“We have been looking at her the entire time,” Hess said.
Her son, Cody Wayne Henderson, 19, of Madison Twp. in Butler County, was charged Oct. 21 with aggravated murder for stabbing his stepfather. Charles Zan had more than 40 stab wounds when he was found in the couple’s bed at the Guest Suites Apartments.
Hess declined to comment if Pandora Zan committed the murder and what evidence led police to arrest her at her King Avenue apartment in Dayton.
“What we’re saying is that we have been looking at her since October,” he said.
The victim’s family said they are relieved with her arrest.
Michael Zan, Charles Zan’s younger brother and an officer with the Prince George’s County Police Department in Maryland, said his family has suspected that Pandora Zan was involved in her husband’s death.
“We knew from day one she was responsible in this,” he said. “I hope that the system prosecutes them both, and we would like to see them both get the death penalty. We think they both deserve it.”
Pandora Zan is in the Montgomery County Jail and scheduled for arraignment Friday. Her son remains in the county jail on a $1 million bond for aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and tampering with evidence.
Pandora Zan was the third wife of Charles Zan, who was a corrections officer at Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon.
Michael Zan expressed gratitude to Miamisburg police Sgt. Tom Thompson and Detective Jeff Muncy for breaking the case.
“They did a job that I didn’t think was going to be done,” he said. “It took six months to do it, but they finally got Pandora locked up.”
Pandora Zan was arrested in January after Miamisburg officers said she passed counterfeit $50 bills at a local retail store.
She was charged with misdemeanor petty theft and felonious forgery. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March to up to five years of community control, according to county court records.
She also was convicted in 2002 for the armed robbery of a clothing store in Warren County. She served 14 months in prison.
During Pandora Zan’s 911 call, she could be heard talking about a break-in, saying she had been hit on the head and that when she came to, she found her husband stabbed to death.
“It’s been brutal on my family,” Michael Zan said. “With her involvement, I’m hoping they both get capital punishment.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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