Wanted professor’s wife wanted a divorce, agent says

The lead investigator in the search for triple homicide suspect George Zinkhan said Thursday the University of Georgia professor’s late wife was seeking a divorce.

“There has been significant information about marital discord within the relationship,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory Jones, citing interviews with family and friends of Marie Bruce, Zinkhan’s second wife. She was one of three people gunned down by the former marketing professor last Saturday outside an Athens theater.

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This photo of George Zinkhan was taken in February 2009.

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No divorce papers have been filed in Clarke County.

Without delving into the specifics of their presumed break-up, Jones said Zinkhan exhibited “controlling-type behavior” around his wife.

“He would cut off conversations any time they turned to his interests,” Jones said. “He was very secretive.”

That discretion may be helping Zinkhan continue to elude authorities. He’s been on the run six days and investigators have turned up few clues.

They haven’t received many tips, either; Jones said “there haven’t even been many non-credible sightings” of Zinkhan’s 2005 red Jeep Liberty, the car he was last seen driving after the shootings.

From the beginning, police offered two likely scenarios: Either Zinkhan, who has a home in Amsterdam, had left the country or committed suicide.

Jones said the professor’s passport has not been used, so it’s “unlikely” he’s overseas. As for the suicide possibility, “If you’re going to kill yourself, you’re usually not concerned with hiding the body,” Jones said. Still, “we’re eliminating nothing,” he said.

Zinkhan has not withdrawn any money from his bank account or placed any calls from his cell phone since the shootings. If he’s still alive, Jones said, it’s likely he planned his getaway in advance.

“His escape was too smooth,” Jones said.

AJC staff writer Rhonda Cook contributed to this report