William Kyne, accused by stepson in wife's 2010 murder, arrested in collision with bicycle

Harvey Zoller was shocked when a man on a motorcycle collided with a fellow cyclist during their group's regular pedal through Indian Shores along Gulf Boulevard.

The man had looked angry and impatient, hurling insults at them, Zoller said.

After he was hit, the cyclist — cancer doctor Lane Ziegler, 59 — spun out of control and hit the pavement. He suffered injuries that required two days in intensive care.

Zoller was further distressed to learn the identity of the motorcycle driver when, five days later, Indian Shores police arrested him in the collision.

He is William Edward Kyne, 61, of Madeira Beach, who made national headlines beginning in 2010 when his wife was found murdered in their Seminole home. His stepson stood trial, twice — declaring at one point that his stepfather was the killer then winning acquittal by a jury.

Kyne's Florida license was permanently revoked in 2014 following four convictions for driving under the influence — in St. Petersburg, Indian Shores, Treasure Island and Pinellas County. State records show other arrests dating back to 1975.

Why, asked Zoller, is Kyne "still out there? He has a rap sheet that is miles long dating back to the 70s ... (and) was on an episode of Dateline."

Kyne was never charged in the murder. Reached Wednesday at the car dealership where he works, Kyne — released on bail the day of his arrest — apologized for the bicycle collision but denied it was deliberate.

"I had no idea I'd even hit anyone," he said. "I am sorry someone got hurt. I would never do anything like that."

Kyne admitted to police that he felt a thump as though he clipped something. But he didn't see anything wrong when he looked in his rear-view mirror, he told them, so he drove to work.

He reported that he was forced to drive close to the bicycle lane to avoid hitting bicyclists who were coming into traffic.

Said witness Zoller: "That is absolutely incorrect."

Zoller and witnesses quoted in a police report gave this account:

Seven members from a group of bicyclists as large as 30 or 40 were riding south about 7 a.m. May 2 on their twice-weekly trip from the Sand Key Bridge to downtown Clearwater. Cyclists join and leave at different points.

A van driving parallel to them on Gulf Boulevard slowed and stopped so oncoming traffic could go by and the van driver could give the bicyclists a wide berth when he passed them.

Kyne drove up at that point, Zoller said, and "looked mad because he had to wait behind the van."

Zoller said Kyne hurled insults at them and deliberately drove along the line of the bicycle lane.

He focused his insults on cyclist Ziegler, according to witness accounts, and hit the handlebars of Ziegler's bike with his motorcycle's side mirror. Kyne proceeded to drive just inches from the handlebars of three or four other bikes, continuing with his insults, Zoller said.

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Then Kyne then took off, according to the police report. Two cyclists chased him but could not catch him as he drove east across Park Boulevard Bridge.

He was arrested at work May 7 on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident with injury.

Asked Wednesday if he has a drivers license, Kyne said, "Yes, since Colorado."

He declined to elaborate and said he had to go.

In August 2010, Kyne's 49-year-old wife Diane Kyne was found strangled in her bedroom. The only other people at the Seminole home at the time were Kyne and his 23-year-old stepson Kevin Kyne.

In 2012, the stepson was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, but he won a new trial on appeal. During the second trial, he accused his stepfather of the murder.

A jury found Kevin Kyne not guilty and in 2015, after spending more than four years behind bars, he was released.

Cyclist Ziegler told the Tampa Bay Times Wednesday he suffered a concussion, along with a fractured pelvis and sternum and two broken ribs, and has no memory of what happened.

"One minute, I'm in a nice pace line going 25 miles per hour and the next thing I know is I wake up in the back of an ambulance."

But based on accounts he has heard, he called the collision an "assault aimed at intimidating, maiming and hurting us."

Fellow cyclist Zoller said the collision last week reflects a growing tension on the streets.

"We are targets and if we don't do something and change the culture, someone will be killed by an aggressive driver," he said. "They think that even though we stay in our lane that we are ruining their day. It's getting dangerous."

Times senior news researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Contact Paul Guzzo at pguzzo@tampabay.com or follow @PGuzzoTimes.