Zimmerman's Wife Says She's 'Conflicted' About His Innocence

The wife of George Zimmerman now says she has doubts about his innocence in the shooting death of black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin even though she respects the jury's decision in the case.

Speaking Thursday morning on NBC's "Today" show, Shellie Zimmerman said her husband is no longer the man she thought he was and confirmed that she has filed for divorce after standing by him in court and going into hiding with him after his acquittal in July for the Martin shooting in 2012.


Pressed by Today host Matt Lauer on whether she still believes her husband acted in self defense, Zimmerman said, "I'm conflicted on that."

"I believe the evidence. But this revelation in my life has really helped me to take the blinders off and start looking at things," she added, referring to an altercation with her husband earlier this month during which, she told police, he threatened her with a gun.

But Zimmerman continued to insist in the Today interview that her husband did not profile Martin as the prosecution had argued in the trial.

"He did not profile Trayvon," she told Lauer, noting that she thought the same outcome would have occurred if Martin had been white.

"I respect the jury's decision," she continued. "They saw more evidence than I've seen."

Pushed further by Lauer, who asked again if she had "doubts" about the jury's not guilty verdict, Zimmerman replied, "I think anyone would doubt that innocence because I don't know the person that I've been married to. I have doubts, but I also believe the evidence.

The "revelation" she referenced in the interview apparently came during an argument with her husband in front of a family home on Sept. 9. The two were separated at the time, and she claimed that he threatened her with a gun as they argued, according to reports in USA Today and other media.

At the time, the police did not find a firearm in George Zimmerman's possession, and she declined to file charges. But in a 911 call to police that day reported by ABC News, she sounded upset as she told the operator, "I don't know what he's capable of . . . I'm really, really afraid."

Shellie Zimmerman told Lauer Thursday, "I absolutely stand by my story," when he asked for details of the altercation.

"I did not see a gun," she admitted, "but I know my husband and I saw him in a stance and with a look in his eyes that I had never seen before. He was saying, 'Please step closer.'"

She added, "This person that I'm married to, that I'm divorcing, I've kind of realized now that I don’t know him."

Shellie Zimmerman told Lauer that she should have pressed charges against her husband, but that her probation status for lying under oath during pre-trial proceedings in the Martin case kept her from moving ahead.

"The [police] officers made it very clear that if I pressed charges, we were all going to jail," she said.

Zimmerman, 26, told Lauer that now she just wants to move ahead with her life. Asked what had changed in their relationship since her husband's acquittal, she said he started treating her differently.

"He just kind of treated me like I was disposable," she told Lauer. "After standing by him, he kind of left and went on a victory tour without me. I felt I was living a life with him and we were going to kind of rebuild after this and he had other plans for me."