Shellie Zimmerman said she cried tears of joy after her husband, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. But after months of standing by her husband’s side—even lying under oath for him—Shellie Zimmerman says she now has her doubts that George Zimmerman acted in self-defense the night of Martin’s death.
“I think anyone would doubt that innocence,” she said, adding that recent “revelations helped take the blinders off,” and that she no longer knows who her husband is.
“I have doubts,” she said. “But I also believe the evidence.” She said she did not believe her spouse profiled Martin
Shellie Zimmerman filed for divorce less than two months after her husband’s acquittal. “The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken,” according to court documents outlining the divorce.
After sticking by him during the height of the trial, Shellie said that her husband’s behavior had changed dramatically. “He just kind of treated me like I was disposable,” she said with a faltering voice. “After standing by him, he kind of left, and I guess kind of went on a victory tour without me.”
Earlier this month, police in Lake Mary, Fla., responded to a 911 call made by Shellie Zimmerman, when she alleged that her spouse was arguing with her father, and that he had his hand on a gun. “I don’t know what he’s capable of,” she said in the 911 call. “I’m really, really scared.” However officers later said that George Zimmerman did not have a gun during the incident, and cops did not recover a firearm.
Despite the differing accounts, Shellie Zimmerman told the Today show’s Matt Lauer Thursday that she “absolutely” stood by her story. She described her husband’s actions that night, claiming George Zimmerman repeatedly threatened and advanced at her with a hand under his shirt, as if he were bearing a gun. “Logically, I assumed he had a gun on him,” she said.
Shellie Zimmerman said her words in the 911 call were not meant to incite questions or doubts about her husband’s behavior that night, or the night he said he acted in self-defense in Martin’s death. She says she now regrets her decision to not press charges against her husband.
“In hindsight, I should have, and I really regret that,” she said.
Zimmerman was also entangled in her husband’s murder trial—in August she pleaded guilty to perjury charges for lying under oath while disclosing the family’s finances during a bail hearing earlier that year. Under a plea deal, she was sentenced to a year of probation and 100 hours community service.
In her interview with Lauer, Shellie Zimmerman said the charges against her confirmed that her credibility has been damaged. “I do have credibility issues,” she said. And though she left her husband’s innocence of self-defense in question, she said she believed that the justice system worked in his case.
“I respect the jury’s decision,” she said. “They saw more evidence than I’ve seen.”
Editor’s note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.
Amanda Sakuma