in place between Bassett and Sokolowski while they lived in Webster City, including at the time of Sokolowski’s death, according to records filed online for a previous appeal sought in 2022. That appeal failed to reverse the previous court’s finding that Bassett was guilty of second-degree murder.

That appeal document states:

“An associate medical examiner, Dr. Catellier, performed an autopsy on September 24. Her examination found petechiae — small hemorrhages of capillary veins that are caused when blood cannot drain back to the heart because of pressure — around Sokolowski’s eyes, lips, and larynx. Some areas had florid petechiae, which are areas where several individual petechiae merge into a large hemorrhage. These can result from significant pressure. There was also a hemorrhage around Sokolowksi’s right carotid artery.

“Some of Sokolowski’s fingernails appeared broken and had coloration that indicated they may have been forcefully pushed back. She had a scratch on the back of her neck. Dr. Catellier ruled out accidental or natural death as the manner of death. She was suspicious that the injuries may have been caused by strangulation.”