By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – A client of murdered Bloomington financial planner Pamela Zimmerman testified during a pre-trial hearing that Mrs. Zimmerman thought her ex-husband Kirk would become “ballistic” if he found out she was about to be engaged.

Curtis Ronnekamp said days before Pamela Zimmerman’s death in the fall of 2014, she told him she and her boyfriend were looking for engagement rings.

Ronnekamp said he asked what her ex-husband would think about the engagement.

“He will go ballistic,” Pamela reportedly said. Her mood turned serious and allegedly said she imagined Kirk Zimmerman would shoot her in the head. Ronnekamp claimed Pamela pointed a finger at her head as if it were a gun.

Pamela Zimmerman was found dead in her office on East Washington Street with multiple gunshot wounds.

Prosecutors want the judge to allow the jury to hear from Ronnekamp and other clients and friends even though they’re providing hearsay accounts what Pamela Zimmerman told them about her troubled relationship with her ex-husband.

The defense contended Ronnekamp and the others are not credible witnesses, and in Ronnekamp’s case, he didn’t know her very well.

Earlier, a friend, Linda Bach, testified Pamela told her, “If anything happens to me, Kirk did it.”

Four days of pre-trial hearings run through Thursday. Lawyers have yet to schedule a trial, which could last many weeks.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]