Zinkhan news some relief for neighbors

The two weeks since George Zinkhan killed his wife and two men have been unsettling to neighbors on Chesterfield Road in Bogart.

“We’ve been a little uneasy,” said Robert Adams, whose family lives across the street from where the Zinkhans lived. “It’s good to know it’s over. But we hate that he did it like a coward.”

Related George Zinkhan news:

• Photos: Zinkhan's body found
• Fellow professor sent into hiding
• Details of suicide
• Dog finds body
• Reaction in Athens
• Timeline of events
• Audio: 911 call
• FBI: Zinkhan's wife had sought divorce

Adams said he’s found himself looking out the windows of his own home, staring at the now-vacant home, just in the rare chance Zinkhan returned.

“I hope he’s not standing out in the yard,” Adams said he thought to himself.

Many in Athens were still hearing about the discovery of Zinkhan’s body late Saturday afternoon.

Graduation day at University of Georgia meant extra visitors in town. But it was a peaceful afternoon along Prince Avenue, in stark contrast to just two weeks ago when a nearby theater was the site of a triple murder.

Athens Community Theater, where the Town and Gown Players performed, was locked late Saturday. Black and white copies of photos of three victims — Marie Bruce, Tom Tanner and Ben Teague — were taped on the front glass of the small building on Grady Avenue. Next door at the Taylor-Grady house, music from a wedding reception filled the air.

At The Grit restaurant nearby, some diners were surprised to hear that Zinkhan was found dead in a shallow grave that he dug himself.

“Why didn’t he just kill himself?” asked Claudia Bechet, a 15-year Athens resident. “It’s so bizarre. But I’m glad they found him.”

Gregg Carey, owner of a nearby coffee shop Red Eye, said customers talked about the shootings in the days following the murders. Lately, the talk had settled down. Carey said he wasn’t surprised by the apparent suicide.

“The guy killed three people,” Carey said. “Obviously he’s not thinking right.”

Kyle Myers of Winder said he didn’t expect to hear that Zinkhan was dead.

“I was surprised that they found him so close,” Myers said. “I thought he was long-gone.”

Across the country in Las Vegas, Zinkhan’s former student and University of Las Vegas Nevada economics professor Angeline Close was saddened by the news of his death.

“This tragedy will forever overshadow decades of his contributions,” Close said of her mentor.

Before his death, Close said she and Zinkhan were working on economic research that continued a paper they collaborated on about consumer behavior toward Valentines Day.

She expressd sympathy for the family of the victims and searched for motives behind the professor’s alleged crimes.

“I don’t think we’ll ever know what was going on in his otherwise brilliant mind.”

Back in Bogart, neighbor Adams said his family had held out hope that Zinkhan would turn himself in. Adams’ five-year-old daughter even prayed for Zinkhan’s two children. The children have been staying with relatives since the murders.

“We wish he could’ve turned his life around,” Adams said Saturday night. “God can forgive anybody for everything.”